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Patgreat
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# Posted: 14 Aug 2013 16:00
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Has anyone else gotten to the point where you need to make some major repairs and upgrade your cabin to make sure it around for years to come. That is where I am at and below is everything I had replaced or upgraded this summer.
I am very lucky that my grandparents gave me the family cabin for free about 7 years ago. My father and I were the only people who did any maintenance the last 15 years and I was the only family member that showed any interest in the cabin. Other then paying the taxes and small projects here and there the cabin only cost me $2K-$3K a year to maintain. Well this year I finally decided I was going to make the reinvestment and get some major issues taken care of. I did not have the knowledge to fix them nor the time off from work to do them myself. It took me a while but I found a local contractor I trusted and whose parents have a cabin by mine and he showed me all the work he did on theirs and it looked awesome. I just hoped he would put the same time an effort into my cabin.
That said this has been the year of burning money, I had to have a new roof put on(18 squares), 6 of my foundation pillars had to be replaced or recasted. I had an old warped load Bering beam replaced and the ceiling raised where it used to located. I had the electrical coming into the cabin upgraded, as well as my old fuse box was updated to 100amp breaker box service. Currently the last two major project are underway and should be finished by the time I go up there for a 12 day vacation at the end of august. I am having a shower stall put in, I do not have running water but I wanted to be able to shower indoors in the winter or in the summer if people are around its nice to not be taking a shower in front of them outside. I am in the process of pulling a kitchen sink, counter and cabinets from a friend's house to put in at my cabin and upgrade the original kitchen from the 1940's made of metal that has rusted out. The final project is replacing the Outhouse. The foundation is fine but the current outhouse has slid off the foundation and is slowly leaning over to one side and ready to collapse.
So after spending around $10K I have upgraded or made almost everything major repair possible to make sure the cabin is around for years to come. Which is a good thing since I just found out my wife is pregnant with our first child!!
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Kharkov43
Member
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# Posted: 14 Aug 2013 16:30
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Congrates on the baby! We have invested quite a bit of money in our cabin and it is an investment. Lord willing we plan on living there durning the summer when we are retired. Our home is paid for as it is an investment and we plan on selling it for our retirement so your heading in the right direction..........
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rayyy
Member
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# Posted: 25 Oct 2013 17:21
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You know,when I was paying out $500.bucks for rent.$400.bucks for board(for my horses)$200.bucks for electric and gas,I thought how neat it would be to buy a chunk of land and build an off the grid cabin and reinvest all this money Iv'e been spending into something for MEEE!!!And here I am.3 years later.No rent,no board no electric or gas bills.That money I use to spend now goes into this cabin.Crazy as that sounds it worked great for me!
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SandyR
Member
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# Posted: 26 Oct 2013 22:24
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Congratulations on the baby coming! Nothing like that feeling knowing a baby is on the way.
It must feel so good to have so much of the repairs done now.
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TheCabinCalls
Member
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2013 13:09
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Our build is still fairly new, but we continue to reinvest time and money. Part of me looks at the property as a long term investment and part of me just wants to be in the moment and enjoy it. So I do wrestle with decisions to spend. Overall we have found economical ways to achieve our goals.
The one thing I have finally solidified is that getting workers to work at a cabin is not like getting work done in the city. It is hard finding workers that fully complete a task/project. They all cut out early, take shortcuts, want more money for travel, stop to enjoy the surroundings and then send an invoice because they are out of budget. Then we'll go up and check out the work and have a punch list, but they packed up and cleared out...we refer to them as the "90 Percenters". So it is great you found someone to do good work.
Congrats on the growing family. I have always said it is best to have a cabin while you and your family are young...or when you have grandkids to visit frequently.
Most importantly I am glad you are taking great care of the family cabin. I wish more were like you and appreciated such a gift.
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Patgreat
Member
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2013 15:18
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thanks for the replies. It feels good knowing that the cabin will be around for years to come. I put off major repairs for a number of years but when i go up there now and see how the place looks and i can really enjoy it i am so glad i finally got everything fixed
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hattie
Member
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# Posted: 29 Oct 2013 12:20
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Congratulations Patgreat!!!! I am sure all your time, money and effort will be rewarded with great memories with your little one on the way. It sounds like this was money well spent! Just think, when your baby grows up and has babies of his/her own, they will be able to enjoy your place too because of all the work you put into it now to make it last.
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