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pondjumpr
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# Posted: 8 Mar 2019 17:06 - Edited by: pondjumpr
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So, I have 4 male cousins, I make the fifth that have camped, fished, etc. for many years together. As we get older, we have decided that rather than primitive camping for the later years of our lives, we want to find a place and buy it together to get a few more comforts such as power, water, heat, etc. We have located 3 acres that is affordable and has very limited restrictions.
Here is my question regarding what we are thinking about doing:
We are contemplating building a centralized structure, similar to what you would see at a State Park or at a Campground. We want to build a 24'x30' covered pavilion that will have mostly open space but also have a kitchen area for cooking under the roof. On one end, we want to have a bath house or at least bathrooms. The thought is to have 2 small bathrooms with shower, commode and sink. That way if one person is using the shower or other facilities, the second one is available for use. Our original thought was to build a bath house like a campground with 2 showers, two commodes, two sinks, etc. But after drawing it out, the space taken up for that is almost twice what we can do by building 2 smaller bathrooms similar to most 2nd bathrooms in homes (5'x8'). Then we would have storage on the same end as the bathroom that could be utilized as overflow sleeping quarters or general storage.
The thought is to build 5 "cabins" that are simple without plumbing. Think of KOA Kamping Kabin style buildings and utilize the central building for common area with all facilities.
Has anyone done something similar with a group? Our thought is this will be much more cost effective than a larger cabin and still allow for covered outdoor "hangout" space for centralized fellowship. By having separate cabins, it means separate sleeping quarters... less snoring to deal with and certainly more privacy for when the family is around. It will also be less worry about whether we are all there at once since we would all have our own sleeping quarters and storage space.
Thoughts?
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rockies
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# Posted: 8 Mar 2019 19:23 - Edited by: rockies
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Put one bathroom along the east exterior wall and have the kitchen on the other side of a common interior wall facing west (the bathroom will be about 7' wide and 18' long - the extra 5' of cabin width can be used for either a pantry or storage in the north corner). This way all the plumbing and venting for the kitchen and bathroom can run in the same interior wall.
In designing the bathroom put the door from the main space about 4 feet from the south wall. As you enter the bathroom have a private toilet room 3' wide minimum with a pocket door in the south corner. Put a double vanity on the left of the entry door against the interior wall and then put an enclosed tub/shower room in the north corner. This way 4 people could use the bathroom at once.
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ICC
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# Posted: 8 Mar 2019 19:37 - Edited by: ICC
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My first thought was to wonder how the property was to be bought; owned by one person and shared? Owned jointly by all? Owned as a trust? ??? And how the legal responsibilities are to be equitably shared; taxes, power bill, maintenance, repairs when a tree falls on someone’s cabin or whatever? Insurance? To me all those details are more important than the layout of the buildings, etc. What happens when someone dies or gets divorced, or has to move because of circumstances nobody can foresee right now? There should be definite rules spelled out as to how all possible expenses are to be shared.
As for five sleeping quarters and communally shared toilets, bats and cooking facilities, that could work. I think 2 toilets in maybe not enough if there is much chance of 2 or 3 of the 5 people or families wanting to be there at the same time. I would place the shower as a single stand alone item, separate from the toilets maybe two of them.
Is the water from a well that would be owned by the property owners? If a septic system is needed, you may want to check with the state health department on how big it needs to be. Most places have rules on septic sizing that must be followed even if there are no building permits, inspections or zoning rules.
Maybe you have allthat covered.
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Princelake
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# Posted: 8 Mar 2019 19:56
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I would build bunkies for each family then have a central meeting hall building with large kitchen tables showers deck with bbq etc.
My family use to own a fishing lodge with cabins and that's what the current owners did with the lodge.
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Fanman
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# Posted: 9 Mar 2019 09:03
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Our situation is different, but for sake of comparison...
Our cabin is in a community of 60 cabins with a lot of shared facilities. There are nine cabins in our "neighborhood" sharing a single outhouse, which has a men's and women's side, each of which is a "two holer", though nobody uses the two holes simultaneously. There's a sink in the outhouse. All the cabins have plumbing, kitchen sink and shower but no toilets in the cabins, meaning they only need a gray water system, a lot simpler than full sewage. Some people (including us) have installed composting toilets in their cabins, though.
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pondjumpr
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# Posted: 11 Mar 2019 16:34
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To clarify a few items.
We will be buying the property in an LLC, 20% ownership in the LLC each. We will put funds monthly, each member, in a checking account and pay expenses. just like any other partnership, we have an operating agreement to state how the expenses will be handled. insurance options are currently being looked at.
Water, fortunately for us, is available from a local municipality as is power. No sewer so a septic system is our only option for sewage.
Regarding the bathrooms, the thought was that someone could be using the shower, privately, along with the toilet while the other separate bathroom is available for use (in and out quickly)
I have stayed several places on duck and quail hunts with one bathroom and it is a nightmare in the mornings when you just need to use the toilet and someone is either using it or in the shower with the door locked. I/we are trying to avoid that. I figure a second bathroom would give us 1/2 the chance of that happening.
Also, regarding a kitchen sink and other plumbing... we would definitely plan it on a shared wall for plumbing efficiency.
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pondjumpr
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# Posted: 11 Mar 2019 16:40 - Edited by: pondjumpr
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This is a rough sketch but may give an idea of what we are thinking of doing. All the cabins will be within 50-100 feet from this structure is possible.
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rockies
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# Posted: 11 Mar 2019 19:13
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If you are accessing the corner bathroom from the exterior I'm guessing that this one will also be for people washing off after outdoor activities. To make the room more versatile I would deepen the room to 10' and add a wall between the tub and toilet (and also turn the tub into a shower about 42" wide). This way someone could still use the toilet or sink while someone is showering.
The extra 2' in width will also give you more space in the bunk room. Most single beds are 40" wide and by the time you deduct for walls thicknesses you'll only have about 4' next to the beds to move around in.
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sparky30_06
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# Posted: 14 Mar 2019 08:17
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So when I built my hunting shack I had plans on adding on 20 bunk units. Now that one of the guy has got off the lease I was going to build with I have just left my shack just for me. But the shack is 10 x 20 with a single pitch roof. It has a bathroom in it and a small kitchen area and a table. The plan was to flank it on both sides with bunk units 10 x 20 that each had 2 bunk beds in them, so we could sleep a total of 8 people. I have since redrawn the bunk units to be 12 foot wind instead of 10. The area between the bunk units was to be covered to give us a 10 x 20 covered porch. Yes I have been on dove hunts where one bathroom for a bunch of guys sucks! Will this be used for families or just the guys? How many people at once will be up there and that will tell you how many bathrooms you will need.
When working off shore several of the living quarters will have 2 bunk beds on one end and two bunk beds on the other with a shared bathroom in the middle. You get use to someone walking through while your showering. The bunks are used for day shift and night shift so there is usually a max of 4 guys per one bathroom.
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