How to Build a Low Cost Cabin

Image Gallery A cabin is one of many low cost homes to build. The Harris's lodge features ample stand-up, walk-around room inside and-thanks to the loft sleeps five comfortably. PHOTO: LESTER E. HARRIS JR.

Six years ago, when I took on the job of operating a biological station in the Allegheny Mountains of Highland County, Virginia, I found myself faced with a serious problem: namely, how to house my family during the summer school sessions.

The small private college I worked for had no funds for extra staff lodging ... and our year-round home was in the far eastern part of the state (which meant we couldn't commute to the outpost). What we needed, then, was an "overnight" cabin that the five of us — my wife, myself, our two teenage sons, and our teenage daughter — could build quickly, easily, and inexpensively right on the biological station grounds, and live in during the summer months.

In terms of design, such a lodge would have to be weathertight, sturdy enough to both withstand the gusty storms common to this area and shed the loads of snow that occasionally build up here, and spacious enough inside to give the six-footers in the family (my sons and me) more than just the tiny amount of stand-up room down the center of the building we knew we'd get if we built a conventional A-frame cabin.

Building a Low Cost Cabin

I'm pleased to report that we were able to solve our housing problem — and meet our design objectives — quite nicely with the aid of a 16-by-24 foot "modified A-frame" cabin ... one that we built in just five daylight-to-dark workdays at a cost of only $1,000. (Those are 1971 dollars.)

Day One 

We spent our first workday digging the twelve 2 foot square, 2 foot deep holes for the foundation's footings, pouring six inches of concrete (made partly with gravel from a nearby stream) into each hole, and gathering stones for the piers.

Day Two

First thing the next morning, we began to lay up a dozen 12 inch-square concrete-and-stone piers to a height — above grade — of about a foot. (See Image Gallery, Figure ) While the mortar was still wet, we inserted a long bolt (the threaded end of which previously had been heated and bent at a right angle) head-down into each of the ten outer piers ... then — with the aid of a borrowed dumpy level — I evened up all the columns.

When the concrete had begun to harden, we [1] set the 2-by-8 inch stringers atop their supports, [2] marked the spots at which the bent bolt tips met the beams, [3] drilled holes in the beams at these points, and (finally) [4] bolted the stringers into place atop the piers.

Day Three

Our next task was to nail two-by-fours along the insides of the four longest stringers (see Image Gallery, Figure 2) ... after which we notched our 2-by-8 inch by 7-foot 8-inch joists at both ends so they could ride on the two-by-fours (see Image Gallery, Figure 3), and spiked them down at a spacing (center-to-center) of 16 inches. (Note: To ensure a roof overhang of at least 4 inches at the building's rear, we spaced the last four pairs of joists 14 inches apart ... as shown in Figure 2.)