I had mentioned this in a few other threads and it seemed to have some interest so figured I’d make my own.

It is going to be drawn out without a ton of action at first but then going to really take off this summer. But I wanted to document the whole process.

So if you’ve seen some of my other threads you know I like to go to public use cabins. I enjoy getting off grid and just living the simple life in a one room no electric no running water cabin. The problem with public use ones is you are subject to availability; which in recent years seems to be getting harder and harder. It used to be you could book one a week or two in advance without much issue. Recently trying to get one for a Friday or Saturday night can be difficult. One I looked at was booked every Friday and Saturday for 4 months.

Also with these you obviously can’t leave anything there. So you have to bring all your stuff with you and back out again which can be a challenge with kids and dogs and all the stuff that goes along with them(most of the ones I go to you cannot drive a highway vehicle to). Plus they aren’t “yours” so it just isn’t the same feel.

So with that I decided I wanted to buy or build my own. Kind of half looked at some built ones in the past few years. Found one that was for sale for a long time. Nice cabin on some acreage and it was lake front. The problem was it had a river crossing involved to get to it and ultimately that just wasn’t something I wanted to deal with. Especially since it was another ~ 4 miles after the river crossing. So you are boating an atv across then continuing on. Not an easy task to get to your property.

So that lead me to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources Land Sales.

Every year the state auctions off a bunch of parcels of land. They range from being in town to needing a plane to get to them.

Some areas actually start out as recreational cabin claim staking areas. Where you can go out to a certain area and stake your own claim(then of course the state appraises it and you pay for it). Then the state parcels up the remaining area and sells it.

About 2 years ago my friend bought several parcels near where the Elliot and Dalton highway converge. He tried to convince me to buy a few there as well so between him I and his other friend we’d own basically the whole area. I thought about it but in the end it wasn’t where I wanted mine to be.

So how exactly does buying land from the state work?  

Like I said some areas they initially open up to claim staking. Then they parcel up the rest.

The parcels they create go into the annual land auction.

They mark them all and give brochures and maps so that you can go check them out before you bid.

Attached File
Attached File



A sample subdivision:

Attached File



All parcels have a minimum bid and it is a sealed bid auction. So you basically bid what you are willing to pay and don’t know if anyone else bid at all or if someone bids more.

You can bid on as many as you like, but you can only win 2. And they open the bids based off how many bids per parcel there were. So say one parcel has 30 bids on it. That one will be opened before a parcel with 10 bids or 3 bids. And you win the first 2 that you win and then are disqualified from the rest.

They live stream the whole opening process for all the parcels in one many hours broadcast.


Also I should say this whole process is only open to Alaska residents; so sorry lower 48ers can’t just buy land in Alaska through this program.

If a parcel does not have any bids then it goes up for sale through an over the counter purchase program. Starting out over the appraised value(30% then 15% then appraised value) and going down based on time if no one buys it. Attached File


The state will also finance the land for you if you want. Which is nice because it’s near impossible to get a bank to loan on a recreational remote property.

Attached File



Also there is a one time 25% veterans discount(it’s a little more complicated than that but I’m not going to explain it).  Meaning if you are a veteran you can use a 25% discount once in your life on one parcel. Even off your bid amount(say you bid 20,000 and someone else bid 15,000 you won and you can take 25% off your 20,000 bid). But you can only do that once.

So that is how the land sales work. I will get into the land I bought in coming posts. But that’s enough typing for right now. And as I said it will be kind of slow going for a little while as I won’t start building until the snow is out but will start designing/acquiring materials/ hauling it out there before then.

I will also be looking for advice on design/ materials etc. Some things are going to have to be budget purchases and upgraded later(such as the wood stove as I can’t afford the $4,000 wood stove I want this year on top of buying the land and the materials to build the cabin).

I will look at the purchase contract and see. Off the top of my head I believe if you purchased it outright you can sell it without issue. If the state financed it for you; you have to coordinate any sale through them. But I will double check.

Tag

Subscribed...

Some day, we will be neighbors, until then, I'll live vicariously through you

Looks like fun. Tagged.

Is rainwater collection something people do in alaska?

If it’s snow It’s not going in the tank til spring right?

Shocking as it might sound. Snow turns into water when you add heat.... You don't have to flush and outhouse and the Op stated he would be packing in his potable water ...

Certainly could melt snow in the winter. There are also a couple creeks nearby. But until/if it becomes a full time residence I’ll likely just be bringing water with me.

In.

No need to dig thru paperwork brother, though I really appreciate the offer to do so.
Was just curious if you knew or had heard..it would seem to be a good method of flipping properties and would open up land to non-AK residents that otherwise may not be, but I admit I'm lacking a complete understanding of it all.
I'm searching AK land every week or so, the hope of grabbing something near Juneau in the size & price we want, seems to be a lost cause at this point.
I'm envious of your journey!

Tagscribed

I came here for a cabin, I don't see a cabin


TAG and a free bump

Holy fuck, Canadia got nuked off the map!!!

Well, another tab saved on my screen.

Yeah it will be a little slow going at first. But I will need some advice along the way.

I’ll make a post tomorrow about cabin design and materials.

I will be visiting the property this weekend to see what it looks like in winter. Also probably gonna sled some of the bigger stuff out while there is snow and it’s easier.

so, serious question.

how far to the nearest residence?

OST

I guess you’d have to define residence. People bought the two parcels next to mine. If/how soon they’ll build on it I have no idea. Seems there is quite a few lots up there people bought and never did anything with.

There are other cabins in the area. But the way the land is sloped you can’t see them from the trail and won’t be able to see them from my land. I don’t think anyone lives up there full time. I went up a couple winters ago and there were no tracks out to the area.

Be interesting to see if there has been traffic this winter when I go up this weekend.


