Author Topic: We Quit Our Jobs to Build a Cabin—Everything Went Wrong  (Read 10733 times)

FireLane

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We Quit Our Jobs to Build a Cabin—Everything Went Wrong
« on: August 05, 2020, 06:01:48 AM »
I almost didn't know whether to post this here or in the Antimustachian section, it's a little of both.

https://www.outsideonline.com/2415766/friends-diy-cabin-build-washington

Two professional writers decided, on a whim, to quit their stable but unfulfilling cubicle jobs and try their hand at building an off-grid cabin in the woods of the Pacific Northwest:

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I was a reporter at a national magazine in San Francisco, and Pat was a copywriter at a tech company in Seattle. We were lucky enough to have good bosses and colleagues who had become friends. But we were deskbound and felt caged by the typing, phone calls, Slack chats, and emails, all performed under the hum of fluorescent lights. We were overwhelmed by the uniformity of it all and troubled that we seemed incapable of finding contentment in jobs that many of our coworkers appeared to cherish. Sometimes we hoped for an excuse to quit—a blowup after a failed project or an absurd request from a boss.

We knew we were fortunate to have good jobs—and this was well before our country was facing a pandemic and massive unemployment—but we were facing the existential crisis that comes from spending your days doing something you don’t enjoy and wondering if this is how the next five, ten, 20 years will play out. We were in our thirties, young, but not so young. We’d seen the articles linking sedentary lifestyles to heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and misery. We wanted to get out of our respective offices and try something different.

The only problem is that they didn't know what they were doing at all. Neither of them were carpenters, and they basically taught themselves everything they needed to know as they went along. The project went well over schedule and over budget, and they were constantly fighting at the job site:

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The forest floor was steeply sloped and covered in rain-slicked clay and fern root balls that grabbed at our feet. Our shoes became caked in mud. We slid and fell, and when that happened, our tape measure’s delicate hold on some distant piece of lumber was lost, forcing us to start over. We never overcame these time warps, like how long it took to shift a ladder on a hillside—we had to dig new holes with every move to provide equal footing for the ladder’s legs. Or how easily we lost entire days sourcing materials at the lumberyard 45 minutes away. Hundreds of boards went into the structure, and we hand selected every one, eyeing them carefully to ensure they weren’t overly warped, bowed, twisted, or cupped.

Days cascaded into weeks. We’d rise at 5 a.m. and build until the dimming light made it impossible to work anymore. By 9 p.m., we’d head to the bar and use the Wi-Fi to madly produce copy for freelance writing ventures that barely kept our bank accounts afloat. Many of our casual promises—the family camping trips, the birthday parties, the breaks to spend time with our girlfriends—would soon be broken.

But they did finish, eventually, and sold it for cash ("meaning we’d eventually more than double our investment, assuming our hourly rate for labor was zero dollars"). Now they want to make cabin-building their full-time job and they're already planning the next one.

familyandfarming

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Re: We Quit Our Jobs to Build a Cabin—Everything Went Wrong
« Reply #1 on: August 05, 2020, 06:30:55 AM »
What a well written article! Thanks for sharing!

habanero

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Re: We Quit Our Jobs to Build a Cabin—Everything Went Wrong
« Reply #2 on: August 05, 2020, 07:58:12 AM »
Good read, thx for posting

bacchi

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Re: We Quit Our Jobs to Build a Cabin—Everything Went Wrong
« Reply #3 on: August 07, 2020, 11:51:10 AM »
I applaud those guys for escaping their office existence.

But would you want the first cabin built by 2 novices?

RainyDay

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Re: We Quit Our Jobs to Build a Cabin—Everything Went Wrong
« Reply #4 on: August 10, 2020, 08:43:01 AM »
Wow, that's pretty cool that they did that, and that they didn't give up.  What an adventure/experience.  Good for them, for taking a chance.

martyconlonontherun

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Re: We Quit Our Jobs to Build a Cabin—Everything Went Wrong
« Reply #5 on: August 10, 2020, 01:20:42 PM »
Interesting since my current fixation is buying 20+ aces in upper Michigan and using it to camp/allow others to hunt in the fall.

