24x32 1.5 story off-grid cabin in West Michigan

[PorkChopsMmm]

After much procrastination I have finally started my own build thread after lurking and reading and learning from others (Thanks MtnDon and EaglesSJ). Below is the build of our cabin... since I am creating this thread well into the building process, heck we are almost done, I will try to post pictures and a description chronologically. I would love to hear constructive feedback on these already completed parts of the building process, but please be aware they have occurred in the past and I can not go back and change them now (or change them easily). Thanks!



How we decided to buy some land -- March 2010:
My wife and I were sensing uneasiness in the financial markets and wanted to buy some land far away from the big city in which we live. My wife's parents live in Michigan and we were able to find 20 acres north of them. What turned into having some rough land and an escape plan turned into building a full fledged house with every amenity – just offgrid. I tried to convince my wife to start with a travel trailer or the like but she was dead set on building a place that could one day be our home. This place has been built without any permits, although every effort has been made to build everything to code where possible.

We are married and in our early thirties. At the time we only had 2 kids although we knew a 3rd was on it's way! We openly welcome more babies and so we tried to build the place with growth in mind – you will see some of this in the design plans. We also rushed the design phase a bit and you may see that with some of our changes on the fly later in the thread.

Site location:
Our location is West Michigan. We found 20 acres that is more located in the middle of hunting land than farm land. People have some cabins on land around ours but hardly anyone lives out around us. That is good in the sense that it gives us privacy but bad because our young children won't have any neighbor kids down the road. We are 10 minutes away from a gas station, small grocery store, or Ace Hardware but back in the woods down a seasonal non-plowed road.

A small 200sqft hunting cabin and a shallow well were in place about 600 feet away from where we built the cabin. We build out cabin in the couple acre field. Looking back we did not build it with a good southern exposure and as such we have had to work harder to mount our solar panels in a good location.



This property is 4.5 hours away from where we live. This made building interesting! For the first 6 months or so I drove up late on a Friday night, worked all day Saturday, and drove home Saturday night. It is very hard to get much done in roughly 12 hours.

Finding a Contractor -- Summer 2010:
My wife and I looked initially at Amish "delivered"cabins... cabins that were roughly 14' wide and roughly 24' long. These were well constructed and would have made a fine vacation spot but they would not have worked out as a permanent home. We ended up scrapping the idea because we did some measuring and there would be no way the could get the thing down our seasonal roads.

We eventually found some inspirational pictures of cabins and drew up a sketch to give a contractor we  found that was semi-local. He was OK with building without permits and gave us, to the best of my knowledge, a very good price. He was flexible with our demands for a steel roof, log siding, etc.

Here is an inspirational picture, without the addition.


And another.


These have changed a little, such as the bed orientation, stairs, etc.




Since building and researching for the past 1.5 years I have found other solutions out there that might have worked, but we were in a self imposed time crunch of getting something shelled in before Christmas 2010 and this is what we found.

What we outsourced:
We decided to outsource the "shelling in" of the cabin – so foundation, siding, roof, etc. I would do all of the wall framing, plumbing, electrical, solar, etc.

Utilities for the cabin
Our plan for utilities were:
- Solar for electrical needs
- Propane for the tankless hot water heater and kitchen stove
- Wood stove for all heating needs
- Shallow point well for water and a jet pump and pressure tank for water supply
- Biolet composting toilet for black water waste
- Grey water drainage for sinks, tub, washing machine, etc.

More to come as I can gather the pictures. I will be posting as much as I can for the past 1.5 years.

[duncanshannon]

Congrats and thanks for starting to post your build! looking forward to more.

What was/is your level of experience with building?

[PorkChopsMmm]

Congrats and thanks for starting to post your build! looking forward to more.

What was/is your level of experience with building?

Previous to this I have never built a structure, run electrical, plumbing, solar, etc. I was brand new to building but not wood working or using tools. I sort of jump in to new things... like fixing our cars or building things by doing research on the internet, asking those know already know more than me, etc. I also read a lot about subjects I am trying to learn.

I wish I had studied building more before I started this project. I would have been able to know before we built to use 2x6 walls and a 2x10 ceiling. I didn't know to ask and my contractor didn't mention it, so our walls are 2x4 and the ceiling is 2x6. I could have fit in a lot more insulation in with a simple design change at the beginning.

[PorkChopsMmm]

The existing hunting cabin on the property April 2010
Built by the previous owner. Don't look too closely at the chimney.

[PorkChopsMmm]

Land Pictures Summer 2010
A few pictures of the land and building site before construction begins.

