My 15.75 x 30 Jemez Cabin

[NM_Shooter]

Wonderful update and pictures!  My green envy tinge is returning!

-f-

[MountainDon]

Who are you kidding Don?  We all know our cabins are never "done"-----we just pause for a while every now and then to plan.

I suppose I should say the next stage has yet to be planned.  

To the above things I mentioned I do have to add:

... the inlet and vent for the Servel refrigerator burner.

... there was something else...  

[MountainDon]

Looking at this months calendar we realized that most weekends have something going on and we'd be unable to get a "cabin fix". So we snowshoed up Sun AM, spent the night, then snowshoed down this AM. There had been new snow, maybe 4 inches.

Trees fallen across the snow shoe trail (old logging road)...  I'll need to hike this with the chain saw come spring.



I even shoveled the walk from the cabin to the shed...



Interesting snow curl off the shed roof...



Some notes:

As stated before with the wood stove going full blast and the propane wall heater contributing, it takes about two hours to get the cabin interior up to about 68 degrees. That's the air temperature. The furnishings and contents take a while longer. Cold cascades from the kitchen cabinets when one opens a cabinet door for hours after the air is warmed up. The bed also remains a frozen brick for some time. It's a queen mattress on a plywood box with a 3 or 4 inch Temperpedic foam topper. That topper lays there like a cold ice cream slab for hours. We've done things like pulling back the blankets to allow direct air contact, placing hot pots, etc on the bed. It still has taken hours before the bed is okay to have an afternoon nap in/on. I found the solution for $28.

We bought a 100 watt electric blanket. 100 watts, 120 VAC. I back packed it up this trip. After I had the fires going we slipped it under the covers, right on top of the sheet over the temperpedic pad. An hour later the bed was ready for a nap! It wasn't quite toasty through and through, but the frostiness was all gone. Toasy might take 2 hours. When we got there the solar PV system had already gone into float (meaning the batteries were fully charged). The sun was shining brightly and the electric blanket never even pulled the voltage down enough to make the controller go into re-bulk charge mode. So I think the electric blanket is a success.  

[MountainDon]

More notes: The Mountain House freeze dried green beans are quite good. However, they do come out a little more al dente than we prefer. Next time rather than just soak them in boiling water as instructed, I'm going to plop them in a pot and boil them for a few minutes too. Or maybe zap them in the microwave after they have re-hydrated.

[Redoverfarm]

Yes those short overnight trips in the winter are killers.  You no more than get things warmed up and it's time to head home.  Probably need about 2 days to get everything warmed up to be really comfortable.  I noticed that with all the chinking and no insulation in the floor that overnight I can only raise it up to 55 when there hasn't been heat on for a couple of days and the low temps outside.  Just sort of look at it like you are camping out Don.

[MountainDon]

Note on the Vermont Castings Aspen wood burning stove.

The stove works great, sometimes too great. We had had an overfiring problem, mostly at night. With wood loaded to last through the night most often, the temperature would rise higher than we preferred before falling to a comfortable level. For those who are unaware, the VC stoves have a thermostatically controlled air inlet flap. There's a bi-metal coil at the top rear of the stove. A chain hangs down to an arm on the flap valve. Rising and falling temperatures cause the bi-metal coil to move and that movement, via the chain, opens and closes the flap. We had a VC stove with the same thing back home and it worked perfectly.

What I concluded is that with VC rating the stove good up to 600 sq ft, our well insulated 450 sq ft cabin wasn't big enough for the way the stove is set at the factory. The instructions come with a caveat regarding "messing with" the thermostatic control, but...  It seemed to me that the air inlet flap was unable to close enough to keep the temperature down to where we wanted it. So I lengthened the chain by one ball. I did that a couple of weeks ago. Since then I am more than happy with the stove performance.

So, anyone who has one, or is thinking of placing one in a small cabin might want to give it a chance and see what happens. Then make the modification if necessary. It is totally reversible, just count the chain balls before undoing the chain clips.

I've said before that the add on muffin fan helps immensely when getting a fire going. Not on the factory approved accessory list though. 

[Sassy]

Your cold bed reminds me of the water bed we used to have down in the valley.  I'd be shivering in that bed for 2-3hrs after getting off from work in the middle of the night - didn't have DH there - he's just like a heater.  Smart getting that electric blanket. 

