16' x 20' Bunkhouse in Northern Minnesota

[mnboatman]

I'm new to the countryplans forum and have enjoyed reading about and learning from everyone's experiences.
I thought I would share my experiences in getting our place built.
In 2006 after a two years of looking for lakeshore, my wife and I purchased three acres of land on a 11,000 acre lake in Northern Minnesota. It is located 250 miles north of Minneapolis wher we live.
Here is what we saw when we viewed in in June:

The lot was part of a former church camp and was used as the playfield and beach. It came with a dock, outhouse and picnic table.

It was October when we closed on the property. I raced up there the next day with my boat and tent, planted 20 trees, set up a old swing set for my three year old daughter and shivered when it started to snow and blow.

The next spring I went up with a friend and planted 200 more trees and put the dock in. A few weeks later my son was born and all projects were put on hold.  Four months later we found a camper on eBay and had it delivered. We now had a civilized base to do things up there.  
In the spring of 2008 we decided we needed a shed. I was thinking Bunkhouse.
I found a place that could put up a large shed in a weekend and I could finish it off. We scheduled it for the last weekend in April. Two days before the weather forecast was for 14 inches of snow. We decided to wait two weeks. the snow melted but it was muddy.


A trailer load of supplies.


Pick a spot and put in 50 feet of drain tile to remove excess water:


Frame the floor joists. PT 2x6 joists 12" OC supported by four PT 4x4s on concrete blocks.
....

[mnboatman]

Frame the walls.


Check the view.


Frame three more walls and start the roof.


Let it snow overnight.



Clear off the snow and finish the roof, Install the windows and trim. Planted 75 trees and put in the dock.

[mnboatman]

The trusses are 6/12 scissor trusses that are 3/12 on the inside. That results in a 10' ceiling at the peak.
The siding is 4x8 Smart Panel sheets by Louisiana-Pacific. The panels are engineered, structural and pre-primed. They come with a 5/50 year warranty.

I added 1.5' of foam to the floor and covered with OSB.
Because of a concurrent residential move, I made the mistake of hauling a trailer load of furniture and supplies up and placing them in my shed bunkhouse. I spent considerable time moving things in and out and around so I'd have room to work.



Electrical Panel installed and I waited for tthe power to be brought in. The Electric company got the wire trenched in 220 feet to my lot line and then their truck got stuck in the mud. They went home and waited for things to dry out.
A few weeks later they came back and installed my transformer.  A few weeks later a local electrician trenched a wire another 200 feet to  my building and connected to the waiting circuit breaker box.
I arrived a 1:00 am  and had power to one circuit. Yea!!   The next day it was very windy and all power to the community was out for seven hours. My saw stopped working.

[mnboatman]

Here is how I spent the rest of the summer:
•   Five + long weekends
•   Four gallons exterior latex paint
•   Eight tubes of exterior caulk
•   One Gable Vent
•   Four Soffit Vents
•   100 amp electrical service trenched in
•   300 + feet of 12 gauge wire
•   Twelve outlets
•   Six light fixtures (two ceiling fans, two wall lights and two exterior lights)
•   320 Sq Ft of 1.5" R-7 foam for the floors
•   600 Sq Ft of R-19 fiberglass for the walls
•   320 Sq Ft of R-38 fiberglass for the ceiling
•   1000 Sq Ft of six mil plastic vapor barrier
•   Two cans of spray foam
•   Two 2000 watt baseboard heaters
•   1000 board feet of cabin-grade tongue and groove red pine
•   2,100 2" finishing nails
•   Three gallons satin water-based polyurethane (two – three coats)
•   Two broken staplers
•   A borrowed Finishing Nail Gun, Compressor, Chop saw, Compound Miter Saw and Table saw
•   Numerous trips to various stores to research  and buy the above
•   Six band aids

A view from the lake:



The inside:

[Redoverfarm]

mnboatman 

Good job on the bunkhouse.  What kind of heat are you planning to use as I did not see a flue in the shed. Also is the siding T-111 or another product?

