Cabin in Alaska
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- Опубліковано 4 жов 2024
- My father and I building a cabin in Alaska.
Some extra info:
1) I didn't even know I had made this video public, but I appreciate all the kind comments and I'm glad so many of you have enjoyed watching.
2) The trees we used were what we called "standing dead". We only cut them down if they had obviously been dead for a year or two and just hadn't fallen over yet. It's not as good as letting them "cure" for a few months, but it's not far off.
3) We didn't remove the bark in consideration of time. I only had 2 weeks I could help out. However, we used the cabin for a couple years without any issue. Even the mortar used to seal the logs seemed to hold onto the bark fine. Unfortunately, since we didn't finish while I was there, dad had to finish on his own, and carrying in camera equipment in addition to building materials is too much for one person. The cabin is complete, but there's no more video of the construction. Sorry.
4) This video is from around 2004, I think. I uploaded it recently because dad had lost the original DVD and I wanted to share a copy with him. This means the cabin is now almost 10 years old, and neither of us have seen it for at least 5 years. I promise we will make a return trip at some point and fix it back up if it's possible to do so.
5) The completion of the cabin: Dad covered the roof with tar paper and it had a decent slant to it to keep from buckling under heavy snow. He chinked the logs by putting mortar between them. He cut a hole in the very middle for a chimney that goes down into a smallish Franklin stove. The stove has a flat surface for cooking (makes truly awesome steaks and breakfast foods). The stove actually heats the cabin REALLY hot. Even on snowy days, that sucker will feel like a sauna in the middle of the night if you put too much wood in. There is a bunk bed for sleeping and a bookshelf full of old Western novels and some James Bond and other old, pulp-style novels. I don't think there's a better, quieter place to read in the world. We had a chest for pots and supplies as well. We even had a toilet with a Japanese-style screen for privacy. The toilet is basically a cut-out box with a toilet seat on it and a big bucket with dirt in it. I thought it was crazy at first, but you just put more dirt in when you're done to kill any smell, and it makes so much sense compared to wasting drinkable water, I actually think it might be the best toilet design around. In the Spring, there are a few days where the creek I jump over in the video is too strong to cross, but that doesn't last too long.
Any other questions, feel free to ask!
Nice to see a father and son who can stand each others company.
Your dreams are alive young man, no one has a right to question your intentions with regards to the 15 day built. A standing ovation to you both.
+Georgette Wood Thank you!
Great to see father and son working together. I bet both of you learn a lot about each other.
Great job guys . I lost my dad last year would love to spend two more weeks with him .What a good son you are helping your pop realize a dream .
What a great father-son experience this must have been! Thanks for sharing!
It really was. Thanks for the comment.
When The snow leaves here in Newfoundland I'm gonna start one just like this, beautiful job!!! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 can't wait to see it all done !
+FailSafe Best of luck!
Everyone is suddenly an log cabin expert...lol....yo man, it looks like it was a lot of fun building....hope you guys are enjoying it.
Haha. Yeah, the internet is full of experts. Was definitely a ton of fun :)
cool that you and your dad did this! hope to see that video of the return trip!
awesome job guys. wish i wouldve done something like that with my Dad before that fateful day
Dad has been back within the last few years, but for me it was more of a fun project than a dream. I'd love to go back sometime, but it's a pretty expensive and long trip.
Well done Robert and Lance nice uncomplicated build with all the essentials.....Thank you for the extra information answered all my questions but will still enjoy a video update. Hope you both find time for these trips, camps or builds as often as possible time only runs one way.
I think this is a great example of 'it's more about the journey than the destination'.
The building/bonding experience between a father and son is FAR more important than the details of whether logs were peeled or the roof is sloped enough.
My first building project was a 24x30 garage, built entirely out of rough sawn lumber with a small chainsaw and hammer. 30 years later it's still standing just fine! I did a lot of things wrong but had fun and ended up with a usable project.
Of far more concern to me is that I really hope the two of you can get back there to just spend time in the woods together. It's so easy in life to get 'too busy', and time goes by fast. Find the money, make the time. Life is short enough, it sucks to get old and have regrets and realize what was really important in life.
Thanks for sharing the video, I hope it inspires others to come up with a project, whether a cabin in Alaska or something completely different.
+julie r Thanks for the kind comment! It was definitely a wonderful experience (one of the best). Unfortunately, since we live on opposite sides of the country, I don't get to spend as much time with dad, but we're planning to meet up in Nevada for a little camping in the next month or two.
