Eighty acres in the Okanogan

Karl · June 30, 2011, 07:22:35 PM

We've been enjoying this forum for a while and appreciate all your good ideas. Really good crowd.
We finally got our own property in north central Washington State and looking forward to sharing our progress with you all.
Here's a nice shot that gives the feel of the place. About half pine and half south-facing grass hillside.

We spent the last week camping and building our first shed. Details to follow.
-Karl

Redoverfarm · June 30, 2011, 08:09:56 PM

Karl. Nice setting. Are you the proud owner of the entire 80 acres?

June 30, 2011, 11:47:26 PM

Yes - very proud. Full 80 acres with a well already on it!
We're starting out with a shed for a composting toilet and some tool storage. Next one will get us out of the tent and then we can start the cabin.

We've remodeled a bunch but never built anything from scratch. Studied plans and framing books then modeled it up board by board. Not efficient but it helped to understand how it all fits together. It's just an 8x10 shed but we're trying to build it cabin-tight.

Since we haven't totally decided where the real cabin will go we built on skids directly on the ground so we can relocate it later if necessary.

Leveled them out and strapped them to T-posts driven to the first big rock, all at least 3 feet deep.

Floor is in and I know you're supposed to dance a jig. I can jump around.

The skids made it difficult to secure the hardware cloth to keep animals out of the insulation so we built up 1x2 frames for each bay.

Making progress.

You get looky-loos everywhere I guess.

Getting close.

Watertight and locked. Ten o'clock at night but we got it done in the one week we had and never had to go back to town for more materials!

JavaMan · July 01, 2011, 01:00:32 PM

Where-abouts in the Okanogan are you?

I'm a bit envious for two reasons... my place seems a bit drier than yours and we don't have a well! (yet)

Karl · July 01, 2011, 02:08:19 PM

Thanks. Looks like quite a few of my new neighbors are on here.

It's been a very wet year and we do have a lot of beautiful graze. It'll get a lot browner if real summer ever gets here.

The location isn't secret-secret but I don't want to be more specific on a public forum. I'd be glad to PM any of the locals though.

-Karl

July 01, 2011, 07:12:21 PM

Nice work Karl -
Great to see another N. Central Washingtonian posting on this site.
Really looking forward to seeing more of your progress/ plans.
See you around the neighborhood.
Tom

jdejarn · July 01, 2011, 09:29:26 PM

Okay, real curious where you are over there. Welcome to the forum and enjoy the area! I bought my lace 5 years ago, started building 2 years ago, and am still going! Worth all of the headache and fuel! Keep us posted as you go, love to see new buildings form!

OlJarhead · July 05, 2011, 08:33:16 AM

If you are at 3200 feet you just might be my neighbor! That land looks VERY familiar! Maybe a PM? I';m REALLY curious!!! After all, the 50 next to us sold just recently and there was more available south and west of that...be easy to see it expand to 80...hmmm....ya, if it involves an Eagle and or a Wolftrack let me know!

Great progress! Glad to see you enjoying the weekend, we did too!

Karl · July 05, 2011, 03:48:53 PM

OK. Ok. We're out the Aeneas Valley.

I won't claim this is wolf scat but it's about twice the diameter of all the other coyote we've found in the area.

July 05, 2011, 08:01:40 PM

We're neighbors buddy, but you're not the neighbor I thought you might be (and hoped you were)...with that Gadsden we're likely of same mind

sako · July 05, 2011, 09:42:33 PM

I has been great to se all the okanogan builders on here,hope to start our own
cabin soon.We have built a shed,maybe my wife will show me how to start our
own thread. We are also in the Aeneas Valley at 3200ft. Welcome to the neighbor hood.

OlJarhead · July 05, 2011, 10:48:39 PM

Quote from: sako on July 05, 2011, 09:42:33 PM
I has been great to se all the okanogan builders on here,hope to start our own
cabin soon.We have built a shed,maybe my wife will show me how to start our
own thread. We are also in the Aeneas Valley at 3200ft. Welcome to the neighbor hood.

If you aren't shy, maybe PM me where at -- someone bought the land on our west side...wondering if it might be one of you!

Yonderosa · July 18, 2011, 08:50:27 AM

Has Janet has figured out a way to get us all to go voluntarily to the same reservation?

It is mighty purdy country. Looks like the part you found is especially so.

Sassy · July 18, 2011, 03:03:51 PM

Welcome! I lived in Washington state for 12 yrs, Lyndon/Bellingham area but traveled through the Okanogan valley several times - beautiful area. Visited some friends near Leavenworth last fall - beautiful there, too.

Looks like you already have a neighborhood of friends there! Looking forward to seeing your progress

BTW, like the pic of you dancing on the floor! You know that is a requirement here

July 20, 2011, 12:57:14 AM

Thanks guys - we're loving it. I still can't believe we own this.
Made it out this last weekend but didn't do much work. My parents camped with us so we got to show everything off for the first time.
A chipmunk snuck in and made a nest so we did install bird blocking.
-Karl

Karl · August 19, 2011, 01:13:17 PM

Made some nice progress last weekend. First time working with metal roofing. Ran into some
"challenges" but got through them all and pretty happy how it came out.

