Honest Budget Breakdown Renovating a Swedish Cabin in the Forest

This was honestly WAY more than I could ever imagine 🙈

👋 Come say hi

[KalleFlodin]

Was it more or less than you thought? 🙈

[tonystrange]

I wouldn’t even begin to ponder the total cost of everything you’ve done Kalle. What you’ve achieved over your 6 years is priceless. And now you finally have a fantastic kitchen and the holy grail of not just running water, but hot water as well. Enjoy it. You deserve it.

[donnahong]

I know people who have paid 50k for just the kitchen. Your prices are reasonable and I know it does not feel that way to you but be grateful that God blessed you with a great country and good resources.

[deebowker]

What is amazing is how quickly the garden and ground has recovered from the extreme digging up process. Your life will hopefully now be much easier with your water supply and up to date kitchen. However, I love it that you are keeping your wood burning oven and hot plates for cooking and heating when necessary.

[stevefranks]

I think this is one of your Best videos Kalle. Very informative, with the info clearly presented. Excellent! I'm glad you put the pump house/room in an existing building, and that you saved both your sanity and valuable time by hiring carpenters to do the kitchen work. All the costs, while significant, seem reasonable to me compared to what work costs in the U.S. And the kitchen is so well designed and compatible w your cozy cabin. All's well that ends well -- I vividly remember when the artesian water source was discovered and all the flooding it caused. What a freaky time that was. WELL DONE!

[Henri]

Dear Kalle, thank you so much for talking about the well costing. I am just so happy that I could be part of saving your day. I am proud of everyone who contributed to this great cause 👏

[peterpiper]

YAY!!! Your water pump work is paid for !!! Very happy for you!

[dougjensen]

Your investment will not be wasted!!! You are so smart in your decision to become as self sufficient as possible! We do depend too much on others to take care of all our needs. You are a good man! I am 73 years old. I wish I’d have learned this when I was young. It is so important.
God bless you, Christine and your wonderful baby!
Kathy Jensen

[ancientdunlop]

You're still doing well. My house is off-grid. My father and I cleared the half acre of forest by hand with chainsaws and wheelbarrows. It took seven years to build at a cost of 250k Canadian dollars (1.9 million Krona), which seems like a lot, but I have no utility bills so my expenses are pretty much just the mortgage and food. It's also quite a large house with built in greenhouses, so I save on food as well. We didn't dig a well though, all my water is caught on the roof and stored in cisterns below ground where it is filtered and pumped through the house. If I were to dig a well here it would cost upwards of 40k Canadian (300k Krona) and the water would not be as good as I would have to filter out the ground contaminants. Your spring water quality looks amazing, no amount of money can buy that kind of good fortune. Congrats on project well completed.

[BettyKoehler-zgsv]

Kalle, your kitchen investment is beautiful, and having water indoors is a blessing for you and your family. You work so hard for them, and have every reason to be proud of your efforts! Don’t think about the total cost….just be grateful! Enjoy it all, and give my best to Your beautiful wife and baby boy. Love from Pennsylvania, USA 💕🌷🐻

[burkbum]

Remodels are expensive--even DIY.

Regarding the well, it seems like you got a pretty good deal. They certainly didn't overcharge, especially considering a) how remote you are, and b) how much infrastructure you ended up needing to manage the artesian well. Add to that, what an amazing job they did cleaning up your site and not leaving a huge mess that would cost even more to correct... I think you found a good company with good professionals who took pride in their job. This doesn't even consider the improvement to your quality of life. It's a win win win! Money WELL spent.

[myntha]

The heating cable is a life saver in the winter! The only problem we've had is the taps freezing in the kitchen if we're not home and letting the taps drip.

[rebeccamercer]

Your cabin is warm and cozy! You really got a fantastic deal on your house and land! Some houses are more expensive than others without much land for 245, 000 or more! You are so blessed ! God bless you dear! I am so happy for you and your family! You should be proud, Kalle! You are also a hard worker and always seem to want to help when it’s needed! You are going to be a fantastic dad, husband and friend!🧚🏻🧚🏻🧚🏻❤️Blessings always!

[rebeccasourpuss]

The wood stove is cozy and homely, and if you get tired of it you can always get an induction cooker that just plugs in. They're very handy and sit right on the counter top!

[HeikeWoolard]

We live in Eastern NC and sit on an Aquifer and the quote for a new well I got was $34000.
Regarding the heating cable for the water line. I would keep it plugged in between the first and last frost. We have the same type of cable for our water heater that is actually mounted on the outside of our house. We also live in a much more temperate climate, but still need this during winter, and keep it plugged in between first and last frost.
We bought our house on .26 acres for $25000 in 1999. Bought 1.54 adjoining acres in 2008 for $7500 and then gutted the house, added a garage, an addition to the kitchen, enlarged 2 bedrooms by doing away with a hallway, replaced the old roof with a metal roof and completely redid one of the bathrooms and that, in 2008, cost $120000. We did most of the work ourselves, but had to hire out the roof, kitchen, and garage builds. Now, prices have tripled. It is insane to think about.

[teresamc]

A dream cabin & life worth every cent... and some more if needed be 💚

[malenaklaus]

Having just bought a house in Sweden and just starting to renovate I really appreciate you sharing this in such detail! Thank you so much, this is a huge help in better estimating where it makes sense to hire someone and where to do things myself.
Hearing the total cost I am very glad I decided to buy a house with water, thermal heating and a kitchen for 600 000 sek.

I would maybe get one of those little induction stoves from Ikea that you just plug in, that way you can cook inside when it is hot in the summer and otherwise it can be tucked away in a drawer. They are cheap and add some nice convienience.
I always enjoy your videos, thank you for making them.

[dempseydoodle]

I'm sheduled to get a well drilled on my property sometime at the end of this month *hopefully* and just getting it drilled, capped, and sealed I'm preparing myself for a $20, 000 - 30, 000 bill. The drilling will be $70 per foot plus $3, 200 for the cap, seal and county fees wells in my area seem to range from 200 - 400ft deep. To get a pump set up I've been told will run another $12, 000 but I will also need to get electric run which will also be another $10, 000. So all your expenses sound amazing to me.

[polyglot.basketer]

Money is for to spend on useful, reasonable things, otherwise it's just a piece of paper. Any building or renovation is stressful but afterwards it gives a big satisfaction, so it worth. Good decision the woodstove, it will even heat at the same time and the crackling fire is so homely feeling. Perfect job, congratulations...do not worry anylonger, enjoy it.... use them in good health.

[georgiaturner]

These renovations will make such a positive impact on the quality of your life. I’m happy to see how nicely it has turned out! Enjoy!