Anyone have experience with vacant land in remote areas? My thinking was it would cost $25k for land and taxes would be <$1k a year. Figure worst case scenario is I would lose $5-10k over 10 years if I didn't do anything. Just curious if anyone has any horror or success stories.


TheGrimSqueaker

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Re: We Quit Our Jobs to Build a Cabin—Everything Went Wrong
« Reply #6 on: August 12, 2020, 04:52:04 PM »
I applaud those guys for escaping their office existence.

But would you want the first cabin built by 2 novices?

In this case, since it lacked any form of plumbing... nope.

lhamo

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Re: We Quit Our Jobs to Build a Cabin—Everything Went Wrong
« Reply #7 on: August 17, 2020, 07:04:47 PM »
DH is currently trying to fix our deck.

We just spent over two hours at Lowes trying to buy 5 pieces of lumber.  It was on a pallet we couldn't reach and took forever to find somebody who could use the forklift.

If I ever suggest I am going to build something from scratch, somebody please kill me.

FINate

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Re: We Quit Our Jobs to Build a Cabin—Everything Went Wrong
« Reply #8 on: August 17, 2020, 10:30:47 PM »
I don't see what the problem is, other than overshooting their timeline and budget. That's government level planning (looking at you California HSR) that will improve with some experience.

They wanted to be outside getting exercise while doing manual labor. Well, they got plenty of it :) And it sounds like they got a great education on how difficult the skilled trades are, not just physically, but also the planning and minutiae of it all.

And next time get a large water storage tank above the cabin and periodically run a gas-powered water pump from the river/stream to the tank to avoid shlepping water up hill constantly.

joleran

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Re: We Quit Our Jobs to Build a Cabin—Everything Went Wrong
« Reply #9 on: August 20, 2020, 07:18:56 AM »
But would you want the first cabin built by 2 novices?

If you market it right, many people would be excited about the "authentic" experience I'd imagine.

Askel

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Re: We Quit Our Jobs to Build a Cabin—Everything Went Wrong
« Reply #10 on: August 21, 2020, 06:45:02 AM »
Interesting since my current fixation is buying 20+ aces in upper Michigan and using it to camp/allow others to hunt in the fall.

Anyone have experience with vacant land in remote areas? My thinking was it would cost $25k for land and taxes would be <$1k a year. Figure worst case scenario is I would lose $5-10k over 10 years if I didn't do anything. Just curious if anyone has any horror or success stories.

I have 40 acres in upper michigan, so I guess I have some experience. But I live there.  :D 

Your numbers are about spot on, although at ~$1k/acre, you won't be getting anything spectacular.  Most likely something that's been recently logged as well. 

No real massive success or horror stories to be had, just the usual "oh I gotta have it, oh it's not as exciting as I thought" give and take. 

Corner store just up the road has people from out of the area asking about land for sale all the time.  They'll buy it. The excitement of owning 40 acres several hundred miles from where they live wears off, they sell it to the next dreamer.  Maybe they build a camp on it. Unless you build something really nice though, that's 100% money down the drain. 

Lots and lots of land reverts to the state when the owners die and none of the kids want to pay the taxes on it.   

utaca

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Re: We Quit Our Jobs to Build a Cabin—Everything Went Wrong
« Reply #11 on: August 21, 2020, 08:35:35 AM »
This was a great article and Outside magazine is generally pretty good at reporting on the folly of (mostly) young men. This article was sort of a more benign and hilarious version of their regular reporting on people who've died moutaineering.

martyconlonontherun

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Re: We Quit Our Jobs to Build a Cabin—Everything Went Wrong
« Reply #12 on: August 21, 2020, 12:59:59 PM »
Interesting since my current fixation is buying 20+ aces in upper Michigan and using it to camp/allow others to hunt in the fall.

