Cabin Fever
The original plan was to build a room inside of the pole barn to use as temporary living quarters while I build our cordwood home. After tent camping inside of the pole barn I came to the following conclusions:
- Pole barns are extremely noisy during summertime thunderstorms. After surviving a night of 75 MPH winds, hail and pounding rain I was convinced that I would never be able to hear again.
- Mice will eat anything. One day while moving the tent (inside of the pole barn) I discovered that a mouse had made a nice home for itself under the tarp. During one of its late night snacks it decided to eat my tarp. Nightmares started shortly thereafter of giant mice devouring my tent.
- With all of the supplies needed for the house, the pole barn was rapidly decreasing in size. Something had to go, I guess it had to be me.
After my pole barn experiences, it was decided that a separate small cabin would be appropriate for temporary living quarters. There were many options available: build a cordwood cabin, a frame cabin or retrofit some other type of structure. Due to a shortage of time, retrofitting a work shed made the most sense. After reviewing a number of structures, a 10′ by 12′ vinyl shed was found to be the best insulated structure available. This would help keep the temperature cool during the summer and warmer in the spring and the fall. The shed was fitted with four windows and a small screened in porch was added.
This cabin will provide adequate shelter for myself while building our cordwood home. After construction of our house is complete, the “cabin” will make a very nice storage area for a lawn tractor and can also be used to help dry garden vegetables.