Alaska Cabin (Page 1 of 3)
Posted: 3/3/2025 12:34:23 AM EDT
[Last Edit: SanchoCobb][Edited]
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I started a retirement is great thread in GD but I’d like to show off more here about my progress about my home and future projects. Starting back in May 2023, looking at property.   Closed on 10 acres in June, came back in late August, camped on site, cleared a couple acres and had a well pounded in by an old cable rig.   We sold most of our stuff, built a 24x40 metal barn and stored the rest back in Tx. That’s a whole other project…. Made the final trip to Ak with a couple buddies and trailers in May 2024 and started from scratch on the cabin. I’m about finished with our kitchen now and have more free time to think about what I’d do different and my next project. I’ll add more if yer interested everyday… May 2024 Day one. 
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If I was building in Alaska the first thing in would be a thick insulated basement below the frost line. Geothermal might be useful. I’ve heard that five feet underground the Earth’s core keeps it a constant 55 degrees. I knew a couple who did summer in Alaska and winter in Port Angeles Wa. Living on a boat probably a good choice. Good Luck. |
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Originally Posted By Urimaginaryfrnd: If I was building in Alaska the first thing in would be a thick insulated basement below the frost line. Geothermal might be useful. I’ve heard that five feet underground the Earth’s core keeps it a constant 55 degrees. I knew a couple who did summer in Alaska and winter in Port Angeles Wa. Living on a boat probably a good choice. Good Luck. Depending on where it is in AK, geothermal may not work. Permafrost underground is a thing up there. I have no build experience in AK but have read a bit. There are some unique build methods in some areas of AK due to the extreme weather they have there. |
"It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things."
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
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We are about 30 minutes from the post office, grocery store, fuel and Fairbanks is 3.5 hours on a good day. The “road” we were on was just a muddy two track, I hired a dozer to clear the lot and to take the road down to gravel. We widened the road for snow plowing as well. No one is taking care of the roads here… After realizing the time it was gonna take just to get a place livable before winter, we went the easy but expensive route and had power brought in. 16k dollars later and on days 3-6 we cleared a 600 foot right of way to the main lines. We didn’t expect to have power ran this quickly, I expected at least a month.  I prefab’d my temp power setup and brought up, left a couple trees standing…  Somewhere in there too we improved our shower situation. Those shower tents were way too small.   |
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Originally Posted By Urimaginaryfrnd: If I was building in Alaska the first thing in would be a thick insulated basement below the frost line. Geothermal might be useful. I've heard that five feet underground the Earth's core keeps it a constant 55 degrees. I knew a couple who did summer in Alaska and winter in Port Angeles Wa. Living on a boat probably a good choice. Good Luck. Certain state and private buildings are using the ocean as geothermal. Have been studies looking at using the river to supply heat but the river height can be problematic at times. Most areas cannot have a basement because of permafrost and ground movement. Also add in ground water. |
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Day 7 Fairbanks supply run and drop a friend at airport. Home Depot and Costco. I grew up laying rock, bricks and block so I naturally was gonna do concrete reinforced block stem walls. I loaded two pallets of block on my trailer from Home Depot and headed to Costco. Now we’re down to just the wife and another poor retired bastard like myself. Dropped them off and parked when I noticed this.  Sigh It was even worse, this picture is after I got back with an empty trailer. Home Depot was gracious enough to send a guy over and we offloaded the blocks by hand. Ended up ordering a new hitch and had it welded on a few days later. Had same heavy equipment guy come back with a loader and dig foundation down and leveled. Started setting forms next day and finished by day 12. Had to build custom form stakes the ground here is pure ancient river gravel for a hundred feet. You could launch a Saturn 5 rocket off this ground.   |
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Awesome thread! Does your distance from health care as you get older concern you? Not saying it should but that’s always been my hesitation to moving to the middle of nowhere as I get older. |
"It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things."
