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What does it take to build a house totally off the grid in some of the most unforgiving terrain on the planet? We follow a cast of characters who set out to construct three incredible cabins in the obscure Alaskan wilderness. With no roads and no building supply centers, they’ll have to get creative in a new season of Building Alaska.
2012
Hunting and fishing guide Bob May is building a new cabin on a remote island in southern Alaska. But, before he begins construction, he needs to tear down the old, abandoned cabin. Easier said than done! You won't believe how he accomplishes this and - no - you won't find a demolition like this anywhere in the lower 48.
On a nearly deserted island of Alaska, Bob is forced to adapt with inferior lumber, changing weather conditions, and an 11-foot brown bear all causing havoc on the build site. Despite these challenges, Bob and team are able to get the foundation dug in and set.
We learn how things are built differently in a state which experiences 100 earthquakes a day. Though the framing is completed and the rough wiring and plumbing get underway, the grind of the 5-month project starts to wear Bob down.
A sub-contractor fails to show up at the jobsite for weeks pushing Bob further behind schedule. Meanwhile, Bob and his brother Rick contend with some furry troublemakers of the job site that are chewing through hoses, cables, and grocery bags.
When you live this far off the grid, you need to be self-sufficient, whether it is using recycled oil, fishing for dinner, or installing hydro and wind energy systems. The insulation delays continue as Bob waits for a delinquent subcontractor.
It's a sprint to the finish as Bob gets the cabin completed before his first paying customers arrive. Furniture and other items are installed at the last moment. He works 16-hour days, goes over budget, but ends up with the cabin of his dreams.
2014
Builders traverse the Alaskan Frontier, where they prepare to battle the elements to build three cabins.
The builders brainstorm ways to beat the harsh weather so construction goes smoothly.
The deadline looms after ice makes a lake impassable.
The builders head home as winter puts their work to the final test.
2016
The three teams kick off their builds in remote Alaskan settings. The projects include a family legacy cabin in the Wrangell Mountains, a guest cabin in Eagle Song and an island getaway near Juneau.
Three teams continue their builds in unique, remote Alaskan settings. At this stage, they're staking the areas, going on supply runs and digging foundation holes. One team finally makes it off Alaska's frozen highway.
One Alaskan builder's team loses hands to volunteer firefighter duties and another faces a big change in temperature that changes his focus. Rough seas and some bad math put one build team behind schedule.
One builder encounters record-breaking spring temps at the build site while another looks the other way when it comes to code on his guest cabin. One team is almost stranded by tides at their island getaway.
Mike and his crew scramble to save the peonies in Eagle Song, Dave and Hans's 50,000 lbs of material make it to shore unharmed on Shelter Island and Adam does some precision work on his cabin in the Wrangell Mountains.
Mike's plans to catch up backfire in Eagle Song, Dave and Hans start laying the floor while having fun at their client's expense on Shelter Island and Adam battles 100 years of brush for his family cabin in the Wrangell Mountains.
Mike gains ground, but can he keep it by only laying plywood over the cabin's foundation? Dave and Hans revisit their build and realize they've got a lot of work, but not much time. And Adam faces his biggest fear about the build.
Builder Mike Williams' son Cody comes up with a fix for their pressure washer problem in order to peel the logs for their cabin build in Eagle Song. Dave and Hans work through extreme weather fluctuations and muscle heavy beams in place for the second floor on their cabin build on Shelter Island. Builder Adam Tschappat is a bag short of cement to complete the foundation for his cabin and his team worries as he is nowhere to be found in the Wrangell Mountains.
Builder Mike Williams gets all 45 of his logs peeled and starts to stack and insulate his cabin in Eagle Song. Builders Dave and Hans deal with dangerous heavy fog on their boat journey to Shelter island and struggle to lift heavy logs with limited help. Builder Adam Tschappat saves the day with an extra bag of cement and his team prepare the location and materials needed for the cabin's outhouse in the Wrangell Mountains.
Builder Mike Williams falls further behind schedule due to wet weather and unforseen obstacles in Eagle Song. On Shelter Island, builders Dave Bartlett and Hans Moser get a surprise visit and much needed help to finish the cabin, but they still need to make a trip to town in order to complete the build. Builder Adam Tschappat disassembles his cabin at the log yard and begins transporting it to his build site in the Wrangell Mountains.
