Looking at buying some land in Michigan and adding a cabin roughly 16x124 on the property.

I'd prefer some type of "build it yourself" DIY kit to help keep costs down.

What options do I have and what kind of price range am I looking at?

Nothing crazy, just the shell.

This is not exactly what you're looking for, but maybe it will give you a useful data point.

The DR Power Equipment catalog (the guys who make the DR brush and field mower) has a post and frame kit for a 12' x 16' shed or barn or cabin for $4,000.

Two of those would give you effectively a 24' x 16' shell for $8,000 - but I doubt that you could just butt two of them together without making major modifications.

See http://www.drpower.com/prdSell.aspx?p1Name=structures&Name=post_and_frame_kit

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It-Yourself/2006-06-01/Build-this-Cozy-Cabin.aspx

http://countryplans.com/gf_randy.html

My brother did this a few years back and all money spent was around $33,000. He is a carpenter/finisher by trade and a damn good one to boot so he did all of the interior work himself. He also put in an expensive wood oven/stove ($5k). It is basically a two bedroom with kitchen and living area with a deck/platform out back. He spent a good deal after that on a little workshop and a well.

be careful –– 2x6 rafters on 24" centers in combination with Michigan winters –– enough snow and you'll invert the roof into the building.

ar-jedi

Around here the Amish build small barns and camps. They log thier own lumber, you can't beat the price buy building yourself. That could  be an option for you?

Your'e in Ohio. Talk to the Amish guys.

Amish cabin project

You do not need to buy a kit – they cost too much unless you are buying a steel frame kit like for a storage bldg.  there are several cheap ways to do this.  The 2 hardest parts are getting a cement slab for a floor or building a floor off the ground on cement posts.  If you do the slab get yourself a rented gas cement mixer and a small backhoe to dig the footer for the slab are just about essential unless you have lots of strong free manual labor help.  The other way is to use a post hole digger and dig the holes to pour the cement posts which will be cheaper but will cost more in lumber for the above ground floor unless you have free lumber.  I will give a hint out here on stick frame construction – if you have termites make absolutely sure you put the termite chemical deterrent in the concrete when you are doing the job so you wont have to drill holes to put the chemical in later. We always punch a 3 or 4 inch deep one inch round hole in the cement while it is drying and pour the chemical in and put a small wet dab of cement over the chemically filled hole.

If you rent the backhoe to do the slab work you can be real smart and dig you a root cellar below the frost line. I am assuming this will also be a SHTF bug out place.

1/2 inch plywood or that cheap glued together stuff (brain is failing me for the name) on 16 inch centers on 2 x6’s make great walls and for the roof a 4 to 8 inch pitched flat roof on  2x10’s will take care of any roof load if you run a support beam on 4x4’s down the center –  4x4 beam  on 4 x 4 posts – I would use 2x6 for the wall studs because you can get 6 inches of insulation in there and 10 inches in the roof joists – if there is no wind you can use nails but if there is wind you will have to use expensive screws

Roll roofing on the outside walls will last 10 to 15 years and about 7 years on the roof – if you can find some cheap metal for the roof and siding your roof and siding problems will be over for the next 50 years.

Don’t forget to put the bolts in the wet cement slab to put the sill on

We have made 11 of these in the woods cabins over the past 5 years.  Lumber is going way up in price – 5 years ago with no labor costs we could build a 16 by32 cabin for 3500 bucks but now the price is way up there – when I say 3500 bucks that is just the shell with the roof and siding on, no insulation, wiring, no inside finished walls covering the insulation or ceiling or thimble for the stove. Also the windows have not been cut out the owner decides where he wants the windows and doors after the building is built

4 people can have one of these ply wood buildings under roof after the slab is down in about 3 days. – if you have an above ground floor it takes about 6 to 7 days. By under roof I mean the plywood on the top not the roofing or metal on the roof.

I will say you will probably have to go with an above ground floor because of the depth of the perma frost (if there is any) in Michigan but I do not live in Michigan so I do not know much about that. All the buildings have a 24 inch over hang to shed the water away from the walls.

