Prefab Cabin Ventura County's building laws are pretty strict. A second house on one property can't be larger than 700 feet. Greystokes offers 15 cabins that fit that size, but none of them are exactly what the Thompson's want. Chris uses CAD to design his own floor plan. Then, the couple heads up to the Greystokes factory in Canada to check out the quality of prefab and find out if they can work with a custom design.
Company president Glenn Roth shows the Thompson's how the Greystokes factory puts all the pieces together. All the lumber is precut for the posts, beams, rafters and wall framing. They preassemble all the walls to make sure the pieces fit. The lumber is labeled, inventoried, and packaged...it's ready to ship to the job site.
The Thompson's then meet with Greystokes designer Jered Steeves to discuss the plans. Chris takes out his design for a cabin that's 696 square feet and a combination of two designs. Because the shell dimensions are the same as a Greystokes stock plan, Jered will only need to make a few minor adjustments to make the couple's ideal cabin.
Back in the states, Chris and Alissa are getting ready to embark on their cabin project. They recruit Alissa's dad and uncle to help them out. First, they have to get building permits. The couple spent $15,000 in permit fees before the kit package even arrived. After five months of long days and hard work, the family assembled the entire shell. They then spent nine more months on all the finish work.
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