No shot, my recommended algorithm strikes again. I dont know if you remember me, we spent some time together studying at Haaga-Helia back in 2023. Best greetings from Germany - Leon. Never knew you created this channel, so cool man! Very hyped for the both of you
Keep your different building placements in mind for after winter then the water level might rise. You dont want to build things on ground thats either under water or waterlogged. Some more tips; this might not work Finland might run things different than here in Sweden, but ask your local municipality if they got a survey or GIS department. They might have data that could be of use to your decision making. Ask if they have LAS data (basically a laser scan of the island and the surrounding land) with that you can get a better overview of the islands terrain. Ask for orthophotos, (basically satellite imagery with way better resolution, photos taken from a plane) with metadata like time and date when the images where take. You might be able to see seasonal changes to the island and surrounding land. Also ask if they have surveys of the island or surrounding land, there could be environmental surveys or just land surveys, like where the property line is etc. Non of these might change anything for you but its always a good idea to look for these kind of informational sources.
Looks like they have a drone, so they conceivably could make their own orthomosaics which would be higher resolution and more recent compared with satellite
@@joevergreen yea the problem is that they have to wait for the floods to video it with their drone, and then its too late already if theyve built something
Your your not wrong your not wrong. There is a way to plan and build for flood/ice flows. However the size and general health of the trees does tell me it would probably be okay for 50 year floods.
I think i would build the cabin in middle on the high ground and build a winch system to drag the trees up and hang a big deck of that steep part to have the best views you can Access to water on all sides when you start felling trees it wiill open up the views ,but you have the right idea though ,and that is a very cool island, good luck and dont let anyone descerage you on your dream,good luck looking forward to seeing your progress in the future
Dont "clean up" the dead trees! They are so vital to the ecosystem on your island. You are isolated from other ecosystems so you have to make sure yours is healthy!
we did that in california, massive wildfires followed... you know what firefighters call fallen trees? fuel. Native americans used to burn down entire forests every so often to control them. we have fire resistant trees for a reason here. but we didn't do either. either we burn ahead of time or we manage by culling, you can't have it both ways
Hey guys!! We bought a 62 acre island on a lake in the wilderness of Canada 2 years ago Great to see your story too. Each day brings another amazing challenge but it really is dream of our lives too! Keep on keeping on!! 💚
@mywildholm we've been watching your channel and you guys are the coolest people! 62 acres is HUGE we saw you had a bad accident, hope everything is okay 💪
I wish you luck. I recommend leaving some trees in the shoreline between the buildings and the water, it gives more privacy, if a boat passes, for instance. And of course they also provide some protection from the wind. Finland has quite strict building code, so I hope you acquired the needed building permissions to avoid any difficulties with the bureaucracy later.
I had a similar tent. Beware during winter any wet snow on top of tent can and will collapse it. I had mine collapse and bend the middle support pole. I replaced it with 11 cm thick real wood one. Recommend you do the same. Also get a rain sheet to put on top of your tent. It will make snow slip off easier. A remote read trail cam could help monitor snow conditions.
Also remember that sleeping in a sauna cabin in the summer time is quite uncomfortable because it gets really hot there when you heat the sauna. Its good to have the tent there
Building in the south side generally gives the best sun exposure, but that east spot doesn't look that bad either. Can't wait to see the actual process next year.
I would see how much the water rises during spring next year when the snow and ice melts. And how soft the ground gets near the water before deciding on where you'll build your stuff on the island. Might be better to have the sauna a bit more elevated and further from the shore than you would want to due to this.
Greetings from a Tiny Island in Maine, USA . Nice sized island! Ours is only 1/2 acre but it works well for us over the last 50 years. The outhouse was the first structure and the log cabin was built next. We use a Honda 2000 generator when needed. Plenty of videos on my channel if you’re interested in seeing our set up along with other general life stuff 😂 Best of luck with your adventure 😊
I think you should start with a toolshed/workspace. It makes everything you build a lot easier. We used a big tent as a "building shed," and it makes progress possible even when the weather is bad!
+1. a workbench, vice, sheltered workspace, dry storage for tools and parts. invaluable. kit form tin sheds are pretty cheap, with a lean-to open roofed area (looks like youve figured out basic log construction) is a very nice quality of life improvement. as fellow islanders, that was the first thing that we sorted, we were sleeping in swags for months. quick to establish, and gives you somewhere safe to keep tools, materials, the packed away swags, basic food, fuel etc. our nearest hardware store is almost 100km away, so we really want to have all the basic construction stuff on hand. we were lucky enough to get ahold of a deceased estate of a carpenter, so have a whole pile of half used boxes of nails, screws, bolts, brackets, all that good stuff. all our hand tools are lithium, so a simple solar setup keeps our batteries running. I can see the appeal of getting some creature comforts in, but having a functional shed space makes every other thing you want to build sooooo much easier.
I think you should have a pro (surveyor or lumberjack) check the trees and tell you which would be best to use and how many you actually need. and stuff. (After you decided where what goes since you'll have to clear the buildings sites no matter what.
@@robertmuckle2985 I think that's what's intended. this day and age. my first ever gig (a teen in high school) was running powersaw on a crew (longgg time ago). now they hire actual trained arborists for same gig
for a 10X20 saddle notch log cabin, you'll need 40 logs, twenty of them 14' long, twenty of them 25' long, each douglas fir you cut will give you one of each, keep the long skinny leftovers for purlins. dimensional lumber is the best choice for a floor.... Takes about 250 to 300 days for one man to build by himself with hand tools, about half that time with a chainsaw and cordless drill.
@@NellieNutkins yes those are mainly pinus sylvestris, with a bunch of different names like the baltic pine. Pretty similar woods, though the pine is much less moisture resistant so might have to be careful with it. But its very common tree for building log cabins here and works for it well.