Builder Mike Williams and his team get the rafters and roofing underway on his cabin but with no lack of challenges in Eagle Song. On Shelter Island, builders Dave Bartlett and Hans Moser are on their own with setting the extremely heavy ridge beam until help arrives. Builder Adam Tschappat successfully transports all of his logs to his build site in the Wrangell Mountains and gets the massive floor to the cabin laid out.
On Shelter Island, Dave Bartlett and Hans Moser have not one, but two 700-hundred pound ridgepoles to set. Over at EagleSong, running out of weatherproofing, and a last minute design change, forces Mike Williams to forge ahead in dodgy weather. For builder Adam Tschappat, a faster pace comes to a screeching halt when two crucial logs go missing at his build site in McCarthy.
It's do or die time for all of the builders. The tides become the ultimate decider for Dave, Hans, and Steve, and send Steve to the workshop. For builder Adam and his family, the weather can't dampen their excitement as they finish their legacy cabin build. Over at EagleSong, Mike is racing the first snowfall, can the family that builds together, stay together?
2020
Three new couples challenge the Alaskan elements. Mike and Kathleen Kondus build atop a windy tundra, first-time builders Mike and Teresa Oldenkamp construct a complex cabin and Paige Drobny and Cody Strathe create a dog-training facility on haunted land.
Mike and Kathleen begin on the foundation, but their nail gun goes on the fritz and the posts aren't level. Dog mushers Paige and Cody run low on supplies. Mike and Teresa work on their foundation with a damaged excavator.
Paige and Cody realize they don't have the correct insulation for their log walls. Kathleen and Mike's team get dangerously high up to install the ridge beam. Mike and Teresa begin work on their floor, but discover the joists are not evenly spaced.
Mike and Teresa begin building their walls, but the winch is more dangerous than they realized. Paige and Cody use a boom truck, forcing the team to work extra cautiously. Mike and Kathleen find a nasty surprise at the bottom of the mountain.
Mike and Kathleen move to interior work, but the remote location is still slow with progress. At Paige and Cody's site, mechanical failures prevent the project from finishing before dog sled season. As Mike and Teresa build higher, it gets more dangerous.
Paige and Cody's build takes a hit after Sterling and Joe leave the site and a trailer full of vital materials breaks down. The foundation is sinking at Mike and Teresa's cabin while Kathleen and Mike Kondus watch part of their cabin begin to crumble.
The Konduses fight the rain and shattered window panes deep in the White Mountains. Mike and Teresa's team gets stuck on slippery scaffolding 19 feet in the air while Paige and Cody's build stalls thanks to a material ordering snafu near the deadline.
It's a race to the finish as Paige and Cody wrap up before dog racing season in Cantwell while Mike and Kathleen lose all their help deep in the White Mountains. Meanwhile, the Oldenkamps struggle with the challenges of working on a grain-bin-style cabin.
2019
Three new teams begin their projects; Matt and Amy Hill realize building in snow is complicated; Mike and Dan Owens mill the lumber needed for their build; Jackie Keizer hires a team that struggles to bring out an excavator to dig her foundation.
At Jackie's slippery build site, rain and mud hinder the team at every step; the Hills are forced to dig their supplies out of three feet of snow; the Owen family works to overcome missing pieces of their log walls.
The Hills race to finish installing their floor which leads to an on-site injury; Jackie and her team run into problems when their build materials start to fall apart; the Owens struggle to install flooring before being buried by a snowstorm.
The Hills work on their first-floor framing, but work slows to a stop when their tools begin to freeze; the Owens work on installing the second-story gables; Jackie and her team work to finish the cabin's roof structure.
The Owens work to finish the roof, but multiple falling objects and whiteout conditions make the job perilous; Jackie and her team struggle lifting the 250-pound stove from the bay up to the cabin; the Hills find their materials buried under snow.
Jackie's team delivers French doors only to find the frame fits incorrectly during installation; a snow machine delivery runs into problems on the melted trail at the Hills' build site; Kyle slips and falls while the Owens team is installing windows.
Jackie's team hears propane leaking somewhere in their cabin; melting trails make the delivery of cabinets and appliances dangerous at the Owens' build site; a chimney installation does not go as planned for the Hills team.
The teams continue to struggle as their build seasons come to a close; Jackie's team hurries to finish the interior; the Owens team is at risk of not finishing their client's cabin on time; the Hills brave one more journey to their build site.