This was going to be the bathroom / storage shed with a SunMar composting toilet but it's
coming out nice enough that we might put the SunMar in a simpler outhouse.

Went from this:

To this:

Gary O · August 19, 2011, 02:32:27 PM

Quote from: Karl on August 19, 2011, 01:13:17 PM
First time working with metal roofing. Ran into some
"challenges" but got through them all and pretty happy how it came out.

Hey Karl

You're makin' things look nice up there.
Very nice.

Mind elaborating on the metal roof 'challenges'?

Thanks

Gary O'

Karl · August 19, 2011, 11:56:39 PM

Thanks Gary. That's a sweet little cabin you have. Gives the feeling of timber frame.

Hit a few points where I thought we were stuck.

The roof came out about 1 1/2" out of square on the east side, just fine on the other. Part of my problem was trying to keep the peaks in a line rather than the rafter tails but I'm not sure how they came out different. Anyway, that left us struggling with how to lay out the metal to get an even overhang on the fascia. It interlocks so where you put the first panel determines the whole thing and you don't want to stair-step the ends. The solution was recognizing that every edge gets covered by trim except the drip line. Square up the first sheet to the fascia and then the gable trim covers run out at the ends. You can see the trim isn't square with the metal ridges if you look close but not as obvious as the alternatives.

Then I started stressing about reaching the screws in the field of the 3' by 8' panels. 8-12 pitch isn't too steep if you have toe boards down but I didn't think I could reach out 3 feet either. Turned out to not be that bad reaching from the edges or even laying on my belly over the peak. Next time I'll make or buy a ladder that hooks over the ridge with standoffs to clear the ridges.

Screwing down the ridge cap was the last "challenge". You have to stuff profiled foam closure strip under it and then screw it down at every rib. All you can do is get it started from the ladder at one end and then climb up on the ridge and work your way along. Went a lot better than I expected but I'd want a better method for anything much bigger or steeper.

Danfish · August 20, 2011, 09:54:27 AM

Glad to hear you safely overcame the challenge! Reminded me of the time I needed to rescrew the ridge cap on a 120 year old house I was remodeling. It is 12/12 pitch metal roof and there was no way I wanted to go up there, especially with a 25 foot drop to ground from the eave on one side. So I ask roofer friend to drop by and take a look. He arrived, placed an extension ladder against the roof, scrambled up and proceeded to walk the ridge tightening screws. Some people just have big balls!!!

Karl · September 21, 2011, 02:24:02 PM

We finished up the outside of the little shed this last week.

Cedar board & batten siding, a small window, and a deadbolt lock.
We've learned a lot and feel much more prepared to take on something bigger next summer.

Some of the boards were pretty rough. We put the good stuff towards the prevailing wind but have to live with some pretty big open knot holes on the back. I like the look but I'm not comfortable with the exposed felt. I'm thinking of filling them with PC-Woody epoxy. Tint it black and only fill about 75%.

Anyone do anything like that or have a better suggestion?

-Karl

September 21, 2011, 03:54:31 PM

Nice looking shed Karl. No doubt in my mind when the real house is built it will look nice also.

Gary O · September 21, 2011, 08:15:43 PM

Really like the board and batten.
I think you've nailed it with choosing PC-Woody (IMO), anything black will complement the cedar.
If I use brackets on the interior of our next cabin, I'll either paint or anodize 'em black.
The generous eave overhang gives your build great balance, and looks more cabin like than shed.

Nicely done, Karl, nicely done.

duncanshannon · September 22, 2011, 10:11:56 AM

Question about the sheathing from a guy who's learning....

You are using a full 4x8 sheet vertically right? Stud + top and bottom plates should give you 8'. You must have shorter than "stud length" 2x4's to help the sheathing run down to the rim - which helps give strength right?

Duncan

Karl · September 22, 2011, 10:52:08 AM

Yes, full 8 foot sheets of plywood and ~88" walls. You need the overlap to tie the rim joist to the wall.

You don't need as much overlap as I did - I believe 1 1/2" for one row of nails is sufficient.

Squirl · September 22, 2011, 01:05:16 PM

I think there was a recent topic on this. The general answer is "it depends." There are little code requirements on how sheathing has to be hung. Almost anyway it is hung, as long as it is nailed properly is strong enough for most residential buildings. Plywood has to be 4 ply to be hung vertically.

Tying the bottom plate to the wall is stronger.
Running sheathing horizontally is even stronger (more studs tied together).
Blocking all edges is even stronger.
Staggering sheathing in a running pattern is even stronger.
More nails closer together is even stronger still.
The thicker the sheathing the stronger.

All this is stronger than required unless you are in a high wind and seismic zone. You can read more than you ever wanted to know here.

http://www.awc.org/pdf/2008WindSeismic.pdf

Also some retailers sell it in 9 and 10 ft lengths.

Karl, I really like the siding. Very clean look.