When you guys start having to move more materials to the island, it might be worth it to buy a cheap pontoon to use as a ferry across the lake. Just an idea
The solar panel does not work if there are shadows. Start by removing the wire covering the panel. After that, you can move the panels to the south shore of the island. When you connect the panels in series, there is no significant power drop. Buy 2x6 mm2 cable which is the cheapest.
That is gonna be least of his worries. Buddy is gonna be in a world of hurt soon. Finnish winters are harsh, long and very very dark. I mean 2 hours of sun dark at the southern most points of this country. Where i live it's more like 10 minutes of sunlight and at some points 0 sunlight for few weeks. Im not knocking them down for trying but they really could have not picked a more wrong country to try this in. We are famous for having short summers and having really long winters. As im saying this it literally started snow where i live and it's only start of october.
@@Ps1ClassicGameplaythey both already live in Finland and know what the winter is like, and have clearly stated that the vast majority of work will be done in the summer months due to weather and lighting conditions.
Your main House should be on top of that High Spot - great views and no rising water problems. The space looked big enough for a decent size home, but you can use stilts to create a bigger foot print. Why would you not build a House first... you still have your portable sauna! I'm totally rooting for you guys! You will need a Pot-able water tank for the main house ... basically you need to look at a lot of UA-cam videos about OFF GRID Living as it's obvious you have much to learn. You cant afford to learn as you go.
I just found this video. I was wondering.... When you buy an ISLAND, who do you buy it from? What type of work do you do to support yourself? Where are you from? I DON'T mean to sound nosey.....This is so fascinating and exciting to me!! I really look forward to watching this all come together. I wish you the very BEST.
From landowner (private citizen, company, municipality, churc or state). Biggest lawoners in Finland are private citizens, state, municipalitys and church.
Beautiful island, congrats on the location and the progress! Couple of points you may have already considered, but haven't talked about (at least here): - For your water supply, make sure you're planning for/around possible freezes. Depending how quickly temperature changes in your area, if there is water in an uninsulated line, it could freeze fast enough to rupture your fittings/pipes/hoses/tanks overnight. - For the power/batteries, check their operational temperature requirements/performance. Seeing how the lake/waterway freezes over, you may have energy storage issues in the winter if you can't keep those batteries above the minimum operational temps. - Do you have to deal with any Animal migration paths/territories? As I don't know what the animal situation is in this area, but maybe some form of deterrent structure to reduce potential for wildlife coming up into your camp areas directly? Could be as simple as a hewn log fence, because even "friendly" wildlife can be destructive if not monitored/discouraged from coming into the living spaces you're using, and even then, they can be aggressive during certain seasons/events. If you eventually plan to have any form of "farm" (even just a growing bed or two), this may become a more important aspect, but even without, it is something to keep in mind. Again, congrats on the location and here's to your many years of enjoyment!
it may sound crazy. but get a sawmill instead of a log cabin. a log cabin takes an insane amount of wood, that huge pine could probably build a third of the cabin….again your dream
It would probably be beneficial for the islands eco system to leave the dead wood scattered around the island. You can remove or rather move the dead trees that are obstructing the paths
I love to watch your videos and see all the great progress and it's looking good! Since you ask for feedback(*don't do that in the internet *laughting*); here's my thoughts: I would seriously reconsider building a log cabin and put up a wooden frame cabin. This is my arguments: - It would take a LOT of logs - The logs would have to be quite straight (same dimension) for each row (and that will require even more logs) - The logs will have to be quite dry - It will be very heavy (how do you plan to support it? directly on the soil? gravel? stone? concrete or a deck?) - The walls will be quite thick and will make less space inside and hard to fit windows or doors. - How are you planning to insulate it (you are still in Finland) And how about wiring or even (future) plumbing? Are you going to add a layer inside? - Since the wall will do much of the bearing of the entire structure: You may limit the windows and get less light. And It is also quite hard to extend it later... Just wanted to input some of my immediate thoughts for you to think about during the winter... I may be wrong... Or maybe make the Sauna with logs first and the decide... Maybe you find out it's allright and prove us all wrong... Another thought: I assume the lake will freeze during winter and that would be a great time to haul in some materials for use next summer. But remember: Keep up the good work, your great spirit and do what makes you happy (not me or anyone else) 🙂
If allowed, you may want to consider clearing a small area right on the shoreline of the south side of the island. Put your solar panels there, mounted high enough to be safe from snow and any high water of course. You can then keep the trees behind the solar array as a bit of a privacy screen.
I would suggest creating a decent dock for your boat, ideally cut into land with open flat land beside - you will be bringing lots of material onto the island and you don't want to lose your boat in a storm ?
An exciting project. Battery chargeable tools would be really useful with the solar system. We love Einhell. The batteries are mostly interchangeable with all the tools. We have two chargers and always several batteries ready to use. Maybe the flat area, closer to the water, would be a good place to make a permanent fire pit with seating. It would be great in the summer if you have visitors. And it might also be a good idea to keep some level areas for visitors/helpers to camp on.
Don’t use birch to build log anything with… I hope you know that… both spruce and pine are good… I suggest you look into “cordwood masonry” as well…faster to build and also much warmer… I’d build on the highest point of the island myself for the greatest view and avoid close to the water level, you never know when that could rise
Maybe put the dead trees in a pile, it's amazing for inviting nature. You would get lots of mushroom and cool stuff grows on it. Really amazing island!
Hey! You should watch Wild Homestead channel where James builds a log cabin. It’s really good channel and good tips and learnings on what to take in to account when building a log cabin yourself. 😊
@@Off-Grid-Island There is also videos from building a traditional Finnish log house. I think you would get good information from those with how to do it.
