Micro Cabin Building
Working at home is pretty great most of the time, I don’t think I would swap the flexibility and freedom for anything else. I am fortunate too that our living situation is pretty nice; our small rented woodland barn has been the perfect setting for me to balance working indoors with working outdoors and living here has taught me more than I had thought possible about nature and its workings. However, juggling design work with managing a woodland and vineyard, groundskeeping and running our workshops and store can leave little time for peace and quiet. Doing all this with our three year old son, Benji running around at home has added a whole new challenge to the situation, and whilst I love being able to spend time with him during the week there are times where we crave separation and a quiet space to focus on work. In truth, we have had some stressful times trying to balance life and work , so we decided to do something about improving our situation - behold the MA Micro Cabin!
For as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to build my own house or a cabin in the woods somewhere, and having the ability to make things with my hands and a shed full of tools accumulated over the years and a good reason, it seemed like now was the right time to give it a try. When I had visions of building a cabin, I imagined it would be built from round timber and I would build the whole thing with hand tools; axes and gouges, Dick Proenekke style. Our problem however was it had to be on a tiny budget and it had to be built quickly because we couldn’t afford a lot of time away from work duties. We also wanted it to be something we could move around or take with us if we move house so it had to be on wheels and it had to be lightweight. Our budget and time constraints set the dimensions along with our commitment to reducing wasted materials; it had to be built using the minimum amount of costly sheet material and to save on time and waste we wanted to make as few cuts as possible. Although the building methods would be modern, I wanted a traditional look and took inspiration from wilderness shelters and cabins we’ve seen or stayed in whilst hiking in Sweden and Norway, something that would look at home here in the woods. I also wanted to use at least some timber from the woods that I had cut myself so I decided to clad the outside in European larch, (Larix decidua) which I felled at home, then had collected and milled into planks by our local saw mill. You can use larch freshly cut and it will last outside for many years without being treated or stained, which aside from its beautiful colour made it the perfect choice for the cabin.
Our first task was locating a trailer to use as the base; we lucked into a good find on eBay in early August and from that point on we were committed to the project. Next came the materials. The basic construction is standard timber frame stud work, with plywood sheathing. This is how most modern wooden buildings and interior rooms are made; it’s not elegant, nor does it require a lot of craftsmanship but it sure is a quick way to get walls up. Our floor plan is 8x4ft which is a standard sized sheet of plywood making it easy to put all the pieces together without too much cutting. This makes the cabin genuinely micro but we kind of liked the idea that its minuscule proportions would encourage focus and calm. We made an insulated studding and plywood sandwich for the base which we bolted directly to the trailer and then simply built up from there. I had made a few sketches and drawings but no real plans and my ideas changed and developed as I built; locations and dimensions of the door and windows were last minute decisions for example, which is not an approach I particularly recommend but allowing for some flexibility along the way is probably wise. The whole thing is insulated with a material made from recycled water bottles, so it should be nice and warm in the colder months.
With the main frame erected, next came the roofing. My initial plan was chestnut shingles, but our time constraints made it impossible for me to make them myself and after researching where most cedar shingles come from (Old growth American forests) I decided on corrugated metal roofing. I always like the sound of rain on tin roofs anyway. Being self employed, time and money are inextricably bound for us; sometimes it worked out cheaper to spend more money upfront to buy materials rather than send several days away from work making the same thing ourselves from otherwise free materials.
Now the cabin was watertight, it was time to work on the details and cladding outside and in. We tried really hard during this project to use up any offcuts and reduce waste, so I made all the windows and frames from leftover studding which I planed down to the right dimensions. I was a little worried about making the windows but it actually turned out to be my favourite part; after banging together studding and plywood it was nice to be in the workshop with sharp chisels and planes crafting something with care and attention. The frames are simple mortice and tenon affairs with single pane glass; one small opening window on one side and a large square fixed one on the other. The exterior cladding was something of a milestone event; for a long time the cabin had been just a shell, but the larch gave it life, character and warmth and we started to feel like we were getting somewhere.
All the final details were important; these were the bits that I hoped would elevate the structure from shed to cabin. The door latches and handles were hand made from oak, and the steps from pine offcuts. I made the folding desk from solid ash slabs from a tree cut last winter and the small shelves from leftover bits of larch. The very last of the offcuts were made into a log storage box and what we couldn’t use ended up as kindling.
Finally, came the tiny wood stove. What good is a cabin without a stove ticking away on winter days? Fitting the stove (made by Glastonbury Burners) was fairly straightforward, but cutting large holes in the roof for the flue to go through was nerve wracking and a touch haphazard. But upon watching woodsmoke rise from the flue for the first time, all trouble was soon forgotten and forgiven.
After two months of pretty hard work and a lot of trial and error, the cabin is finally complete! Looking back on the project we concluded that building a structure is harder than we thought, and that the amount of energy and effort is probably not necessarily proportionate to the size of the building; I don’t think it would take double the effort or time to make something twice as big. We also found that it’s very easy to go over your intended budget. It’s relatively easy to price up the main building materials, but there were a lot of things we failed to account for; fixtures and fittings, extra bits of wood for things we’d forgotten about or to accommodate design changes, varnishes and stains, a few extra tools here and there. We allocated £1000 for the build including the trailer and tried to be frugal but ended up nearly doubling that. The most expensive parts were by far the stove and flue, the roofing and having the larch collected and milled into planks. I think next time we would have a better handle on the budget now we know all the processes involved; the benefit of hindsight is a wonderful thing.
So, all the lessons learned and troubles aside, as I sit inside the cabin by the stove writing this, listening to the rain on the roof and watching the trees sway in the wind, I’ve got to say it feels pretty great to of built a cabin, even if it is only a tiny one. For the first time in a while I’m looking forward to working on new projects and anticipating lots of cosy times ahead over the winter. Maybe one day I’ll still get to build that log cabin…
With huge thanks to my Dad for helping me along the way with the build, and for passing down the “if you can’t buy it, make it” attitude!