Looking for a cabin to put on my property

[montcalm]

Originally Posted by billconner

Regrettable gray water disposal not allowed.

That is so odd to me...


Honestly, I thought a lot about this, and I think what might be the best to do is build a small, separate outbuilding with a crawl space that you could use to contain any "indoor" plumbing i.e. a small bathhouse. You of course need a septic at that point, so you might as well use flush toilets. It's a small space to heat all winter, and you only need to keep it at 40F or so. Much cheaper and more efficient than heating a whole camp or home when it's not in use.

It's also rather expensive, but allows you to dispose of gray water effectively.


Just something to think about - I've seen it done in a few different cases in the ADKs.

[Zach]

Originally Posted by billconner

If you're diying it, hard to beat the simplicity and efficiency of stick framing, especially with the availability of rough sawn lumber in Adirondacks. I like the pier foundation concept, would have to compare helical vs sonotube vs pt wood (UC-4B rating). Sheath with rough sawn one-by, and so on. Utilities are the tricky part. Well with hand pump at sink still works. Composting toilet or moldering privy. Regrettable gray water disposal not allowed.

I had assumed there were people who sell rough cut lumber in the Adirondack region, with all the trees there, but so far I have not been able to find anyone who can tell me about a source for lumber anywhere near the Tupper Lake area. I'd be happy to drive up to an hour or somewhat more. I asked several people up there last fall and they didn't seem to know of anyone who did that. I'd be very grateful for any suggestions about who to contact. I'm sorry about the thread drift.

[montcalm]

Buy a portable mill, Zach.

Make your own. And if you don't need it later on, sell it. But it seems like you're the kind of guy who would make good use of it.

[Zach]

I have been the operator of a bandsaw mill since 2007 here at the farm where I work. I have cut, skidded and sawn somewhere between 80 and 100k board feet during that time, mostly hardwoods, and have sold most of it on Craigslist, but when I move I will be on a less-than-1/4-acre lot with a total of 5 trees (1 of which is dead and less than 6" DBH) that belong to me, and 3 others that may or may not, depending just where the property line is. I don't think my neighbors would like it if I ran a mill there in town, and I wouldn't blame them if they didn't. Plus I won't have any flat areas in the yard big enough to set up the mill and have a pile of logs delivered. I figure that I've been a lumber seller for these many years, and now I will be a customer for a while.

In the long run I may buy a mill someday, if I can build a house on a larger lot somewhere in a few years, but I'll want rough lumber to build a couple of sheds in the meantime, and I'll also be looking for hardwoods at times. There is someone who sells KD hardwood in Harrisville, which is about an hour east of Piercefield, but I haven't found anyone who sells softwood lumber in the area.

[montcalm]

Maybe look for a small, private woodlot outside of town?

Can you use what you have access to now?

[Zach]

I could cut wood now and sell it to myself for later use, but I don't know yet just what I'll need, and it's 120 miles to haul it up there. I won't have ongoing access to the mill, and I don't know yet if the folks coming after us here will keep using it or will sell it. I've thought about a woodlot, but I'd need a tractor or something to move logs, and I'd have to leave it all unattended most of the time, which would be risky from a theft/vandalism point of view.

[montcalm]

Originally Posted by Zach

I could cut wood now and sell it to myself for later use, but I don't know yet just what I'll need, and it's 120 miles to haul it up there. I won't have ongoing access to the mill, and I don't know yet if the folks coming after us here will keep using it or will sell it. I've thought about a woodlot, but I'd need a tractor or something to move logs, and I'd have to leave it all unattended most of the time, which would be risky from a theft/vandalism point of view.

Yeah - I think if you just build a barn to store you tractor and mill you'd have little tax burden. Also 480a would probably eliminate all. I assume you know more about that than I do.

No sense in giving up your town house. I know land is nuts right now, but it won't stay like that forever.

[billconner]

Around here - an hour maybe from north West edge of the park - it seems every Amish farm has a mill and they buy logs. Have seen a couple deliveries at closest in Depauville. Driving around have seen many. Admittedly, the ones I'm certain I've seen are north of rt 11. Probably not in the Park - they need farm land. And being Amish, no internet searching. $0.50 per board - foot - don't know where that is now but was a fifth of local lumber yard a while ago. And most boards are 6 to 12" longer than what they are sold for.

[Zach]

Thanks, that's good to know. I sold pine and hemlock for 50 cents a board foot here too, so it would be great to be able to get it around that price up there. I have heard that there are Amish in the Gouverneur area, which is 60 miles or so from where I'll be, and I'm hoping if I ask around I can find some in the Potsdam/Canton area, if there's nothing closer.

[Wldrns]

From Gouverneur through Heuvelton on to Ogdensburg, most every farm is Amish. South a bit, from Ava (north of Rome) through Lowville to Copenhagen and Croghan to Harrisville you will also find a high proportion of Amish farms. Many with saw mills and furniture carpenters.