Look up Maine Cabin Masters and see how they have done the post and beam foundation for the cabins they build/fix. They stuff can show you a lot of how to do your foundations for the bigger structures. Keep going, you are for sure learning and doing it the right way. Slow and steady man, you got this.
I saw you making the sink stand. Any shaky structure (sink, shower, etc.) needs diagonal bracing. It usually needs diagonal braces in both the side-to-side direction and the front-to-back direction. I know you'll get all these things by yourself pretty quickly, but thought I'd give 2 cents.
A log cabin is VERY challenging to build without thorough knowledge about it. Basic thing like installing the doors and the windows and even cupboards inside etc. is totally different from normal wood building. And wrong installation may even ruin the building if not done properly. And you will need a s__tload of big logs. Properly dried logs. I hope you understood that getting to the island in the terms between summer and winter might be almost impossible and at least very difficult and EXTREMELY dangerous if you do not have a hovercraft. When there is ice but it is not thick enough you can not get there. And taking heavy building materials there is even more difficult. Island is romantic of course but also very challenging place to build on. But a beautiful place, congrats!
Best of luck, living off the grid has its challenges but rewarding and will teach you many skills. I'd make a suggestion of considering construction of a water wheel, to utilise the natural flow of water, to create electric current, to charge your portable storage power station. It does not have to be too big, there are designs here on UA-cam.. you won't need to worry about ambient light then, to get charge from your solar panels.
mayby setup some storage/workshop/staging area at that flatspot, I dont know what your grandplan is for the island, but birds and bugs (food for birds) love dead trees, i'd keep some around
It has really made me think recently how absurd it is that our parents and grandparents could ever complain in passing about "how hard times were" or crap like that. They could afford so much more than any of us can these days.
I really like your enthusiasm but I like address couple of problems you have with your building plan. If you're going to build the sauna cabin from logs A you can't use fresh timber. You have to use logs that have dried to about 18% moisture content. B You can't get enough logs from your island. Most of the trees are too small. C Which is the main problem at this point. Building a log cabin is difficult and way beyond your skill level at the moment. I don't mean this in any negative way just some realism. You will learn about building and best case scenario would be that you get a pro to build your sauna cabin who is willing to teach you log building. But first you should make some concrete plans and calculations. Building stuff isn't cheap in Finland mainly because there is shit load of strict regulation that you have to comply.
He plans to cut in winter... Trees are quite dry in winter as they send the moisture into the roots. He still needs to de-bark and put them out to dry in an airy location but he should be able to build with them in under 6 months if he cuts in winter. After sap runs it'll take an extra season to dry for sure
Totally agree all your points. Fresh cut logs are heavy. You cannot really handle them alone easily. And you need those really big trees for log building (at least 20cm cross section after debarking and measured from thin end). Logs need to dry for years before building. Trees on your island are mostly too thin and young for proper cabin building and you need at least 60 to 80 of them for small sauna. It will take years for professional to do it alone. Buy a premade log cabin kit from local company. It will be manageable for you but not too easy. At least logs are precut and dried so you save so many hundreds of manhours of backbreaking manual labor and time for yourself if you try to do all that work without heavy equipment and all by yourself.
wildlife cameras might be good to get a better idea of what happens year round....while you're staying there, a few trip wire alarms might also be good to both scare off predators and to give you enough warning to prepare...
Thank you for the video👍 I have one hint for you about electricity. To cabin only 230v AC. Not any DC. With AC you can buy normal equipments. I made 230v AC to our cabin with 2 solar panels, charger, batteries and inverter. All them near the lake southside and then with AC cable to cabin. We have fridge, hoover, coffee machine, lightnings and TV running AC.
Keep in mind you don't have an endless supply of firewood. You're going to have to start migrating to some type of solar powered heating. Very nice location...!!! 😊
It needs to be drained in winter. An insulated doghouse is not much help for a Finnish winter without a constant heat source. It can be left in the cold but you do have to completely drain it.
There are thousands and thousands of island cabins in Finland. Winters need to be taken into consideration during building of course, but it's very possible to have a nice island cabin here.
Good luck with the planning permission for sauna if you cant get it further inland. 10m minimum from shore and in some places 40-50 meters. Plus you need to filter the water or catch it into a tank.
10x10m is a HUGE cabin, I dont even think Sean of My Self Reliance's new cabin is that big, and it is a big fkn cabin. A big space takes much more wood to heat, keep that in mind.
Before you build a cabin, you need a dug in shelter to survive winter. Tent will not be enough for cold winter. But if you go below ground in a hole with a log roof and have a wood stove, you will be all set.
We survive through the winter in tents just fine here in Finland during military service. You seem to forget that humans lived in tents even in the coldest places on the planet before we invented houses.
I kinda feel like you should look for an incline, dig into it and then build your cabin into the soil. this doesn't only reduce the amount of resources needed to build the cabin, it also keeps warmer in winter.
amazing place. I would not remove all those fallen trees. They are good for insects, which in turn are food for birds and animals. Clean is nice to look at, but a little untidy is better for nature.
If you can afford to do so, I suggest having 2-3 solar powered batteries/power banks that you can hand carry, like Jackery. Then move your solar panels to whichever location is getting the best exposure for the time of year, and change out the power banks as needed to keep your power topped up.
ur tankless water heater is NOT gonna survive the winter if it freezes , i dont remember if u saw my last comment on that but our cabin blew a few off them the first winter we even drained it with compressed air and it still froze and cracked and its non repairable
Sweet project! Saw your story in the news, and that you’re from laguna. North Laguna sending you a howdy and wishing you good times on your adventure. It’s Friday, trash day in this part of town so not much going on but that classic October sun on the ocean. Side note-I’ve got a friend from the Hintsa family in Finland. I was on an expedition in Pakistan with her a few years ago. Maybe visit one of these years. Cheers!