[mnboatman]

mnboatman 

Good job on the bunkhouse.  What kind of heat are you planning to use as I did not see a flue in the shed. Also is the siding T-111 or another product?

I considered a wood stove, however:
A wood stove was more costly to purchase and install.
I could have bought a used one on craigslist for $200-400 but would have needed a new chimney.
It would have used up too much of my limited floor space with the set back requirements.
With small children, it's a finger burn waiting to happen.
Two baseboard heaters, wire and thermostat were only about $120 and two hours to wire and install.
On a seasonal basis, the electric heater is fairly cheap to run for a few weekends in the spring and fall.

The siding is 4x8 Smart Panel sheets by Louisiana-Pacific. The panels are engineered, structural and pre-primed. They come with a 5/50 year warranty.
http://www.lpcorp.com/sidingtrim/lpsmartside/products/panel.aspx

[diyfrank]

Hi mnboatman,   

Nice job on your build.
It looks like your foundation blocks are just sitting on the ground.?
Northern Minnesota surely must freeze

Just wondering, you listed 1000' of 6 mil vapor barrier.  Did you go 3 ply? Or did you use plastic for other things as well?

[mnboatman]

Hi mnboatman,   

Nice job on your build.
It looks like your foundation blocks are just sitting on the ground.?
Northern Minnesota surely must freeze

Just wondering, you listed 1000' of 6 mil vapor barrier.  Did you go 3 ply? Or did you use plastic for other things as well?

72' of perimeter and two 20' run on the ceiling used up a 10'x100' roll.
The 4x4 skids are sitting on concrete blocks. The ground is fairly flat there. Time will tell if there is any motion. The ground is frozen for five months a year..

[devildog]

Looks great! I really like the pine interior,what are you going to put on the floor? what type of trees are you planting?

[mnboatman]

Looks great! I really like the pine interior,what are you going to put on the floor? what type of trees are you planting?

The pine came from a mill two miles away and was harvested nearby. The mill owner came out, delivered the wood, showed us how to do the random-length bevel cuts and even loaned us his Dewalt compund sliding miter saw. (I only had a chop saw) Now that's great local service.
I have not decided about the floor. Right now it is OSB with old throw rugs scattered about. I have two rooms of green carpet that will be upgraded at home and may re use that. I'm temped to try a distressed wide plank floor for fun.
This is really a test for me to see if I can pull it off and do all these different building tasks (wiring, carpentry, insulating painting ..... )
In a few years I'll want to build a real cabin with plumbing, fireplace, screened porch and rooms.

Most of the trees are paper birch and red maples with a few spruce, lilacs and willows. We also planted 100+ red pine. Most of those did not survived the first dry summer.  Our goal is to have more shade and a little eventual privacy.

[phalynx]

Great job.  Your project really turned out nice.

[secordpd]

  mnboatman, great job and beautiful spot... I love the water, so your place makes me envious...

What did you mean when you said you

Code Select Expand

I added 1.5' of foam to the floor and covered with OSB./code]

In between the joists?

[mnboatman]

mnboatman, great job and beautiful spot... I love the water, so your place makes me envious...

What did you mean when you said you

Code Select Expand

I added 1.5' of foam to the floor and covered with OSB./code]

In between the joists?

Because of the low floor height I had no access to the joists to insulate them. On top of the PT plywood floor deck I added 2x3s (layed flat) and 21.5" strips of 1.5" foam. The 2x3s were laid at right angles to the joists. On top of that is OSB. This provides R 7.5 of insulation.
I went up to the Bunkhouse in December. After hiking in through knee deep snow, I flipped on the power (& heat) and the place warmed up in about an hour. The December weather was unusually mild with lows of only -5 F. I was able to stay toasty warm all weekend.

[secordpd]

Thanx for info, yea I heard of that (putting foam over subfloor), just never encountered anyone who did it.  Also read somewhere about putting over joists, and under subfloor....  Better then installing from underneath...

