2026 to 63 – miner’s cabin in my back yard

miner's cabinI’ve been doing two things a lot lately. First, reading about what it would take to live a simpler life. Second, thinking about a project that will help me learn a little about backwoods skills and backwoods living. Since I’m a backyardsman, naturally it has to fit in my backyard. So I’ve decided to build a miner’s cabin in my backyard. I don’t want to just build it though, I want to live in it. Among other things, that means I’ll have to figure out how to deal with things like cooking, poop disposal, etc. Using the house facilities would be cheating after all…

Planning my miner’s cabin…

My miner’s cabin will offer 63 square feet of living space, 7 x 9. The dimensions are derived from my city’s building code. The largest structure I’m “allowed” to build without a building permit is 96 square feet. I figure 99 is close enough, so my roof outline will be 9 x 11 feet. Take off 6 inches for roof overhang and 6 inches for walls and I’m left with 7 x 9 feet. So there it is…

Living in 63 square feet?

I’m going from 2026 square feet to only 63. Is this even possible? At first I didn’t think so. But I found this

“The men cut trees or logs, laid them up four feet in height, mounted the tent on top for a roof, making me a comfortable 7 x 9 house.”

If you read a little more, she wasn’t living in the tiny house herself, she also had a baby. So yes, living in a 7 x 9 miner’s cabin is possible. Maybe even practical.

What do I need to live?

A better question might be what DON’T I need to live? Living in a 7 x 9 cabin means I’m going to have to cut a lot of crap of of my life. Heck, in the house just my bedroom is over twice as big as the cabin will be. So, what don’t I need? Maybe… I don’t need a bed. Beds take up a lot of room. They’re comfortable for sleeping but not for sitting. Sometimes I need to sit and I don’t have room for both a bed and a chair. So the bed goes…

I do need a way to keep warm. I need a place to keep a few books. I need food storage and a place to put my hunting gear (currently an air rifle, a rabbit stick, and some traps). A bookshelf would probably be a good idea since I love to read. A way to wash and crap without offending the neighbors might be a good idea. I can cook outside.

Building my miner’s cabin

I haven’t decided how to build my cabin yet. I’ve read a few really good articles in Backwoodsman Magazine on building with pallets, and I just ordered Building With Junk and Other Good Stuff: A Guide to Home Building and Remodeling Using Recycled Materials. It’s out of print but still easy to find. The only think I know for sure is I won’t be getting my building materials from a big box store. I want to do this the backwoodsman… err… backyardsman way. Wish me luck…

Peace out,
porcupine