New follow here. Love your island and what you’re doing. My suggestion would be to build your main cabin facing south west to take advantage of the sun as much as possible. Sunset views are also the best! Can’t wait to see what you do.
That flat area towards the end of the video where you set up the big tent for the first time looks really cool for a campfire. The fire in the middle, some logs around it to sit on and a really cool view of the lake.
I just love the fact that you learned to pronounce sauna correctly ^-^ Also. On the top of the island. Build a water reservoir tower. Comes handy during winter. Then just drop a pump hose on the deepest part of the lake / river to ensure water collecting. Add small water treatment system and ya have drinking water and shower water.
If you look at finnish maps most lakes are most built on the north to northeast side of the lake so you get evening sun. On an island that would be southwest of the island. Having the cabin on the evening sun side also means the water is going to be warmer. Building on east side of an island means you get morning sun. Paikkatietoikkuna is the finnish map service.
Some countries have a law ,that greenhouses do not count as building ,or only half .It might be ,that you could build as extension to your main cabin ,towards south ,a greenhouse ,that count only half per square meter and helps warming your main room and enables eatable growth . Of course ,you need to account for weight of snow and the force of sliding snow .For collecting humus ,without paying anything ,use the rotten wood of fallen trees and your veg waste and pee .Since you are likely using wood for construction ,collect stones and good clay earth to be placed around fireplace for heat retention and safety .I used to live a hermit live in Scandinavia ,know the need for heat storage and remember one guy in the woods ,with a greenhouse ,heated by a big ,laid down oil drum ,able to have tree trunks put in ,lasting whole day without feeding fire ,who even grew tasty grapes .Another important construction is a frost free and mice free root cellar ! Check on traditional Scandinavian designs ,but improve on mice protection . strong overhanging roofs ,leading prolonged rain away from walls and slanted enough to prevent to much weight of snow are very important as well .
* Investing in an alaskan sawmill is probably a really good investment for you guys. * Take into account that the level of the lake can rise by quite a bit (I assume, not sure what your lake is connected to etc). A friends friend have a cabin on a small island as well, and that basement got flooded this spring/early summer, and they had the base of the cabin like 1.5-2m above the waterline. So, keep in mind that the water level fluctuates. * That "huggkubbe" (stump you're chopping wood on) could be a bit high. It probably works decent with that small axe, but you'll probably need a better axe for chopping larger pieces of wood. Look at auctions, or 2nd hand stores etc, you never know if you'll find something useful there :P
In Finnish, sauna is pronounced “sow-nah,” with the first syllable rhyming with the word for a female pig. Finnish speakers, though, will even quibble with that, saying it doesn't quite capture the accurate pronunciation. The Americanized version is pronounced “sah-nah,” or “saw-nah.”May 8, 2023
Great island and nice visions. I hope you have found out what the building code is for your local area and the island. You could find it rather strict and probably will need a permit for building any permanent building. The process can be slow and they will need plans from you as well.
No shot, my recommended algorithm strikes again. I dont know if you remember me, we spent some time together studying at Haaga-Helia back in 2023. Best greetings from Germany - Leon. Never knew you created this channel, so cool man! Very hyped for the both of you
Keep your different building placements in mind for after winter then the water level might rise. You dont want to build things on ground thats either under water or waterlogged.
Some more tips; this might not work Finland might run things different than here in Sweden, but ask your local municipality if they got a survey or GIS department. They might have data that could be of use to your decision making. Ask if they have LAS data (basically a laser scan of the island and the surrounding land) with that you can get a better overview of the islands terrain. Ask for orthophotos, (basically satellite imagery with way better resolution, photos taken from a plane) with metadata like time and date when the images where take. You might be able to see seasonal changes to the island and surrounding land. Also ask if they have surveys of the island or surrounding land, there could be environmental surveys or just land surveys, like where the property line is etc. Non of these might change anything for you but its always a good idea to look for these kind of informational sources.
Thanks Karen 🥱
@@bluezorro999 Tell me you don't have any idea about what a Karen is without saying you have no idea what a Karen is.
Looks like they have a drone, so they conceivably could make their own orthomosaics which would be higher resolution and more recent compared with satellite
@@joevergreen yea the problem is that they have to wait for the floods to video it with their drone, and then its too late already if theyve built something
Your your not wrong your not wrong. There is a way to plan and build for flood/ice flows. However the size and general health of the trees does tell me it would probably be okay for 50 year floods.
I think i would build the cabin in middle on the high ground and build a winch system to drag the trees up and hang a big deck of that steep part to have the best views you can Access to water on all sides when you start felling trees it wiill open up the views ,but you have the right idea though ,and that is a very cool island, good luck and dont let anyone descerage you on your dream,good luck looking forward to seeing your progress in the future
Dont "clean up" the dead trees! They are so vital to the ecosystem on your island. You are isolated from other ecosystems so you have to make sure yours is healthy!
we did that in california, massive wildfires followed... you know what firefighters call fallen trees? fuel. Native americans used to burn down entire forests every so often to control them. we have fire resistant trees for a reason here. but we didn't do either. either we burn ahead of time or we manage by culling, you can't have it both ways
@@Freerunx3 This is in finland. It is almost always wet. also it is on an island.
@@safg5701 Homie, Finland is experiencing the effects of climate change as much anywhere else.
Climate change🤣 Or maybe Santa Claus needs the timber for his toy factory? He lives in Finland, right?
