UJ builds a cabin in the sand

[Unclejake]

In January 2024 I suddenly needed somewhere to live in a hurry ... so I figured on building something small out of scraps of building materials I already had..

There's no power, water, sewer on the property, but 10 days ago we got most of the driveway in.

I'm the kind of guy who thinks a fair bit before I act, so after some further thought most of the scrap timber/plumbing/etc. I had available got pushed to one side as they just weren't going to work. Queue more invoices for better timber (plus freight)

I think this project will take until spring 2024 to be weathertight. Shipping delays and huge freight expenses will add to the timeframe and budget. For example I have $500 of under concrete insulation here at the port. The freight bill for that insulation alone was $1,200.

The proposed dwelling will be single bedroom and about 60m2

I always start very well but never finish anything. Let's see what happens this time.

 

[locost_bryan]

Looking forward to seeing this on Grand Designs Chatham Islands.

[VitesseEFI]

That’s a helluva drive. But what a spot! 

Have you thought about buying a “double wide”, some pontoons and couple of big outboards and just sailing across?

[tomble]

What an intro!

[Corbie]

How many millions is it going to cost to get a smooth quiet asphalt driveway up there for the Lexus?

[Unclejake]

Hot-mix would cost all of the millions Corbie. I could probably do it cheaper in concrete TBH... but I'm happy enough with the crushed schist we've been laying over the last couple of weeks

We were very fortunate to buy the property as land here is very, very hard to get. It's a little over 24ha with half a kilometre of sandy beach to the north and another half kilometre of semi-tidal lagoon edge to the south. It's an 'oldschool' title from the late 1800s so I own down to the high tide mark on both bodies of water. TBH I've never walked to the lagoon side of the property. It's a low lying wetland which will just need to stay like that for now.

Today we collected timber, rebar and underfloor insulation from the port. Tomorrow I need to go to work to pay for some of it. Ha

[EpochNZ]

Oldschool Nats Chathams 2026.

Entry Fee:  Building materials carried on as hand luggage.

[Unclejake]

I spent most of the weekend carting schist and extending the driveway. The JCB is finally operational but oh lord it's slow and noisy. 

Still much better than a spade and a wheelbarrow

 

[Vintage Grumble]

Is that KFC in front of the JCB?

[igor]

Does weka taste like chicken?

[Unclejake]

2 hours ago, Vintage Grumble said:

Is that KFC in front of the JCB?

Sure is. 

They taste like a cross between turkey and duck

[nick_m]

May have missed this somewhere but are you building on the chathams? 

[jessemk2]

Yeah that's a awesome spot 

[Thphantum]

That looks like a 4in 1 bucket on the job.

I'd recommend whipping up one of these. Leveling bar you just grab with the bucket. 

[Dr Danger]

MAY UncleJake update his cabin build thread?

[Unclejake]

Not much to report gentle readers,

The island ran out of petrol a couple of weeks ago so I can't use the generator much, can't cut firewood and lawns can get fucked. We do still have a little diesel but I've been feeding the JCB 50% diesel and 50% jet fuel (I had some left over from a helicopter project)

Today's mission was a tank stand for water header tanks. Hoping to finish that tomorrow. TBC. Ha.

 

[Unclejake]

The weather didn't allow erection yesterday, but Saturday looks sort of OK.

I haven't totally worked out how I'm going to stand up a 6 metre high top heavy thing with a machine that barely reaches 4 metres (and then drive it 200 metres and up a small hill), but I've got a rough plan. We'll see if it works tomorrow. Ha!

 

[Goat]

Thankyou for documenting your process.

Super awesome to watch this unfold (the whole build, not the imminent difficulties in shifting your tower!)

[Unclejake]

I'm down to less than half a litre of petrol now, but no one got killed, nothing got broken.... and the water tower got driven up the hill and is bolted into its stainless steel stirrups.  It was pretty dark by then so it's a shit photo.

More to do soon to brace it all, but she's up! There's only been two of us on this job. We've done OK TBH.

 

 

[RUNAMUCK]

Perfect for dispatching horse theives too!