Off Grid Portable Cabin Free Plans

The Stealth 64 8x8 is an un-insulated cabin designed for moderate climates and for emergency/disaster relief where the cabin can be put up and taken apart quickly and flat packed for portability or storage. It can be insulated and is designed to provide basic shelter for housing and off grid survival.

All of the Micro cabins are designed for easy construction with minimal cutting and the insulated models use a unique DIY SIPS design created by me to eliminate a lot of waste and weight from traditional framing. If you can cut a straight line and drive a screw you can build these cabins. This cabin would also be suitable as an office, work shop, sauna, play house, storage shed, ice fishing shack, or other uses.

As with any structure you should always determine what is allowed by your local codes and this design may not be suitable for all areas or applications. There is no warranty or guarantee that these designs will be approved and you take full responsibility for this DIY construction and following local codes. If you can not agree to that condition do not use these plans.

Tools: You will need a circular saw, jig saw, drill driver, razor knife, bubble level and square.

“There are an estimated 553,742 people in the United States experiencing homelessness on a given night, according to the most recent national point-in-time estimate (January 2017). This represents a rate of approximately 17 people experiencing homelessness per every 10,000 people in the general population.” -National Alliance to End Homelessness

Homelessness can happen to anyone at any age and the primary causes are sudden natural, man made and economic disasters. Many homeless people have jobs but simply can not afford or find suitable housing. These plans are specifically designed for individuals and groups that help the homeless to build inexpensive but well constructed housing for those situations and having been homeless myself I understand personally how hard that life can be and how much these projects and groups are needed.

These plans are free and if you are in a position to build these cabins to help other people I hope you will do so and feel free to share these plans with any individual or group that can help.

Now let's build a cabin!

You can see many more cabin plans and designs and my own off grid cabin for ideas at:

https://www.simplesolarhomesteading.com/

Materials list

for Stealth 64 or Shepherd Wagon un-insulated

Micro-cabin materials list

Barn roof style 8x8

7/16 OSB 4x8 8@ $11.85 $94.80 Note: optional 15/32” plywood for walls

7/16 OSB 4x9 4@ $12.88 $51.52

2x4x8 8@ $ 3.73 $29.84

2x3x8 24@ $ 2.25 $54.00

4x4x8 treated lumber 3@ $10.12 $30.36

Misc. screws, hangers and adhesive $20.00

Total $292.27 *Does not include tax. All prices are from Lowe's USA

Optional:

15/32” 4x8 plywood for walls. 6@ $19.35 $116.10

Roll roofing $ 34.87

Foamboard insulation 1.5” 6 sheets $ 23.00

R13 batt insulation 1 roll $ 23.48

I recommend plywood for the walls but OSB will work as long as it is painted with exterior paint.

All prices are from Lowe's and you can usually get a discount if you buy your materials in bulk.

I recommend getting a salvage or second hand door and windows for this project and you can find these cheap or free if you watch the businesses that replace doors and windows. Door must have clearance to swing so allow for 1/4” space between the door and the frame on all sides. Get your door and windows ahead of time and you can adjust the framing to fit your needs.

If you are a good scrounger you can get lots of free building materials by watching the dumpsters at construction sites and businesses that do flooring, windows, doors and cabinets. You don't need a lot of material for these cabins to make them very nice with salvage materials for that custom look.

Also watch yard sales and and old camper parts work well in these small cabins.

Skids are 4x4x8 treated lumber. For these plans the cabins will be shown on skids but can also be placed on deck block, cement pad or on a trailer. Cut skid angle and layout on level ground as shown.

Step2: Floor framing

Floor framing is 2x4x8 nominal lumber. Attach floor joist to plates using 3 inch screws

I recommend using 2x4 joist hangers and corner braces. Joists are on 16 inch centers.

Floor sheathing is ½ inch Plywood or 7/16 OSB strandboard. Attach to the floor framing with 1.5 inch screws on 16 inch spacing.