@@grammarofficerkrupke4398 I like how you went out of your way to let me know you're stupid. ☺
Hey guys!! We bought a 62 acre island on a lake in the wilderness of Canada 2 years ago Great to see your story too. Each day brings another amazing challenge but it really is dream of our lives too! Keep on keeping on!! 💚
@mywildholm we've been watching your channel and you guys are the coolest people! 62 acres is HUGE we saw you had a bad accident, hope everything is okay 💪
I've just subscribed to your channel now handy i read comments 🎉
Hey there!!! @David_Blong Thank you so much - it's been an amazing journey! 💚
how much did it cost?
I wish you luck. I recommend leaving some trees in the shoreline between the buildings and the water, it gives more privacy, if a boat passes, for instance. And of course they also provide some protection from the wind.
Finland has quite strict building code, so I hope you acquired the needed building permissions to avoid any difficulties with the bureaucracy later.
I had a similar tent. Beware during winter any wet snow on top of tent can and will collapse it. I had mine collapse and bend the middle support pole. I replaced it with 11 cm thick real wood one. Recommend you do the same. Also get a rain sheet to put on top of your tent. It will make snow slip off easier. A remote read trail cam could help monitor snow conditions.
I would build a little castle up there
Also remember that sleeping in a sauna cabin in the summer time is quite uncomfortable because it gets really hot there when you heat the sauna. Its good to have the tent there
In Ukraine I saw a lot of saunas built along with a dining/kitchen areas, I guess because people here like to combine going to sauna with drinking :)
Building in the south side generally gives the best sun exposure, but that east spot doesn't look that bad either. Can't wait to see the actual process next year.
Usually south or southwest for evening sun. You don't want the sun shining into the cabin in the morning.
I would see how much the water rises during spring next year when the snow and ice melts. And how soft the ground gets near the water before deciding on where you'll build your stuff on the island. Might be better to have the sauna a bit more elevated and further from the shore than you would want to due to this.
Greetings from a Tiny Island in Maine, USA . Nice sized island! Ours is only 1/2 acre but it works well for us over the last 50 years.
The outhouse was the first structure and the log cabin was built next.
We use a Honda 2000 generator when needed.
Plenty of videos on my channel if you’re interested in seeing our set up along with other general life stuff 😂
Best of luck with your adventure 😊
Again, your 1st time efforts are inspiring!
You guys have accomplished so much in your 1st season.
Plus recording it to share!
👍👍✔️✔️👏👏👏👏👏
I think you should start with a toolshed/workspace. It makes everything you build a lot easier. We used a big tent as a "building shed," and it makes progress possible even when the weather is bad!
+1. a workbench, vice, sheltered workspace, dry storage for tools and parts. invaluable. kit form tin sheds are pretty cheap, with a lean-to open roofed area (looks like youve figured out basic log construction) is a very nice quality of life improvement. as fellow islanders, that was the first thing that we sorted, we were sleeping in swags for months. quick to establish, and gives you somewhere safe to keep tools, materials, the packed away swags, basic food, fuel etc. our nearest hardware store is almost 100km away, so we really want to have all the basic construction stuff on hand. we were lucky enough to get ahold of a deceased estate of a carpenter, so have a whole pile of half used boxes of nails, screws, bolts, brackets, all that good stuff. all our hand tools are lithium, so a simple solar setup keeps our batteries running. I can see the appeal of getting some creature comforts in, but having a functional shed space makes every other thing you want to build sooooo much easier.
I think you should start with English lessons!!!!!!!!!
@@robert953 there sure are some sad people on this earth
I think you should have a pro (surveyor or lumberjack) check the trees and tell you which would be best to use and how many you actually need. and stuff. (After you decided where what goes since you'll have to clear the buildings sites no matter what.
A "lumberjack"??😂 I think an arborist would be a better choice.
@@robertmuckle2985 I think that's what's intended. this day and age. my first ever gig (a teen in high school) was running powersaw on a crew (longgg time ago). now they hire actual trained arborists for same gig
The guy is Finnish, he can do it all :)
for a 10X20 saddle notch log cabin, you'll need 40 logs, twenty of them 14' long, twenty of them 25' long, each douglas fir you cut will give you one of each, keep the long skinny leftovers for purlins. dimensional lumber is the best choice for a floor.... Takes about 250 to 300 days for one man to build by himself with hand tools, about half that time with a chainsaw and cordless drill.
Douglas fir is native to North America no? They are in Finland.
@@NellieNutkins yes those are mainly pinus sylvestris, with a bunch of different names like the baltic pine. Pretty similar woods, though the pine is much less moisture resistant so might have to be careful with it. But its very common tree for building log cabins here and works for it well.
When you guys start having to move more materials to the island, it might be worth it to buy a cheap pontoon to use as a ferry across the lake. Just an idea
You truly need to have many more trees.
The solar panel does not work if there are shadows. Start by removing the wire covering the panel. After that, you can move the panels to the south shore of the island. When you connect the panels in series, there is no significant power drop. Buy 2x6 mm2 cable which is the cheapest.
Yes most people do not understand that even shadow from wire or fallen leaf can block 50% panel production easy.
That is gonna be least of his worries. Buddy is gonna be in a world of hurt soon. Finnish winters are harsh, long and very very dark. I mean 2 hours of sun dark at the southern most points of this country. Where i live it's more like 10 minutes of sunlight and at some points 0 sunlight for few weeks. Im not knocking them down for trying but they really could have not picked a more wrong country to try this in. We are famous for having short summers and having really long winters. As im saying this it literally started snow where i live and it's only start of october.
@@Ps1ClassicGameplaythey both already live in Finland and know what the winter is like, and have clearly stated that the vast majority of work will be done in the summer months due to weather and lighting conditions.
@@Ps1ClassicGameplay Yep. But it is so nice to look at his optimism... We were like that once but then reality hit.
Good luck with building your cabin. Looking forward to seeing your progress.
