Up grading my off grid cabin to a 5 star rating

cabinguy

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Ok so I was at camp this weekend finished the enclosure, the shower door has an old time screen door spring so it SNAPS closed like an old wooden screen door. Next camp weekend ill work on the floor and building up a gravel base for drainage.
 

cabinguy

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Almost done, but was able to use the shower this week end at camp.
IMG_0594.jpg Foraged creek rock
IMG_0598.jpg placed landscape plastic, built frame, placed rock and pea gravel for drainage
IMG_0599.jpg Zodi and deck boards
 

GettysburgGarden

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Yeah the
Our camp is in Ritchie County WV . When we first built the cabin we used a 3 burner perfection kerosene stove that was purchased at a Amish auction. The Amish use these in the summer often because their large wood stove gets their house to hot. We found that the kerosene stove created a smell that penetrated all our food and clothing even sealed in plastic Rubbermaid containers or sealed bags. The food even tasted like kerosene probably because the cabin is small. We since upgraded to an old Dangler 4 burner stove vintage 1930/40 that we found in a Amish appliance store . We converted it to propane and its in amazing condition (attached a pic of a similar stove I found on internet ) . The Zodi came with a burner that uses small Colman propane cylinders I'm thinking my stove is more efficient and if needed I could use the camp fire.
View attachment 8226 similar to the Dangler stove
Typically run outside.. When you look at Appalachia pictures, there is often a stove on the porch, freezer, etc.. it isn't uncommon even today to see people cooking on the porch or an actual "hag's house" which was a shed dedicated to outdoor cooking typically screened in and completely separated from the house structure. http://stpaulmercantile.com/index.p...ducts_id=227&zenid=tg2tjogikjs4p8obk9auji2792 I currently have a generator and can supply water, refrigeration, etc.. keep things "civilized" and sanitized for weeks or even months but two areas where generators fall short, one is heating and the other is hot water. I keep K1 on hand for heating in PA in the event of an ice-storm for prolonged loss of power and could set the shower unit on a larger kerosene heater. Trying to run an electric water heater or a HVAC off of a generator in sub zero is like a huge-huge-toaster, unless you have a true whole house generator not advised. K1 can degrade and put off a bad smell if the wicks get bad, they literally rot. http://k-100.com/fuel-type/diesel/ But what you could be smelling is microbe growth in diesel fuel or actually the wicks. Just the presence of the burning K1 smells I get that.. just when it comes down to heating nothing beats hydrocarbons. I have had to use the K1 in the past, I store it outside in a shed and have two K1 heaters, oil lamps, etc. It is a trade off between comfort and costs, I'd go gas if I could store enough and keep a few tanks for the BBQ, but to get 30,000 BTU I need to prevent freeze damage for prolonged power outages, I go K1. I startup the K1 outside and wait until the lens gets hot and the burning is clean and then bring inside. If the model doesn't have an exterior drip pan you should avoid.. "Bad odor after the heater is burning is most often caused by low quality kerosene. If there is high sulphur content in the kerosene you are using or if it is lower grade kerosene it cannot be burned completely at the temperatures reached in a portable kerosene heater. These un-burnt hydrocarbons collect on the wick and harden causing low burn and odor problems. Also be very careful when fueling your heater to not let any kerosene drip on the heater. Kerosene spilled on the heater or on the drip pan can cause a strong kerosene smell when the heater gets hot. In addition, if the heater is operated at too low of a temperature setting or with the wick installed too low, incomplete burning of the kerosene may cause odor. A heater should always be operated on high, turned down just enough to keep from sooting."

The following model as an example has an interior pan and will stink horribly. If you look at a parts schematic any tilt or even refill.. it's going to smell horrible
blacks-duraheat-kerosene-heaters-dh1100-64_1000.jpg

The following has an external pan
41TqibpVFVL.jpg


The butterfly makes some good stuff, an external link below.. there are some really cheap China knockoffs for $20 your mileage may vary from amazon. Again when Puerto Rico lost power these butterfly stoves went off the market and simply could not be found and those few remaining were at gouge pricing, I think Fema must have bought what was there ??.. Two good links for K1..

http://www.milesstair.com/bf-A822.html

http://www.endtimesreport.com/BF_2418.html

I'm thinking of getting the shower without the burner, nice product suggestion and yeah I'll get one.. I'd set it next to the fireplace and bring it up to temp slowly, and then put it on a K1 burner of some sort.. but our water in winter is 40 degrees if that from our well, no electricity means no shower, and while water can be heated in the microwave or in a pot on the K1 heater.. uhmmm it's not a real shower!!! Freezing sucks and we could easily do two months without electricity even iin harsh winter.. now we would also have a hot shower with minimal labor.
 