NOTE: Throughout these plans I will recommend you use construction adhesive for certain joints. This is not wood glue and a general brand name is Liquid Nails. Construction adhesive and screws makes a very strong joint and that is what is used to hold air planes together. Get it at any hardware store.

Side walls are ½ plywood or 7/16 OSB strandboard. Attach side wall framing using construction adhesive and 1.5 inch screws. Attach side walls to floor framing with 1.5 inch screws. Side walls attach at bottom of floor framing.

DO NOT use construction adhesive on wall to floor connection if you intend to remove wall panels for portability.

Front and rear walls are ½ inch plywood or 7/16 OSB. The door opening can be made wider but you will need to adjust framing for the opening in the next step.

I recommend getting a salvage or second hand door and windows for this project and you can find these cheap or free if you watch the businesses that replace doors and windows. Door must have clearance to swing so allow for 1/4” space between the door and the frame on all sides.

Get your door and windows ahead of time and you can adjust the framing to fit your needs.

All wall framing is 2x3x8 nominal lumber.

Attach framing to the wall sheathing with construction adhesive and 1.5” screws. The wall sheathing attaches at the bottom of the floor framing and wall framing is attached to floor and framing using corner angles. Center brace overlaps the panel seam and is attached to both panels with construction adhesive and 1.5” screws.

Attach sidewall sheathing to front wall framing using 1.5” screws. DO NOT use construction adhesive on these attachments if cabin will be detached to be portable.

Corner braces installed at all 4 corners.

Rear wall is ½ plywood or 7/16 OSB. Widow dimensions are optional and you can change the framing to fit a different window size or double 2x3 windows.

Shown with double 2x3 rear windows and stargazer roof vent windows for ideas.

All wall framing is 2x3x8 nominal lumber.

Attach framing to the wall sheathing with construction adhesive and 1.5” screws. The wall sheathing attaches at the bottom of the floor framing and wall framing is attached to floor and framing using corner angles. Center brace overlaps the panel seam and is attached to both panels with construction adhesive and 1.5” screws.

The bottom of all walls is attached with screws directly to the floor framing and angle braces are just to keep the wall framing from moving if bumped hard. The rafters, floor framing and bed platform tie all of the walls together to make a very sturdy structure.

Corner braces installed at all 4 corners.

Your cabin should now look like this.

You now have 4wall panels with attached framing that can be unscrewed and detached from the floor framing so that the cabin ca be transported and set up where needed.

Roof rafters are 2x3x8 nominal lumber.

Rafters are attached to wall framing with 3 inch screws. I recommend drilling pilot holes to prevent splitting the wood.

The rafters and roof panels are designed to be unscrewed and removed so the cabin can be flat packed and portable.

Roof sheathingis 7/16 4x9 OSB.

Attach sheathing with 1.5 inch screws. There is a 6 inch overhang on front and back.

Cabin sections flat packed for portability.

The Stealth cabin is designed specifically for disaster relief housing and can be flat packed in to 1'4"x8x8 units for portability. A 20 foot semi-trailer could haul 20 of these units where needed and erected by 2 men in a day.

Ready for trimming.

The cabin can be painted or stained and you can use cedar fence boards for trim. If you are planning dismantling the cabin to be portable I would pait the roof panels and use flashing tape over the seams instead of shingle. If you will be keeping it in one spot then use roofing felt and shingle or metal roofing.

You can raise the bed platform if desired and use that storage underneath. You can also put a cot bunk above the twin or full size and sleep 3 in this micro-cabin.

To make the bed platform removable use 2x4 joist hanger for frame supports.

The Stealth cabin is designed to be insulated or un-insulated. Use R8 foamboard insulation in the wall pockets and R13 batt insulation in the roof and cober it over with any paneling you desire. Attach the insulation panels with construction adhesive and the paneling with construction adhesive and paneling nails to the framing.

You can see many more cabin plans and designs and my own off grid cabin for ideas at:

http://www.simplesolarhomesteading.com