r/OffGridCabins

Or were you able to find a contractor to do it for you? Who would I call if such a service exists?

The road the property is on...

The hole I dug...

My family picked up a property that I met all of my expectations. We went up in early May and I was beginning to prep an area for an outhouse. We built a rock trail (not pictured) for a couple hours and I decided to start digging the hole for the outhouse knowing I would be up in a few weeks.

Long story short, I dug about 2 feet town and the hole started filling with water. I there anything I can do other than select a new location? My property is a flat area on a steep hill that leads down to a river. The area I chose was my ideal location but might be the lowest part of our flattened area.

Also, is this a good thing? Can I do a sand point well or something in this location?

Any guidance is appreciated as I am new to this and have only been researching online to varied results.

i’ve been slowly working on a small cabin setup and trying to figure out a realistic power solution without immediately going all in on a huge expensive system. right now i mainly want enough power for lights, charging devices, a small fan, and occasional laptop use, but i know once you start adding things it snowballs pretty fast.

i keep looking at bluetti units because a lot of people in off grid and camping spaces seem happy with them, especially for quieter setups compared to generators. before pulling the trigger though i started looking for a bluetti promo code because some of these prices climb fast once you add solar panels or expansion batteries.

for people here who actually use bluetti systems in cabins or off grid setups, how reliable have they been long term? and did you end up wishing you bought a bigger unit right away or was starting smaller the smarter move? also curious how well they hold up during long stretches of regular daily use instead of occasional trips.

I am building a kitchen inside a wooden cabin - any recommendations of how to protect wooden ceilings from the steam / grease of cooking ? thank you in advance !

Looking to purchase a cabin (cottage where I’m from) and one of the ones we’re looking at is off grid. They have a large solar setup with batteries and propane appliances. A wood stove and fireplace for heating. Thinking they don’t intend for you to successfully heat in the dead of winter.

We’re kind of excited at the idea. But what should we be looking for / red flags when we visit?

Looking for advice for a friend.
She has a small cabin and she now requires a composting toilet.
The cabin is usually 1-2 people for 9 months of the year. Water and power available.
The cabin is on posts and it’s at least 3 feet off ground, so a separate toilet/compost set up is an option, however the lake she is on will often have high water issues in the spring so water could easily be 1 foot deep under the camp.
Whatever it is, no bags and low maintenance for a 55 year old single lady.
Thanks for any links or advice.

Growing up, my family had a cabin that had what seemed to be a large commercial griddle over a fire. We'd get that fire roaring, and it would cook amazingly. I'm trying to recreate that at my own off-grid cabin now. Does anyone have any advice on the best 1) type of griddle (stainless vs cast iron), and 2) thoughts on a cool small cooking setup? Most ideas I see are way more extravagant than I'm looking for. TIA

My wife and I live in a 480 sq ft cabin. We have 5980 watts of solar panels. We have 2 3000 watt inverters. We can charge at up to 160 amps. We have a 25kwh of battery backup. We currently run a 12000 btu mini split, refrigerator, freezer lights, water pump, cooking microwave air fryer and induction cooktop. We are totally off grid and batteries charged up by 11:30 every day. I'm about to add water to the cabin. One large sink and a shower and toilet. I need recommendations for a small 20 gallon electric hot water heater. I plan on only heating the water after my batteries are charged in the afternoons. I will basically use it as a dump load for my solar panels. Has anyone dome this?

Anyone know where a decent spot of land 1 acre that’s waterfront for sale by owner under 10,000 in a safe “community” for sale would be! I’ve got an enclosed trailer conversion set up for solar and be completely off grid! Can be anywhere really, that allows stealth. It’s where my soul longs to be! Would be much appreciated

I have a cabin that I visit maybe once a month. Every visit I find evidence of mice. Droppings in the kitchen drawers, chewed paper towels, a nest in the closet last time. I've been doing snap traps and catching 2 to 3 per visit but they just keep coming.

I don't want to use poison because I have a compost area and garden nearby and I don't want poisoned mice getting eaten by owls or hawks. Also found a dead mouse in my water collection barrel once after using poison and that was the end of that approach.

Currently my prevention setup is:

Steel wool in every gap I can find (they keep finding new ones).

Bugmd vamoose pouches in every cabinet and closet. The peppermint scent is strong when I first place them but fades after a few weeks.

All food stored in metal containers or glass jars. Nothing in bags or boxes.

Snap traps along walls as monitoring.

The cabin is log construction so there are natural gaps between logs that I can't fully seal. I've re-chinked the worst areas but it's an ongoing battle.

Any off grid cabin owners dealt with this successfully? What's working for you?

Two separate off-grid structures, each with its own Mizudo outdoor propane tankless water heater: 1 x 120,000 BTU and 1 x 180,000 BTU. I have the water heaters mounted and plumbed.

The smaller heater will be fed by a single 20lb tank but I'd like to use two x 30lb tanks on the bigger unit.

I have 3/4" flexible (yellow) fuel supply pipes & fittings to connect to the heaters, but I need help with the regulators that will be required (especially for the dual-tank setup).

120,000 BTU Heater: 4.58" WC - 11" WC.
180,000 BTU Heater: 8" WC - 13.5" WC

TIA for any pointers/advice offered :)

I want to basically do a sand point well with a simple pitcher pump, its just very rocky here. I am willing to hire someone, but all the well drilling around here looks to be for super deep electric wells, which I do not want.

Is there equipment I could rent to drill past the rocks on my own?

Does anyone have experience with this in my area? The water 20' to 30' down should be clean but I still plan to purify it. I live on a slope that has a lot of water running down this time of year, so I should be able to hit a reliable vein not too deep, I think.

I have been getting very mixed results in my search to figure this stuff out, it would be great to find someone with direct experience.