+Robert Porter
Cool! And I wasn't trying to imply it was vital to get back to that cabin, just that, well, my dad died 10 years ago and my best memories are the things we did together like that. And I always wish we had made the time to do more stuff together.
I see a lot of things like your cabin when I'm out hiking or 4 wheeling, and always wonder the story behind an 'abandoned' building. So it was great to watch the video. Some would look at it as a waste of time and materials, but to me it was 15 days well spent, regardless the outcome years later.
Hope you both enjoy the camping trip in Nevada!
That was a great father/son project. Thanks for sharing.
Such a gorgeous book - each shed is unique and inspiring, and I love all the tiny details Kotite features to help readers imagine how to create their own She Sheds ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxe9yi0sulKgsp0VJJCIrLWWkvVqcU7LFR . The feature on Dinah's Rustic Retreat is like something from a fairy tale. It's really inspiring to see how creative all these ordinary people are in making beautiful and useful spaces on a modest scale.
One log thick? It changes based on the log.
Couple of tips.
We used saddle notches. Once the notches were finished on each end of the log we would pound in wedges so we could lift the log enough to mark the center of the top and bottom log. Using peaveys we would roll the log back, dog it, and snap a line between the two marks at each end of the log. Then we would walk the logs cutting a groove with the chain saw. We cut plywood splines and set them in the bottom log and then rolled the top log back in place. This sealed the air space temporarily. We would usually wait a few months to allow the structure to settle before coming back to do the final chinking. When the client wanted electrical we would run the romex between courses. Using an extra long bit we would drill down through 3 or 4 courses and pound in precut re-bar. Make sure you know where all door and window openings are gonna be first. A couple of times the client changed their mind, that's a pain in the arse. (.
AWESOME EFFORT, I salute you both on some really hard work. I hope you share your finished product when you get the final roof on and everything else complete.
Great work guys, glad I found this. Would love to build another one. Back in the day, up on Orcas Island, Steve, Lance and I had "The Real Log Cabin Company". We were building for clients so ours were larger and more 'refined', but the basic process was the same. We had an old yellow Ford truck with a winch and an A frame to set the logs, and also spent long hours peeling logs with spuds and draw knives, but it was still basically chain saws, peaveys, adzes and axes. Best jobs were when we cruised the owner's property and felled all the trees we needed for construction.
is there a 2nd video? so cool especially the friendship betwwen dad and son , love it
I'm afraid we don't have a second video. Dad finished the rest when I went back to school, so he wasn't able to carry the camera around. I'm hoping to get up there someday to see if it's still in any decent shape.
You are a great father, Sharing that time with your son is priceless! So didnt debark or allow for settling who cares! I have dreams of doing the same thing one day-guess what share that time with your son later to do those things with him-God Bless you my friend.Maybe some day my Son and I will meet with you and your son and have a cold one and talk of your adventure.
Thanks! It was hard, but we love hard work. I've been blessed with many wonderful experiences in my life, and this one is damn near the top.
Very nice. I ♥ homer!!!! Miss the Salty Dawg already. Homer and Seward are my fab spots
What an awesome video I really enjoyed this thank you ,this would be a great thing for my son and myself to do.I just cant see us going to Alaska lol I wish..thank you again
Thanks for the comment. The funny thing is, this isn't that strange for dad and me. But there are plenty of great bonding things to do closer to home, too! Nothing like sharing a project together.
Really cool of you to share you and your dad's experience together!
What a fun thing to build!
Thank you!
Don't know what's with all the nit pickers (keyboard cabin builders I'd guess) - You built a log cabin together, father and son- good on ya!
Thanks for the kind words!
Cool Video - very informative. Did a trip out with my dd tarp 3x3. It's so great to sleep in a hammock under tarp.
Love to try this one day. Question...Did the bark ever dry and fall off? Good job is nice to see a father and son working together!
It didn't really fall off in the few years we used the cabin. I've seen some older cabins with the bark still on in various ghost towns out West, but I think Alaska's weather will take it off a bit more quickly.
this is awesome dude, good effort, looking foward to see the day it gets finished
Really awesome guys! Let's build cabins for the homeless.
Admiration for you, good work.
Thanks!
Hello random Russian person! The logs do have slots cut in them. And the wood was very dry. It was the best we could do with only 2 weeks.
Thanks! This is actually from about 2005. My dad went back about a month later and finished everything on his own. Unfortunately, I don't think we have any video. He put on roofing, put in a chimney for the Franklin stove, built a bunk bed and put in a window. It's the perfect place to get away from the world. Neither of us have been there in several years though, so it's questionable what shape it's in right now.
