Off Grid building has become very popular in the past few years as people want to move to areas that are remote but still have some of the comforts found in a modern home. Your ability to build your remote off grid cabin will depend on a few things including your skill level and available materials. If your property has road access then you will be able to bring in a much larger variety of materials to build with. If you are building in an area that you need to hike in to get to then your building materials will be limited to what you can carry and what you can find in the area.
This can really be the make or break point for people wanting to build a remote cabin. The access that they have to bring in materials or the materials that are available. People have lofty ideas of packing in with an ax and a hand saw and building a log cabin out of timber that is cleared from the spot they will build. Although I do know a man that did this in Alaska where he build a small 10×15 cabin with a fireplace from almost all materials found at the location it took him months to build his cabin that was only large enough to support maybe two people.
In reality if you want to build a fireplace you will need to pack in some portland cement for your mortar to build the chimney. If you want a wood burning stove then you will have to pack it in in pieces and then build it in place. There are always options to use materials on site for building but you need to have the skills to prepare them and the time to do it. However you will have to make decisions on what your off grid cabin is going to be.
Is Your Off Grid Cabin For Extended Living Or Overnight Stays?
Deciding how you will use your off grid cabin is as important as any other decision you will make in its construction. If you are simply building a sturdy shelter that you can use for recreation on the weekends then your needs are much smaller than building a home that you will live in for an extended period of weeks or months.
Recreational shelters can be built in a few days and then improved every time you visit. As you visit more often you can add features such as a fireplace for heating, water storage, surfaces for food preparation and sleeping. You should think of recreational shelters as being temporary where you may use it as you build a more functional shelter or you might rebuild it or even abandon it. The primary concern will be getting up four walls and a roof where you will be out of the elements.
Permanent Cabins are a completely different thing. This is where you build from the start the building you expect to live in for extended periods of time. It might be something you live in for a few weeks every summer or a place you call your home. There are many more considerations for your primary needs such as access to potable water, how you will handle bathroom waste, what options you have for electric, heating, cooling and how you will store your food.
For many people who are homesteading and converting undeveloped property into their future home I often recommend that they try to find a single wide trailer that they can live in because they are often easy to find for free. This is not as romantic but your cost might only be a couple thousand dollars to get it moved to your property and then you have a shelter that you can depend on while you are building something more. You might even find that it is enough for your needs but it is a real option even if there is some out of pocket cost because it is an instant home that is out of the elements and having this shelter to retreat to is going to keep you from wearing out. In the end you can sell it or keep it for other use.
Milling Your Own Lumber For Your Off Grid Cabin
If you were building a log cabin out of round timber there are still times where you will need to mill lumber for it. An Alaskan Chainsaw Mill is one of the most popular ways to mill a small amount of lumber for things like door and window jams and beams. The one problem you will have is the ability to pack in or bring in fuel and bar oil for the chain. You will also want to have a number of pre-sharpened chains ready while you are milling this way you can change out a chain quickly as they will tend to dull fast when you are milling long boards.
Another option is a small gasoline driven bandsaw mill. These mills are really great if you have access to equipment that can help you get the logs on and off of the mill. In other words when you handle large logs you are going to need the help of something like a backhoe or mini excavator to position the log on the mill. If you are clearing property then you might have access to this equipment.
Fireplace Building For Your Off Grid Cabin
We quickly touched on this above when mentioning your ability to bring in materials for construction. When you are building a recreational shelter you can build your own fireplace relatively easily with stone you find in your area. You want to stay away from porous stone and use dense stone that won’t absorb a lot of water and then react when a fire is set in it. You will also need portland cement so you can mortar your stone joints.
If you are building a permanent cabin then you need to take your fireplace really serious. You will be in a remote area and problems with chimneys can lead to building fires. For that reason you might want to consider a wood burning stove with a double wall insulated chimney. A cast iron one can also double as a cooking surface. If you want to build a fireplace on a structure that you will be living in for extended periods then you should really follow exact designs on fireplace building which I can not describe here but you will need professional materials like fire brick and metal dampeners and cast chimney flues to provide a safe experience.
Fasteners, Hinges And Other Hardware
No matter what type of structure you are building there are going to be some things that you just need to bring in. Nails and Screws and specialty fasteners are going to make both a recreational and permanent structure safer and easier to build.
A Coil of Steel Strapping, Metal Plates and Joist Hangers or other metal fastening products can make joining your timbers much easier and secure. If you are building a conventional round log cabin you will need to drive rebar through the logs to stabilize your walls. What you will need will depend on the complexity of your design.
Even if you are building your own door out of milled material you will need high quality hinges and door handles. If you are building in an area where bears are then you should take this seriously.
Final Note
This How To is just a beginning to what you can expect when you are considering building an off grid cabin. There is a romance in the idea of building your own log cabin in the woods but the fact is if only one person or a few people are building the cabin then you really need to come to terms with your ability and your resources.
Yes you can use an Alaskan Chainsaw Mill to get some of your lumber but the fact is they are very slow and they are hard on your equipment. If you are determined to build with a gasoline lumber mill or with larger timbers then you will have to consider the weight of the logs. The last thing you want to do is hurt yourself in the woods because you were over exerting yourself.
In the end conventional materials are often best for any permanent structure that you are going to call your home. If you are living a wilderness survival lifestyle then your needs are much less and building a temporary and smaller structure just for hunting or camping might only take you a couple weeks but it won’t be something you want to raise your family in.
Like I said if your cabin is for the reason of homesteading then in reality you are probably best to look for a single wide trailer or maybe a camper that you can bring to your property to live in while you prepare your land.
On the other hand if you have a lot of six inch straight pine and you want to build a 10×16 cabin then its really not too difficult to do if you learn the skills and prepare.