Welcome to our Island! This trip I focused on getting the mini cabin started as well as continuing to harvest logs for the larger sauna cabin.
This was the first trip I had to row through ice! It was still thin enough to row through, I’m hoping with the colder weather it might be possible to walk to the island next trip.
I ended up trying to fix the foundation to the mini cabin a bit. I dug the back two foundation pieces as deep as I could as well as getting rocks around the higher front foundations to keep everything stable, it feels a lot better than it did before. I’m using this mini cabin as practice working with logs and will be using a very different type of foundation for the sauna cabin.
I was finally able to finish debarking the two trees I felled a bit ago as well as a lot of logs for the mini cabin. Next trip I am going to fell a couple more trees in the same area, debark them and work on getting all the logs to the drying spot while slowly working on the mini cabin
The weather is getting colder this trip was just above zero most of the time and raining which was rather uncomfortable. Soon the lake should freeze and start snowing making it easier to stay dry and get to the island. I moved the sauna stove to the tent in case I need it with the colder weather as up to this point I have just been staying in my sleeping bag.
More about us, the island and the process:
The island is completely secluded, has no electricity or plumbing and currently has nothing on it but trees. We want to turn this island into a fully functioning summer cottage with a log cabin, sauna and other amenities. Most of the work is gonna be done in the summer months as the lake freezes in the winter and the weather conditions are tough.
There’s a lot of work to be done as the island is over 2.5 acres (1 hectare) and we have no experience in off-grid living, carpentry or building. So any tips or advice are greatly appreciated, as we are planning on doing everything ourselves and transforming the island into our own little paradise. We’ll document every step of the way, starting from smaller builds to finally – an off-grid log cabin.
Our plan for this year is to put up a platform for a glamping tent, build a floating dock and start cutting down trees to begin the process of building our log cabin.
The island is located in Finland and we bought it in 2024. We are currently both students and we plan to transform the island alongside our studies.
So, subscribe and join us on this adventure. It won’t be fast, it won’t be easy, but it will be fun and challenging. We don’t know what to expect, so be a part of the journey.
📸 Follow us on Instagram and TikTok @off.grid.island
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You are really doing a lot there…the people saying your construction sucks dont understand the iterative learning process. Just keep going and it will all get a lot better and you will probably rebuild some of what you have already made…and thats totally fine.
Im restoring a classic yacht and have had to teach myself numerous new skills and people said im going to die or kill people and all this bullshit. Just keep going and try not to hurt yourself.
Screws don't bend, they snap in half. Nails do bend. I suggest you to study how log cabin's logs are placed and how they're supposed to be connected together.
Otherwise, looking good!
Many of my cousins built their own log cabins with the help and advice of other relatives and some neighbors too. Where are yours?
You weren’t brought up in Finland, were you?
Never do a notch on the top that log will now just pool water and rot away. And those foundations need to be scraped Stop using lose gravel it will just wash away
I hope you realize that each of these logs takes decades to grow and there is a very limited supply on your island. Please invest some time in researching how these things need to be done so you can make the best possible use of them. The way you´re doing it now will not give you enough stability. There´s still a chance to do it properly if you just take the time to do the necessary research.
For a car I would say something like a Toyota Hilux if they are avaiblie in your country. Or A Ford Ranger. Hope this helps!!
You should use threaded rods all the way from the bottom to the top. That way you can tighten it afterwards when the logs try out.
Does your phone have a signal to land in case of an accident? Maybe you shouldn't be out there alone, just in case! Fingers crossed tho!🤞
With those screws, think about where you want your door/windows go. So you got a screw right on the edge of the doorway and window opening once you saw those openings out
theres got to be a period of time every year where the water is is freezing and you cant get the boat through it but you cant walk/drive on it and the island will just be inaccessible.
You’re getting better every time you go to the island. I think if you tire a rope or small cable from the island to the place you dock your boat. Make it loose and sink it. When needed guide yourself with the rope or cable. The reflectors are an excellent idea.
Keep on Truckin!😎🇺🇸
I hope you understand everybody is just trying to help you! Maybe it's just me but most comments are borderline rude but the consequences could also be pretty serious in the end so hopefully you re do it and do it right once more.
You're doing well. Looks like you're having fun. Absolutely love it! Keep it up!
hei ! sullahan on täydellinen maaperä perustusruuveille ! pliis käytä niitä, niin on pikkusen helpompaa laittaa tuo kehikko alulleen !
