Java Does a Cabin

Well there was some chatter in the RV thread about how it had dies (still ahve the truck) but this is a big part of it. So here goes:

Well I have been looking for some land and cabin for awhile... Finally found something priced well. 8.5 ac, half is real wet. Backs to railroad and creek.

Its a tree house, kinda, legs at the back, supported by trees at the front. Framing is done, some insulation is in, a bathroom is started and its a big project! I am stoked. No power, no water. Should be fun.

Now the day we take possession, we go out and someone broke in.... They stole the woodstove, broke a glass table and took all the can lights, ceiling fans etc that were inside.  berkeleying thieves..... This was Friday night, I had to be 4 hours south Saturday morning, so we rallied back up Sunday top try to secure the place.

So I need to get the roof patched, the roof on the bathroom, and find a new stove.... (pics from the lsiting following)

Before it got broken into and trashed.

Bathroom is the tyvek thing with no roof.

Nice little creek, part of why its a tree house.

First order of business. Secure the damn thing. (I boarded everything up Sat AM. They stole the keys for the snowmobile, and I thought they may come back) Stopped by tractor supply (which is terrible for the wallet) and got a gate, a bunch of chain some locks etc...

Gate done. Forgot my level so its crooked, I mean self opening. 

Ghetto rigged up the old batteries out of the RV, and stole the camera/flood light off the house.

Camera and light, check. I am almost proud of that wiring too.

Step 2, E36 M3ter. Got a natures head composting toilet (lot more to come on this one.....) It needed power, so that got run, and I threw a old sheet of OSB on for a roof.

Came back again mid week, added store style security gate. Not super beefy but hopefully it helps.

30 tons of gravel check. (she forgot to chain the tailgate on the second load.....) 15.60/ton plus delivery

Wow!  Super cool!

Sucks about the burglary, but it does seem a common problem with properties that are unoccupied.  It's important to connect with any neighbors and try to get them to keep on eye on the place.  Naturally, it would be wise to keep the value of anything removable to a minimum, at least until which time the place can be made reasonably secure.  Unfortunately, being fairly remote, a motivated individual could have a lot of time to figure a way to defeat your security.

This looks like the start to a pretty epic camp getaway!  Do you plan to ever run power or dig a well, or are you thinking fully off-grid? 

Very cool. break-ins and squatters are a real problem in lots of vacation areas. To the point that a friend just sold his dream home in the mountains because he felt that he and his wife needed to carry firearms with them to be safe, and that isn't exactly a perfect retirement.

My mountain cabin has been burglar-free in the off-season, but broken into by bears around 10 times over the years. If they can't get through the windows and doors, they'll just peel the siding off and come in through the studs. Or they did, till I wrapped the entire place in wires. Not enough amperage to kill, but enough voltage to give a nasty shock. They are smart creatures and learned very quickly - evidence according to our motion-activated camera.

1988RedT2 said:

Wow!  Super cool!

Sucks about the burglary, but it does seem a common problem with properties that are unoccupied.  It's important to connect with any neighbors and try to get them to keep on eye on the place.  Naturally, it would be wise to keep the value of anything removable to a minimum, at least until which time the place can be made reasonably secure.  Unfortunately, being fairly remote, a motivated individual could have a lot of time to figure a way to defeat your security.

This was a year ago, and we have made friends with a couple of the full time folks who live out there. Unfortunately all sings point to one person who has a bit of a meth habit.... But they don't have a cabin, just empty lot, and have not been seen in a year....

Very true though if someone wants something they can get in there.

In reply to golfduke :

It is pretty awesome! Let me catch up, power is there now.

In reply to Kreb (Forum Supporter) :

Yeah its an ongoing issue for cabin areas. We do have a couple full time folks on the road that does help.

DIWhy ghetto sink done.

$22 water pump and the drain runs down the tree. The sink and faucet I salvaged from a Covid required work site sink.....

Step one, dont buy cheap ass solar controller. It appeared to be simply passing solar voltage to the batteries. Luckily it was just a single 100w panel, but I was seeing 17+ volts..... And it fried my wifi and fan for the toilet.....

But I had a victron unit to use in my truck to run the fridge..... So that got swapped in.

Sink was awesome to have, its hot and dusty, even just washing your hands felt good.

Set up shower.... Its basic. But water bag was 110 deg after sitting in the sun!

Cheap chinese battery water pump is pretty decent, did not want to shell out Milwaukee money. 5 gal is ~a minute, about the same as a typical garden hose.

Worked on handrails, posts are in, need to run cables. Doing minimal to be able to shovel snow thru them.

Not a bad spot.

Added a third brace to the bathroom area, and got one section of roof actually installed. 2x6 rafter 16OC and 3/4 ply. That E36 M3 is heavy. Ran out of motivation to get the tar paper and metal on. But at least that will help with the water off the main roof pooling in the corner there.

Ordered the pellet stove and vent parts, I will just to straight out the wall and patch the hole in the roof. Need bigger less E36 M3 ladder.

Batteries may be a bit weak, or I have one bad one, loading the inverter really dropped the voltage.

In for the updates!