[PorkChopsMmm]

Build Begins 8/1/2010:
The contractor started in August after delays. After meeting quite a few people along the way Eddie was the most reliable guy I have worked with. Another regret I have is not reading up on wall sheathing prior to building. The contractor built the place without any OSB on the walls – he figured the log siding would give it the necessary strength. After doing some caulking on the log siding I really wish I had the OSB layer underneath to help block wind. Oh well, can't go back in time.

The trailer in the pictures is from when a buddy and I drove up a bunch of supplies, solar panels, inverter, etc.

[MountainDon]

Thanks for posting and telling us all what you wish had been differently. Not everyone would do so.
It's nice to see all the photos.
Are the interior walls finished yet?

[PorkChopsMmm]

Thanks for posting and telling us all what you wish had been differently. Not everyone would do so.
It's nice to see all the photos.
Are the interior walls finished yet?

Thanks Don. Yes, the walls are done. I am lining up another post now and will try to get the wall pictures up soon. The hardest part of this is getting all of the pictures resized, uploaded to the free hosting site, and then arranged in the right order in the post. Lots of work for something that seems like it would be easy.

[PorkChopsMmm]

Finishing up the outside:

The contractor eventually finished up the outside and I was able to stain. This was another 24 hour trip, which includes whatever sleep I could manage and a 9 hour drive. Leaves me about 9 hours of work time. I did the staining all in 1 day and that was the sorest I have ever been. I was praying "Hail Mary's" the whole time I was up on the ladder at the peaks of the roof staining. In the dark I stained the front porch as well.













Wall Framing, Electrical, and Plumbing

While the contractor was finishing up the outside shell of the cabin I built the interior walls and started on the electrical. By the time I got to the plumbing and insulation the cabin exterior was complete. Below are an assortment of interior pictures. I used insulation in some of the interior walls to block sound. I also used Tyvek on the interior facing wall after some careful research. I used kraft faced insulation but I want to avoid any wind or potential air leaks. This is debatable due to moisture than can build up but I did a lot of reading and came to the conclusion that it would work ok due to being in zone 5 in Michigan. This most likely would not have worked in Florida, for example. Seems to be working fine so far.

These pictures are a little out of order -- you can see the hardwood floors and tile. Those were added in the Spring of 2011.

[mogie01]

Have you thought about spray foam insulation in the walls? 

[PorkChopsMmm]

Have you thought about spray foam insulation in the walls?

I looked into it for a short period of time but I was deterred by the cost and the need to get a contractor on site in January (when I installed my  insulation). Looking back on it, I think spray insulation would have been great. For the walls but especially for the roof. I have read, although I am not expert, that if you do spray-in in the ceiling that you don't need ridge venting. That would have saved me a ton of time and compromises in insulating value.

[PorkChopsMmm]

Installing the Initial Solar Installation:

During the build out of the cabin I installed what was our first, or "phase 1", install. I was able to put this together by buying most everything used on Craigslist, off of eBay, or other places online. This forum as well as Northern Arizona Wind & Sun and others provided a lot of the guidance. This was especially important in my later phase 2 build.

The solar components were as follows:
Xantrex 2500 watt 2.5 Prosine Inverter/Charger 12V
8 55 amp hour *used* AGM batteries
3 240 watt Chinese panels
Outback MX60 60 Amp MPPT Charge Controller

This worked well for the first year of building but the used AGM batteries were really struggling even after a day of light use. AGM batteries are much easier to damage that lead acid batteries but we ran the generator whenever they were dangerously low.

For the first few months I just ran an extension cable into the cabin via the front door to use my tools and lights. Once I got finished with the electrical work I rigged up an exterior AC socket and a "suicide cord" to power the entire cabin. I still use this setup today as I have not run conduit for an AC feed – I am still trying to figure out the best location for my power shed. The power shed may look familiar from the 'hunting cabin' pictures – we paid our contractor to move it ~600 feet or so using a SkyJack.









The winter winds also blew my temporary frame (which was staked to the ground!) around until it would hardly get any sun. Then ice hit the frame and I couldn't get it to budge until the weather warmed up.

[PorkChopsMmm]

Wood Stove Install:

I installed this in the Fall of 2010. This was much harder than expected due to the chimney and cutting through the steel roof. A 12/12 pitch steel roof on a rainy weekend really slowed me down.

I built the slate tile "hearth" in 3 different sections that I built in the city and drove up. Very heavy! The bottom and the left and right sides.


You can't tell here, but the wood stove when I picked it up was practically brand new. Vermont Castings Intrepid Non-Catalytic. Beautiful stove but after a year being installed I have realized it is too small for the cabin. I will be looking for something bigger in the near future.


I also found out that the kraft paper can melt and seep the tar impregnated in it when heated up. It is not in these pictures but I later had the upper part of the heart tiled as well. It works fine now.