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
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4 June 2024 It took almost 3 days of hand digging the hole for the outhouse. Dig a little, let exposed ground thaw, pour some water in hole, dig a little more. If I didn’t express how hard the ground was it’s even harder when frozen. We only got about 4 foot deep by 30 inch diameter. Built the outhouse on skids knowing I was gonna move it to a better spot when we had a backhoe on site…  Amazon comes to post office and takes about 2 more weeks longer than lower 48. I’ve been told they fill up bins as they get them in Anchorage and will not move them to the interior until they get a full truck. You’ll get a delivery notice but still won’t receive the package for another week. Anyhow we order the tailgate traeger grill to enhance camplife, I also brought up a 36 inch flattop and a three burner.  7 June 2024 Concrete day Trucks come from over 100 miles away, and add substantial delivery fee, you can almost double the per yard price. I think it ended up being around 8 yards for this pour and cost around $2400.     |
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Awesome! Do you have a septic or will you be relying on the outhouse? I'm guessing the tape covered pipe is the drain exit? If you will have a septic I would love to know more about how it was designed and built! |
"It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things."
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
 17 June 2024 Stem walls poured and crawl space opening support   Same day later in afternoon had a guy come out and dig a 15 foot deep hole for septic tank. Boxed in our lines with rigid insulation and made the connection with the cabin. No lateral lines, will have tank pumped out every year or two depending.  Our frost line reaches around 10 feet here but there is no permafrost to worry about. |
Spent the next few days shuttling lumber in and by June 22nd we bolted down sill plate and started wrapping foundation with a moisture barrier.   26 June 2024 Another run to Fairbanks to pickup door and window package.  Got a camera set up also to take a snapshot a day. 
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28 June 2024 Main Floor beam Triple 2x10’s staggered and glued with osb between    Support posts are built with 5 2x6/osb glued nailed resting on treated 2x10 on 12x24x16 concrete blocks Crawl space opening sits over well and pressure tank for ease of replacement.  2x10 floor joists on 16’s    
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| Storage mainly, ease of plumbing, electrical. Not gonna have much attic space. If I have to pull well pump I can either go straight up and out a window or coil up the line inside crawl space. We have been storing bulk veggies down there all winter too. Stays a constant 55 degrees. |
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Depends how close to the mountain you are, I’m about 4 miles and the well case is set at 97 feet, static water at 67. I put the pump at 85 feet. Folks next to the mountain say their wells are 200-250 and are much harder to drill through the rock. I have two sediment and one carbon filter along with a scale filter for the water heater. The fridge has another filter built in. Iron is our only issue, I’ll change my first filter every 6 months. I believe radon can be an issue in some parts, I just looked up our area again and it is in the 1.5 -2.7 zone which is unconcerning. |
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https://www.huduser.gov/Publications/PDF/FPSFguide.pdf If interested in cold foundations search wing insulated foundations. |
| All very interesting. I was kinda scratching my head about the well in the crawlspace but the shallow depth of the well it now makes sense. My well is 425 ft so now way that would work here but definitely makes sense especially given the super cold temps in your area. Love seeing the work and the differences that far up north! |
"It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things."
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
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Thanks everyone… 14th - 18th Decking, house wrap and ice n water shield. 5:12 pitch. I originally wanted a 8:12 but came to my senses…    Good stuff https://www.carlislewipproducts.com/underlayments/ 
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Yeh we shoulda done em on the ground but got ahead of ourselves. 19 July 2024 Windows and doors. We bucked out all the openings 2 inches for exterior insulation. Flashed and taped vapor barrier. Also built a washer pit for evening entertainment. Left one door off to get appliances and wood stove in easier. While doing some more grade work we moved conex box to its final resting place.        |
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Originally Posted By taliv: what's a washer pit? Midwesterners know it as 'wershers.' Not sure about in TN. It is a drinking game (in my experience) much like horseshoes, but played by tossing large washers into a hole until there is no more beer. 
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