CrealCritter

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View attachment 8011 the cabin after I stained it
View attachment 8012 the bones post and beam

Its really just my off grid camp where I spend a couple w/e per month love to ride the hollers and ridge-tops in the SXS
No utilities no cell service for 5 miles 1 mile from black top road 1/2 mile from gravel rd.
Wish I had your sawmill Critter

Your quite the crafstman. I always wanted to learn post and beam but never got an opportunity to learn from anyone. Is that a split tie truss or a lap joint?
 

cabinguy

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Critter its a split tie. Thanks for the compliment but I live in a Old Order Amish community and had a kit made less expensive than a home depot shed kit of similar size. He milled the timber crafted all the mortise and tenons by hand and constructed the bones in his barn. The main beams are 8 x 8 the roof trusses are 4 x 6 pine and all the pegs are cherry. When he completed the bones were dissembled and i pulled it down to WV with the help of two Ex Amish we assembled it in two days. The Guy that made the cabin is not allowed to travel " Old Order Swartzentruber Amish" rules. Im sure you would love to meet him and visit his mill and workshop.
 

CrealCritter

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Critter its a split tie. Thanks for the compliment but I live in a Old Order Amish community and had a kit made less expensive than a home depot shed kit of similar size. He milled the timber crafted all the mortise and tenons by hand and constructed the bones in his barn. The main beams are 8 x 8 the roof trusses are 4 x 6 pine and all the pegs are cherry. When he completed the bones were dissembled and i pulled it down to WV with the help of two Ex Amish we assembled it in two days. The Guy that made the cabin is not allowed to travel " Old Order Swartzentruber Amish" rules. Im sure you would love to meet him and visit his mill and workshop.

Interesting... My wife has befriended an Amish lady. She's such a sweetheart... I haven't gotten around to meeting her husband yet though.

A few years back I drew up my wife's dream cabin in CAD. This is the truss design I setteled in on. Split tie, pegged, M&T like yours is. However it was designed by me and to the best of my ability (I'm no structural engineer by any means) to meet the following specs.

(loblolly or eastern white) 8x12 pine timbers
32' free span
8/12 pitch
8' on center spacing
8x8" bearing (D style log wall)
3' 8" overhang
120 MPH wind shear (highest wind gust in past 50 years)
90" snow load (ground) - the house will built in southern IL - this is the maximum amount of snow for one year in the past 50 years.
Truss_28draft1_29.jpg



I quickly found out in order to have the house insured. I would have to have everything verfifed by a cerrifed structural engineer and that is some BIG bucks! Not saying it can't be done by any means... Just us poor folk can't afford a structural engineer to verify every flipping pin in the house to satisfy an insurance company.
 

CrealCritter

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Critter I love your wife's style and dream cabin its beautiful. I bet you have a 3D rendering I would love to see it. I understand exactly what you mean regarding insurance. My full time home is a small log cabin that I moved into 8 years ago. It was built in 1986 I'm the third owner. When I went to insure it thier were 101 questions and not all insurance companies would deal with log cabins or inside wood burning stoves. One of the first questions they asked was it a professional kit. Even the insurance company that insured the previous owner required me to get the wood stove inspected that's been in the cabin since 86 prior to insuring me. My off grid cabin is only 16 x 24 I trusted the Amish guy with years of experience to design it, and I would be willing to bet in comparison to a Home Depot shed kit its over designed. I'm a Mech Eng by trade and didn't run a single calculation it may be foolish but its stout in comparison to traditional building techniques.

No doubt in my mind it's probably like 100 times stronger than then the stick built crap they build nowadays. Insurance companies don't see it that way though.

I love to see how Craftsman built buildings of yesteryear, it's just something I really admire. The skill these guys had is nothing short of amazing.
 
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