Anyone have experience with vacant land in remote areas? My thinking was it would cost $25k for land and taxes would be <$1k a year. Figure worst case scenario is I would lose $5-10k over 10 years if I didn't do anything. Just curious if anyone has any horror or success stories.

I have 40 acres in upper michigan, so I guess I have some experience. But I live there.  :D 

Your numbers are about spot on, although at ~$1k/acre, you won't be getting anything spectacular.  Most likely something that's been recently logged as well. 

No real massive success or horror stories to be had, just the usual "oh I gotta have it, oh it's not as exciting as I thought" give and take. 

Corner store just up the road has people from out of the area asking about land for sale all the time.  They'll buy it. The excitement of owning 40 acres several hundred miles from where they live wears off, they sell it to the next dreamer.  Maybe they build a camp on it. Unless you build something really nice though, that's 100% money down the drain. 

Lots and lots of land reverts to the state when the owners die and none of the kids want to pay the taxes on it.

Mind me asking what your taxes are? None of the listings have prior tax history. Probably won't pull the trigger (or if i do, not for another summer) but it is fun to at least dream about. Like the UP.

RainyDay

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Re: We Quit Our Jobs to Build a Cabin—Everything Went Wrong
« Reply #13 on: August 24, 2020, 10:14:47 AM »
We just spent over two hours at Lowes trying to buy 5 pieces of lumber.  It was on a pallet we couldn't reach and took forever to find somebody who could use the forklift.

If I ever suggest I am going to build something from scratch, somebody please kill me.

This is generally my experience as well.  And it doesn't count MULTIPLE trips to Home Depot, because every home improvement project I've ever done requires at least one extra trip.  The bigger the project, the more trips.  We do not live near a Home Depot, plus my artistic and/or trade-related skills are sorely lacking. 

Hence why I sometimes go anti-Mustachian and hire a professional!

bacchi

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Re: We Quit Our Jobs to Build a Cabin—Everything Went Wrong
« Reply #14 on: August 24, 2020, 11:45:31 AM »
We just spent over two hours at Lowes trying to buy 5 pieces of lumber.  It was on a pallet we couldn't reach and took forever to find somebody who could use the forklift.

If I ever suggest I am going to build something from scratch, somebody please kill me.

This is generally my experience as well.  And it doesn't count MULTIPLE trips to Home Depot, because every home improvement project I've ever done requires at least one extra trip.  The bigger the project, the more trips.  We do not live near a Home Depot, plus my artistic and/or trade-related skills are sorely lacking. 

This is why I tell SO that we'll never buy a place more than 15 minutes from a good hardware store/lumber yard.

Le North Dreamer

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Re: We Quit Our Jobs to Build a Cabin—Everything Went Wrong
« Reply #15 on: September 25, 2020, 08:23:50 PM »
Interesting since my current fixation is buying 20+ aces in upper Michigan and using it to camp/allow others to hunt in the fall.

Anyone have experience with vacant land in remote areas? My thinking was it would cost $25k for land and taxes would be <$1k a year. Figure worst case scenario is I would lose $5-10k over 10 years if I didn't do anything. Just curious if anyone has any horror or success stories.

Careful with that, I started looking for a woodlot to hunt with your expected cost in mind 5-6 years ago, ended up buying a 200+ acres pasture/woodlot for 10x the budgeted cost (with a house and barn) which will be my FIRE dreamland (...it also means I have to finish paying the 10y mortgage before hitting the FIRE target).

Still happy about it 3 years down the road thought...Forest is paradise to me, and covid allowed me to stay there for more than 6 months. Quite an enjoyable period for me ;)

Askel

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Re: We Quit Our Jobs to Build a Cabin—Everything Went Wrong
« Reply #16 on: September 29, 2020, 05:57:37 AM »
[quote author=martyconlonontherun link=topic=117624.msg2686455#msg2686455 date=1598036399

Mind me asking what your taxes are? None of the listings have prior tax history. Probably won't pull the trigger (or if i do, not for another summer) but it is fun to at least dream about. Like the UP.
[/quote]

Sorry, totally missed this. I'm still sort of figuring this out. I've been paying about $800/year on my old place with a ~$25k assessment and principal residence exemption. Still trying to get the PRE figured out on the new place. But both of these have houses so may be completely different from vacant land. 

