Considering property (Beaver: apartment, sex offenders, water heater)

[stiffnecked]

Week on, week off, that's the way to go. Alaska Dept. of Corrections was or is recruiting for RN's in Anchorage. And they work that 7 on and 7 off schedule.

[English_Nurse]

Talking of land prices rising disproportionately to the economic slump,
I found this ad on craigslist for a Lot on Deadman Lake:

Alaska Acreage

[English_Nurse]

Alaska Acreage

I either forgot to add the link, or city-data forums wouldn't let me.

Just go to craigslist and type in Manley Hot Springs under 'housing'

[mitgreb]

I don't think any of those pictures are of Deadman. Definitely not the one of the cabin from off shore.

[English_Nurse]

That's a little disturbing. I actually hope he sells the parcels - if he is the owner (the contact on the ad is 'Roger') because I'd rather not have someone of such questionable integrity as a neighbor. But hey, his lots are on the North of the lake, and mine is on the south, so at least we have a body of water between us...
I was suspicious of the pix after hearing that there were no old growth trees around the lake due to a fire that swept through the area 15 years ago. In those pictures there are some trees over 100 ft tall by the look of them.
I really don't care either way. Old growth would be nice, but hey - it's a 5 acre plot of land that isn't all muskeg and is near a lake in remote Alaska - that's all I expected for the price.
Thanks for your email about the difficulty of building and getting a well in.
As far as building, I saw these mini-cabins on a site called 'tumbleweedhouses'.

They're VERY small cabins that are heated with marine heaters very cheaply ($5 a month of propane apparently). I wouldn't buy one (as they're $19,800...), but it makes you think - maybe I could build a cabin on a trailer, get all the work done somewhere dry and warm, and then haul the whole thing in during the winter with a Sno-Cat.

Epu | Tumbleweed Tiny House Company

That would still leave the issue of water and septic. You said that it was hard to get a septic in because of the permafrost. Do you know how deep the permafrost is/goes? All I'll need is a 500 gallon septic going into a leach field. I'm sure I could haul one in behind a snow-mobile. But if you're saying the ground is too tough to dig deep enough to install a septic I may have to re-think that one.
What do you do for water?
Do you have a catchment system or purify the lake water?
My land is on a slight tilt, so I was thinking of installing a mini-water tower on the upper end of the Lot, so I could have gravity fed water.
What kind of pipes do you use on your cabin / insulation for the pipes?
You must be reading this and thinking: This guy doesn't have a clue what he's got himself into - he's living in the clouds. And you're probably right.
Still, I like the look of that 'Epu' cabin on that website and can imagine myself and at least one other member of my family cosily tucked away there looking out at the northern lights.
Use it as a temporary base and over the years, build something bigger, so the original cabin would just end up as a 'guest cabin'. Not that I'm anticipating visitors. Although I see there is a lodge on the lake (BeaverPoint Lodge), and it might be nice to get a license to run a bed and breakfast as a little extra income.

[warptman]

Get a Friesen cabin, they do off system cabins all over the state. He's even build some here in Bethel.

Friesen's Custom Cabins

[Marty Van Diest]

English...you really need to move to Alaska and live here for a year or more. Then you need to visit those remote cabins to see how they are set up. If it were me I would forgo plumbing and power both. You can put them in later when you figure things out. You can be very snug and cozy in a small cabin with a gas lantern and an outhouse. And you will be more self-sufficient too.

Plumbing and power add to your maintenance headaches. Believe me, frozen and backed up sewer lines are not fun at 40 below.

By the way, Friesen Custom Cabins is a good option.

[English_Nurse]

I looked at Friesen's website and they look pretty good.
He does a 16' x 20' chalet style cabin with a 4' overhang and a 4' x 8' deck with side-rails for $18,164.20 inclusive of roof, foundations, windows, door and labor. Plus he has payment plans where I could put down a 25% deposit ($4541.05) and then another 25% when he has the foundations in; another 25% before he puts the roof on; and the final 25% when the whole project is complete.

So, for $4541.05 I could get started. That's eleven night shifts for me, working extra from my regular job through a nursing agency. I earn $415 for a 12 hour night shift (after tax) through this one nursing agency.
If I was willing to work an extra 12 hours a week on top of my regular 36 hours a week then I could come up with the 25% down in just under three months (beginning of March 2009) and get him started on the foundations.
By this time next year, if I carried on doing the extra shift a week, I could have the cabin paid off and built.

Throw in a cheap portable propane heater and a home made out-house and I'd have myself a cosy little camp by December 2009 to spend next Christmas in as for a vacation for me, my wife and all three kids.......

It could be done.

Working 48 hours a week, nights, as a nurse is tough and I get grouchy as hell if I don't get at least 5 hours sleep during the day. Plus, I wouldn't see much of my family except for two days a week. But it would only be for a year... It could be done.

Curse you all for suggesting such a thing. Now I've raised the anchor of my little sloop of dreams and have drifted out of the safe harbor of procrastination.

Well. I'm going to give it some serious thought.

I'll give Friesens a call tomorrow to go over the practicalities of building in a remote area and any extra cost it would entail.

One question for those of you that might know:

Is T-111 a poor building material? I'd rather go with Cedar, as it has fire retardant qualities, but I can always paint the T-111 with FF88 paint.

Does anyone have any experience of T-111?

I shouldn't think these things at 2 AM. It's not healthy for a man.

[Marty Van Diest]

English...those price for Friesen Custom Cabins do not include shipping to the site...that will raise the cost dramatically. But if anyone is capable of doing it there, he is. He often brings the materials in by snowmachine to cabin sites. He even has a pile drive that you can pull behind a snowmachine to put in your foundation.

T111 is fine for building. I don't know where you got the idea that cedar is fire retardant. It is one of the best woods to use for kindling. It burns better than most woods.

[Glitch]

Originally Posted by English_Nurse

One question for those of you that might know:

Is T-111 a poor building material? I'd rather go with Cedar, as it has fire retardant qualities, but I can always paint the T-111 with FF88 paint.

Does anyone have any experience of T-111?

I shouldn't think these things at 2 AM. It's not healthy for a man.

T-111 is the standard exterior siding most Alaskan homes use, at least initially when they are first built. Cedar does not have fire retardant qualities. Cedar is a soft wood and will burn like any other wood product. Cedar is used in building materials (particularly as exterior siding, fences, and decks) because it is loaded with tannin, like redwood and other dark woods. Tannin is a natural insect repellent.

If you want cedar siding, just place some extra 1" rigid exterior insulation (such as Thermax) directly on the T-111 and apply your siding to the insulation. It will add approximately R-7 to your existing exterior wall insulation.