Homemade Home

Welcome to the start of a new project, don't worry, the $9000 house will continue to be worked on and shown in videos. This is a dream project for me, an off grid combination of a workshop, living space, studio, lumber storage sawmill shed. Basically, if I was a bachelor hermit, this is where I would live and never leave. Starting in the woods, most all materials will be sourced from the woods, cutting down standing dead trees and milling them into lumber.

This structure will serve many purposes which will probably change throughout time. For now it will serve as a both a place to stay and play. The ground level will keep my sawmill covered and me out of the elements when milling lumber. It will have additional space to store lumber, equipment and work outdoors on projects without getting rained on. The second floor over the main structure will be a 16X14 paradise, it will be set up like a one room cabin. While I will not live here, I will stay here on occasion and so will any guest I may have. I'm not sure of the exact details but it will have basic furniture including a bed, table/desk and seating. I will use it as an office and creative space on top of a place to get my beauty sleep. I am looking forward to the interior finishings such as the flooring, wall paneling and making windows, including stained glass. I plan on making everything, the furniture, flooring and so on.....I even want to make the quilt that will cover the bed. While this building will serve a purpose it is a novelty project in terms of the level I want to be crafted. I'm not saying it's going to be "Perfect" I simply mean I am going to do whatever I want

In this video I make major progress framing out the second floor including the opening for the staircase and then of course build the custom set of stairs to fit. It's not a traditional set, I wanted to do something interesting as well as utilize the lumber I had without having to find a log to make large stringers. The stringer is a 2x8 with dados cut where the treads are located

In this video I am fortunate to mill a huge FREE oak that I will use for flooring in the build. First as sub flooring and the remainder as finished tongue and groove flooring. It might not look like much progress but the amount of effort to go from tree to standing on the flooring is quite a bit. I also add bridging that both strengthens the walls and creates a nailing surface for the siding. In preparation for the roof framing, I placed 4X4s as top plates. This makes for a strong attachment point for the rafters and supports the gable end overhang.

This is Ep. 5 of the off grid build. This structure will serve many purposes which will probably change throughout time. For now it will serve as a both a place to stay and play. In this video I will start construction on the roof framing, making my final design on the loft dormer. Again, all the lumber is being milled from lumber around the mill on a portable bandsaw mill.

This is Ep. 6 of the off grid build. This structure will serve many purposes which will probably change throughout time. For now it will serve as a both a place to stay and play. In this video I will finish the roof framing over the loft, including the rafter tails under the dormers. From here we have some big steps coming, building the extension, roofing and so on. Again, all the lumber is being milled from lumber around the mill on a portable bandsaw mill. And for those that have asked, I do a $9,000 house update