The trees we used were mostly standing, but they were all very dead (no green needles, no sap). The bark might ultimately lead to issues, but my father used the cabin off-and-on for a few years without any problems. If we'd wanted it to last forever, we would have stripped the bark, but we only had 2 weeks of building time, and it was more of a fun project than serious housing. Dad finished the rest by himself with a couple more weeks' work, but since he was alone, he couldn't film it.
I do hope you get this done! Good luck!
good work I really enjoyed watching.
+william nix Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.
Hi Just found your video and I think its great that you have built the cabin with your son great times ahead
remind me of the "I'll be BACK" ..thanks for sharing the video :)
Thanks! The cabin is actually a little closer to Anchor Point than Homer, but both are great. We'd grab lunch or dinner at Fat Olive's a couple times a week. Loved the pizza there.
I wasn't there for that. Dad says he used mortar (like you'd use for laying bricks). It would get really hot inside with our little Franklin stove. We had to keep the fire pretty low to stay comfortable (even in colder months). Pretty sure there was just a cap on top of the stove pipe, and he was careful to leave space in the roof to avoid starting a fire. I think he put some sort of tar mat roofing on top, too. Sorry we don't have any pictures of the final product.
Nice I'm about to make the move myself can't wait.good job guys :)
Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
thanks for sharing. would love to see your how your cabin is doing on your next visit :)
You should put some chinking between the logs, that will ensure that you get more heat which means less logs used for fire, and less or usually if done right no wind getting in
awsum hope to see more vids of the cabin i want to do the same thing with my son and maybe a couple of my girls we all want to move back to the woodland.keep up the vids
Hello
how does the hut today and it is now also a roof.
I think it's a great idea what you have built together.
We are from Germany and
I am with my son often together in the forest. We make firewood.
It is the work again and again in nature, which ensures a positive personality. You more fun in your father and son relationship.
Possibly. a small movie of today's home and where it is exactly.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2014.
Greetings Achim
Cool! I'm thinking I could build something like that as a guest house. And it would mostly be for me lol
awesome, looks a little rough, but kudos for doing it!
+1 on the door opening - the door probably broke from settling logs.
YOu guys made a supreme effort and got great results. That's B S what this other guy here says aboiut using dry logs. YOu use what you use ! I'm making that Tim the Tool Man grunting noise. Great job ! Cheers !
Great bonding betwen father and son, wish i had a dad like that ...
Great vídeo, cheers.
guys that's working hard
It was a lot of physical work, but our quick progress made it extremely fulfilling :) When we completed the "dance floor", it was just a great feeling.
Because the logs weren't debarked, that cabin is probably rotten and falling apart. I would be surprised if it was in good condition. Cabins that don't get debarked usually only last 20 to 25 years and this cabin is at least 11 years old now. It's been abandoned for 5 or 6, which makes it worse.
Keep in mind it'd a one-room cabin with very small entry points. It's been boxed up the majority of it's life. If it's in bad shape right now, that'd likely be more on account of the fact that it's in the middle of a marsh than anything to do with bark on the logs.
Great job really like the father son team idea. Looking forward to another vid showing how it has weathered!!. Thanks for the inspiration !!!!!. My only question is did you at least pre-drill a beginning for the spikes that locked them together?. Or did you just animal then in????.
Haha. Yes, the spikes were my job. We didn't have a drill, so I did "animal" them all in. I got good at it by the end, but it is NOT easy to pound a 9-inch spike through the center of a log.
Great video - thanks for sharing. Don't forget to de-bark those logs next trip. :) Or bugs will settle and eat the logs, moisture will rot them, etc.
Awesome job!! Kudo's!!
If I ever get enough money and free time, we'll definitely head back out and see if it can be salvaged, but I suspect there will be mold/mildew issues.
It's on 5 or 10 acres of land, which was very cheap. The whole area basically turns into a marsh after the snow melts for a few weeks, which is why it was cheap. You can buy plots in Alaska for very little money, but they don't have roads/electricity/phone anywhere near them, so you're really on your own.
kick ass Good Times!
We wanted to, but there wasn't going to be time. It actually works fine without stripping it, though. Gives it more of a rustic feel. There are plenty of old frontier cabins still standing where they left the bark on.
Thanks for sharing. I always wanted to do something like this with my dad but it is too late now. Dad is gone and I am way too old and not in good shape.