[Sassy]

   Great job!  Beautiful area - I love the water too    Your red pine paneling is really pretty.  Looks like you & family are going to have a lot of fun times there.  My mom was born in Minnesota.

[Donny2guns]

MN boatman, how did that foundation work for you so far? Im in Duluth MN and and looking to build a 16X24 on my 20 in Cotton this spring/summer. Looks great! Russ

[fishing_guy]

We drive through Cotton on the way to our land north of Virginia.  Have to love the hand painted sign just south of town...

"Cotton
Founded 1863
Dumbfounded ever since"

I think this gentleman (I saw him doing touchups one drive by) doesn't play nice with the local government.

[SardonicSmile]

Great view!

Any way we could get a rough idea of costs on this house?

[mnboatman]

MN boatman, how did that foundation work for you so far? Im in Duluth MN and and looking to build a 16X24 on my 20 in Cotton this spring/summer. Looks great! Russ

The foundation is in its second winter and has done fine with no settlling or shifting. We'll see in eary May when the snow melts and ice goes out. 

We drive through Cotton on the way to our land north of Virginia. 

We drive through Cotton and Virginia on our way up.

Great view!

Any way we could get a rough idea of costs on this house?

As I recall the shell cost about $6,800 with a few up charges for 8' 2x6s and scissor trusses. Here is a link to the place that built it: http://theshedshop.org/overhang.html

[grandmasplayhouse]

  How do you do the random length bevel cuts? we are going to put up tounge and groove pine too and would love it to turn out as nice as yours. My son butted his cuts in his cabin and does not look as finished as yours.

Spring will be a welcome thing this year!!

[MaineRhino]

My guess would be to do consistent bevels using random lengths of boards.    That's what we did.

[mnboatman]

How do you do the random length bevel cuts? we are going to put up tounge and groove pine too and would love it to turn out as nice as yours. My son butted his cuts in his cabin and does not look as finished as yours.

Spring will be a welcome thing this year!!

I didn't take many photos while doing the pine walls. Here is my rambling narrative of how I did my random length tongue n groove knotty pine installation and a few things I learned:
I had 1,000 board feet of pine board delivered. This included a mix of 6', 8', 10' and 12' boards. We hauled the wood in and placed it in the middle of the room to keep it dry and get extra exercise moving it out of the way as our work progressed. Since the interior walls of my bunk house were 15' and 19' long and I planned on installing the boards horizontally, there were going to be some joints on each horizontal course.
Ceiling Prep:
We set up a pair of 20' long saw horses outside (about ten feet apart) and started applying water-based satin finish spar polyurethane with a nylon bristle brush to the boards that were going to be installed on the ceiling. The poly dried to the touch in about a half hour. This was good because a new rain shower blew through every 45 minutes and we scrambled to put a sheet of plastic over everything to keep our work dry. We reserved many of the 10' and 12' board for the ceiling thinking that we'd have fewer joints over head on the clear runs.  We did several batches of boards each with three – four coats. Once they were dry, we haul them back in and set them aside.
Tools used:
•   Sliding compound miter saw (set with a 45 degree cut tilted to the left) for bevel cuts
•   Chop saw for making square end but cuts
•   Table Saw for rip cuts
•   Finishing pneumatic nail gun with 2" 16 gauge nails
•   Compressor and hose
•   7-1/4" Circular Saw for a few plunge cuts
•   Jig saw for electric box cut outs
•   Tape measure and pen
•   Two ladders
•   Drill and bits
Walls and Ceiling:
We set up the saws outside with the miter saw mounted to an old picnic table.  Every board was hauled out for a cut at least once. This kept most of the mess and sawdust outside and gave our legs a good workout.
The walls had previously been wired, insulated and 6 mill vapor barrier installed. The studs were 24" on center with an extra 2x4 installed in the interior corners for a nailing surface. With random length tongue n groove each board is partly held in place by the tongue of the board below and the groove of the board above.  A board can be any length (two feet or more) as long as it can be attached to two or more studs. Because the boards above and below hold the board in place, joints can be between studs. It actually worked better to have the joints between studs so that the nailing location is not at the end of the board. Nails are placed at a 45 degree angle at the base of the tongue into each stud. The finished nail head is covered up by the board above. If you place the nail too high or at the wrong angle, the tongue can shatter or crack.
When installing the boards, we worked from the bottom up and from right to left. Each board usually had three cuts in it. On the left end of the board with the face up, place a 45 degree bevel cut. On the right end of the next board with the face up, make a matching bevel cut then flip the board over (face down) and trim off about 3/16" of the tip of the bevel cut of the second board. Flip the second board back face up and slide it down and make a bevel cut (like the first board) at the left end. When the first and second boards are place end to end, there is a vertical V groove that closely matches the horizontal V groove between an lower and upper board.
Because our wood was the economical cabin grade, in addition to having many aesthetic knots in it, it also contained flaws such are knots with holes or broken tongues and grooves. When these were encountered, we made three quick bevel cuts and the problem areas were chopped out and added to the burn pile.
For the first course, we used longer boards and placed them level with a ¼" spacer off the floor. We faced nail the bottom edge and on the top nailed at a 45 degree angle at the base of the tongue. This gave a nice level and straight tongue to have as a base to the next layer. For the second course, start on the right and have a butt cut on the right end and a bevel cut on the left. Place the board on the tongue from below and slide it to the right and nail. Move to the left and place the second board on the tongue, slide it to the right and place a scrap groove board above to align the tongues. When the gaps in the vertical V groove are fairly tight, start nailing the second board. When working with longer boards, it helps to have a second set of hands to line things up, hold it in place and run the nail gun.


