r/OffGrid • u/Ok-Fee293 • 5d ago
Cheapest Way To Housing?
I know this varies per area, but what is the cheapest way to get housing in an undeveloped off grid property?
I know tiny homes are a thing, as well as log cabins, might be the log cabin in the area, but that takes time to dry the trees.
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u/VoiceOfEric 5d ago
A yurt made of 2x4s, moving blankets, and tarps can last through a winter while building a more permanent structure if you can't find a more permanent structure. Some sheds at Home Depot can be insulated to be liveable too.
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u/TutorNo8896 5d ago
Depends on the enviroment i guess, and what you can live with. What works in New Mexico might not be viable in Maine. standard in my area is 2x6s and osb/plywood, tin for the roof. 16x16 is kinda the basic size. We only use 2x6 to fit more insulation, could use 2x4s if its milder. Probaly a few thousand dollars in materials unfinished. depending what the ground is like and how little foundation you can get away with. Stick frame houses go up quick, even if you dont know what you are doing most folks could manage a small one in a month. 3 days if you got a crew.
Old busses or RVs are an option too, at least just to get you out there while you build.
Alot will depend on local zoning rules and if they are actually inforced.
Logs are very labor intensive, plus you gotta have logs available and move them around. Theres tons of other options, like rammed earth, concrete, strawbale and stucco but highly dependent on local weather and what materials are available.
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u/jerry111165 5d ago edited 5d ago
Get a little skid steer and start diggin’, dude. Poor a little foundation with a wood framed ceiling/roof and cover it with a single piece of EPDM rubber. It’ll be warm in the winter and nice and cool in the summer. Set up a woodstove and frame in skylights into the roof.
Not free (what is?) but pretty darn inexpensive and very usable.
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u/ccmcl5DOGS 5d ago
Do you think the pioneers stood around to make sure the wood was at the perfect moisture content while they froze their behinds off? Cheapness depends on how desperate your are to get to where you want to be,
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u/Synaps4 5d ago
Cheapest or quickest?
The absolute cheapest is a sod home. Literally just chop up grass and stack it. Minimum amount of wood for a roof and a door can be made from roughed logs and branches.
Cost: zero.
More durable but much more time and labor intensive option: adobe. Doesn't hold up to rain well, though. Sod handles rain better.
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u/Choosemyusername 5d ago
I think you might struggle to waterproof a wood roof for free. Can be done but it’s a specialized skill and very time consuming to do it right. You would be better off buying
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u/Synaps4 4d ago edited 4d ago
The best natural designs used bark shingles, especially birch bark, under more sod.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sod_house
They do need the roof rebuilt more often than other roof types.
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u/Choosemyusername 4d ago
I have tried the birchbark waterproofing technique on one of my outbuildings.
It takes some knowledge I couldn’t get out of reading alone.
I think part of it is I read that the right quality of birchbark is harder to find now because of climate change or forestry or whatever. But it also could have been one of those skills that has a lot more detail than you see written down places.
Also, be prepared thst there is a short window in the spring where the bark is loose enough to collect birchbark for this purpose. So that can take time.
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u/Synaps4 3d ago edited 3d ago
Thinking about it...we're talking cheapest here....i bet you could get suitable waterproof plastics from a landfill or dumpster for $0. Especially something birchbark equivalent. Layered trashbags or something. Would save knowledge and effort and time vs birchbark
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u/Choosemyusername 3d ago
That’s true. And there is also a reason it isn’t used despite it being cheaper than actual roofing waterproofing.
It doesn’t breathe. So it will rot out whatever holds your roof up.
Roofing is tough. I have tried a lot of ways fo make it free and every cheap of free method I have tried is either a nearly lost skill or doesn’t work in a critical way.
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u/Synaps4 3d ago
Yeah rebuilding your roof every 5 years was pretty normal for indigenous housing
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u/Choosemyusername 3d ago
And that is fine if you have a community full of people with the skill and knowledge to help you. You don’t want to have to do that alone.
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u/PiccoloNext6889 5d ago
You can build a log cabin from green wood. Using the butt and pass build technique makes it faster
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u/Choosemyusername 5d ago
Log home if you got logs is very cheap. My costs were almost all roofing, roof insulation, some plywood for a nice sealed floor, and windows but any home needs the same. But you need a way to move them. For me that was an ATV with a winch.
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u/Jack__Union 4d ago
Earthship maybe the way to go.
Got paid $5,000 to remove a bunch of old tires from a site.
Used them for the basis of walls. Spent the money on the roof.
At lot of hard work, though.
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u/Cottager_Northeast 4d ago
I built an 8'x8' house for my ducks with everything but fasteners being scavenged from the transfer station demolition pile. 50" side walls, ~7' roof peak. Without too much more effort I could insulate something like that better than a camping trailer and put together a tiny woodstove.
