Dogtrot - 14x24 Little House + 14x18 Little House

[fritz]

Note from John 8/25/08:

Fritz has an interesting project here now documented on several pages of forum posts. His initial inspiration came from a house by Stephen Atkinson - a dramatic steel sided dogtrot under one long gable roof.



Here's a hint of where this is going:



Oh, and here's a link to the Little House plans Fritz used to build the two main modules.

Added 8/25: Below is a jump to the a later section of the post with images. The first few pages of this thread have dropped some of the images.

http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=2983.60



After playing with ideas on paper and models for a l - o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ong time.  And seeking lots of advice here, I settled on gable roofs for the dogtrot.  I agreed with earlier commens that one continuous roof line looked odd...I thought I had settled on two opposing shed roofs, but in the end, three gable roofs won out:





and



I built the intersection 16' by 44' deck last fall and set the posts and beams.

The floors went up in May




And framing is underway (after a quick header consult with the gang    I need to set the headers for the windows and doors still.






Many thanks to all the advice here.  These are cell phone photos, I'll bring the camera one of these trips.

[John_M]

I will be honest...at first, I was not fond of your design...but it has really grown on me and I think it looks great.

Like all things, sometimes you need to look at it and let it stew around in your brain a little bit before you react.

Great job!!  

[jraabe]

Those photos read quite well on this forum format.

Have you played with a low slope shed roof between the two elements? You might like it better than the lower slope gable.

For a northern climate you might consider a lexan roof or perhaps a solid roof with several glass skylights such as the CountryPlans tempered glass panel units.

If you have very hot summers you might not want this but in my case I have used seasonal exterior shades such as bamboo roll-up shades secured with elastic cords. This provides nice mottled shade in the summertime.

[fritz]

John M -- it is a "different" design...and like you, I had to look at the drawings a very long time.  I liked it but really had a hard time getting down to the final design.

John R:  Thanks on the photos.  As of now, my plans include having sliding barn doors across the open area of the dogtrot -- that we can close and lock up when we are not there.  But let me play with it.  We get 20 below winter days and 100 degree summer days.

The lexan roof is very much on my mind.  I need to find a local supplier....I've made it a point to buy my materials at the local and very small lumber yard in town....but some things may have to come from out of town..  If I didn't need to be dry, the horizontal flat sun shade - pergola might be nice, too

[John_C]

Very Nice.  Here is a link to a long-narrow house that was featured in one of Sarah Susanka's books.
http://www.tgharchitects.com/projects/more_houses/knights_valley/knights3.html

I think it is 10x64 and has what is essentially a dog trot in the middle.  Click on the small round buttons for 3 more views.

[Sassy]

I like your plan, Fritz    it looks pleasing to the eye - its different than some of the other dogtrot designs - which is good - you have a style you designed & like  8-)  gives you lots of shelter as well as outdoor area.  The roof line looks good to me  

[paul_s]

it looks soo cooooool and all that horizontal space to work on and set things on my kind of a project

[youngins]

Question:

You have a separate sub floor frames for the 14x24 and the 14x18.

Do you have to worry about, lets say, the frame for the 14x24 settling; therefor it no longer being flush or level with the deck?

[fritz]

John C --- thanks for that link.    That's a nice location!

Sassy:  thank you ---

Paul s.....yes having all that space is awesome -- except I have poor work habits and the thing I need next is *always* at the far end of the deck....if I don't count the area of deck under the roof as "cabin" sq footage, the deck has more sq feet than the two combined cabins...  708 vs 588

Youngins -- I set the deck beams about 1.5" lower than the two cabins -- so that if snow piled and melted, it would be less likely to run under or in a door.  So I have some room to play with.  

[fritz]

Is it almost August already?  I've enjoyed reading everyone's progress.


I've really enjoyed building this summer.  I know many of you are newbies like myself, and many others are very experienced builders -- am I too much of a kid?  Because the  thrill of watching a wall go up and the feeling of "wow, I can do this."  is amazing!!!!

Okay, below photos include rafter and gable in place for the big cabin and the little cabin.  A couple of thoughts here.  Gravity and Simsom Strong ties make placing rafters when working alone much easier.  The Simson RR1 let the rafter rest on the ridge board while it was attached to a hurricane tie at the wall plates.  I used H1 ands H 2.5 depending on the placement.  In the end, I think 2.5's would have worked everywhere but the gable ends.

Even partially sheathed -- standing on the loft to raise the gable and rafters is jiggly stuff.  There were only two times when I actually thoght working alone was a bad idea, but in both cases, it was too late and I was committted, so I did it anyway  


Wile standing on the breeze way, looking west, here is the view .. the lumber makes the deck seem smaller than it is.  The overall lenght is 44' x 16' .....there is 24 feet from the cabin walls to the end in this shot.



And finally, looking South through the wall of the summer cabin, is the larger pond.  Once I got the wall up, I realized I wanted different windows than what I planed, so this is likely to change.




