The Cabin

Picture: 1. Just an example of the "2 year old" cedar wood we have uncovered

Back in the early 50's my family bought some property where our extended family met for weekend camp outs and picnics. The land is about 35 miles northwest of Helena. My parents, and other relatives, poured a cement foundation and then cut trees to build the cabins. Being a youngster, my job was to help peel the bark off the trees...sometimes very fun...when the bark came off in long strips like a leather belt...and sometimes very tedious...when the bark would only come off in much smaller pieces. Back then, building a cabin out in the woods was quite easy. Well, I mean easy in respect to the bureaucracy you must now go through.

Times have changed and now you need a permit for this, then you need this to be inspected before you can do this, then once this is completed you need to be inspected again to make sure this was done properly...this, this, this...it's enough to make you want to pull your hair out. And when you build next to a river, oh my, there are a whole lot more of this, this, and this! The process seems to take forever, but we have endured all of the process and are now ready to build.

As for the cabin itself, we are building a 1007 square foot Pan-Abode. If interested, click on the link at the top of this blog. How we decided on this type of cabin came down to a friend seeing an ad for a Pan-Abode kit for sale in the newspaper and turning us on to it...thank you Mike U.! Steve and I met with the seller and he told us he had designed the house and had the kit made a "couple" of years ago, but decided to build something different. The "kit" was stacked in 5 piles covered by tarps. The seller pulled out a couple of pieces of the kit to show us the condition of the wood and it appeared fine. We had a good conversation with the man and told him we would get back to him. After we left, Steve and I discussed the prospects of the Pan-Abode and both of us agreed we thought it was a good deal. We paid the man cash up front including money to have the five stacks of Pan-Abode logs and pieces delivered. Steve's brother, Mike, and his wife Colleen...thank you both...were gratious enough to allow us to have the stacks delivered to their home in Monroe. We wanted it delivered there so we could open up the stacks and let them dry out. When we started opening these stacks we discovered that this "kit" was much older than "a couple of years" as we were finding pieces that were rotted and falling apart. If you looked at the Pan-Abode link, you saw that a Pan-Abode is made of red cedar and red cedar does not rot in "a couple of years". We resolved that it would cost us too much money to go after the seller and try to get any money back. We contacted Pan-Abode and they told us it would be no problem to replace the pieces we needed. Even with this added cost, we feel we are getting a cabin for a pretty good price.

We have the well in and the foundation has been poured. Our septic and drain fields are scheduled to be put in any day now. This weekend, Steve and I are hoping to get the floor joists put on the foundation. Both of us are so excited to finally get started on the cabin.

By the way, did I ever luck out having a friend like Steve with whom to build and share this cabin. Steve's family once owned a lumberyard in Monroe and Steve is very familiar with a lot of the terms, regulations, and know-how to take on this project. If it was me by myself, I would be totally lost. THANK YOU STEVE!!!!!!!