Side and rear gutters are nice but if you have a lot of tree leaves blowing around be ready to clean the gutters often

A quick sketch of your building and some calculations on materials needed and then a call around to several lumber yards will give you a good idea of how much your basic unfinished building will cost. Not counting labor.  After you find out how much lumber and metal roofing is you may just want to buy a cheap trailer and park it there

If I get out in the woods I will take a pic of one of our construction jobs.

I would not buy a kit unless you have a location of a good one.  Most of the kits that I have seen are crappy and usually are built with the cheapest stuff and the minimum materials to keep the structure standing.  

If I was in your place, I would probably build a cabin on piers.  Put concrete in the ground and the wood attached to the concrete for the longest life but well treated wood posts in the ground should last many years.  Pour in plenty of chemical treatment for termites into the ground before setting the posts.  

Insulate the floor.  I would use a combo of foam sheets and fiberglass for the floor and walls.  

Good luck and post pics!!!!

There is wisdom in these words. Snow load will need to be a major consideration in your construction. It varies greatly not only with the quantity (depth) of snow, but also moisture content. Plan accordingly.

We use to rent a cabin every fall in Wisconsin that was Amish built. They brought it in on a low boy to the property. Very nice set up. It only had a small propane fake fireplace for heat and a stove. No running water or indoor plumbing, the wife loved the place. 2 nice size loft rooms for sleeping.













 
 

Very cool.

Check places like Bass Pro shop and Cabelas online, they have a few cabins on there.

Damn...I like that. A lot! Will be looking for a few acres of  isolated land this winter if things go well, and a cabin such as the one pictured would be just about ideal with a few mods.
Thanks for posting that. I can see I'll be checking back here often.

Lots of info here.

http://www.small-cabin.com/

Not quite as visually appealing as a wood cabin, but if low cost is the more important factor, I've seen some pretty cool set-ups with shipping containers, from very basic to elaborate.  I would think the basic concepts would be very low cost.

You have a guess on square footage for that?  Rough idea of cost?

Menards can ship everything you need to your site. they have some nice building setups.
20x24 building $3300+delivery, and i would substitute steel roofing for the shingles.
should run you around $2k for the slab.
otherwise they have poll buildings that are quite nice on the same site. somthing like this

OR, you could always just pull in a mobile home. you can get a nice used 14X70 for $5k- $10k.

http://www.amishcountrycabins.com/pricing.htm



This company's product looks alot like the cabin we use to rent. They have alot of options to thier cabins. I believe the cabin is 12'x24'.
 

That's pretty awesome.

I just saw they had a book of cabin plans at the local lowes.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_148694-2137-ST42462_0__?productId=3388324&Ntt=cabin&pl=1¤tURL=%2Fpl__0__s%3FNtt%3Dcabin&facetInfo=
   * Simple living in 1000 square feet or less
   * Here are 62 design interpretations of the getaway dream
   * All plans include sleeping quarters, working kitchens, and bathrooms
ISBN 9781603424622

I'm currently having a 40x26-foot cabin built by Zook Cabins:

http://www.zookcabins.com/

Zook builds cabins in their shop and then ships them by truck to your final location. I visited their shop before making my purchase and was very impressed with the build quality. They're located in Pennsylvania and employ mostly Amish tradesmen. Good company to do business with.

Two years ago my son and I built a 24x32 foot frame shed on our property. Due to the slope of the land we ended up putting in a full footing/foundation with a slab floor. One walk-in door, 3 9'x8' steel rollup doors, 2 windows, steel roof. We did 2x6x16" stud walls, 1/2" exterior sheathing and concrete (Hardyplank) exterior siding. The concrete contractor had to clear the land including about a 500ft lane to the building site, plus he put in about 5 loads of crushed limestone for the land and site. He pushed the trees aside for me to cut for firewood.

I bought the building materials at the local state fair which got me a 20% discount on the total package excluding the concrete. Concrete work, lane, stone cost me $9500. Materials ran another $7000 including my wiring. Did not include insulation or finishing out the interior walls.

Hope this helps.