I've contracted the metal roof -- construction has slowed a lot and work crews are eager.  $4200 more or less all for all materials and installation of metal of the two cabins and translucent skylight roofing over the breezeway.  I hope to have the roof and the sheathing done in two weeks -- then I'll be weather tight.  I can cut out and place windows as I go......

I think next I'll close up the crawl space.

[glenn-k]

Great progress.  It's always fun to see something of substance where there was nothing there before.

A monument to your name.

[fritz]

Incentive to get weather tight!  This storm blew through Sunday, the temp dropped from 98 to 67 in about 10 minutes.


Anything not nailed down blew away    The lines along the cloud band are the edge of the front ...the white area is the "blue" sky...was really very beautiful

New photos of building progress later this weekend.

[Sassy]

Wow   that was quite a storm!  Great picture!

[peg_688]

Good God thats a Wizard of Oz type photo     Where was that storm??  Did you lose anything important? Wall, OSB , etc ?  

[glenn-k]

I start expecting twisters when I see a wall cloud like that one.  A real beauty.

[fritz]

I wished I had had my real camera instead of my Treo Phone.  Treo is a cool litle device, but the camera doesn't do what it could.

The storm was Decatur County Iowa.  The front page of the local paper carried a similar picture taken by a Deputy.  The banding on the edge of the front was spectacular.  No tornado out of this one.  Good potential, though.  

Since we're   among friends.  I have a story to tell.  The rafters are attached to the frame and ridge beam with Simson ties  the "RR"  at the ridge and the "h1" or" h2.5" at the wall.   In the center, I didn't have a scaffold or a long ladder to nail the rafter to the ridge so the rafters that are not over a loft area were held in place by gravity.  I planned on nailing them once I brought in taller stuff and began the roof sheathing.....

So the wind blew several of those sideways.  It was a simple fix once I brought a longer ladder.  


If you want to see my other photos of the storm, pls check:

http://www.digitalstoryteller.com/photos/?album=4

Aunti 'EM  Aunti 'Em  

[glenn-k]

Impressive storm -- everything is flat -- where do you hide?   :-?

I'd be headed underground.

[jraabe]

That's an impressive storm front moving in!!!

Glad to hear the construction held together for the most part. I'll bet you're glad you invested in that Simpson hardware!  

[fritz]

Hide?  Geez, maybe I should have built a basement?  Most folks have older storm cellars.  I might dig one when the dozers do the septic work -- (Remember the movie Twister, when Helen Hunt's dad gets sucked out of the storm cellar as he is trying to hold it shut?

I found some plans here:  http://bioengr.ag.utk.edu/Extension/ExtPubs/Plans/6209.pdf

I have nothing but praise for the Simson stuff.  It made it very easy to set the rafters working alone.  And I have personally seen how they help hold everything together in a stiff wind.

[paul_s]

would really like to see updated photos here hope all is going well

[Homegrown_Tomatoes]

What a great shot of the storm front moving in!   Even though it was taken with the phone, it's still a neat pic.  You're really progressing quickly... like your design and look forward to the next set of pics!

[fritz]

I've been building slowly.  I took on a new faculty position and my weekends have been full.  I framed both roofs, but subbed out the roof sheathing and metal.  Like many have said, I lack the experience on a steep roof and had none of the extra ladders, and aids to do it right.  I picked metal for both cabins, was going to do lexan or polycarbonate or similar for the breezeway, but once I had it frames, I have opted just to do a lattice covering.

View with some of the window RO's cut.  I'm buying windows two at a time, so I'll cut RO's as I go


From the edge of the deck looking in


And the view of the little pond from one of the chairs


Just Tuesday I got the housewrap on -- Wednesday night we got 4 inches of snow.


Large version of these and other photos are at:  http://www.digitalstoryteller.com/photos/?album=3

I'm putting in my exterior doors net weekend, and then a combination of site build windows and 24 x24 awning windows.  I can work a little and a time all winter under cover.  I'm hoping to convince the local public health engineer inspector that I can use a composting toilet and a grey water disposal system, rather than full septic. 

I'm getting bids on repairing my well and running rural water......we'll see which makes more sense.  Southern Iowa uses shallow wells (25 feet or so) and I think in the long run, rural water may make more sense.

[glenn kangiser]

Thanks for the update and link, Fritz. 

Looks like it is coming right along.

[Redoverfarm]

Fritz

I am building a Dogtrot also but with a modified plan. I decided to close in the front and put the entry door. On the back side I T'd a room off. Mine too is very slow work.  Hope to post some pictures as soon as the weather shuts me down. Don posted one for me in "alternative energy" subject on the board. I was having trouble getting them to photobucket because of the size and dial-up service.


Good Luck on yours

[ScottA]

I like the layout with the deck between the buildings. Should make a great place for outdoor living in the good weather months.

Scott