Your main House should be on top of that High Spot - great views and no rising water problems. The space looked big enough for a decent size home, but you can use stilts to create a bigger foot print. Why would you not build a House first... you still have your portable sauna! I'm totally rooting for you guys! You will need a Pot-able water tank for the main house ... basically you need to look at a lot of UA-cam videos about OFF GRID Living as it's obvious you have much to learn. You cant afford to learn as you go.
Everything looks awesome, i would try to build a rack for the solar panels up over the tent, that way they'll get the most direct sunlight posible
I just found this video. I was wondering.... When you buy an ISLAND, who do you buy it from? What type of work do you do to support yourself? Where are you from?
I DON'T mean to sound nosey.....This is so fascinating and exciting to me!! I really look forward to watching this all come together. I wish you the very BEST.
From landowner (private citizen, company, municipality, churc or state).
Biggest lawoners in Finland are private citizens, state, municipalitys and church.
Exactly my question. Where are all the island for sale. Never saw a listing for an island.
@@anj000 Hey...psst....wanna buy an island? Good quality, very cheap.
I love how you've done this on the cheap and made things work.
Beautiful island, congrats on the location and the progress!
Couple of points you may have already considered, but haven't talked about (at least here):
- For your water supply, make sure you're planning for/around possible freezes. Depending how quickly temperature changes in your area, if there is water in an uninsulated line, it could freeze fast enough to rupture your fittings/pipes/hoses/tanks overnight.
- For the power/batteries, check their operational temperature requirements/performance. Seeing how the lake/waterway freezes over, you may have energy storage issues in the winter if you can't keep those batteries above the minimum operational temps.
- Do you have to deal with any Animal migration paths/territories? As I don't know what the animal situation is in this area, but maybe some form of deterrent structure to reduce potential for wildlife coming up into your camp areas directly? Could be as simple as a hewn log fence, because even "friendly" wildlife can be destructive if not monitored/discouraged from coming into the living spaces you're using, and even then, they can be aggressive during certain seasons/events.
If you eventually plan to have any form of "farm" (even just a growing bed or two), this may become a more important aspect, but even without, it is something to keep in mind.
Again, congrats on the location and here's to your many years of enjoyment!
it may sound crazy. but get a sawmill instead of a log cabin. a log cabin takes an insane amount of wood, that huge pine could probably build a third of the cabin….again your dream
Issue of transporting the portable sawmill to the island.
@@maryhduke2307 Could be done during winter time.
Thicker they are the better the insulation
Stay the course and keep building your dreams,you’re getting some great advice!
It would probably be beneficial for the islands eco system to leave the dead wood scattered around the island. You can remove or rather move the dead trees that are obstructing the paths
I love to watch your videos and see all the great progress and it's looking good!
Since you ask for feedback(*don't do that in the internet *laughting*); here's my thoughts:
I would seriously reconsider building a log cabin and put up a wooden frame cabin.
This is my arguments:
- It would take a LOT of logs
- The logs would have to be quite straight (same dimension) for each row (and that will require even more logs)
- The logs will have to be quite dry
- It will be very heavy (how do you plan to support it? directly on the soil? gravel? stone? concrete or a deck?)
- The walls will be quite thick and will make less space inside and hard to fit windows or doors.
- How are you planning to insulate it (you are still in Finland) And how about wiring or even (future) plumbing? Are you going to add a layer inside?
- Since the wall will do much of the bearing of the entire structure: You may limit the windows and get less light. And It is also quite hard to extend it later...
Just wanted to input some of my immediate thoughts for you to think about during the winter... I may be wrong...
Or maybe make the Sauna with logs first and the decide... Maybe you find out it's allright and prove us all wrong...
Another thought:
I assume the lake will freeze during winter and that would be a great time to haul in some materials for use next summer.
But remember:
Keep up the good work, your great spirit and do what makes you happy (not me or anyone else) 🙂
That was the best example of hamburger feedback. Are you perhaps a teacher? I liked that one a lot. 🤩
If allowed, you may want to consider clearing a small area right on the shoreline of the south side of the island. Put your solar panels there, mounted high enough to be safe from snow and any high water of course. You can then keep the trees behind the solar array as a bit of a privacy screen.
I would suggest creating a decent dock for your boat, ideally cut into land with open flat land beside - you will be bringing lots of material onto the island and you don't want to lose your boat in a storm ?
Thank you both. Awesome vid 🎉❤
Thanks for the tour and sharing your plans!
An exciting project. Battery chargeable tools would be really useful with the solar system. We love Einhell. The batteries are mostly interchangeable with all the tools. We have two chargers and always several batteries ready to use. Maybe the flat area, closer to the water, would be a good place to make a permanent fire pit with seating. It would be great in the summer if you have visitors. And it might also be a good idea to keep some level areas for visitors/helpers to camp on.
Don’t use birch to build log anything with… I hope you know that… both spruce and pine are good… I suggest you look into “cordwood masonry” as well…faster to build and also much warmer… I’d build on the highest point of the island myself for the greatest view and avoid close to the water level, you never know when that could rise
I was going to recommend cordwood, too. And to use passive solar techniques in the house build.
Maybe put the dead trees in a pile, it's amazing for inviting nature. You would get lots of mushroom and cool stuff grows on it. Really amazing island!
If that is a quartz seam on the west side, could be gold in that!
Hey! You should watch Wild Homestead channel where James builds a log cabin. It’s really good channel and good tips and learnings on what to take in to account when building a log cabin yourself. 😊
Thank you, I've watched a few of his videos definitely need to binge the whole thing
@@Off-Grid-Island There is also videos from building a traditional Finnish log house. I think you would get good information from those with how to do it.
Vá em frente!
Desejo sucesso pra você neste projeto fantástico!