I'm sorry to hear that, but it's never too late to start a new project. Doesn't have to be a log cabin. Right now, my dad is working on a walking stick for himself.
I haven't entirely given up on the idea. It is always in the back of my mind. If I ever do decide to go for it I would hope you or your dad would be able to give me some pointers. I will certainly let you know. Thanks
Dad used the chainsaw (I don't like using them). He used to do chainsaw art as a hobby, so it was better for him to do that while I did the carrying. He had a .50 caliber S&W revolver and I had a .38 magnum. Didn't see any bears, but we had to wait 2 hours one morning for a moose to move. (For people who don't know, moose are more dangerous than bears.)
Love to see an update video on the cabin bro very cool so far im gonna be building an off grid cabin with my boy and three girls and little bro. and would like to see how your making out on your to see if i can get any idea, s from yours.
Very nice!
7 дней постройка сруба, и потом по технологии он должен отстояться год как минимум перед тем как делать окосячку.
Но все ровно любой опыт, это положительный опыт. Удачи вам в дальнейших постройках.)
Hello guys, Nice job you and you're son built a cabin together and had fun doing it. Do you own the property where you built the cabin. Keep having fun my friend.
nice video tanks
Wow great job so far! did you ever finish it or did regular life get in the way?
You should have walked between two trees as a joke.hhaha. Father and son = awesome
+Voxboy876 Haha. That would have been awesome! Can't believe I didn't think of it. :)
Great vid looked hard work
Yes, they're surprisingly easy to build (as long as you like physical labor). Why join some exercise bootcamp when you can make a cabin instead?
We built the cabin as a solid box. You should notice right before we finish the floor, it's on top of 4 massive logs. Here's the reasoning: Alaska is a swamp. You get tons of snow and ice, which turns the ground into a marsh come Spring. So if you build a traditional foundation, it'll be destroyed within a couple years by the elements.
robert thats AMAZING, i wish you well
great vid. that was a lot of work put into 15 days.
It certainly was! Thanks for the comment! I wish I could put together a longer version, because this video really only gives an idea of what we had to do. Removing the snow took about two days.
love this!!
Love this video.
Donna Powell Thanks :)
Thanks! I love log cabins and hope someday to get one built.
We got it near Homer, Alaska, which is actually fairly temperate throughout the year, since it's so close to the ocean. However you have to deal with the marshy nature of the land around there.
Wow, that's good quality video for 10 years old! You should have stripped the bark, the logs will last much longer.
Some job you and your son did, my hats off to you two. If you don't mind me asking, who's land is this on?
+Domenic Larosa We built on 5 acres we had purchased from a large undeveloped tract. You can get this sort of land really cheap in Alaska, but it's all practically a marsh for a month when the snow melts so it's not great unless you want to build a very significant foundation. (Or if you want to build a fun little cabin in two weeks.)
0:52 - Brutal Alaskan humor.
This is great! Thanks for posting ! Where did you guys live while constructing the cabin? RV? Tent?
+catyear75 We stayed in Anchor Point at a tiny inn and drove to the hardware store each morning around 5:00 to pick up the day's supplies. You have never had a better shower than after spending all day in a swamp carrying around massive trees! I'm not sure the video shows it very well, but we had to wear knee-high wading boots at all times (though luckily it dried up quite a bit near the end).
bela cabana em um lindo lugar
hey when is the 2nd video going to happen? id like to see the cabin complete
you keep the swedish log cabin going
Theoretically, yes. Realistically, no. It takes forever to peel the bark, and most frontier cabins weren't made that way. If we wanted it to last 100 years, we'd peel the bark, but I've seen many 19th century cabins in the West that left the bark on without any trouble.
this is great, i hope it all works out for you, i will be looking for more progress, your roof paper is inportent, so dont wate to long, i will take 6 months and come up there and hook it up, and that will be a dream of mine, lol , keep up the good work !!!! cant wate to see more,
Awesome!!!
Awesome father and son time :)
They were in a rush,you normally take the bark off the logs
Yeah usually on three sides you do
How do you take the bark off three sides of a log? I'm confused! lol
You can use your saw to do it or use a draw knife
@@julier1080 draw knife
Yes I know how it’s done (from much tedious experience!). But on a round log you would debark the entire thing, not ‘3 sides’. That’s what I meant in the first comment.
Nice work. Above the doorway should have been left settlings reserve, 3:35
Wow, Interesting 15 day cabin built...
this is great I hope you have more videos to show what's happening now.
