12×12 Off-Grid Cabin Started
I started a small cabin in the woods. It will be tiny at 12′ by 12′ with a 12′ by 6′ covered porch. I should get the roof mostly done next week. Then I’ll switch back to building the main house.
Lumber Prices Are Sky High
Lumber prices have increased exponentially since the Spring of 2020…when COVID-19 starting wreaking havoc in the U.S. We are starting to build a little cabin this summer so I’ve been interested in plywood/OSB prices. I can mill any boards I need, but it sure would be nice to use sheet goods on the subfloor, exterior
Making More Raised Garden Beds
We had a nice open area where the harbor freight portable garage was, so we made some more raised beds. These garden beds are made from cedar slabs, or first cuts from the chainsaw mill. I’ve been saving the good ones that have significant heart wood for building projects like this. The finished beds. 1/2
Recovering an Old Harbor Freight Portable Garage
We purchased a Harbor Freight Portable Garage that we used as storage when we first moved here. The tarp covering eventually deteriorated to the point where even copious use of duct tape was not going to fix it. Fortunately, all the stuff inside could be put in the workshop, a utility shed or donated to
Recovering an Old Harbor Freight Portable Garage Read More »
Pole Barn is Done… For Now.
The pole barn is about as finished as it is going to be for a while. It measures 24 feet wide by 16 deep with a 12 by 16 foot loft. For the time being it is mainly for drying lumber. The barn is stacked with 3 pines and 1 poplar tree. They are milled
New Pole Barn
We are making progress on the new pole barn in the back of the property. The roof install is today.
Dangerous Trees
Unfortunately; these 3 red maple trees had to be cut down. They were about 25 feet southwest of the cabin, which is the same direction as much of our prevailing winds. The center tree was half rotted out, as you can see in the photo. We’ve had some high winds this spring and taking care
DIY Sawhorses
I needed some more saw horses and found this design on youtube.com. I added a 2″x 6″ on the very top instead of a 2″x 4″. They work great!
Fencing in the Garden
We let all of our chickens free range, which has caused some trouble in the garden. We quickly added netting around each raised bed, but it was clear that we needed to fence in the entire garden area. We’ve also had racoons, armadillos and other critters in the garden. It took a while, and I
New Woodshed
We needed a woodshed built quickly since we just installed a wood stove. We have quite a bit of fire wood cut and stacked under tarps, but it wasn’t close to the house or split very well. The flooring and wall lumber was milled with the Alaskan chainsaw mill. Ben and I split the cedar