Just wanted to say I've been here since month one and I absolutely love this. Love the island and love you building it, cheers!!
Look up Maine Cabin Masters and see how they have done the post and beam foundation for the cabins they build/fix. They stuff can show you a lot of how to do your foundations for the bigger structures. Keep going, you are for sure learning and doing it the right way. Slow and steady man, you got this.
Hello, a hug from Brazil to you all. I hope your business is a success!
Thanks for shring your plans.
I saw you making the sink stand. Any shaky structure (sink, shower, etc.) needs diagonal bracing. It usually needs diagonal braces in both the side-to-side direction and the front-to-back direction. I know you'll get all these things by yourself pretty quickly, but thought I'd give 2 cents.
A log cabin is VERY challenging to build without thorough knowledge about it. Basic thing like installing the doors and the windows and even cupboards inside etc. is totally different from normal wood building. And wrong installation may even ruin the building if not done properly. And you will need a s__tload of big logs. Properly dried logs.
I hope you understood that getting to the island in the terms between summer and winter might be almost impossible and at least very difficult and EXTREMELY dangerous if you do not have a hovercraft. When there is ice but it is not thick enough you can not get there. And taking heavy building materials there is even more difficult. Island is romantic of course but also very challenging place to build on.
But a beautiful place, congrats!
Best of luck, living off the grid has its challenges but rewarding and will teach you many skills.
I'd make a suggestion of considering construction of a water wheel, to utilise the natural flow of water, to create electric current, to charge your portable storage power station. It does not have to be too big, there are designs here on UA-cam.. you won't need to worry about ambient light then, to get charge from your solar panels.
Cant wait till the cabin build such a cool channel 🎉
I'd like to see what plans you have for a dock in the future!
mayby setup some storage/workshop/staging area at that flatspot, I dont know what your grandplan is for the island, but birds and bugs (food for birds) love dead trees, i'd keep some around
You must start fishing because you have every predisposition to make this project atractive to more people....greetings from Slovenia
Muito legal! Continuem firmes!
I think you need a petrol chainsaw. Building a sauna cottage requires a lot of thick logs. There can be problems with a small electric chainsaw.
I will subscribe EVEN THOUGH you're wearing a Ducks shirt. I'm from Edmonton
You are living my dream. Such a cozy island
I've often heard people talk about houses their grandfather etc built but your grandkids will just be able to watch a video of you doing it lol
It has really made me think recently how absurd it is that our parents and grandparents could ever complain in passing about "how hard times were" or crap like that.
They could afford so much more than any of us can these days.
Wow! Nice Island.
I really like your enthusiasm but I like address couple of problems you have with your building plan. If you're going to build the sauna cabin from logs A you can't use fresh timber. You have to use logs that have dried to about 18% moisture content. B You can't get enough logs from your island. Most of the trees are too small. C Which is the main problem at this point. Building a log cabin is difficult and way beyond your skill level at the moment. I don't mean this in any negative way just some realism. You will learn about building and best case scenario would be that you get a pro to build your sauna cabin who is willing to teach you log building. But first you should make some concrete plans and calculations. Building stuff isn't cheap in Finland mainly because there is shit load of strict regulation that you have to comply.
He plans to cut in winter... Trees are quite dry in winter as they send the moisture into the roots. He still needs to de-bark and put them out to dry in an airy location but he should be able to build with them in under 6 months if he cuts in winter. After sap runs it'll take an extra season to dry for sure
Totally agree all your points. Fresh cut logs are heavy. You cannot really handle them alone easily. And you need those really big trees for log building (at least 20cm cross section after debarking and measured from thin end). Logs need to dry for years before building. Trees on your island are mostly too thin and young for proper cabin building and you need at least 60 to 80 of them for small sauna. It will take years for professional to do it alone. Buy a premade log cabin kit from local company. It will be manageable for you but not too easy. At least logs are precut and dried so you save so many hundreds of manhours of backbreaking manual labor and time for yourself if you try to do all that work without heavy equipment and all by yourself.
I suddenly got the urge to buy some land and build a yurt there. Or maybe repurpose an abandoned silo, who knows. Amazing job!
wildlife cameras might be good to get a better idea of what happens year round....while you're staying there, a few trip wire alarms might also be good to both scare off predators and to give you enough warning to prepare...
I love the ambition, be safe.
Thank you for the video👍 I have one hint for you about electricity. To cabin only 230v AC. Not any DC. With AC you can buy normal equipments. I made 230v AC to our cabin with 2 solar panels, charger, batteries and inverter. All them near the lake southside and then with AC cable to cabin. We have fridge, hoover, coffee machine, lightnings and TV running AC.
I am excited to see what you get up to in the future!
I will Envy you very much..... when the work is finished.😊
Came a long way in a short time! Great progress! All the best, be safe..
Keep in mind you don't have an endless supply of firewood. You're going to have to start migrating to some type of solar powered heating. Very nice location...!!! 😊
You might consider building a structure around your pump and insulating it
It needs to be drained in winter. An insulated doghouse is not much help for a Finnish winter without a constant heat source. It can be left in the cold but you do have to completely drain it.
So building a cabin on an Island in the middle of Finland... yeah those winters are going to go over awesome.
There are thousands and thousands of island cabins in Finland. Winters need to be taken into consideration during building of course, but it's very possible to have a nice island cabin here.
I hope you win the lottery and build a castle on this island.
That's a pretty island, take good care of it 😊
Good luck with the planning permission for sauna if you cant get it further inland. 10m minimum from shore and in some places 40-50 meters. Plus you need to filter the water or catch it into a tank.
Nice little islands away from the cities which pulluted with bad air.
