Cabin project.

[BillinOregon]

Greg, you also have to do a build along when you get going on your cabin. What part of Wisconsin? My ancestors lived and died in Sauk County.

 

[user 27715]

I'm actually hoping to find land in either Richland, Sauk or Vernon counties. Land is much cheaper and the regulations are fewer the farther from Madison that you get. I am also designing a similar dugout structure to house my Belgian Drafts, a few cattle and a couple dozen chickens.

 

[BillinOregon]

Well, Greg, if you have Belgians we know you can get your timber out!

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Sounds very cool indeed!

LD

 

[coloradoclyde]

The uniform dwelling code is applied statewide and a septic system is required...

This includes "cabins" and all habitable structures.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

I have been toying with a similar idea. I have 25 acres of woods with some really nice big trees. A fellow a couple miles away recently built a log workshop from trees on his property. He did however, put it on an old stone foundation that once held a small frame bungalo. The whole thing is about 12 x 12. I wasn't looking for anything for living in more than a night or two once in awhile. More of a retreat from the big house. Maybe install the little jotul wood stove I bought years ago. A place to "camp" with the grand kids when they visit. To read a book away from the distractions of electronic life. One of our best memories was renting a small weekend cabin that had no electric. thing was only about 14 x 10. three windows and a door.

 

[BillinOregon]

Do it Zimmer. A Jotul is a wonderful companion!

 

[fleener]

I love my log cabin, however, I would NEVER build another one.

They do take some maintenance. Battle carpenter ants, carpenter bees, wood peckers, rot.

The logs check, and open up new places for water to get into for rot.

If my cabin was taken away by a tornado, I would replace it with a steel sided and roofed building to get rid of the outside maintenance issues.

fleener

 

[user 27715]

If the dwelling has no running water then a non-plumbed septic system such as a privy is a legal substitute.

 

[nit wit]

I thought every thing was 5 to 3 ratio!
NW

 

[crockett]

Question for any legal eagle: long line fur trappers build what could be called a "trapper's cabin" with a dirt floor. Some of these are thrown together in a few days and last about a year. The logs aren't peeled. Are these structures a "camp" or a "House". To my knowledge these structures are built without any permits, etc.- often on public land in the middle of no-where. When does a camp turn into a house? If you have a dirt floor is it a camp?

 

[coloradoclyde]

Most public lands have limitations on how long you can camp in one area.. Most also have restrictions on cutting trees.

There's always a "catch 22"

 

[crockett]

I get this idea some folks just do what they want. No one ever knows.

 

[coloradoclyde]

True...just like littering.....Law breakers, such ignorance and lack of respect only prompts the creation of more laws...

 

[BillinOregon]

In another era, this was known as bushcraft.

 

[Nativearizonan]

Around here in the National Forests you might get away with a lean-to made from branches, IF you are not within sight of a road and they don't catch you doing it. I have run across such structures probably made by Boy Scouts or some other group practicing survival skills. Anything that uses considerable materials, or shows considerable labor in construction is a big no-no. Even the simple lean-to is against the rules, but I don't think they are chasing people down for making one in an out of the way place.

They will hunt you down if they find you camping in one spot for more than a couple weeks at most, anywhere on the forest

 

[swathdiver]

I thought every thing was 5 to 3 ratio!
NW

That's for our flag if I remember right. Still pretty close.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

For years I have toyed with getting the local saw mill to cut square timbers and then cutting the mortises to make giant "Lincoln Logs". Sort of an 8 x 10 log cabin, that could be taken apart and transported on a trailer, to a rondy, etc. I figure if the logs are 10 inches high and 6 thick, made of poplar or pine, they would not be unmanageable heavy.

Lighter if a door and three windows are included.

 

[coloradoclyde]

I've seen small cabins brought in whole by trailer or roll back....Much easier than building it on site.

 

[smo]

One of the best I've seen for a single person or a couple was a covered wagon. :thumbsup: It looked cool
and everything stayed reasonable dry. :thumbsup: