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Small Cabin Forum / Cabin Construction / ways to save money on a cabin build
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mossberg fan
Member
# Posted: 13 Feb 2016 05:58
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during our cabin build, we were able to save alot of money several different ways. by watching craigslist daily, using coupons, our local pennysaver as well as just keeping an eye out on the way home from work (garage sales, junk piles). what other ways have people saved money during their build?
oh yeah, lowes coupon at post office, (coupon works at home depot too)

turkeyhunter
Member
# Posted: 13 Feb 2016 06:50
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absolutely~~~ found a brand new 4 ft shower on Craigslist and faucets for $150/ like new log furniture for camp ....got several building material deals at yard sales as well.
The air gun I used for framing I bought a yard sale for 40 bucks and framed the cabin with it!!

I luv a DEAL

mossberg fan
Member
# Posted: 13 Feb 2016 07:35
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we just found a granite countertop with sink, almost 9 ft long, with a seperate 2'x4' piece and backsplash for 400 bucks, craigslist is the best, you just have to check it often, i also check cities on craigslist that are within an hours drive, home depot and lowes mark stuff down all the time, you just have to know where to look, i have gotten several $40 gallons of mistint paint for $5 a gallon, roofing panels for $5, 2 yrs ago i saw an ad for free wood on craigslist, local drive-in was expanding needed lots of Ash removed, got 33 truckloads of Ash for free. i'll be going into my 3rd year on that free woodpile

Julie2Oregon
Member
# Posted: 13 Feb 2016 07:46
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I've already been watching Craigs List for my new location. Gah, I've missed some cool stuff in the Building Materials section.

If you have a Habitat for Humanity ReStore near you, that's a GREAT place to find stuff! Contractors and the Big Box stores donate all sorts of brand new and used building supplies. When I've remodeled in the past, I've found brand new lighting fixtures still in the box, tile, cabinet and drawer pulls, and other random things.

They always have doors, windows, toilets, cabinets, plumbing and electrical supplies, shutters, and gallons of paint. You never know what else you might find!

I've already located a Habitat ReStore in southern Oregon and it looks like a big one. This one even has furniture. I'll be taking a truck, lol.

mossberg fan
Member
# Posted: 13 Feb 2016 07:52
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make sure you check used furniture closely for roaches or bedbugs. unfortunately its sometimes cheaper to "donate" old furniture, than to pay someone to take to the dump. from reading your previous posts, im sure you already know that

mossberg fan
Member
# Posted: 13 Feb 2016 07:54
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we found a local guy who cuts wood in the pennysaver, we got all our board and batten cut from local hemlock, his mill is 5 miles from our camp

silverwaterlady
Member
# Posted: 13 Feb 2016 10:36 - Edited by: silverwaterlady
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We hired local people to do all the work on our cabin and land.

Hired the local farmer with a tractor to put in the road.

Hired a local farmer to cut and mill flooring for our loft.

Hired a local builder to build our log cabin with most of the logs coming from our land. Continuing to use our trees and stones for building.

Finishing the inside ourselves with the help of our son.

Built the outbuildings. Some from leftover building material.

Collected and purchased furniture and decor over a span of decades from estate sales,thrift stores and the roadside before the bedbug epidemic.

Went to Craigslist to find my claw foot tub,farmers sink and Hoosier cabinet. Went to Ebay for kitchen antique items and Amazon to find new stuff.

rockies
Member
# Posted: 13 Feb 2016 18:50
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I used to work part time at a major big box home building supply store. The staff discounts are incredible. Most building materials were 40-70% off the retail price. You could pick up a part time job for a couple of hours a week.

Another thing I discovered working there was that when the vendors come in and change the displays to the newer models the old products are frequently put in the back for disposal.

One day I saw a couple of carts full of high end faucets there ($150-$400 per piece) and asked the plumbing manager what was happening with them and he said that the new models had come out and we were supposed to throw out the old ones. I spoke to the store manager and bought $400 worth of faucets for $30.

I also bought an $1100 bathroom vanity that was missing a drawer front for $10 and a $950 corner fireplace that had been scratched at a show home for $10. It was easy enough to buy some wood and make a new drawer front.

If the vendors don't want it back and the store can't sell it the product goes in the back to be thrown out. You can always ask the store manager if they have anything they'd like to sell off rather than trash.

mossberg fan
Member
# Posted: 13 Feb 2016 19:40
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thats cool info rockies, im gonna ask next time im there. one mans trash...

skootamattaschmidty
Member
# Posted: 13 Feb 2016 20:16
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I bought my claw foot tub off kijij for $80. It was in great shape and was approximately a hundred years old. The roofing for my sauna came from my brother in law for free. My son works at a Rona close to home part time and gets a great staff discount I am able to capitalize on. So I get fasteners etc at an incredible price. A lot of projects on my property I have incorporated logs from my own property that I have used to build with. Great savings.

KinAlberta
Member
# Posted: 13 Feb 2016 20:36
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This won't save on the build but in reviewing our policy today with a our city home's policy issuer I just learned that last year's re-shingling will reduce our policy cost. I didn't think to ask how much.

So, next week I'll be calling the other agency and asking if the new metal roof on our cabin could reduce its insurance rate. I'm really curious of the potential savings as maybe we've long been foolish going with asphalt.

So, like many things, paying more upfront may in the end save you money.

The old: "Short-term pain for long-term gain."

pash
Member
# Posted: 13 Feb 2016 22:00
Reply 


I bought everything at menards at 11% rebate and got a card with 5% cash back at home improvement stores for 3 months. That worked at well and saved me thousands.

silverwaterlady
Member
# Posted: 13 Feb 2016 23:27
Reply 


I charge everything I can on my Discover card,pay it off each month,take the cash back once a year and use it to buy things for the cabin.

KinAlberta
Member
# Posted: 14 Feb 2016 11:43 - Edited by: KinAlberta
Reply 


As mentioned above HFH. We have several of the Habitat for Humanity Restores in town and they are great for finding treasures. We also have Architectural Clearinghouse, and a ReUse store that often carry windows, doors, etc. Then our city operates free stores that have all kinds of unusual materials. The city is trying to reduce the amount of good things going to the landfills.

All the new construction around here though is landfilling enormous amounts of materials I'd love to be able to get my hands on. Cement panel board cuts offs on large commercial buildings etc. I could probably reside my boathouse in just the scrap one of these projects toss in the bins. Too bad there hasn't been a system to cut this waste.

Even residential reno waste could prove a boon to people building small sheds etc. Eg I saved all our oak flooring cut offs with a plan to make little birdhouses out of them in retirement. . In the mean time though, it's actually been quite surprising all the uses I've found for short scraps of oak flooring.

Oh, I've also reused four sets of old kitchen cupboards that otherwise were designed for the landfill.

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