I Buys Me a Shed for a Cabin---PICTURES!

Heineken · Last edited by Heineken on Wed Jun 18, 2008 11:19 am; edited 2 times in total

I bought a storage shed yesterday that I will have shipped to and set up on my tree farm (which I've pretentiously named "Silverdeer"), 75 miles south of where I live.

I had had romantic notions of building a cabin there, but my plate is way too full for that.

They're making some very nice storage sheds these days, and I think they can double just fine as little cabins.

Mine is 10 x 14 feet and has cross-through ventilation in both directions (windows facing each other on two walls; vents on the other two walls, plus a double door on one of those walls). It's well-built, with studs on 16-inch centers and the joists sitting on five treated 4 x 4s. The rafters are nice and high. It has two workbench-type shelves built in. Architectural shingles, no less. Block that up, level it, anchor it to the ground, and it'll last mucho years, barring the wayward tornado.

Cost: $3100, including delivery.

Now I can drive down and not have to drive back the same day, which left me exhausted (I hate tents, BTW).

I can add on a small deck. Heck, I can add on another room, in time.

Maybe I drill me a little well with a hand pump, hidden in the bush.

Build me a fire pit for my cast-iron cauldron and venison stew.

The beginnings of a bug-out place, no?

Or at least a laboratory for learning greater self-sufficiency. Camping out is a great way to discover what you really need and what you don't.
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"Actually, humans died out long ago."
---Abused, abandoned hunting dog

"Things have entered a stage where the only change that is possible is for things to get worse."
---Me and my brother

dunewalker · Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 8:25 pm Post subject: Re: I Buys Me a Shed

Wtg, that's a good plan! A compromise with reality, and way better than dragging an old trailer out there. As you say, you can add a deck, or even a room, etc. You're on your way again. Now you have a sanctuary...
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CarlinsDarlin · Moderator Joined: Jul 02, 2004 Posts: 1372

Heineken,
Congrats Smile

Last year my stepmom's youngest brother found himself with no place to live. He had 40 acres he inherited from my grandpa, but no house on it. He did exactly what you describe. Bought himself a little shed like the one you've bought, and has set about making himself a little house. Bedroom in a loft area (tall enough to sleep in, but not stand in) and a living area with kitchenette and bath below. It's a nice little setup for a little money. He plans to add on eventually, but for now it works for him. He's single and has one son who visits about every other weekend.
Kathy

Heineken · Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 8:38 pm Post subject: Re: I Buys Me a Shed

Exactly, Darlin and Dune---a storage shed gives you a nucleus around which you can create almost anything. It gets you out of the bugs and the sun. I like small houses, and this is the ultimate "small house"!

I didn't want to sink much money into this. A cabin I bought or built would be too big an investment for my taste.

There's always the chance of vandalism. The location is very remote (by Eastern Seaboard terms, ha ha), a mile off a "blue highway" that itself has almost zero traffic. It's protected in a way, since a hunt club I'm friendly with leases 600 acres surrounding my 50 on two sides; a dairy farm is on another side (the side my 1-mile right-of-way crosses through); and a vast, gated, mysterious private wilderness borders the fourth side. Remoteness like that both protects and threatens. Unlikely anyone would happen on the shed, but if someone did and that someone were bad, it would be easy for him to burn it down, right?

Anyway, losing the $3100 investment to a vandal would sting but not crush.

Better than losing a $10,000 cabin you had built or something you sweated to build yourself for a year.
_________________
"Actually, humans died out long ago."
---Abused, abandoned hunting dog

"Things have entered a stage where the only change that is possible is for things to get worse."
---Me and my brother

pstarr · Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 9:21 pm Post subject: Re: I Buys Me a Shed

Sounds sweet Heine. Got a picture?
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canis_lupus · Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 9:29 pm Post subject: Re: I Buys Me a Shed

I've got my mobile home up for free on a SW Wisconsin message board -- whoever takes it can have it free for use or scrap. Mrs. Lupus and I decided to get a nice used camper and build a shelter over it. They are going like hotcakes on ebay. Nice outdoor shower, some screening...ahh. Home away from home.

Heineken, can you post the link for the co. you bought it from? I'm clearing the space in my back yard here in Illinois for a 12 X 20 and if I build it from scratch my price is $2900. For a couple of bucks more, it might be worth going your route.

