16 x 24 hunting cabin in Alabama

Rutnbuck · June 02, 2009, 02:03:22 PM

Well after almost 2 years of planning and limitted work, my father and I have started on my hunting cabin. It's going to have one bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen/living area. Also going to have a 12 x 16 loft with another bed. I set my 6x6 post almost 1.5 years ago and finaly have some extra time and money to start building. Two weeks ago I put my subfloor down and I plan to start frameing it up next weekend. I live 5 hours away so I hope to have it dried in by the end of summer.

MushCreek · June 02, 2009, 04:04:44 PM

You're off to a good start! I look forward to watching your progress- don't forget to take pictures.

June 02, 2009, 04:05:21 PM

not to be a jerk, but the rim joists are not sitting on the posts and there are no real beams. Are they going to be enough to hold up the floor joists as I only see three nails into each post? I would be a little concerned. Normally I would have had built up some beams on top of the posts to set the floor joists on top of for support. That way all the weight is not hanging off the 2x rims.

MountainDon · June 02, 2009, 04:58:47 PM

I see rdzone made more or less the same comment as I was formulating this response.

I don't mean to be a party pooper, but I have a concern or two over what I see. My concern centers around the rim and center joists. Using posts to support a cabin is fairly commonplace, but the way those long side joists/beam are fastened to the sides of the posts is a concern. Ditto for the two center joists/beams. There appears to be three nails securing the end of each of those to the post. That's all I see.

I don't know if there is a center interior load bearing wall in the plans. Let's assume there is. That means that the entire weight of the building, plus contents, is going to be supported by what looks like about 60 nails. Not good in my opinion. If there is no center interior bearing wall, that places the entire weight of the building on 30 or so nails; with some interior load on the center joists/beam. Even worse.

My other concern is that the posts along the long sides and center appear to be about 12 feet apart. With a built up beam (say three 2x's layered to make a beam) that spacing would still be too great to resist sagging, in my book. I'd say two more posts in each 24 foot line would be more solid. I understand this is a hunting camp, not a permanent residence, but all the same that is my opinion. I believe you should consider more posts or at least building up a 4 layer 2x beam to sit on top of those lengthwise posts. That way the full strength of the post is available to support the building weight. Common construction nails are not meant to hold the building UP by pure shear strength, they are meant to hold the components together.

It is possible to hang the joists between the side and center beams to keep the building profile lower. Using the metal joist hangers works; just be certain to use the correct nail size and to fill all the provided nail holes. Joists sitting on top of the beams do allow for great load carrying ability. Wherever possible it is best to stack loads from the uppermost member downwards directly and not relying on fasteners to transfer the loads. It's not always possible, simply desirable.

I mean the above comments in a constructive way. I'd hate to see another cabin project shown on this site to have structural problems before it was completed. Or after for that matter. All my best.

Rutnbuck · June 02, 2009, 08:31:58 PM

Thanks for the comments. I have done more work since those pics were taken. Bolts have been added to help hold the structure so it not just nailed. Also on the inside of the 6x6 all the way around the floor joist are sitting on 2x8's. I just dont have any pics of that.

Mike

June 04, 2009, 11:29:54 AM

What you descibe sounds much better to me. Pictures would be helpful.

Rutnbuck · June 07, 2009, 10:33:11 AM

Drove down on sat and took MountainDon's advise to add more post. Also took some updated pictures with the bolts in and a picture to show how the floor joist are supported. Also all of the 6x6 post are built up with a 2x6 to support the rim joits. Hopefully the cabin is a little stronger than the first pictures showed.

Beavers · June 07, 2009, 06:21:35 PM

Looks much beefier than before.

MountainDon · June 07, 2009, 07:31:31 PM

That is better. Maybe not ideal, but better.

June 15, 2009, 02:33:08 PM

It looks like the initial framing was done as if the rim joists were resting on the sill plate of a full perimeter concrete foundation. When you take away that foundation you have to span the posts with a sturdy beam, hopefully bearing directly on the posts so that the load is not carried by the fasteners alone.

Overview of system: http://countryplans.com/foundation/index.html

Thanks to the sharp eyes of rdzone and mountaindon for catching this early enough to allow a fix. I assume something similar was done on the interior bearing rims to support those joists.