You can always contact the Township office if you have the parcel ID and get the complete tax history. Be warned though- when a property is sold, the assessed value becomes uncapped.  Our new place was previously assessed at ~35k, when we bought it, that shot up to ~95k. Close to what we paid for it, but still way less than the appraised value of 160k. 

One option you can look at for vacant land is the commercial forestry land program. By putting your land in CFL, you significantly reduce your tax burden in return for opening it up to hunting and fishing to the general public.   

yachi

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Re: We Quit Our Jobs to Build a Cabin—Everything Went Wrong
« Reply #17 on: October 16, 2020, 12:25:05 PM »
I applaud those guys for escaping their office existence.

But would you want the first cabin built by 2 novices?

Not ones that couldn't figure out how to sink a nail in the dumb end of a tape measure before trudging off thru the mud...

SpeedReader

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Re: We Quit Our Jobs to Build a Cabin—Everything Went Wrong
« Reply #18 on: August 17, 2021, 10:33:36 PM »
Whenever I get the urge to do something crazy like that, I just watch Homestead Rescue.  It cures me every time.

ChpBstrd

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Re: We Quit Our Jobs to Build a Cabin—Everything Went Wrong
« Reply #19 on: August 19, 2021, 10:02:01 AM »
As someone who grew up spending weekends in cabins in the woods, I find it interesting that cabin life has become a fetish among cubicle workers. I can't go through the checkout at Lowes or the grocery store without seeing some magazine promoting the idea of luxury log homes, with flannel-wearing models on the front porch sipping coffee and seductively looking at one another.

This behavior, a bit like RV'ing, is marketed as the proper way one relieves the stress and meaninglessness of life. You too can be at peace mentally, engaged in your own life, and surrounded by loved ones, if only you buy or build this object made of manufactured products. And if you can't do that, buy our Cabin Porn Magazine or watch our HGTV show for a virtual lap dance from a pile of pine logs. 

To rent such a place on occasion is unthinkable! No, you must go six figures into debt to own a building that will sit abandoned for months at a time, because how can one wear flannel and sip coffee on a porch with the knowledge that one will have to vacate the premises tomorrow? Better to commute an hour-and-a-half each way to work, driving past your dirt-road neighbor Tyler's front-yard collection of rusting riding lawnmowers protected by vicious dogs. That's a worthy tradeoff for the good life, or so the media says and we believe it.

FireLane

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Re: We Quit Our Jobs to Build a Cabin—Everything Went Wrong
« Reply #20 on: August 27, 2021, 12:06:15 PM »
As someone who grew up spending weekends in cabins in the woods, I find it interesting that cabin life has become a fetish among cubicle workers. I can't go through the checkout at Lowes or the grocery store without seeing some magazine promoting the idea of luxury log homes, with flannel-wearing models on the front porch sipping coffee and seductively looking at one another.

This behavior, a bit like RV'ing, is marketed as the proper way one relieves the stress and meaninglessness of life. You too can be at peace mentally, engaged in your own life, and surrounded by loved ones, if only you buy or build this object made of manufactured products. And if you can't do that, buy our Cabin Porn Magazine or watch our HGTV show for a virtual lap dance from a pile of pine logs. 

In a way, I think this trend shows the influence of Mustachianism. Or at least, it taps into the same current of yearning.

There are millions of overworked, alienated cubicle-dwellers who pine for a more simplistic, more minimalist life, where they can work with their own hands and recreate in nature. It's not that far off from the MMM lifestyle.

But capitalism, as it always does, reflects those desires back to us in a distorted form. It sells cabin living as another form of luxury consumption, rather than simplicity and self-sufficiency.