10x10m is a HUGE cabin, I dont even think Sean of My Self Reliance's new cabin is that big, and it is a big fkn cabin. A big space takes much more wood to heat, keep that in mind.
Wow, so interesting and seem polished……then the hair and hair…..Stunt Double in Princess Bride. Keep up the good work princess.
Before you build a cabin, you need a dug in shelter to survive winter. Tent will not be enough for cold winter. But if you go below ground in a hole with a log roof and have a wood stove, you will be all set.
We survive through the winter in tents just fine here in Finland during military service. You seem to forget that humans lived in tents even in the coldest places on the planet before we invented houses.
I kinda feel like you should look for an incline, dig into it and then build your cabin into the soil. this doesn't only reduce the amount of resources needed to build the cabin, it also keeps warmer in winter.
amazing place. I would not remove all those fallen trees. They are good for insects, which in turn are food for birds and animals. Clean is nice to look at, but a little untidy is better for nature.
having a dock will help in setting up the island
If you can afford to do so, I suggest having 2-3 solar powered batteries/power banks that you can hand carry, like Jackery. Then move your solar panels to whichever location is getting the best exposure for the time of year, and change out the power banks as needed to keep your power topped up.
ur tankless water heater is NOT gonna survive the winter if it freezes , i dont remember if u saw my last comment on that but our cabin blew a few off them the first winter we even drained it with compressed air and it still froze and cracked and its non repairable
Yes, the same with the water pump. It will not survive if not COMPLETELY drained and that may not be that easy.
great video
Sweet project! Saw your story in the news, and that you’re from laguna. North Laguna sending you a howdy and wishing you good times on your adventure. It’s Friday, trash day in this part of town so not much going on but that classic October sun on the ocean. Side note-I’ve got a friend from the Hintsa family in Finland. I was on an expedition in Pakistan with her a few years ago. Maybe visit one of these years. Cheers!
New follow here. Love your island and what you’re doing. My suggestion would be to build your main cabin facing south west to take advantage of the sun as much as possible. Sunset views are also the best! Can’t wait to see what you do.
That flat area towards the end of the video where you set up the big tent for the first time looks really cool for a campfire. The fire in the middle, some logs around it to sit on and a really cool view of the lake.
I can see it
So many choices of where to build. Flat land or not I would build it elevated off the ground with steel pilings. Then add deck and stairs.
I just love the fact that you learned to pronounce sauna correctly ^-^
Also. On the top of the island. Build a water reservoir tower. Comes handy during winter. Then just drop a pump hose on the deepest part of the lake / river to ensure water collecting. Add small water treatment system and ya have drinking water and shower water.
If you look at finnish maps most lakes are most built on the north to northeast side of the lake so you get evening sun. On an island that would be southwest of the island. Having the cabin on the evening sun side also means the water is going to be warmer. Building on east side of an island means you get morning sun.
Paikkatietoikkuna is the finnish map service.
And a canopy tower above the canapy of trees this would be a good place for your solar panels
The Gadget Master
buy log cabin kit and take it over in 3 trips to put together
You should leave the dead wood where it is if it's not in the way or needed. It's very important for the biodiversity of insects and mushrooms.
Some countries have a law ,that greenhouses do not count as building ,or only half .It might be ,that you could build as extension to your main cabin ,towards south ,a greenhouse ,that count only half per square meter and helps warming your main room and enables eatable growth . Of course ,you need to account for weight of snow and the force of sliding snow .For collecting humus ,without paying anything ,use the rotten wood of fallen trees and your veg waste and pee .Since you are likely using wood for construction ,collect stones and good clay earth to be placed around fireplace for heat retention and safety .I used to live a hermit live in Scandinavia ,know the need for heat storage and remember one guy in the woods ,with a greenhouse ,heated by a big ,laid down oil drum ,able to have tree trunks put in ,lasting whole day without feeding fire ,who even grew tasty grapes .Another important construction is a frost free and mice free root cellar ! Check on traditional Scandinavian designs ,but improve on mice protection . strong overhanging roofs ,leading prolonged rain away from walls and slanted enough to prevent to much weight of snow are very important as well .
* Investing in an alaskan sawmill is probably a really good investment for you guys.
* Take into account that the level of the lake can rise by quite a bit (I assume, not sure what your lake is connected to etc). A friends friend have a cabin on a small island as well, and that basement got flooded this spring/early summer, and they had the base of the cabin like 1.5-2m above the waterline. So, keep in mind that the water level fluctuates.
* That "huggkubbe" (stump you're chopping wood on) could be a bit high. It probably works decent with that small axe, but you'll probably need a better axe for chopping larger pieces of wood. Look at auctions, or 2nd hand stores etc, you never know if you'll find something useful there :P
at 16:25 he has pollen lines from high spring levels about 0,5m above current water level.
Make everything Two story!!😊
Why do I feel the urge to toss a pie in his face every time he says sow-nah
you are not wrong
And LIKE !!
In Finnish, sauna is pronounced “sow-nah,” with the first syllable rhyming with the word for a female pig. Finnish speakers, though, will even quibble with that, saying it doesn't quite capture the accurate pronunciation. The Americanized version is pronounced “sah-nah,” or “saw-nah.”May 8, 2023
He has a 100% American accent otherwise.
11:50
Nice video!!!
Exciting project! BTW I bet exactly zero of the people giving you a hard time about your speech patterns own their own island.
rope saddles and climbing boots. oh and a battery wench. living above the snow.
Great island and nice visions. I hope you have found out what the building code is for your local area and the island. You could find it rather strict and probably will need a permit for building any permanent building. The process can be slow and they will need plans from you as well.
neat place!
How are you going to heatup the tent at winter time?
Do you know how much the water rises and falls? take that into account in your builds.
You can get delicious birch sap from your birch trees.