Reminds me of my little off grid cabin... I've been working on it for 25 years. I'm ready to build a treehouse there too!

In reply to java230 :

what little i know of tree growth says they only grow "up" from the top, but i thought they continue to grow in diameter over their entire height for their entire life.  how do you accommodate that?  or is it not true?

Following along.  I'm in the market for something similar, but I'm worried I'll never be able to afford it given today's insane inflation and crazy land/housing prices.  Maybe one day. 

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

There are lots of specialty hardware devices that protect the tree from damage while allowing it to move and grow.

Most of the concepts are about installing pivots and slides and avoiding rigid connections (like would typically be used in a house).  For example... You don't nail or bolt the treehouse directly to the tree.  You bore into it and install metal support pins, and the beams that support the treehouse rest on the pins (instead of bolting the beams to the tree).  Stuff like that.

Look for Pete Nelson "Treehouse Masters" on Animal Planet. 

In reply to SV reX :

I hope I cna be wokring on this one for 25 years!

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :
Yes they only grow up, the height of the bracket where its attached will stay the same. They do grow in diameter, there is a little play, but had I built it I would have left more. Where the trees attach are "beams" that stick out from the structure 3 ish feet, so they should bend a but if nessecary.

In reply to Scotty Con Queso :

Thats why we literally left work to go see this one when it was posted. the right location and priced well. Made an offer the next day.

In reply to SV reX :

Exactly, ours uses the pin and bracket method (except the bathroom....)

Next installment:

Step one, fix hole in roof. Snow ripped the chimney out....

Wife had a good idea... Add a skylight! I got the bigger one, and the flashing even covered all the berkeleyery from the chimney, just had to trim the roofing back~3" all the way around.

Step 2, solar. Super ghetto style.... One pair gets afternoon sun, leaned on tree.

Second pair gets morning sun. Propped up on a 2x6, wires are zip tired to screws in the trees for overhead power 

Solar controller got upgraded..... And gets maxed out.... Whoops. More ghetto wiring for a kitchen light.

]

Bushwhacked to the other end of the property..... berkeleying miserable. Need brush mower....

]

And got some roofing done on the bathroom, that E36 M3 is slick AF.

]

Part of me loves this build, while the other part of me is slightly disappointed that the bathroom isn't just a hole through the floor and a few 'caution, poop falling from sky' signs at ground level, haha. 

In reply to golfduke :

Ha! I do walk under it.... 

Does it have a sleeping loft?

The property looks amazing! Generally speaking, where is it? 

Put the pellet stove in..... This is stove #1.... It got returned and replaced....

Runs fine on high, but on shutdown it smokes the house out. Comes out thru the hopper. I get error 5, low pressure detected at vacuum switch.

The venting is straight out the back, 3" b vent, ~24" of pipe straight is out.

I was running on medium today and dropped it to low and it did the error again.

It's like the exhaust fan just stops and doesn't evacuate the firebox.... Has outdoor air kit.

just out the wall.

Talked to tech support, they told me to start the unit with the hose to the vacuum sensor disconnected.... Then reconnect it and start again. Supposedly that will reset it? But the guy did not seem to really know what he was talking about....

I asked if it was possible to bypass the sensor and he said leaving the hose off would do that. But if its a vacuum sensor wouldn't it not see any vacuum? Or is it trying to see pressure from the blower? IDK....

Anyway, more pics from the weekend.

Forest fire made it pretty damn smokey, and closed the highway..... Long detour to get home. Went from 20 acres to 7600 acres between being reported 5am Saturday to Saturday evening.....

Started on a ski fence until I broke my drill bit....

Moved the batteries upstairs to make room for the stove.

Stove works on the batteries. It does draw them down to 12-11.8V when starting tho.

Does the flue pointing down conform with the stove instructions? Just a guess that could be preventing it from drafting. 

In reply to OHSCrifle :

It should be fine, there is no real draft in a pellet stove, its forced exhaust. 

Again this is catch up, ignore some questions.... 

Roof on bathroom. Need to make boot around the tree. Neoprene? Shower/pond liner?

Going to do skylight below because it's easy and light is good. The galv metal is slippery AF and the low edge of the roof is 20' off 5hr deck. That gives me access and I can finish it off a ladder. Maybe.... 

I added a bunch of cross bracing as I figured there was exactly zero shear....

Fall colors are coming out.

Got some electrical done in the loft. Put some slats on the walls. They were left over from the soffit. But free and I'm not sleeping in insulation any more.

 I have storage now.

Neighbor rented me this tractor, so I'm digging for power....

Getting there. Not a bad machine.

Full sketch. Turned the hilift into a C shape..... Whoops!

Moar!

The POS is gone. Returned it. New similar style one is ordered. Its a little bigger.

Skylight for the bathroom. May need to add some rafters.

Added a drain to the toilet so I don't have to dump pee bottles any more.

Forest fire is kinda berkeleying my road in and out.

I love absolutely everything about this.

calteg said:

I love absolutely everything about this.

Quoted because same.  Java - please keep these updates flowing. 

I've been watching so many Youtube videos about cabins/camping lately.  There's just something so fulfilling about a "cabin in the woods."