The Shack

This spring I’m starting work on my weekend cabin/retreat on the family acreage. The place will be used a few times a month and be available to friends and family members.

Once the snow clears I’ll find a good site, and then start clearing it (which will give me a very good supply of lumber).

Anyways. The goal is to do as much of the work myself, use local & recycled materials, acquire skills that may be used later to build a house, and spend as little $$ as possible.

I’ve considered building a log cabin, milling the lumber for stick building, cordwood construction, hay bale walls, two conex containers and finally a steel building kit.

I like the idea of used shipping containers. Once delivered to the site, they can be used for secure storage as I stockpile material. The removed interior sections can be put to use as security shutters for windows and doors.

The local tech school is offering night classes for metal working and welding. What I learn would be put to good use on a couple of cargo containers.

I like this plan, and would adapt it to just two containers which would give about 600 square feet after insulation, wood burning stove and interior walls. The huge deck would give us more "room", especially if a portion of it was covered and screened in.

On the other hand, a small prefab steel building kit that includes all the doors and windows is very attractive. A former boss assembled one in a weekend, a garage, using hand tools & with the help of his Dad and teenaged son. If I recall, it was very “inexpensive”, not counting the cost of the concrete slab and running power to it.

I'm very excited about this project.

Hoozyrdady.