New to forum-cabin so far

[richmanbarbeque]

Hello Everyone. I am new here, I have lurked for a few months and appreciate all the great info and especially the pics. My wife and I have been planning a cabin for a long time and last year we bought 59 acres in Tennessee and have started on our cabin.   I kinda feel bad because most of you are doing everything yourselves while we are hiring some of it, helping build with knowledgeable help and some of it we are doing it on our own. Here are a few pics of where we are so far. Hope you enjoy.


Here is the location and the footers for the block.


Here the block has been laid along with the block for the proch.


This day 2 of the 2 day project. We worked a few hours Yesterday and got the floors done.


3 of the 4 walls up and getting ready for the trusses.


The end of the day, we are hurrying to get as much covered before the rain begans to poor. We just made it. next Saturday we are hiping to finish the trusses, roof and most of the porch. Thanks for looking.

[Redoverfarm]

 

There is nothing wrong with hiring out what you are not familar with as long as the budget survives.  Hopefully you will learn from the experience and tackle some portions for yourself.  How large of a structure are you building?

[rick91351]

Welcome; I lurked here for about a year before jumping in.  Our house is still 'on the drawing board' as are many here.  So you are way ahead of some of us.  But you also bring something special to all of us.  That is your experience in life, no matter how small or large you decide to share.

Welcome

rlr   

[poppy]

 
Are those cedar poles spanning the width?

Looks like you already have water, is it public?

How about some pics of your future view.

[richmanbarbeque]

Poppy,  Yes they are cedar poles. We will be putting a loft on the other side and we will have more poles for support. The water is from a spring that we ran down the hill. It is about 75 yards up the hill and so far flows year around. If next year (plenty of rain this year) we have problems we will add a tank. Hopefully it won't be a problem. I will post some pics of the view when I get some downloaded.

Redoverfarm, The cabin is 24x36 and we will have a 14ft loft on the right side walking in the front door.

[poppy]

Glad to see that your water source is from mother nature.  A spring would make my property more perfect.

I look forward to seeing the views.

[considerations]

Hey hiring some out is OK, especially when it would take you months to figure it out yourself - if at all, or the danger factor is sufficient to warrant more experienced [fill in the blank].    The whole project is a balance between money, time, and safety.....least that's how it's shaping up for me.  The romance of DIY can fade quickly as one clings to the roof ridge and watches the ladder slide to the ground. 

[Bobmarlon]

The ceder logs are really great

did you fall and strip them yourself?

did you have to let them dry at all?

[glenn kangiser]

to the forum richmanbarbeque.

[John Raabe]

Ahh, the wisdom of Considerations 

Glad to see your project Richmanbarbeque. Thanks for sharing your work.

[MountainDon]

  The romance of DIY can fade quickly as one clings to the roof ridge and watches the ladder slide to the ground. 

Amen. Sort of why I hired out my metal roof.

[richmanbarbeque]

Thanks everyone,

I have more pics to post and will do so soon. This weekend was very hot and even though everyone was working very hard it felt slow going. The cedar logs have been drying for approximately 1.5 years. We are going to put cedar logs on the cabin, I guess you would call them half logs. The porch is still what I am the most excited about. We are using pressure trated wood underneath and cedar planks and cedar poles for the top. It should be very nice! I can see myself taking some very good afternoon naps out there. 

[richmanbarbeque]

This should catch me up on the pics. Next weekend I am hoping the roof will be done. I will be working on the porch and getting it finished or darn near it. I am excited about what will be done this weekend.

[Redoverfarm]

It appears you are getting ready to install a metal roof. If so you might consider the bottom seal to keep insects and critters from infiltrating you insulation area.

Have you decided on the porch piers final look.  I might suggest that you parge the piers and add stone.  I did this on my cabin.  If you are considering this then you will probably need to add another 2X to the porch frame to allow it to overhang the piers.  This will allow the stone ( Faux or cultured) to meet flush and the water will not run back and puddle on the piers but rather run off the face of the stone. . 

