We Built This Six-Sided Oak Cabin For Just $120

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The mud mix we used consisted of 213 of a wheelbarrow full of hardpan clay (dig around ... you've got some too), two shovels full of wood ashes, one shovel full of salt (the kind you can buy at the feed store), and sufficient water to yield a mix. ture of mud pie consistency. We troweled the mud off with a hand-held board, working from right to left (simply because we're right-handed).

We highly recommend mud chinking. The clay-ashes-salt-water mixture sets up immediately (thanks to the salt) and gets harder and harder as the years pass. (EDITOR'S NOTE: For more information on the subject of chinking, read "The Lost Art of Chinking ... Refound!", pages 58-59 of MOTHER N0. 36.)

WHAT OUR HOME COST US

All told, the materials value of our cabin comes to just $120. That includes $5.00 for the cement used in the foundation (a questionable expense where square stones are available), $75 for the felt roofing and particle board, and $40 for assorted nails, spikes, and recycled milled lumber.

As for yearly maintenance costs . . . I'm happy to say we don't have any! The logs themselves (which range from 8" to 13" in diameter) are their own insulation and don't need paint, plaster, or putty. Given a sound roof overhead, these same timbers could easily furnish my grandson (or yours) with comfortable, durable, aesthetic housing well into the 21 st century.

Figure it all up and it comes to about 174 per square foot of living area . . . orlooking at things in a slightly different way-approximately $1.00 invested for each year of the building's expected life. Not bad for a structure that's as comfortable and good-looking as it is solid!

I ask you: Is there a better perch from which to look out over a misty forest on a cold, gray day?

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