OMG it's all so wrong 😮
you could probably stretch a large tarp between the trees over your mini-cabin/working area, so you don't get drenched by rain as much. also if you tilt tarp and make small valley in it, you can collect some nice clean rain water for drinking.
get a set of Forstner bits. good for making all sorts of recesses and pockets for hidden hardware
What about a Isuzu D-max
hey man! i appreciate your channel and your enthusiasm and willingness to try. Here comes the news you dont want to hear. Your foundation is STILL absolute rubbish. I am saying this from experience, where I ended up destroying my own cob home one year progress, (basically ended up bulldowzing my walls and foundation and starting from nothing) because my foundations were just like yours, absolute rubbish. You are messing with forces that will lift and move your floor level, no matter what you think about it. You absolutely NEED to go past freezing point, thats 1.6? metres? Something like that, I dunno, check your area building codes. If you leave it like it is, the floor will move unevenly and no matter how well level it is right now, its going to be wonky after the first winter. And it will get worse. Every year. I am saying this to save you time, not to be a smug cunt. Building codes are restrictive af but they are there for a reason. You are NOT smarter then hundreds of years of building code. I thought I was. Learn from my mistakes. Are you willing to put in all this effort and then be mad at yourself next winter when your sauna is falling apart and will not be livable and keep heat in because the walls are moving and there will be gaps opening up? Lets not even get into the disappointment in the eyes of your partner. You could do a building that is not on a fixed foundation, but that means the frame of the building needs to be literally rock solid and you still are going to have the building lift and sink with the seasons and never be level. Living in a home that is not level is annoying. Especially when you know it was you that did that.
Debarking the wood and all that is good, thats a job that needs to be done, so I would, if I was you, look into the log cabin building foundations over the winter and do more prep work, such as felling trees and so forth while you educate yourself on the foundation. Yes, I know, you are itching to go. The shit jobs such as debarking still needs to be done.
Also, im about 99% sure youre going to run out of wood soon. The island is tiny. Ask a neighbour to bring over dead winter a tractorload of proper logs from their property over ice, do the math and the homework of how much you actually need. I would even consider stalking online to look for old log cabins that you can pull apart and take over to your cabin, because the amount of work youre getting involved…. yeah. Being a purist is fun until it isnt.
I have got to say I love your channel! Never watched log cabin clips before, but now I cant stop. Even as I am now only a youtube expert I want to give you some advices:
Watch all the youtubes you can find on this, check for the technique you are using, without the notches, (but and pass?) I bet there are still alot of tips and tricks.
Foundation
Maybe bring a couple of bags of concrete every time, mix it and create a foundation of stones and concrete?
Tools
It seems your tools are not sharp? The chainsaw should be sharpened or get a bigger/stronger
The ax and debarker should be sharpened? In the videos I have seen they seem to sharpen the tools often.
Lights
Get som solar garden lights make some paths? Get more ambient lightening, put them in trees, as a complement to the headlight.
Mess around the build
When it is too dark to build, use the time to clean up around the build. Move all loose stuff, will make it alot easier to move around, less risk of accidents
Get up early! 🙂
With the short days, it still appears that you miss som morning light? Get up before its dawn, eat breakfast, clean up, be ready!
But above all, be safe!
And of course keep doing the channel!
I found a tutorial that's explains a Butt and pass method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpnyIVQW-kY. The logs are much thinner as you use. The srews ( or nails) are very much thicker and longer than you use.
Maybe start building a bridge 🤔 ?
Get to a gorilla cart so you can haul stuff in the car down to the water you shouldn't have to carry that stuff like that
You are learning with each new video. Continue with that. But, I think that you have to interlock logs. There is nothing supports a walls and it just might fall apart 😅
You should check out Erik Grakvist’s channel! You could learn a lot from his woodworking and cabin making videos.
Love the idea here just a guy an island and a dream it’s truly inspiring
And for your log logistics problem have you thought of a pulley system that you could maybe drag the larger logs with
Watch some of the early “My Self Reliance” episodes – keep going!!
I don't claim to know how to build a log cabin in any practicality, but I learned a lot theoretically watching a video by Laura Kampf where she went to a workshop to learn how to build one. Might be a good resource for you!
👍❤️
people this is a tutorial for all noob log cabin builders out there. Everything hes doing is a lesson for anyone who wants to build their own cabin, and hes showing all the wrong ways of doing that. Either way hes doing a great job at making the experienced builders have a nervous breakdown, and the noobs to pickup a pencil and write down the dont do's.
Your resume should state Chainsaw Experience as unclear or murky at best
Simply felling healthy trees is not an option.
Love the channel and your doing great learning like we all did when we were young 🎉🎉🎉🎉
have you considered putting in a small and temporary dock from land to land? from what I can see, it would cost a bit, but would make transportation across manageable to a larger extent? floating dock of course after a certain point
ye i dont think you doing it right and gaps gonna be filled with clay and moss or some newer stuff, and i would use level to make it, and make notches on new logs to put one on another gona watch your progress gl tho
This….the logs should interlock with the notches facing down over the previously placed round. I have no experience in building an actual log cabin, but my practical knowledge of physics, mechanics and having played with Lincoln Logs lead me to know this can’t be right. Otherwise, I’ve enjoyed watching. I’m guessing the building codes for your island do not allow you to get too permanent with foundations and such.
any plans to do a tree net?