Here is a before and after pic of what I did to give you some idea.









 

[richmanbarbeque]

It appears you are getting ready to install a metal roof. If so you might consider the bottom seal to keep insects and critters from infiltrating you insulation area.

Have you decided on the porch piers final look.  I might suggest that you parge the piers and add stone.  I did this on my cabin.  If you are considering this then you will probably need to add another 2X to the porch frame to allow it to overhang the piers.  This will allow the stone ( Faux or cultured) to meet flush and the water will not run back and puddle on the piers but rather run off the face of the stone. . 

Here is a before and after pic of what I did to give you some idea.

 

Redoverfarm, yes we are going to install a metal roof. A few questions, what is the bottom seal you are referring too? It sounds like something I need to know about. I plan on using cultured stone on this and that is a great idea about the board hanging over. I never thought of that but will look at it this weekend. Thanks.  btw I really like the stone work you did, very nice!

[Redoverfarm]

rich if you check w/ your metal supplier or someone that deals with the same configuration of what you are getting they make a seal that conforms to the peaks and valleys of your metal.  You should be putting a purlin at the bottom of the roof at the eve. The seal is laided down on that purlin and the metal is installed over it.  It prohibits anything from crawling up through the peaks of your metal.  This is an ideal location for insects or bats.  Since you will not be putting 4X8 sheeting there is nothing to prevent them from making their home inside your insulation.  That is of course that you are not going to spray foam the undersided to insulate.  If that is the case it should seal it off. 

On basicly the same topic you should have a cobra vent at the ridge vent  to act the same way.

The stone although not a very good picture is just a little of the total 800-1000 sq ft I did on the cabin.  My signature links show all of the stone in the cabin if you would like to take a look. 

[richmanbarbeque]

Here is a brief update on the cabin. So far we have been doing very well for just Saturdays. Weather has been cool and it is amazing how much work can be done with nice weather. Getting closer to the outside being completely done. Approximately 3 more saturdays to go. I have some pics I need to upload that has some of the half logs on the side. We are very excited and can't believe it is actually happening. This has been a great experience for my son and I as well. Last pic with my wife and son enjoying the front porch. I joked with him and said we built the cabin so we could have that porch. Hope you enjoy!

[speedfunk]

The raw posts and rafters look amazing!!!!   

[devildog]

Your place looks great! Im leaning toward the red roof as well. I was wondering if you could let me know the cost of your foundation. Thats my next step. Ive changed my mind several times on what to build , and I think we're going with the 20x30 1.5 story(?) on a crawl space. we are east of you in virginia. looking forward to seeing more of you progress
         Darrell

[TexstarJim]

Nice build...... great looking place, thanks for sharing.

[Bishopknight]

Very nice! 

[richmanbarbeque]

Your place looks great! Im leaning toward the red roof as well. I was wondering if you could let me know the cost of your foundation. Thats my next step. Ive changed my mind several times on what to build , and I think we're going with the 20x30 1.5 story(?) on a crawl space. we are east of you in virginia. looking forward to seeing more of you progress
         Darrell

Sorry for the delay,  The cost of the foundation was 3k. That was everything. I hired a guy to do it. In this area I have Amish and Mennonite communities all around. I have become friends with different tradesman and have hired them. I work on all that I can with them to learn everything possible. I believe the block is 32inches tall. Thanks

[richmanbarbeque]

We are finished until February or so. Time to start bow hunting and enjoy the "shell" of a cabin. The inside is unfinished but we will start back on it first of the year. Thanks for viewing, Richard

[emcvay]

Wow!  I love it!

Couple of questions:  You didn't sheet the roof?  Is this because of where you are?  Here I need to sheet and insulate the roof or we'd freeze in the winter if we used the cabin!  And overheat in the summer...

The half log siding?  Where did you get it?  It's awesome!  Also, did you use any trees from the land?

Thanks for sharing!
Erik

[devildog]

Thats what Im talkin about!
Beautiful!  What size is your cabin?
Thanks for the reply on foundation cost. I only hope I could get mine for that much.