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Spudmasher1
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# Posted: 15 Jan 2014 02:40
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Several years ago I found this site about the same time I had a revelation. I was never going to have a cabin at a younger age! If I didn't do it now, I may never do it. I made up my mind I was going to start my cabin project and not look back. I was not getting any younger and someday was never going to come. I was never going to hit the big time and if I wanted this cabin bad enough, I had to find a way to make it happen.
I had always wished for a cabin in the mountains. That was not going to happen. There are not any mountains in SW Iowa. I had always wanted a true log cabin. That was not going to happen. The bankroll was not there. If I wanted a cabin I was going to have to build it. So I decided to start MY process.
I researched and read everything I could on cabin building, including posts on this site. What a find I thought, an entire site of people like me, who wanted their own cabins and made it happen. This site made me think true to the process starting foundation to roof.
I started planning my cabin on paper, and replanning and redrawing and changing. I made a list of my priorities. I was a long way away from breaking ground but I was on my way.
My family owns 100 acres of timber/pasture ground in the prime of deer country, surrounded by corn, bean and hay fields. I talked with my Dad and was granted permission to build a "skid" cabin so it could be moved IF it had too. My Dad lives on the property and a cousin has a cabin on the north end of the ground. Mine would be in an "L" shaped pasture toward the bottom. I spent days and hours picking the spot and the angle of the cabin. But I couldn't get ahead of myself. I needed things to get started. Tools, trailers and lumber.
After picking the spot, Dad did some dirt work and leveled the area. We knew we needed to let the area settle but in October 2012 we laid out the frame base after digging footings. It was a start!
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Spudmasher1
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# Posted: 15 Jan 2014 02:42
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More framing pictures.
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Spudmasher1
Member
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# Posted: 15 Jan 2014 02:47
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This post is going to be a work in progress just like the cabin is but I will let you in on my secret....
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Spudmasher1
Member
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# Posted: 15 Jan 2014 02:53 - Edited by: Spudmasher1
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That is my Dad in the pictures above. Still going strong at age 84. I couldn't work and take pictures at the same time! I found out I have a lot of pictures and very few with me working. But here is one of me staining the north side on a 102 degree day in August.
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old old buddy
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# Posted: 15 Jan 2014 07:52
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Spudmasher1
I like your cabin. It looks 16X20 or something close to that. Welcome to the forum and keep taking pictures
Is it still on skids so that you can move it...if necessary? You mentioned laying out the frame base and I wondered if the base was laid over a skid base?
I know a boy from here in Ohio that moved to Cedar Rapids and hunts an 800 acre farm belonging to his boss and I can't believe the bucks that he's taken out there. One was a 21 point monster, another was 19 point and an eighteen point this winter. I'm just talking the past 3-4 years. I guess Iowa is known for "Big Bucks!".
Anyway....have a great time in your cabin with your family/friends. I was 59 when my son and I started ours.....that was 4 years ago. I've enjoyed every minute on the hill
Old Old Buddy
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cabingal3
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# Posted: 15 Jan 2014 08:20
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very very nice cabin.good work .loved seeing this.
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neb
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# Posted: 15 Jan 2014 08:44
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I am happy for you and you have a very nice place. Thanks for sharing and keep us posted.
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Spudmasher1
Member
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# Posted: 27 Jan 2014 04:31 - Edited by: Spudmasher1
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Old Old Buddy the cabin is 18 x 20. It started out as a 24 x 24 but felt too big for the spot I wanted so I downsized it to 20 x 20.
In the process of acquiring used lumber from an old barn the 20 foot 2x8's had bird mouths cut in them at 18 1/2 foot, so I again downsized it 18 x 20.
Yes I built it on skids sort of. The entire cabin could be moved (in theory) by slidding two steel beams under it.
As we were building we has deer inside the base framing before we sheeted it. I have pictures of deer tracks in the mud inches from the base.
I have over 1000 pictures of my build process. I'll post more as I have time.
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OwenChristensen
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# Posted: 27 Jan 2014 07:19
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Good job, looks like home to me.
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