I'd like to add a wood stove, and several skylights so I can get my veggie starts going early. Further, Mrs. Lupus and I will soon start to have a litter of Little Lupuses and my home office is in the only other bedroom in the Lupus Den so I need someplace else to work from. Don't feel like spending the $$ on an office elsewhere.

Congratulations!

Shannymara · Master Joined: Oct 04, 2004 Posts: 5103 Location: Oklahoma

That's awesome, congratulations! I'd love to see a picture. My husband has thought about doing the same thing if we get more land. I agree some of those sheds are pretty nice these days.
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frankthetank · Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 10:36 pm Post subject: Re: I Buys Me a Shed

I'd live in a shed in a heartbeat.

Can you insulate it?
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seldom_seen · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Apr 12, 2005 Posts: 1945

Heineken · Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 6:34 am Post subject: Re: I Buys Me a Shed

I'll try to answer all your various questions in this post.

Yes, I'll post some pics once it's all set up (and maybe after I build my little deck attached to the front (10 x 8, I think, would be just right).

The company I bought it from is very local; I don't think it would be practical to buy a shed from it and have it shipped out of state! Smile

After the first 35 miles you pay $3.50/mile per shipping. (They had very recently whited out that price and written in the new price, and we know why, right?)

There are lots of these shed outfits, though. There's one near you, for now.

The Internet has guidelines on what to look for in a well-built shed. Google it. I'd say avoid the "econo" buildings, which usually have the studs set on 24-inch centers and make other compromises.

Also, make sure the shed you buy can actually be delivered to the site. Consider things like branches, overhead wires, boggy ground, etc. My site is way off-road and I'm nervous about this, but everyone I've spoken to at the company, including the delivery man himself, assures me it will go smoothly.

Yes, it's easy to insulate a shed. Staple fiberglass batts between the studs and cover with 3/8 inch plywood, is how I'd do it, but there are surely other ways that would produce a more "homey" result.

I'm not going to bother even checking into getting a building permit. For one thing it's only 140 square feet (and 150 square feet or more is often the cutoff for the building-permit-requirement bullshit). For another it will be in the middle of nowhere. Come and get me, coppers!
_________________
"Actually, humans died out long ago."
---Abused, abandoned hunting dog

"Things have entered a stage where the only change that is possible is for things to get worse."
---Me and my brother

Ludi · Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 7:06 am Post subject: Re: I Buys Me a Shed

Fantastic to see someone else implementing an idea I've been tossing around for years!

Smile

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dunewalker · Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 7:36 am Post subject: Re: I Buys Me a Shed

Ok, Heineken, so now you've got this nice little cabin all set up back there in the woods, with a deck out front & a hand pump out in the yard--are you going to lock it or leave it unlocked? Are you going to stock it up or just have a little firewood by the door?
_________________
"I believe that a wise Vermonter lives more by lack of expense rather than from income."--some Dartmouth professor from across the river

Heineken · Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 11:30 am Post subject: Re: I Buys Me a Shed

Dune, you anticipate both my dreams and my nightmares.

I've decided I will leave it unlocked. If someone wants to get in and is determined to do so, I'd rather they just walked in than broke the door or a window.

I might post an American flag or a patriotic sign or something like that.

There are 50 acres of trees. For campfires you don't really need seasoned wood, although I could see to it that some of that is lying around. I'll just cut some wood as needed.

The hand pump I would have hidden in a bushy area. I'd really try to camouflage it. Until then I'll keep some gallon bottles of water in a shallow ditch in the shade.

I could have a stash of food hidden there, too, in animal-proof containers.

In the end, everything is an experiment, and so is this.
_________________
"Actually, humans died out long ago."
---Abused, abandoned hunting dog

"Things have entered a stage where the only change that is possible is for things to get worse."
---Me and my brother

PrairieMule · Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 11:40 am Post subject: Re: I Buys Me a Shed

My Dad put an aluminum shed on some property in Arkansas back in 1974. It's still standing.
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taizy8 · Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 12:00 pm Post subject: Re: I Buys Me a Shed

I love the shed Idea Heineken,

I'm thinking of buying a patch of land where there is difficulty with planning permission and this seems like a good solution. Who is going to check your PP when TSHTF.

T8
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