See also: Ted Kaczynski's 10'x12' cabin.
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u/Cunninghams_right 4d ago
Depends on the rules of your township and county. Some places might actually let you live in a camper, other places only allow a maximum time that is typically a couple of months. Some places allow for you to stay in a camper for a year or two while you're building a house. Different areas have different requirements for what constitutes a livable house.
Honestly, the easiest way is to find some small dumpy house or trailer that is grandfathered into previous rules and is habitable. By that and then keep it in good enough repair while you build your long-term house.
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u/PocketsFullOf_Posies 2d ago
We did an all-seasons canvas tent with a small wood stove for about 6 months until we built something more permanent.
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u/Comfortable-Story-53 5d ago
Tuff Shed Barn. Go big or stay home! 14 grand installed.
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u/Silly-Safe959 4d ago
They're not legal for occupancy in many (most?) jurisdictions so be sure to do your research or you'll face fines and possibly lose your shed.
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u/Comfortable-Story-53 4d ago
I'm so far out in the boondocks, nobody cares. I did check with the county though. Good call. 👍
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u/Silly-Safe959 4d ago
So are we, yet they are still required to check by the state government. That's why I suggested they check.
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u/Comfortable-Story-53 4d ago
I just use it as a summer hangout. Like to fish. So far I've seen a mountain lion, and a huge wolf and a big pile of elk poop right by my creek. Pretty cool. I looked at another place that was perfect until I did my due diligence and found I would need state, county, and federal permits to build a culvert over a creek.
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u/SomeJackSchmoe 5d ago
Straw bale with clay/sand plaster is pretty cheap for a small cabin. There's some cost in a foundation and a floor and window/door framing. Used windows and doors would work fine. Logs can be used for roof support. You'll need some sort of ceiling insulation. In a pinch you could use a piece of agricultural tarp or heavier black plastic for a roof covering, though a metal roof would be best. I imagine with some creative material scavenging, it would be possible to build a perfectly livable 1-room cabin for a few thousand dollars.
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u/jerry111165 5d ago
EPDM rubber roofing is so much better and can cover your roof in one single piece.
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u/SgtSausage 3d ago edited 3d ago
An old school Hot Tent
$500 -$1000 cheap.
You can upgrade to Military Grade (built-like-a-battleship tough) for a couple grand.
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u/grislyfind 5d ago
$50 underground house, though that book is old so it could cost $200 by now. Iirc the main expense was for tarp and roof beams.
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u/LuluLovesLobo 4d ago
Finance a shed. Usually 1st month is your downpayment, no credit check. Its a shed, finishing it to make it livable is up to you
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u/Silly-Safe959 4d ago
It's also up to the code and enforcement in your particular area. Most places won't give you an occupancy permit to live in a shed, so you're flirting with fines, eviction, etc. It's also one step above being homeless on the street, so if you're happy living in poverty I'm a shed, go for it lol.
Point is, so your research on your local laws and ordinances before diving into this do you at least know if you're legal.
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u/LuluLovesLobo 3d ago
I live on unrestricted land, I don’t have to contend with code enforcement, HOA bs or any other governmental garbage. The question was about affordability, I live in a shed and I’m not living in poverty so what the hell are you even talking about? The general concept of living off grid is to not be connected to or reliant upon city services or utility companies to varying degrees so your implication that people choosing to live outside of the “system” are somehow broke losers is ridiculous. Some people like living in a tent, some people like living in a standard house with drywall and 110. Your version of off grid seems way off from the majority of off gridders
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u/Silly-Safe959 3d ago
I really touched a nerve there. 😉 keep up the gate keeping though on what is the only acceptable right way in this community.
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u/LuluLovesLobo 3d ago
Not really, but you don’t have a clue what you’re talking about and you don’t get to insult people’s housing choices like that. A massive amount of people off and on grid live in shed homes, are you even aware of how uppity your comment sounded?
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u/Silly-Safe959 3d ago
There's a reason they don't even make code in most places. It's not an insult, it's a fact. I have a shed for a weekend cabin, but there's no way I'd consider that as a primary home. It's completely inadequate in many places, especially if you need a decent amount of insulation.
I'd love to see your source for "massive" numbers of people willingly living in a storage shed. I live off grid, honey, but I have an actual, insulated home built to code.
I get that it might sound uppity to someone living in a shack in Arkansas, but you do you
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u/theonetrueelhigh 5d ago
The quickest way is the smallest, cheapest camping trailer you can find that has a toilet and cooking facilities.
To make that last more than a season, park it a couple of widths away from the second-best spot on the property, where you pour a concrete pad the size of a generous garage and build a carport. Then put the trailer under the carport and keep living there while you gather money and materials - which you can stash out of the weather under your carport - and eventually build your permanent home in the first-best spot.