We did the gable end first. We started with a full width board on the first course and went all the way to the peak. On the walls that were perpendicular to the gables, we measured down from the top of the wall to the floor. This distance (minus ¼") was divided by 5 ¼" (the height of the board excluding the tongue) to get the number of full courses. The remainder is the height of the first course that we ripped down to size.
This approach gave us a full board at the top of the eve wall and resulted with the horizontal grooves are the corner being staggered.
After a few courses, we got to the fun  of cutting our holes for the electrical boxes. I recommend not trying to cut two electric box holes in one board. If you get the first hole right, the second one is more difficult. 
When doing the longer sections, it was more efficient to cut a number of boards ahead and then place them up one after another. This could be done by one guy while the other was out slapping on poly or cutting more board or covering things up between rain showers. The only time that accurate measures were required was at the end of a course at the left corner or for other cut outs.
After doing four walls came the ceiling.  We started at the bottom and worked toward the ridge. We got to move the dwindling piles of boards a few more times. The longer board were more challenging to get in place while working overhead and making many trips up and down the ladder , out to the saw for a few cuts and then moving the ladders again.
After the ceiling was installed, we quickly brushed on two coats of poly on the walls, replaced all the electric plate covers & lights and hooked up two baseboard heaters & thermostat.


I spent a third weekend trimming out windows, doors and a circuit breaker box cover.

[Donny2guns]

I see this company is in afton MN. Did they charge you extra from what thier prices on the website quote because of the trip up north? They look like thier prices are resonable. Yeah that guy in cotton like putting his anti-gvmt signs up. If you drive up in late fall or during winter you can see his "compound" in the back.

[IronRanger]

I drive through Cotton, on my way to Eveleth, regularly and I haven't noticed his anti-government signs.  I guess that's what happens when you start focusing on the things in your head instead of what's around you.

Now, if you drive up Hwy 2 near Grand Rapids, there are some interesting billboards regarding religion and government.  2-foot high, neon letters even.

[fishing_guy]

It's right on Highway 53 on the right hand side about a mile before you get to  Cotton (Home of the Minnesota Old Time Fiddle Championship).
It's right after the (semi-closed) motel/mexican import flea market.

You don't think the sign maker got into trouble with the city about his "compound", and then saw what happened with the motel property, do you?


Nice job on the pine interior!