We Lived in a Kitset Timber Cabin for 7 years (Family of 4)

Video Description

We lived in a 12m² caravan for three years… and it was tight. So we sold it — and for the same money bought a 40m² kitset timber cabin instead. I built it in three days with my two young kids. We added a metal roof, log burner and simple kitchen, and it’s been our living room, kitchen, dining room and bedroom for the past six years. In this video I share the full reality: - What it cost (per m² comparison) - How easy it actually was to build - What upgrades were necessary - The mistakes and design flaws - And whether I’d choose this over a caravan or tiny house again It’s not perfect — but it’s been a godsend for our family of four while we build our earth roundhouse. The cabin is a 70mm solid timber kitset from Hansa24 (German design, Estonian manufactured): https://www.hansa24.com/ Franchises around the world are usually called things like “Garden house 24”, “Summer House 14” and “Timber Cabins 24”. This is not a sponsored video — just our honest 6-year experience. This cabin bought us time to build our earth roundhouse properly. Watch the full roundhouse build series here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoBSAFhVV5D4BjQASSHcTeHfHhttN8uCk Want the Technical Deep Dives? If you're interested in the more detailed build resources — including: Reciprocal roof breakdowns Hydraulic ram pump system Behind-the-scenes build details Extended tutorials You can access those on Patreon here: www.patreon.com/earthbuildnz Your support helps us keep documenting the full journey — from temporary cabin living to a fully off-grid earth home. Chapters: 00:00 - Intro, context and our requirements 01:35 - Disasters averted 05:43 - How Affordabile? 07:08 - How quick to build? (spoiler: very!) 08:15 - How easy to build? 09:03 - What's the quality like? 10:15 - Upgrades 14:35 - Flexible layout options 18:47 - Look out! Downsides... 25:46 - Conclusion Thanks for watching! Jon Tags: kitset cabin Hansa cabin review living in a timber cabin tiny house alternative affordable housing NZ off grid family living DIY cabin build