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Small Cabin Forum / General Forum / Hello, another newbie.. :)
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dabones
Member
# Posted: 20 Oct 2010 16:15
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Hi all..
This time last fall, My Wife and I bought 5 acres of bush in Western NY.. near Allegany State Park, where we tent-camped for many years.. We live in Ontario, so we have a 3.5hr drive usually.. and I get to buy cheap beer at Duty Free, so that makes me happy! :)

this was our first summer, so it was very busy getting things cleared out.. we had to have a driveway put in, and get the property properly surveyed, as the seller just sold off a bunch of 'lots' from a larger parcel that he divided up to sell..

right now all we have is an old camper trailer that the canvas was rotten, but I built wooden walls for and the kids sleep in tents in the woods..

next year we plan on building a small cabin, from my understanding we can go 140sq/ft w/o permits or inspections needed.. so something like 10x14.. and going to build the kids some small 'shacks' of their own...
I already have a small Solar System set up, with a 200W Invertor, 30W panel and 3 Automotive batteries that were free, since I'm a mechanic.. I know it's not ideal, but free vs $$$ made the deal for me.. :) I run 2 CFL's, some LED xmas lights, and a radio, as well charge my drill and netbook and camera batteries w/o even thinking about the power drop, at first I monitored the voltage so much, but it never dropped below 12.4V so I just do what I want with it now.

we are on a paved road, some of the property is on the side of the Mountain, and the rest is in the valley..

I have become good friends with my one neighbour, he has a family very much like ours, his kids and our kids play together nicely :) .. a few wks ago I happened to get to meet our other neighbour, who bought only for Hunting, so we wont' see him much durring summer months, so it's pretty quiet..

We would love to have bought closer to home, or on a lake, or far in the bush, but this works great for us, and hey, land is a pretty good investment, more return than my RRSP.. hahaha..

glad I just found this site this past weekend, will be getting lots of good info here this winter I'm sure.. :)

Nice to meet everyone.. :)

dabones
Member
# Posted: 20 Oct 2010 16:32
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some pics.. a view down our quiet road, down into our lot from the road, and the area where the tents go, where the Cabin and Huts will :)
Our Road
Our Road


dabones
Member
# Posted: 20 Oct 2010 16:46 - Edited by: dabones
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it didn't take the other 2 pics.
apparently they were too large.. I will post better pics some other time when I can edit them smaller..

dk1393
Member
# Posted: 20 Oct 2010 16:49
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Welcome, You will enjoy this site. Lots of good info. Looking foward to more pictures

MikeOnBike
Member
# Posted: 20 Oct 2010 17:15
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140 sounds like an odd number. I usually run into 120sqft or the newer IBC exemption of 200sqft. But each county sets their own exemption limit so it could be most anything.

Congratulation on your property!

Gary O
Member
# Posted: 20 Oct 2010 19:34
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Welcome dabones, lot'sa good people here, and lot'sa good info from experienced hands.

Savor every moment of your adventure.

It's the very best for kids (any age).
Ours had fun building their own 'structures' from the left over scraps, and of course running thru the woods.
Our area had traps from state licensed trappers, so we taught them how to use care.

Happy Trails

dk1393
Member
# Posted: 21 Oct 2010 07:33
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I'm upstate NY. It is 140 sq also for no permit

MikeOnBike
Member
# Posted: 21 Oct 2010 13:31
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It's too bad they didn't add 4 to that so you could do a 12x12. We are just finishing up a 10x12 sleeping/storage shed w/loft.

You could build a compound of structures:

Swamp Thing

dabones
Member
# Posted: 22 Oct 2010 19:32
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thanks for the welcome :)

I'm glad to hear someone else say they have 140 sq' rule elsewhere in NY too..

here's a pic of the back part of our property, it backs onto a 54acre lot that is owned by someone in Bahrain, so that lot should stay quiet forever.. lol..
and a pic of my deck and trailer, I had just finished building the deck, so it was time for a Keiths :)

(I hope they both upload this time)
feild
feild
just finished building the deck, beer time :)
just finished building the deck, beer time :)


Rob_O
# Posted: 22 Oct 2010 21:15
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Quoting: MikeOnBike
I usually run into 120sqft or the newer IBC exemption of 200sqft. But each county sets their own exemption limit so it could be most anything.


Here in KY it's 120 ft^2. That allows a 12*12 deck with 6" wall studs and 3/4" drywall to sneak by just at the legal limit

dabones
Member
# Posted: 23 Oct 2010 18:45
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so, it's the sq/ft of the INSIDE of the walls? I just assumed it ws the outside dimensions, cuz you know how "the man" is, any way to get you in trouble for nothing.. lol.

toyota_mdt_tech
Member
# Posted: 24 Oct 2010 15:56
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Its a 120 sq feet in my area, but that can vary from county to county in one state. But if you have a concrete foundation, (permanent) then you must get a permit.

dabones
Member
# Posted: 24 Oct 2010 16:37
Reply 


yes, my neighbour down there told me that as long as it's not permanent then you don't need the permit, they told him that you can't pour concrete peirs either, the structure must be movebale and less than 140, then you can do what you want.. our Town (or township for those not in NY) has NO Zoning Laws, just building permit laws (they remind you of that at every "welcome to town of" signs..) .. so hopefully we shouldn't run into any other problems with buildings and such..

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