Madman
Well-known member
About 7 years ago I purchased a little over 11 acres in the Rockies of Colorado. It was an old mining claim which never got released, and is surrounded by other remote mining claims which are in turn surrounded by BLM and National Forrest. I purchased it for my girls and I to be able to summer camp and potentially establish a hunting camp out of s this is my favorite area of Colorado. The previous owner tried to build his home on here, and went as far as installing a septic system and had a well drilled, but as he and other property owners got into a couple of pissing matches, restricted access especially after December, and a few other things he gave up and I purchased it.
In May of 22 I started planning out a cabin in my head and thinking what I would have to do to pull it off.....My girlfriend made some subtle suggestions of what I should do to keep her happy (and to be honest they were good ideas...a shower and a toilet).....and in August I started the build with the help of two friends for the rough construction and another ex navy Nuke buddy of mine (I was a Navy Nuke) helped me with some of the plumbing and wiring of the solar. Attached are pics of the process.
If you are reading this, want to do something similar but have doubts my advice is don't doubt...YOU CAN DO IT TOO!
Leveled out the ground, did some Caber-toss stuff with the vertical poles and started the footprint.
Laying out the floor structure and the flooring.
Framing her up.
This makes it look easier than it was.
Dropping in the plumbing for the shower, sink, and toilet.
Roughed in plumbing.
A little glorious view during construction...this was after the rough building was done, now I'm on electrical, plumbing, insulation, drywall, and fireplace.
Oh Yes! Glorious.
Drywall for clean look!
Shower with the portable hot water heater...it works excellent!.
A worthy investment, and nice retreat, hunting camp, and was a lot of fun to build. I think the best part was the challenge and success of doing all on my own (For the most part anyways).
In May of 22 I started planning out a cabin in my head and thinking what I would have to do to pull it off.....My girlfriend made some subtle suggestions of what I should do to keep her happy (and to be honest they were good ideas...a shower and a toilet).....and in August I started the build with the help of two friends for the rough construction and another ex navy Nuke buddy of mine (I was a Navy Nuke) helped me with some of the plumbing and wiring of the solar. Attached are pics of the process.
If you are reading this, want to do something similar but have doubts my advice is don't doubt...YOU CAN DO IT TOO!
Leveled out the ground, did some Caber-toss stuff with the vertical poles and started the footprint.
Laying out the floor structure and the flooring.
Framing her up.
This makes it look easier than it was.
Dropping in the plumbing for the shower, sink, and toilet.
Roughed in plumbing.
A little glorious view during construction...this was after the rough building was done, now I'm on electrical, plumbing, insulation, drywall, and fireplace.
Oh Yes! Glorious.
Drywall for clean look!
Shower with the portable hot water heater...it works excellent!.
A worthy investment, and nice retreat, hunting camp, and was a lot of fun to build. I think the best part was the challenge and success of doing all on my own (For the most part anyways).
Attachments
Last edited: