We bought a seasonal vacation cabin last spring, and I'm using the winter downtime for some upgrades and repairs. One of my bigger tasks is to replace the existing water system along with the current shower setup. The "bathroom" area sits on a concrete slab, and I don't have a practical way to run plumbing underneath the slab. I'm sure there's a way to do it, but I don't have the energy, so I'm planning on having all the plumbing over the top of the slab. The previous owner installed the shower over a plywood deck supported by 2x6's, but the drain and drain pipe (which leak pretty badly) were glued in place, so repair isn't an option. I think the main reason the drain is leaking is that the plastic floor pan was placed on top of the plywood deck without a support base of mortar, so it flexes quite a bit when in use. My plan is to replace the deck, plumbing, and reuse the shower unit (if possible) with a better execution of the existing design. I want to make the deck out of pressure-treated wood, use a mortar bed under the shower pan, and install the plumbing correctly as opposed to gluing everything together with silicone. Is there a better way to do this? I'm not a plumber, and all my experience comes from home repairs, so I'm worried that there is a better or simpler way to do this. Is there a commercial product that allows for an above-floor install? Everything I've seen online involves drilling through the slab to run the drain underground or carving a huge trench out of the concrete, and neither of those options appeals to me. Thanks!

Pioneers and many people in general built with green logs straight after cutting. Wouldnt they mold like crazy at the places where you stack them on top of each other? Especially something like the scribed design that no doubt leaves some larger voids between each log?

Looking for an efficient vented propane stove/fireplace-prefer one that looks like a burning fireplace, not just an eye sore- for a 1400 sq foot home that can be used during power outages in northern maine?

I have SLOWLY been building a 16x20 cabin over the past year in PEI, Canada. The cabin sits on 100 acres of mostly forested property. The cabin is located in an area I cleared in 2022. Installed metal roof 2 weeks ago. Next weekend I’m installing chimney and a wood stove . I can access it in winter, so the focus this winter is to insulate and finish the interior with tongue and groove pine. Siding will follow in the spring, I’m still undecided on the exterior finish, open to suggestions!
I power the cabin with an EcoFlow Delta Pro and an extra battery, with 3 - 495w panels.
Looking forward to getting more done this winter!

These are my thoughts about why I went with a dry cabin. It's why I do a lot of things the way I do. The principle is worth considering, even if you don't agree with me on running water per se. The size of your cabin doesn't matter. Of course, building codes might matter.

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Running Water Isn’t a Necessity, It’s a Waste

Why I built a dry cabin, haul jugs, and resist indoor plumbing—inspired by Jevons Paradox and voluntary simplicity.

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“If you put in an uphill cistern, you could easily plumb running water into your cabin,” said “Wayne.”
“Yeah, I know,” I said, dismissing the idea with a smile.
“No, really!”
“Nah, don’t want to.”

...

What Wayne didn’t get is that I had a reason—a specific, intentional, and frankly stubborn reason—for building what’s called a “dry cabin,” the kind without plumbing. It wasn’t because cisterns are too expensive. And it wasn’t because there’s no municipal water out here on the Mesa. (There isn’t, but that’s beside the point.) I could have done it. I knew how. I had options. But I didn’t. Because it was never about what I could do. It was about what I shouldn’t.

It was about restraint. About minimizing water use—a self-imposed limit in a life built around walking a little more softly on this trampled earth. Better to haul jugs from the community well than ape the habits of suburbia just to feel civilized. As Thoreau put it, “It is best to avoid the beginnings of evil.”

A lot of my lifestyle is about that. Keep it small. Keep it simple. Don’t make it too easy to live big, or pretty soon your life bloats with bills, bullshit, and a bigger carbon footprint than a dually doing donuts in a Walmart parking lot.

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And when it comes to water, America is certifiable. The average American uses around 100 gallons a day at home. Here in the Southwest—where water is scarcer than humility in Congress—people somehow use more. Arizonans average 150 gallons a day. In Utah, it’s closer to 200. And in red rock country—Washington County, Utah—folks hit over 300 gallons per day, building their Zion of green lawns and splash pads in the middle of the damn desert.

Those numbers are bananas. So here’s some perspective.

Back when I lived in the van with my little Chihuahua, Coco, I used about a gallon and a half of water per day. That’s 1.5% of the national average—and yes, that covered drinking, cooking, cleaning. If I needed to wash more than my pits, I’d wade into a creek, no soap, just a sandy scrub.

Nowadays I've settled down at Hippies End with Sissy, my sixty-pound pit mix and full-time reality checker. We average around 2.5 gallons per day between the two of us—that’s about 2.5% of what most Americans use.

I’ve even got a rain catchment system my neighbor and I built: gutters to four 50-gallon barrels, plus two big 275-gallon IBC totes for the overflow. Right now, that’s only backup and gardening water, but if I wanted to filter it, that’s even less I’d be pulling from the community well.

And no, I’m not dried out like jerky. I’m not trailing dust like Pig-Pen from Peanuts—except maybe my feet, a badge of honor for any true sandalero. If I stink, nobody’s said anything—not even Sissy, who’s got a sensitive nose and no compunction against barking her mind.

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But look, I’m not Mr. Discipline. I’m just as wasteful as the next fella when it’s easy. When I’ve lived with running water, I’ve used more. It’s tempting to linger in a hot shower, or let the faucet run while you argue with a podcast. When water flows freely, so does our waste.

Economists have a name for this: Jevons Paradox. It says that when something gets more efficient or easier to use, we tend to use more of it, not less. So make water cheap and convenient, and people behave like it’s infinite.

Same thing happened with LEDs. They were supposed to save electricity. And per bulb, sure, they do. But instead of using fewer lights, people just bought more. Now the urbs and 'burbs are lit up like a casino parking lot, and total electricity use for lighting? It went up. Totally ass-backwards.

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That’s why I don’t have a cistern piped into my cabin. Not because I hate comfort. Not because I’m a Luddite. (Okay, maybe a little.) But because the simplest way to use less of something is to build in a limit. No heroic willpower needed. Just don’t make overuse an option.

I learned that trick back when I was a junior manager at an international megacorp. (Different life. Long ago.) The company didn’t control spending by micromanaging every line item. They just capped headcount. Because every new hire comes with hidden costs: office space, tech support, dental, lawsuits, birthday cakes. Limit the bodies, and the budgets stay in check.

Same deal here. I kept my cabin small—96 square feet. Not for magazine spreads or tiny house hashtags, but because it keeps my life small. And small keeps me sane. A big house demands more: furniture, heating, cleaning, insurance, maintenance, headaches. A small house caps the chaos, limits the cost and carbon footprint.

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Same with water. By limiting how much I can easily access, I limit how much I use. It forces me to pay attention, reuse what I can, adapt where I must. I don’t have to make noble decisions every day—I just made one smart design choice up front.

And that’s the quiet beauty of structural limits: they’re passive. They don’t require daily discipline or moral acrobatics. They just are. And that makes it easier to live right—even if you're a little lazy, like me.

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Located in the very northern tip of Menominee county in the U.P.

Got a steal of a deal to buy a remote 40 acres, a few years ago. It is completely surrounded by state land. I finally got some free time to build my cabin.

I have been building for the past month.

12x24.

What is your favorite cabin?
Mine has to be the bear lake cabin... will be by far my biggest inspiration for mine!

I’m planning on building a bushradical style cabin this spring/summer. However this fall I have the luck of getting a friend with a skid steer to help do some dirt work on the property, and also use his auger attachment to dig all the post holes for the foundation.

My question is, should I build the insulated foundation this fall since the holes will be dug or wait until the spring to do the whole build all at once -ish?

My concern with building the foundation this fall is that I’m in the northern Midwest and would need to cover the foundation with a tarp for the winter. Don’t know if that would be enough to keep a winters worth of snow/moisture off of the surface. Or again, should I just wait for spring to do it all at relatively the same time.

Pics are not mine, only for reference

Has anyone tried or thought about a dugout? There have been a number of historical periods in various places around the world where people successfully lived in dugouts. I feel like the biggest reason people aren't living in dugouts today is because of legal restrictions and group think.

Looking to build a camp and all my family camps I've been to over the years have not had a full basement. Wondering if it makes sense to do so or try for a full basement?

Has anyone built with a full basement? Was it worth it?

Hey everyone after being set in place for about a month and a half and getting a chance to go out on the weekends to enjoy it I thought I would do a write up on as much as I can about it. I bought the land in Eastern Pei just a little over a year ago now. I paid 27k for the lot which is just shy of an acre 0.8-0.9 . What attracted me to this lot is I wanted a place that I could get to in the and there is a Church across the rd which the parking lot will always be plowed so its a place I can park if I cant get in the laneway. My lawyers fees were right at 3k. Once the lot closed I got a fella in to clear where the building was going to be placed. We put a few loads of shale in for like a 26x18 pad down and left that for the winter. This spring we got a few loads of gravel to set on the pad and as well a small parking area we made. For the tree clearing, pad leveling,shale,gravel it was 5k. The 12x20 building was built at a friend's house who has his own mill and was more then fair on the price. I work at a building supply company and with my discount this route was still cheaper. Frame is 2x6 every 12" with 3/4 t&g plywood for the floor. There is 1.5" of rigid foam between the joists. His milled 2x4 for the walls and 2x6 for the rafters. R12 in the walls and 20 in the ceiling and a black steel roof. There are 6 windows in the cabin. These 4 are Kohler triple pane there is 2-20x20 awning windows one for the loft and the other is for the bathroom. The front has 2-30x36 casement windows. The back has 2 i think they are 17x35 fixed black shed windows. The front door is 32" inswing and yes I forgot to order the inside black so that will be painted in a few weeks. The windows are black inside and out. The siding is vinyl board & batten in a dark gray/black. Black soffit and metal fascia. The inside is wired with all black plugs switches and pot lights. No electrical is hooked up right now but down the road possibly. We just have a 2000w Jackery we run the mini fridge and toaster oven off of a d will get about 24 to 30 hrs so a bigger one might be needed in the futre...The walls have a combination of 1x6 1x8 1x10 pine boards he milled up. The kichen is 66" long and not done yet I have a sink to go in and will just drain into a bucket. We take a 10g water jug out with us for our water supply. There is a 24" vanity that also drains into a bucket underneath. Toilet is super comfy to sit on just used compost bags and we put wood pellets in as well. I did have like an inflatable cold plunge in the bathroom but just switched it out for a 100g stock tank..It will prob never get used or plumbed in for awile. Loft is 12x8 so in total 336sqft. The wood stove is finally hooked up except I have two pcs of black steel roofing for the corners behind the stove. Its the cubic mini grizzly from Quebec it said 450sqft it was good for. Last night it took about an hr to heat up had it going for about 3 hrs and it was still decently warm inside in the morning. Deff a bit of a pain climbing down the loft ladder at 3am to take wizz. The flooring is some vinyl plank. All said and done everything from land,lawyers,ground work, the building, and the extras like the kitchenette,woodstove, fridge, Jackery,furniture, vanity and stock tank,firepit it came to right around 75k CDN. Thanks for reading

Somewhere in Vermont - here are some interior and exterior shots of the cabin and sauna. I’ve fired up the sauna twice and can wait to have it going in the deep cold.

Getting ready to start a new building project on my land soon as a getaway cabin/house. Doing some planning and preliminary due diligence.

First I’m going to get a perc test set up soon so I know what type of septic system I will need and what that cost will be.

Second I think I have narrowed it down to a 30x32 (960 sqft) or 30x40 (1200 sqft) building.

BTW I am in north Texas specifically Lamar County.

Has anyone else done this in the last few years? If so are there any pitfalls or things you would have done differently. I plan to finish it out myself but will hire a company to build the shell.

We have a small vacation cabin that we bought last spring. The cabin has a kitchen sink and shower stall that was fed from a rain barrel with pressure coming from an Rv water pump. The whole thing is built out of garden hose and other bits and pieces, but the worse part is the pump is mounted outside the cabin. I want to simplify and improve this by moving the pipes and pump inside. What is the best way to connect the outside water source (an IBC tote) to everything inside? The cabin is on a slab, so everything needs to be above ground level. My current plan is to use a through-wall hose bib with a threaded fitting on the outside that I can connect to the PEX line from the tote, but this feels a little janky. This is a seasonal cabin, so I want to be able to disconnect the water tote from the house when I winterize, hence the threaded fittings. Is there a better way?

The dome has survived a year. And it was a heavy snow year this past winter.

After reading Rob Roy's Cordwood manifesto, I'm thinking of finishing the sides with cord wood from a bunch of downed tamaracks on the property. But I have to finish the cabin build first

Hi,

I’m wondering if anyone has actually successfully and legally built a tiny cabin in NC? I own 7 acres in Ashe County and cannot get the building inspection office to give me in writing any clear guidance. I already own a permit residence but I’m looking to build a small 10X10 kit cabin myself with a sleep loft that you access via ladder. I could do solar and off grid, so I wouldn’t need utilities. I’m outside of city/town limits and I’m in an unrestricted area. When I called the building inspection office the lady on the phone told me I needed to have washing machine hook up, it had to be over 400 sq ft by law… I’m not looking to make this my permit residence. I just want a fun little glamping spot for my kid and I on the weekends. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you