So long story short, there are a handful of recreational cabins along the 6 mile trail ride to
Mine. Couldn’t tell you the closest. I’d guess It’s probably 1km or so.

The closest occupied year round residence is likely 20-30 miles away.

ideal...

Tag.

Cool shit.

Tag

I can think of several

Subscribed. Thanks for the thread, OP.

How much does land like that go for per acre?

I guess I should have covered that.

I got this for $21,000. Used my one time veterans discount and paid roughly $16,000 for the 18 acres.

The land auction itself can vary greatly. Parcels on road systems bring in more as well as ocean front.

Damn, that's hella affordable.

So it’s safe to pee off the porch without neighbors watching

I mean I do that at my house currently with only 2 acres

Here's a cool thread that details off grid living
https://www.ar15.com/forums/outdoors/Better-LATE-than-never--THREE-Years-in-Idaho-/19-694998/

Yeah I’ve looked at that thread as well as the other thread in that section.

Alright so for the cabin:

I want this to be a nice property my kids and their kids can inherit so I decided to go log. While a traditional stick build could be done cheaper it just doesn’t have that authentic feel to it.

Since I want it done this summer and the trees on the property aren’t big enough to use I’m going to be buying the lumber.

I’m going to go basically off the design of this public use cabin, but am going to make it bigger than this one.

Attached File
Attached File


Since there is the possibly we end up living in it full time I wanted it as big as possible while still being able to only have 1 log per wall length. Mine will be roughly 19x19ft with a loft using 20ft logs and the butt and pass technique for stacking them. Looking at using 6in logs since they seem to be the most cost effective(10in logs are almost double the price of 6in logs)  and not so overly heavy that we can’t move them by hand.

Here is a quick sketch I drew up of the front. Each grid square is 6in. Attached File



I’ll freely admit I am not an architect or a carpenter. I have spent a lot of time wrenching on cars but never done a lot of carpentry. So I’m open to any and all suggestions on that front.

Here is an estimated spreadsheet I came up with for the costs. Also included a 20% charge since I’m sure I am going to get nickel and dimed to death on screws and nails and hinges etc.
Attached File

I want to get it build to the point we could spend a weekend in it this summer. But it doesn’t have to be perfect and will get a lot of upgrades in coming years.

Looks great. definitely subscribing

paging @Canoeguy to the log cabin courtesy phone

Oh I am happy to help. But it’s a pretty big conversation. You are more than welcome to give me a call, OP. I realize you don’t know who I am but I am the fellow who runs a log home manufacturing and construction company. I would guess I have built probably 500 or so log structures. I don’t turn key, I only build the log portion.  I am not going to Alaska but I am more than happy to share what I know.


ETA: just to be clear I build all over…but Alaska would definitely be a biiig delivery fee ;)

Make sure you build it at least 36 in above the tundra. Being able to get under and level it are huge. Plus it keeps the ground from heating up.
Make sure your pads are oversize. Some have insulated them.

Trying to remember who had the kit cabins in Fairbanks area for a decent price.

I’d follow this thread but you’ll probably die in 8 years and make me sad all over again.

RIP Aviator

I’ve talked to a few of the cabin kit places. But seemed to end up being a considerable amount more than piecing it together myself.

I appreciate it. I’m sure I’ll have some questions along the way. Gonna talk to my neighbor too as he just built one on the Yukon.

I sure hope I’m not dead by 40.

Looking at the plans you have, looks like 8ft height on the walls...

If you plan to do a loft above like the public use cabin, perhaps add some height so you have a more useable area below the loft, and up on top.

How are these insulated? I know logs have fairly decent R value alone, the larger ones obviously more so.

I'm assuming there is a dimensional lumber wall built inside to allow for additional insulation and wiring to be done... Could be way off

I build houses in TX, so my experience is -10% of anyone in the cold climates

Yeah I could add another log or two for added height.

There won’t be another wall inside. Bigger logs would offer a better R value. But bigger logs cost a lot more and would be difficult to get out there and set in place without machinery. For example a 20ft 6x6 is 180lbs and $107. A 20ft 10x10 is 500lbs and $310.

Almost every public use cabin is built with 6x6s. Seems to be the best insulation to cost/weight ratio. And I’ve been in them at -35 degrees and been warm. So hopefully it’ll be ok.

It initially won’t have electric. I will likely add a small solar/wind system in the coming years mainly for lights and phone charging etc.

Is the roof insulated? (Don't see that on the spreadsheet).... IME if the floor and roof are both pretty well insulated, then bare log walls are just fine.

Awesome.

Yes the roof and floor will have a layer of insulation.  Not sure id call it well insulated. But it’ll be insulated.

Shutters of some type to keep animals out when you're not there?  Obviously no real way to keep people out.  

Would be a bit easier than screwing plywood over the windows and then unscrewing it every trip.

The R-value is actually pretty bad at about a 9….but like concrete the thermal mass makes up for it. R value assigned to logs has become a real pain in the ass as codes are written by green idiots who have no idea what they are doing, surprise right? Anyway for most species you can figure about 1.5 per inch. But don’t let that worry you, OP that thermal mass is where it is at.

You don’t want log spikes you need log hogs and for this they need to be 9”

What species of wood are you using? The weight guestimations are pretty high. For instance I can lift a 6x12x16’ by myself and I am an out of shape middle-aged dude. Are these peeled or millled? I most definitely recommend milled.

Have you considered doing a youtube series on it to get some revenue to recoup some money's?

Over insulate the floor would be my advice. It’s cool to see you doing this. Kudos

Same place sells Head Lok screws

https://www.loghomestore.com/product/log-hog-screws/

I love these, always keep a box or 2 in the truck.

Amazing grip and pull out resistance, plus the big head\washer are nice