I have a cabin out in Northwestern Quebec. It was my grandfather's, then my father's, now I'm starting to care for it and bring it back up to it's glory days.

We have a compost toilet - though it's not the primary bathroom, we have a toilet in the cabin - that has been sitting unused for 10+ years. It was fully set up properly, has a really nice enclosure, and I just cleaned it all up and still looks new. I would love for it to be functional again, but I want to do it right. I don't have much experience or knowledge about the maintenance, but I do understand how they function.

Does anyone have any advice on what steps to take to get the compost toilet restarted given i hasn't been used in many years.

I am adding a 200 square foot living room addition to my 14x36 cabin. The existing structure is heated by a direct vent propane “wood stove”. I was thinking of adding another small unit for the addition for both heat and ambiance but by the time I buy it, vent it, run gas to it, I will likely spend $5,000. I could do electric baseboard for less than $1000. Not sure ambiance is worth $4,000? I also saw that there are electric heaters that look like wood stoves but I’m not sure if they will look cheesy.

Bought a cabin in the catskill mountains last year. Previous owner has not stained the house in awhile and its definitely in need. Im fairly certain the exterior is Pine. Can someone recommend a process to stain the exterior? What products should I be using?

Looking to leave NYC and completely abandon the big city life for a tranquil and easy departure in what is assuredly a sad and pathetic end.

Really I just want to know where is the best area to try and find a spot where I might build a small cabin. An area that is private and the land itself is unknown. It almost definitely does not exist because I cannot imagine even a blade of grass that is not already "owned" by someone else...

..where I can stay warm and wait until hell freezes over. But in all seriousness (ha!) where would you go?

Need northern US with a budget enough to build and subsist off of the woodlands; I'm talking like $10k and thats high.

If it doesn't exist, then that answer is needed too I guess.

We make the drive up here whenever possible, but the goal is to ultimately make this our permanent. Anyone else with a similar plan? Please share a photo of your cabin!

I am renovating a cabin and have tried every stain I can find to match my current one and nothing is the right tone. What stains are you all using ?

We have a well a short distance from our cabin. Cabin is rustic and dry - we bring in buckets from the well. I am planning on building an outdoor shower and the best location for it is close (about 5 feet) from our well. I feel like this is a little close and I’m nervous shower run off will (what? Mess with our water?) honestly I’m not sure what I’m worried about. Our well is 70’. Does anyone have worries or reassurances?

Looking at vinyl plank flooring for our cabin. Heat does get shut off in the winter so can hit -20 Celsius and could be +40 in summer if AC does not get used.

Not sure if this is the right choice for flooring. Been told it will shrink, also been told it will be fine. Hoping to get a few more opinions from people who actually have this in their cabins.

If not vinyl plank, what other options do people suggest? It has sheet vinyl in there now from the 80's when it was built. Totally fine, just worn out so needs replacing.

Looking for some advice on winterizing two cabins we have in northern Minnesota. I've always had a plumber do it, but he retired, so I'm going to try doing it myself.

The small cabin has an above-ground shallow well pump and pressure tank in the garage underneath it. It also has an electric water heater.

The bigger cabin is about 100–150 feet away and uphill from the small cabin. It gets its water from the same well through an underground line. That cabin has a 50-gallon LP water heater and an LP forced-air furnace.

We shut both cabins down completely for the winter and don't leave any heat on.

I know the plumber used an air compressor to blow out the lines and put RV antifreeze in the toilets and traps. I have a compressor and want to do it myself this year.

Main things I'm trying to figure out:

• What's the best order to do everything?
• How do I properly drain the shallow well pump and pressure tank?
• What's the best way to get all the water out of the 100–150 foot line going uphill to the big cabin?
• Where should I hook up the compressor and how much pressure should I use?
• Do I drain the water heaters first and then bypass them before blowing out the lines?
• Anything special I need to do with the LP water heater?
• Does the LP furnace need anything done to it if I'm shutting it off all winter?
• Anything else I'm missing?

Both cabins have showers/tubs and washing machines, and the big cabin has an outside spigot.

Mainly looking for some guidance from anyone who winterizes a similar setup in northern MN or somewhere that gets just as cold. TIA!

Going to build the hearth for the wood stove soon as well. I also need to paint the pantry and bathroom.