[PorkChopsMmm]

I just received a job offer in the area! Looks like we will be renting until the end of Spring and then move into the cabin. I will try to post more pictures that show the finished (well, near finished) interior.

The only downside is my wife now wants to install septic. I agree on why we need it but we did not plan the cabin or its location for septic. Adding a real toilet is the easy part. I'm not quite sure where the septic tank and drainfield will go as I have a shallow well 35 feet away from the toilet and we have a high water table. Any experts around?

[Alan Gage]

You might talk to whoever is in charge of septic zoning in your area. The gal that's in charge here was very nice and helpful. They were able to look up soil maps and let me know what I needed to do as far as amount of leech field/tank size and they also knew what most of the installers in the area were doing and that was a help too. Luckily for me I have great soil and very low water table.

At least here the leech field needs to be 100' from any well and 50' for the septic tank (I think).

Alan

[PorkChopsMmm]

Thanks for the help, Alan. I think I can call the health department but not give them my location. We built the place to code, but w/o permits, and would like to keep it that way. My excavator will put in whatever septic we want.

I created a thread in the General forum to expand on my question.
http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=11736.0

Thanks again!

[itpdk9]

Just wondering why your getting rid of the composting toilet? Is it that much of a pita ?

[PorkChopsMmm]

Just wondering why your getting rid of the composting toilet? Is it that much of a pita ?

Such an appropriate question! My excavator just called me last night to say he is almost done with the septic install. Honestly, we should have used a "Lovable Loo" design from the beginning instead of spending $1500 on the Biolet. Eventually my wife hated that the composted contents froze in the winter, that it was hard to clean, and that the holding tray in the bottom was constantly overflowing. I didn't like that it used so much electricity.

A "Lovable Loo" I think would have solved most of these issues, but my wife is turned off completely from composting toilets now. The straw that broke the camels back was when the holding tray overflowed and leaked black water all over the bathroom floor and my wife had to clean it up.

Word to the wise -- if you are going to build a house with a composting toilet have the forethought to plan for septic going in someday. I did not plan for this, unfortunately but it hasn't bit me too much.

[NorthernMich]

not to be a pain but even in remote northern MI, they take aerial photos and you will get a bill for the permits

[SouthernTier]

The hardest part of this is getting all of the pictures resized, uploaded to the free hosting site, and then arranged in the right order in the post. Lots of work for something that seems like it would be easy.

responding to an earlier post, yes, but I thought I would mention that this is why I use picassaweb from google to host the pictures.  They do the resizing for you.  You upload your original picture, and then when you want to copy the link so you can paste in your post, you just select the link with the appropriate resize.  Like I said, Google resizes it for you on the fly.

[UperJoe]

not to be a pain but even in remote northern MI, they take aerial photos and you will get a bill for the permits

Hmmmm. me wet my britches on this one.   lol
I have no issue with permit fees as long as they don't make me tear the stuff down like MN does. Assuming it's code - that be good enough plus the permit $$ to keep them at bay?   

[PorkChopsMmm]

It not being permitted is still something I am not at peace with. We initially didn't get permits because of the high costs to run electricity to the property (I thought we needed commercial electric for permits -- I don't think we do) and plans on using a composting toilet. This was going to be a low cost build... but it slowly turned into building our dream house. We have since installed septic but are still only using solar.

I go back and forth on approaching the inspectors and seeing if they will do a "as built" permit, but I am afraid of the consequences if they don't stop at fine and go more towards demolition. That would be devastating. Any advice in this area would be appreciated. I know it is State/County/Township specific but I am hesitant just to call up the inspecting department and start the process. We plan to move-in in a month -- I am assuming any resolution would take longer than that.

In happier news, I have the kitchen cabinets leveled and installed, butcher block countertops in, and am in the process of painting the cabinets.

[Alan Gage]

What about just calling them up and give no name or location and ask them about your options. Contrary to what seems to be the popular opinion I think most people in that field seem to be quite helpful and they might not look too harshly on you. Better they find out from you than some other way.

I'd think unless you really built somewhere you shouldn't have (wildlife refuge/critical habitat) there would be no chance of them wanting demolition. I have no experience here though.

Alan

[PorkChopsMmm]

Thanks Alan. I tried to give them a call today but no one was around. I will try again tomorrow. There are 3 different inspectors I would need to deal with (building, electrical, plumbing/mechanical) so I am hoping all 3 will be fair.

[pmichelsen]

Last year I helped a friend with a small two bedroom addition to their house, against my advice they did not get permits. Well right after all of the drywall was hung, taped, and textured they got a note on their front door. I guess one of the neighbors had called the city about some unpermitted work.

Fortunately most of the inspectors were pretty cool and it helped that I always do everything to code, though they did have to remove a bunch of the drywall from about three feet high on down so they could inspect the electrical.