Gone Fishing

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Re: We Quit Our Jobs to Build a Cabin—Everything Went Wrong
« Reply #21 on: August 27, 2021, 12:36:36 PM »
Prior proper planning prevents piss poor performance.  The "simple" life isn't so simple.  I'm required to be good, or at least knowledgeable, about a lot of different things to run our homestead type farm. Mistakes and ignorance lead to failures.  Mother nature is unforgiving.  I run into my physical limit way more than I ran into my mental limit at megacorp.  I prefer not to learn as I go, but hey, what ever floats their boats.  Good to see some folks experience something new, especially if they end up liking it.  That type of work does wear on your body a bit faster than cube life couple with some gym time.  It would be good to have a plan for when their bodies can no longer handle it.

ixtap

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Re: We Quit Our Jobs to Build a Cabin—Everything Went Wrong
« Reply #22 on: August 27, 2021, 12:59:41 PM »
I am first generation not raised on a farm. I listened to my aunt's and uncles and even my parents' stories about growing up. Evidently, my brother didn't. They found homesteading exhausting. One time his wife commented that it wasn't like Little House on the Prairie. She must have meant the show, because life was pretty tough in the books!

Channel-Z

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Re: We Quit Our Jobs to Build a Cabin—Everything Went Wrong
« Reply #23 on: September 05, 2021, 04:18:58 PM »
As an eagle scout, a veteran of many long campouts, I understand the appeal of having a place in the woods. Too many people think they can live the rural life and the 24-7 convenience life simultaneously.

The story reminded me a bit of these humorous ads for Pemco Insurance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfCx_11dVq8

LetsRetireYoung

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Re: We Quit Our Jobs to Build a Cabin—Everything Went Wrong
« Reply #24 on: November 06, 2021, 08:45:21 PM »
Wow. Wowowow. :) I've always hypothesized the existence of people (fellow Millennials, or maybe Zoomers) who got so radicalized by Stardew Valley that they took off and decided to do solo homesteading with zero experience. If you haven't played the game, the main character is a depressed office drone who decides to quit and move to the old farm they'd inherited from their grandfather. Other games, like Skyrim, also have very fancy and fun homestead-building modes.

I get the feeling there's a lot more of those overly enthusiastic and vastly under-qualified folks out there haha

Also, I have got to watch that "Homestead rescue" show now: it sounds like great entertainment. (In Fallout games, there are lots of subplots about terribly inadequate fallout shelters that people had built on their own, only to die within a year of the nuclear war...)

As for the article itself:
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At night, covered in sawdust and grime, we drank too much and huddled around a propane stove to keep warm, eventually falling asleep and breathing in noxious fumes all night until we staggered awake in the morning.
Holy shit. If they were just a little less lucky, they would've won the Darwin Award. You do not keep a stove on in an enclosed space, especially when sleeping. O_o

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By 9 p.m., we’d head to the bar and use the Wi-Fi to madly produce copy for freelance writing ventures that barely kept our bank accounts afloat.
Meaning they did all that without any savings to fall back on...

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There was something about building that was exactly as we had hoped. We loved that we weren’t staring at our computers all day. We loved how stiff our backs felt.
Those stiff backs = possible permanent spine damage if they continue on that path. That would be darkly ironic, considering how their original motivation was to escape the gradual health effects of being office workers. Incidentally, this is also why women live longer than men, on average - they do a lot less dumb stuff like this.

I wonder how many others got inspired by that article. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Also, it's pretty funny how they very casually mentioned that they installed electricity but didn't specify how. Methinks if they'd hired a handyman or carpenter to work alongside them from the start, they would've saved a lot of time and money. (Money from wasted 2x4's and from all those extra months of work = lost paychecks.) Yet another fine example of frupidity. ;)

Almost forgot - the part about the local hermit trying to cut down the tree that kept another tree from falling on their little cabin? That was comedy gold. :) Great planning there.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!