Build a Cheap Log Cabin from the Ground Up

Description

Finally, I start building my own log cabin on my property near Algonquin Park in Ontario, Canada. In this video, I cut some trees down, dig a foundation and build a rock cart / log dolly for bringing building materials to the site of the log cabin.

Tags: Cabin,log cabin,off-grid,self-reliance,self reliance,tiny home,small home,shelter,bushcraft,survival,living off the land,homestead,woodcraft,woodworking,gransfors bruk,axe,pathfinder school,dick proenneke,cabin living,alone in the wilderness,joe Robinet

Video Transcription

everybody thanks for tuning in Sean James here from my self-reliance take a look behind me you'll see the river runs through this the north end of the property and the reason I'm here at this location today is I'm going to get started on the log cabin first real log cabin on the property this is going to be a permanent structure and it's going to pose my wife and I and so it's going to be a bug proof Mouse proof and animal proof solid cabin that we can escape from the elements and heat up in the winter and and make it a really cozy comfortable place to to live if need be it's going to be totally off-grid I'm going to build it 100% with free materials I'm going to get as much of the material from the property as I can in the form of trees rocks clay other resources for making a fire pit foundation log walls split cedar roof and what else I'm going to build a dig a well and one of the low spots in behind me far enough away from the stream that's going to filter in so we're going to have our fresh water from here going to build a privy up along the slope down that way just downwind from the cabin and yeah this is going to be a perfect spot to have a permanent permanent off-grid home that somebody could live in and I'm going to do it virtually for free we're going to start today by clearing this cabin area I'll show you why I chose the spot and we're going to start the foundation with the rock start gathering rocks for fireplace and foundation so this stream is the year-round stream we can draw water from it however got a nice low area here 50 60 feet back from the water's edge so I'm going to put a dig it well somewhere down in here and I'll be able to draw some water from the pond over there from the creek I mean so you can see that there's a tree rate here that's got a rub on it it's a it's a white to white pine which I don't have a lot of here but that white pine has been rubbed by a bull moose

so major major wildlife area backed up beaver beaver

right there Crossing that's a crossing for bear deer and probably smaller game as well small smaller wildlife and big Beaver meadow over there the other side of trees there and up here we have pet walks

big tall hemlocks and some big sugar maple so we'll tap those trees next spring okay so the spot that my wife and I picked out earlier in the winter when it was covered in snow look like the ideal spot for a cab and I'm really second-guessing that so I'm going to change locations here so you can see down in there down in that low area beautiful spots down closer to the water but because it is closer to the water the ground is really soft so if we put a cab in there I think it's just going to sink into the ground and with the big roots from the hemlock there and that hemlock they're going to be pretty solid so the cabin is going to end up sinking into the ground and then getting hung up on those roots and then who knows where it's going to settle it's going to be at a level for sure and the other thing is the logs are going to rot the ones at the ground level well probably bigger concern even than that because you know I'm not going to live 100 more years that huge hemlock right there that's actually leaning towards the cabin if it topples it's headed right for the cabins could have wiped with it so luckily we're not up far from that spot we're still close to the river mahp on this elevated platform right here it's relatively level I can make it level with rocks ground is much more solid and there's actually a lot of rock here already so I'll just start moving those into place and they get a foundation built and let's get that going and see if we can get some logs in place today get caught up to where I was on the other cabin and then just keep going at this one when I can get up here and going back to the other cabin at my friend's place less often but throughout the process so I can get that one done as well priority though it's going to be to get this one done before probably August so that we can start occupying it so I'm going to get to work here [Music]

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so what I'm trying to do here is get the foundation down to a mineral soil the top layer and you can see the rut and stump here but all the other compost all the leaves and all the debris that have composted over the years creates a nice deep topsoil on top very rich but it's almost all organic but right under that done a few inches you go from that dirt rich organic soil down to sand and clay mix that's going to be a lot more stable than the organic mulch on top for organic compost so if I get this down down to sand even though it's spring and it's kind of draining through here I'm going to divert that water down through there around the cabin but it's wet but it's still pretty stable in there or the sand is this land up here is very sandy so it drains really well sandy and rocky so there's a lot of rocks in here too so I'm going to take all the organic topsoil out get down to the sand base and then I'm going to fill it back in with all these small rocks and then in each of the corners and then at least to intermediary points on each wall each base log I'm going to prop up to the full height as well so I've got a level log it's got four pillars essentially and then I'm going to collect a whole bunch of rocks and on the back side they're facing north I'm going to have the fireplace so I should be able to get this done today get all this foundation dug up get the stones in there maybe even get those first logs down [Music]

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this is the reason you usually cut log cabin logs in the spring so it's April April 20 today temperature has been above 0 above freezing for for a bit now and the SAP is running so it's bark you saw me D barking in the winter though spruce trees and cedar trees I'll put my other to the other cabin I'm building and it just holds right on right so the staff is running on the the cambium layer here and because it is it's loose from the from the old-growth from the growth from Moss here so you can take that take it right off and you can actually beat that it's soft and actually really sweet very wet good very good

so as you can see this balsam fir nice and straight less knot and the knots are coming off flush when I skinned them with this sharp forest axe oh I don't think I have my I don't think I might draw a knife with me today but next time I mop will cut some logs fresh logs and debark and immediately with the with the draw knife but this is coming off nicely actually brought an ice scraper to a stand like a long-handled ice scraper which can be used as a parts but better on logs bigger than this you take the part from the side here and pry it off that way comes off in huge chunks green lumber is nice to work which does it feel soft but of course it dries out and shrinks over the course that season four seasons really so by fall this will shrunk quite a bit so when I do my notches I'm going to have to be aware of that try to allow for some shrinkage this propert Ron I for a little hewing axe with a flat side which I do have in the truck actually skin that quick

you have the I can get some side of it like that

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let's have some rain coming in so here is called for heavy rain with thunderstorms but up here in South River has it started yet it's like two or three o'clock in the afternoon so I'm not sure we're going to get anything sure at some point we will but that term set up and got rain gear so that's why I keep working real dark [Music]

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