That's quite a snow curl    You guys are brave to snowshoe it in there - can't believe how many trees have fallen - what'd you have to do to hike across that trail with all the trees down?

[MountainDon]

can't believe how many trees have fallen - what'd you have to do to hike across that trail with all the trees down?

There must have been some good wind. At that spot there's a tangle of downed trees to the right down the slope. It looks like one tree caused a domino effect on about three others. The ones across the old logging road just came down one by one though, more than likely during the same wind storm. There are several others along that trail we chain sawed through in early December. To cross these three downers we would walk up to them at the right side of the image, then swing our snow shoes across one at a tome, then continue on. It's a slight bother, not to mention the danger from losing one's balance and falling down the slope.  

If you look in the background of that picture you can see another that is caught up in other tree tops. We stop, look, gauge the wind, and then hurry through that section with both ears wide open for the sound of cracking branches. I may chain saw it too in spring. There are two down there, but only one shows well in the picture. They're hung up about 20+ feet above the trail. 

[MountainDon]

I finally added up the cost of everything for the Solar PV system.

I believe I have pretty much everything included down to the nuts and bolts.  

The obvious stuff, like three Sharp 208 watt panels and pole mount, Outback 3500 watt inverter, Outback FM60 controller, the 12 GC2 batteries, were easy. Then there's the used drill pipe pole, concrete, conduit, fittings and glue, wire, connectors, battery cable ends, shrink tubing, s/s nuts and bolts, copper bar stock, circuit breakers, cat 5 cable for the Outback stuff, ground rods, wire and clamps, the trencher rental....  The small stuff added up quickly.  

That all came to $8366.55, $66.55 over my high end estimate from a couple years back.

For tax purposes (solar PV energy credit) the battery house materials can be included. I've got receipts for $629. 

[RainDog]

Tell me, MountainDon, now that you've had some time up there with your wife and all, what's your verdict on that amount of space?

Could the two of y'all live comfortably in 480 sq. ft. if need be? I know there isn't much privacy, but is there room, for example, for y'all to each be doin' your own things in there without gettin' in each other's way?

Just tryin' to get a feel for what the minimal space for reasonable comfort would be.

Thanks.

[MountainDon]

I'll answer that, but have a preamble. We built this cabin as a retreat, not a full time residence. We do use it pretty much continuously June through mid-August when school is out though.

It is perhaps a little larger than what we would deem necessary as a part time place. We could probably have made it 4 feet shorter. (410 sq ft) But the 30 foot length does give us elbow room we would not otherwise have, handy with guests. The 472 sq. ft. of space we have is pretty much livable for 2 people. We've never been in each other's way inside the cabin. The fairly large table gives us room for doing things. The table also has 2 extra leaves we can slip in if needed. They store under the chests of drawers.

However, If this was to become a full time place, or if I had been designing it as a full time place, we would need more space. As it is we have space in the chests of drawers for some clothing and other stuff, but no hanging space other than that by the door. I think an actual closet space would be good to have for hanging clothing and storing other things you don't want to store outside in a shed or garage. We also do not have laundry space in the cabin. We do laundry at home in the 'burbs. So we'd have to add some laundry space. Maybe that could be tied that into an expansion to include closet and storage space.

Also if I was designing a full time small cabin I would likely give some thought to a loft. That would be mostly for off season storage though, not a sleeping space. We're just not big on upper floors unless a more or less regular staircase can be used for access. Stairs take away a lot of space in a small footprint. So most likely I wouldn't change that, but it would be a thought.

If this was for a full time place I would also likely build a garage/barn. Funny thing about that is it would likely be bigger than the cabin if I wanted to be able to actually park a vehicle in it and use it for storage and a workplace.

Perhaps if this became a full time place at some point, I would build a garage/barn and have the extra storage space in there. The laundry would be difficult to configure; would need some thought.

[Redoverfarm]

Don I am a little like you on the storage issue.  I do have 1/2 basement 20X16 but that is just for things you don't care about smelling like a basement. The main log structure would be hard to incorporate any closets into.  In retrospect I should have made the bump out B&B room 20-22  (rather than 18') feetX 16 for that needed space.  But like you I am not going to be there full time and probably just live out of a drawer or suitcase.  As an option I keep searching for some older style wardrobes at Estate Sales that can be easily moved to accomidate a change in furnishings locations throughout the room.