.38 special, I guess? Or maybe it was a .357? I dunno. It was great at destroying bottle caps, but I doubt any of the local wildlife would have found it terribly intimidating.
Great questions! We used dead trees, so they were mostly dry when we cut them down. We were very careful what trees we chose. As for the foundation, if you look at 0:45, you can see dad and me pulling a half-log. We put 6 of those cut-side-up and built the floor on top. It was very sturdy. Since the ground freezes and changes shape, this floor acts like a sled, allowing the cabin to hold together and even move a little bit, where a regular foundation would have trouble.
Good video guys! I have a question, why did ya'll not make the front door standard size? Just curious. Cool to see father son team working on a family project!!
Great question! There were basically two reasons: (1) bigger doors take more work and supplies, and (2) it's easy to make a smaller door strong, which is important in bear country. There's also a window that was made too small for a bear to get through.
Robert Porter Ok, makes sense-sure don't need papa bear looking for goodies. 🐻
0:53
LAUGHED SO HARD!
We did our best to make sure all the trees we used were dry. There was some shrinkage after the first year, if I recall correctly, but not too bad.
Our main constraint was time. If we had a few months instead of two weeks, we could have made something truly impressive.
This is the comment that comes up the most, despite it being answered in the video. We used standing dead trees. They'd already been standing there drying naturally for a year or two. Just because a tree dies, doesn't mean it falls right over.
i was just wondering was this awesome log cabin built on privately owned land or is it on crown land i am looking in to building a cabin of my own in the near future and i from my asking around i have been told if you build something on crown land it can be torn down and or destroyed i would hate for that to happen to mine or yours as it is so cool thanks for the vid Robert Porter
We owned the land. It is very cheap to buy it in certain areas. In this case, there were no roads within a mile of the property, so it was really undeveloped.
how much land did you buy approximately
i am only asking as a reference for when i build.
Hi nice cabin, has hoping to do something like this in the future! Is there a limitation on how big you can make a cabin in Alaska if you buy the land or can you build what you like? Enjoyed this video :) Nice Job!
Thanks! I'm not sure about building size restrictions. But as a general rule, people in Alaska don't like to mess with each other, so you'd probably have to build something huge for them to complain. :)
Robert Porter Haha thanks for the quick reply, made me laugh :) Not sure with my building skill I could make anything too big tbh anyway! xD
+Robert Porter
That would depend a lot on WHERE in Alaska you are. Many places nobody is going to care what you do. Other places there's idiots who would get pissed off and burn it down.
Dylan- Alaska has boroughs, and each has it's own rules and codes (or lack of). There's also municipalities and cities and towns. It can get complicated, and a lot of areas are playing 'catch up' with developing and enforcing building codes. The farther 'out' you get from any populated area, the easier it gets.
julie r Thanks for the extra information. Got my heart set on a little cabin somewhere in Alaska! :D
Hey UA-camrs, if you like cabins, search for Martins Cabin, great videos. Now, any more info on this, like I was wondering the size of the interior. And where did they build it? Own the land or friends land or just go out and do what you want in Alaska? Sure a lot of interest, all the shows such as The Last Alaskans, Alaska Men, thanks for sharing!
Standing dead. Not green. They were all pretty dry. Any forest, you'll notice plenty of trees that are dead, but still propped up by other trees. It acts somewhat like a natural drying process. In the very first shot of my dad, notice all those trees that have completely brown needles?
This video is almost 10 years old now, so I'm not sure what shape it's in anymore. It was very nice when we finished and we'd stay there on weekends. Haven't been back in at least 5 years. Dad thinks it's probably in bad shape, but I think it might still be ok.
Awesome cabin! Are you guys going to go back and work on it more anytime?
bello robert
Yes, getting the grooves right is important. My dad actually used to do some chainsaw art, so he was very good at making sure there was very little space between the logs. Also, when he put the "chinking" (like cement) between the logs, he had a lot more time, so he was able to make it very secure. He lived there off-and-on for over two years with no problems, so it was pretty stable. Thanks for the comments! I hope Google Translate is working properly :)
Hola, me ha servido de mucho su video, mi pregunta es como se mantienen los troncos sujetos uno sobre otro, por medio de un clavo o fierro, uno por uno o todos a la vez, gracias
***** clavo. mucho mucho clavo! dos por uno... (how do you say "log" in spanish?)
Robert Porter Thanks you.
+Robert Porter Log = tronco or leño, but leña = firewood.