Delivering 20,000lbs Of Off Grid Building Materials
Ever thought about kicking society to the curb and building an off grid home?
We did! And today we just got all the building materials delivered.
We’re about to take you on the adventure of a lifetime. OK, in reality it’s OUR adventure of a lifetime but, it’s our hope that it will inspire and educate others to do what we’re doing and that’s buying your own piece of land, building an off grid home, and living a nearly zero cost, safe, happy and healthy life as possible!
Welcome To Delivery Day
After
,shopping for land,
and ordering we finally get the building materials delivers. Getting the building materials for our off grid cabin “area” is easy enough. Getting it down to the build site… whole other bag of worms. It’s been months in planning and preparation and finally, the process has begun.
We got off to a slow start and in fact, delayed 10 days. The snow this year in Halifax has been historic and that caused a domino effect that resulted in changed flights for my folks, who are helping us with the build, to having to purchase an ATV and a folding utility trailer to get the building material down to the build site, to having to use a hand blazed trail to access the build site. We ended up transporting most of the building materials by hand/ATV down to the build site.
But finally… we’ve begun.
We Have To Carry All This Where?
Rule #1…
Nothing is ever as easy as it’s first seems on paper. Ever!
So to quickly bring you up to speed and give you a little history…
We’ve been planning this build for well over 6 months now and we’re sharing the entire experience with you in order to teach who ever is interested in exactly how we did it. At first it was just a way to log our build and look back years from now. Something our family would be proud of for a couple generations to come. What happened when I started sharing these posts on Facebook was astonishing. First hundreds, then thousands, and now tens of thousands of people are following along with our cabin build. Welcome to the digital era of blogging!
The Build Site….
You can
and read how we saved $20K off the price as a result of a typo! True story :)
Our build site is directly off of a 650ft off private gravel lane (which came with the property we purchased) then then another 650ft further down a shallow slopped, thickly forested hillside to the edge of a small lake called Dark Pond.
Want To See Every Piece Of Building Material We Bought To Build The Cabin?
The Cabin Floor Plan
We did a complete post detailing the
.
Below you can see how “rough” our first attempts were.
This went from a discussion in front of a white board, with dry erase markers in hand, to a completed cabin!
Building A Temporary Workshop
In order to accommodate me and my Dad during the build, we put together a 10ft X 18ft wooden floor in order to set-up a 10 man tent that will house the temporary toilet, some electrical and hand tools , nails and the interior doors. We also have a smaller tent in case of a surprise down pour for somewhere to toss the tools we’re using.
Getting Materials to the Build Site
The new Yamaha Grizzly 550 and folding utility trailer that we’ll use to bring all the building materials down to the build site. Yes, this is the trail we will be driving all the materials down. Here’s a
.
A 75 cubic foot storage shed for the tools/generator. Will make a great place to store dry firewood when we’re done!
A storage box like this or the one below has been a lifesaver for storing the generator, tools, gas & oil, propane tanks, tarps, and even wood!
We are still using this box long after the build and I have to say.. this is one of the things you cannot do an off grid build without. I imagine some people try and keep all their tools on site under a tarp and that will rust your tools out faster than anything. This kept everything in excellent condition, dry, and safe.
Home Depot Arrives
Home Depot finally arrived with roughly
20,000 lbs
of building material.
Here’s a glimpse into Day #1 of getting the materials to the top of Hidden Lane.
used a pretty cool forklift called a “Moffit” to bring our materials to the top of Hidden Lane…
Here is a look at some of the
building supplies
we managed to get fork-lifted up to the top of Hidden Lane…
Tomorrow we’ll get started on the cabin foundation.
Ready To Check Out The Next Step Of The Build?
The Secret To A Perfect Cabin Foundation!
- How to Wire a 3-Way Switch in an Off-Grid Cabin (Solar, Battery & Inverter Safe)I’ve flown helicopters in weather that would ground most sane pilots, and I’ve stood in our cabin loft in the middle of a Nova Scotia […]
- how to clean solar panelsHow to Clean Solar Panels: A Step-by-Step DIY Guide As you already know, residential and off-grid solar systems are amazing sources of renewable energy that […]
- earthshipWhat Is an Earthship and How It Can Help Save the Planet Imagine living in a home that is completely self-sufficient, eco-friendly, and comfortable. A […]
- 3-way-switch-wiring
- solar generatorHow To Find The Best Solar Generator When we first cleared the land to build our off grid home back in 2016, we started with […]
- Off Grid HeatingThe Best Off Grid Heating Methods Introduction To Off Grid Heating If you're Living off the grid already or planning to in the future, you […]
Hi I have built something very similar in northern Canada. I’m 24 x 34 with a 12 x 24 second floor. I live full time in the boreal forest and have gardens and a big greenhouse. Life is simple but not easy all the time. I have been looking to share the cabin in return for help with the work. I would like to send you a pitchure of my cabin.
Fantastic Russ!
We’re excited to see your cabin :)
Steve B.