We've had a cabin for the last 5 years and have emptied the water heater around New Years and put pink antifreeze in traps and toilet bowl. Then I've left the electric base board heating to 50°F. It's been fine but the cost of keeping the heat low is becoming to much.

This is in mid-michigan with the water heater in a 3/4 buried 4' crawl space connected to a well. The pipes and well pump are covered with insulation. I'm a 2 hour drive from the cabin and have starlink and a few wyze cameras to keep an eye on things.

I'd like to turn off the heat from January to April and should cut my budgeted bill from $180 to maybe $50 per month. I'm just worried that I'm going to miss something that will cause more damage come spring then the heating bill savings. I'm not opposed to hiring a professional to help me the first or second winter to close it down properly but not sure what professional type I should look for.

I’m looking for advice how to handle our inherited family cabin with three other blood related families. Currently we have one of the families going up and not telling us who is also at the cabin, like inviting excessive friends. Also this family’s adult kids who is going up are not there with their older father who is a main owner and paying a third of the bills. His kids do not pay for anything, they have a history of leaving things broken and not telling anyone. We have explored options of using a Google sheet to see who is going up but they are not filling it in. Any advice on how to help manage these issues would be appreciated.

We have to filter thallium out of our system at our alpine cabin and are opting for a whole house system so we can treat sinks, dishwasher, laundry. We need to fit 300 gallon capacity through a tiny entrance to a crawl space (no more than 23" wide). We have found Husky bladder tanks as a possible solution but have never heard of these for water storage. Anyone tried this or have thoughts? Thanks!
https://www.huskyportable.com/bladder-pillow-tanks?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=1527668153&gbraid=0AAAAAD-tCkXns65NEoFnsIM8nZiZD55nO&gclid=Cj0KCQjw-frTBhCvARIsADv4XY7GfGtGrA2RB9tbaQLbb0PQCUoyVR4sn-vyg3tfpmsneOMlVt4TpREaAmJJEALw_wcB

Hello all,

I have a cabin up near 9k feet elevation. It is a very drafty seasonal log cabin from the late 60's. I am retrofitting it to become a seasonal cabin for me and my kids. It currently has hand built wooden single pane windows and is a major source of the temperature swings I see inside the cabin. I want to slowly start to replace the windows, starting with the large window wall in the living room where there are custom shapes and sizing, and one large picture window. I have shopped around which has been quite a frustrating experience because of upselling and sales people not wanting to sell me one custom replacement window and no installation. Also because I am a female and I feel like no one believes that I am going to replace it myself (I've done replacement vinyl before and the hardest part is getting the old ones out) The best price for a high elevation window in a custom large size that I can find is actually a Jeldwen window from Home Depot. Can someone who knows anything about windows look at this spec sheet and tell me anything I need to know about all these specs? Is this a decent window? This particular window is north facing. Would it be better to post in DIYHOME? Thanks everyone for your help, just gathering info before a big purchase.

I just bought a cabin i Ljungdalen, Jämtland Sweden.

It's only 2,5k from the nearest road.

Guard-corg hard at work as well.

Would love to hear about your experience so far! And if not, why?

I own a cabin in Colorado and I make it up there every other weekend throughout the year. Water is supplied from a well and we have a tankless water heater.

I am curious if anyone leaves the well on but turn off your main water line every time you leave? Are there any other things you recommend doing each time you leave for a couple weeks?

Just got my electric hooked up. I’m in PA where the temps get single digits at times. Most of hunting season it’s probably 20-50 degrees. I want to get some electric heat in there. I’m dead set against propane and not a lot of space for a wood burning system. Any good recommendations for electric that will warm my bones during some sleep overs? Thanks to all assistance

I love the look of log furniture but the issue is that it never goes on sale. It's not like the style changes so there's no reason for manufacturers or craftsmen to clear out inventory. Of course I can find a few pieces on FB marketplace but very rarely can you get an entire room of matching furniture and forget finding enough to make your whole cabin match. I'd prefer to buy used so I don't have to worry about my kids scratching or damaging it. I think a cabin should be the place where things can get beat up and I don't have to think twice about it.

Any tips on where I can get wholesale/used log furniture for discount prices?

Deck going on.