I guess I am not different than most in that you just do what you have money to do with. Try to strike a comprimize between need, use, looks,function and finances. 

[MountainDon]

You bring up a good point, John. You jogged my memory actually. Our original plan for the divider between the bed space and the living space was different. It turned out the way it is because we inherited that furniture from Karen's Mom after she passed away. It's 1950's vintage real solid wood made by real solid American furniture builders. The original plan was for me to make a couple storage cabinets much like the old wardrobes you are thinking of. That would give more storage space than we presently have.

[WoodSprite]

Tell me, MountainDon, now that you've had some time up there with your wife and all, what's your verdict on that amount of space?

Could the two of y'all live comfortably in 480 sq. ft. if need be? I know there isn't much privacy, but is there room, for example, for y'all to each be doin' your own things in there without gettin' in each other's way?

Just tryin' to get a feel for what the minimal space for reasonable comfort would be.

Thanks.

Hey, RainDog - Ron & I have been happily sharing about 360 square feet with about a billion books for a little over three years.   Worse yet, we're musicians, so we rarely leave the house (well, the land, anyway) unless we have a gig or we're out of food. 

You have to really like each other, and it really helps to have a PLACE for all your stuff, so you don't start feeling oppressed with clutter.  And sheds are good.  As our own little compound across the road grows, so has this little shack, since it started out jammed full of spare doors, bathroom sinks, woodstoves, etc that we'd scrounged for our place. 

Of course, we're not like most people...

[Bishopknight]

MountainDon,

Very impressive work on the propane hookup. You certainly know what you're doing if you have a drip end. Nice work. 

[MountainDon]

Thanks, BK.    I try real hard, read/study a lot.      You do too if you know about drip ends.

[Ken G]

Hello Don. I'm curious about your cistern. I'm thinking of building one to catck runoff water for my garden. It would be located uphill of the garden for easy siphoning. What materials did you use to build it? I was thinking of using cedar.

[MountainDon]

Our cistern was store bought. A polyethylene tank from Tank Depot.

[MountainDon]

We'd been away from Pine Ridge for way too long.    A couple of times when we wanted to go there were storm warnings that coincided with the exact same time. There was a storm warning this weekend as well, but we said, what the heck. Let's go see what the weather is like.   

So we drove up and parked at our friends "cabin" site. There was notably more snow on the ground than the last time. The snow plow had pushed it into large piles surrounding the driveway.  With the heavy accumulation of snow the going was slower than previous trips. We took about 65 minutes with frequent brief rest stops to reach Pine Ridge by snow shoe.








The first thing we noticed when we got to Pine ridge was snow on the gazebo roof.





Snow on the ground, snow on the RV, snow on the cabin roof.








The north side of the cabin with the path to the shed. This time I didn't shovel. We just tramped down the snow by snowshoeing back and forth a few times. Shoveling wasn't worth the time as we were only staying one night.





The water pump was just about buried.





A shot of the east end.





Waiting for the cabin to warm up, both the wood stove and the propane wall heater going full tilt just like the NASCAR cars.





So, yes it did snow a little Sunday morning during the drive up. It also snowed Sunday afternoon and evening. Monday morning dawned nice and clear and sunny. There was maybe an inch or so of new snow. Not enough to have worried about.   

[MountainDon]

I believe this Aspen damage is from elk or deer foraging on the bark.  There were only tracks in 2 places on the trek in. In January when we were up there tracks were all over. Not nearly as much snow then.





This tree shows damage from previous years.  There are a great number of Aspens like this around while the pines and firs are untouched.

[Redoverfarm]

From the looks of the snow it appears that you are going through about the same as us at your cabin Don.  I posted a few recent pictures of our area taken Saturday.



http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=8337.msg110669#msg110669

[MountainDon]

Down at the south end the snow was maybe 3 feet deep. On the trek in the top barbed wire was at snow surface in a place or two.

Our plans are to return in 2 weeks, our spring break and spend a few days.

[RainDog]

Remember to always tell the city-folk that those are bear scratches in the trees.

 

[MountainDon]

 

Bear claw scratches on tree ...






Bear Claws.....







Bear Claw Matches...







....all dangerous in their own ways.    

[Phssthpok]

Don't forget the Bear PAWS....dangerous in their own way.