Prefabricated Cabins

Start with a rectangle 12-14 feet wide by 14 to 22 feet long. Then add additional features to create additional space, such as a 90 degree wing for an entry, dining nook, or bedroom. Adding space onto the main body gives many options for site specific floor layouts. A cabin can be a single level, with a loft, full 2 levels, or variations.

This style promotes multiple living areas, storage space opportunities and privacy within a single space while keeping the building compact for effective shipping remote and fast assemblies in the field.

We consider the path of the sun, primary wind directions, access points to the structure, assess difficult precise placements, and decide on wood stove and chimney placement before setting the foundation scaffold. This easily adjusted scaffold defines the exact location of the pilings and gives the opportunity to see where the foundation will be in real time before the final placement decision is made.

We often rotate the orientation, slide the structure or change a window size.

Structurally sound frames secure the tenon ends of timbered walls, options for shudders, screens and custom hardware.

These casement frames can be sent disassembled in component pieces for more compact and secure shipping to fit within a delivery crafts’ particular needs. Glass panes are shipped separately in a crate.

A 3/12 pitch timbered rafter and purlin set within the walls, interior ceiling boards placed from above, covered with black vapor barrier plastic, 4” x 4” timbers cap the perimeter and ridges making space for wiring and 4” rigid foam insulation, 2X stick frame roof over the top making the building’s overhangs and secured to the 4×4 cap timbers.

Fiberglass Batt insulation dropped in from above, sheeted with modern ¾ T&G ply, papered, flashed, roofed and guttered.

High value for your investment is the base model without optional amenities or modernization. It takes a remarkably short time to complete a basic prefab COVE Alaska Homestead Cabin in the field once returned to a foundation site. Our focus is one trip assembly. This means a weatherized exterior including facias, soffits, gutters, woodstove and chimney.

The Inside

The inside has a plywood subfloor, finished openings, finished clear interior wood walls and ceilings, with lighting wiring installed in the timber purlin and board ceiling for future electrical if added. This fast installation is a direct result of having a system that works and a knowledgeable crew prepared for the rigors of camp building remotely. High value for a backcountry land owner.

A Safe and Stable Backcountry Shelter

At this stage the building now serves as a safe, stable, long lasting backcountry shelter. What is left can be accomplished without the environmental pressures of building the original shell. This gives more options to use qualified specialized tradesmen for the more standardized tasks or DIY. What is left to finish is floor insulation, kitchen, plumbing, electrical, and flooring.

Typically we do not develop off-grid water supply systems and our plumbing is minimal – limited to a kitchen and/or hand wash sink to a small grey water drain field. We can design, build and install your kitchen or clients can do this step independently.