Cabin Build in N-Central WA by 1 person

[Woodswalker]

Greetings All,

First visited this website over a year ago as I was contemplating the construction of a small cabin on 20 acres for recreational use.  Last summer I built it to the point of being weather-tight for the winter.  Have been taking lots of pics with a good digital camera, but the .jpg's are double the size allowed here, so need to do some cropping, etc. before I can post them.  Am retired, so intend to spend time soon working on the pics and writing more about the experience.  Knew much going into the process, and learned much more as it progressed.  Should be able to share numerous tips and ideas that others will find useful.  It's a simple, one room cabin of 320sf (16' x 20'), with no electricity or plumbing.  Haul water from a state park nearby, but have good potential for a sandpoint well.  Plan to heat with a wood stove, and use propane for cooking, light, and refrig.  Initially put a small travel trailer on the site for shelter, and built a nice outhouse (tips & pics on that coming too).  Have kept good records on costs, with the intention of keeping them low.  Currently looks like the total will end up under $20/sf.  Since I'm single and didn't want to inflate the cost by hiring labor, intentionally selected plans that would not involve materials too heavy or awkward to handle alone - safely.  Toughest jobs have been completed, and have not had any outside assistance.  Although I'm 59 yrs of age, am in good health and physcal condition, so a project like this was reasonabe.

It's a 6 hr drive from my home (Olympia area) to the cabin across 4 mountain passes, so usually go for a week at a time.  Have not yet gone over in the winter.  Area usually gets considerable snow in the winter, and the temp can go to -20F (3K elev).  But Hey, I'm from MN, so no big whoop!

Woodswalker

[glenn-k]

Welcome to the forum, Woodswalker.  Sounds like an interesting project but way too cold for me. :-/

You can start a free Photobucket account and load any size pictures you want and it will autoatically size them to the option you set - Web Page option is the bigger size we use here as I recall.

Copy the IMG tag they generate and paste it to your posting and it will show up here.

[Woodswalker]

Glenn,

Thanks for the greeting and info.  Briefly checked Photobucket and liked what I saw.  Will give it a try - should save considerable time.

Cabin site is on a S-facing slope and really bakes all summer.  Will be adding a porch for shade and plant some trees for same.  Trees will be a test of wills with the deer.  Dug 2.5 ft. down (by hand) for cabin posts, expecting to encounter gravel and rocks.  Was pleasantly surprised to encounter only dark loam prairie soil, which is easy digging.  Locals say area was once part of a 5,000 acre cattle ranch operated on horseback.

Steve

[glenn-k]

Any permits to deal with?

Not sure if they would grow there or not but Hops were a plant the pioneers grew and they provide fast shade and nice vines.

[Woodswalker]

Glenn,

Cabin is located in the poorest county in the state, and they seem to encourage development.  They have adopted some international building code by reference, and have some setbacks from property lines, lakes, streams, etc.  Since I'm not proposing to have electricity or plumbing in the cabin, and will not use it as a permanent residence, they are treating it as a "recreational outbuilding."  An inspector has been out once to look at the enclosed structure, and told me to call him again in the spring when it has been insulated, but not sheetrocked.  He didn't mention anything about the privy and travel trailer.

Thanks for the tip re hops.  Friends of mine brew their own beer, so maybe they'd be interested too.  Wonder if deer like hops.......

Steve

[glenn-k]

Hops
I have some decorative hops planted elsewhere out in the open and although there are deer tracks all around, they do not touch the hops. ...
www.deerislandbrewery.com/hops.html

We have one little plant of hops.  Very nice vines and nice green all summer.  They grow them on the pioneer cabin porches in Yosemite.

[jraabe]

Glad to hear of your rather helpful inspector. And looking forward to seeing a snapshot or two. I don't know exactly where you are but I love that corner of WA.

[Homesick_Gypsy]

Sounds wonderful Woodswalker.  Keep us posted and would love to see those pictures.

[crose]

Congratulations on your cabin Steve.  You give me inspiration.  I am planning on a small place myself in northern Wisconsin on 30-ac.  Its wooded with a lot of spruce and balsam fir, and considered using the native wood.  But, Ill be tackling the job mostly by myself, so, I was thinking that I'd use dimensional lumber.  What size lumber did you use, and how did that work heaving the rafters up on your own?  
Looking forward to a few pics.

Cheers,
Chris

[Woodswalker]

Hi Chris in WI,

I used to have a small cabin in WI when I lived in MN.  Didn't build that one, but did do a privy and a deck.  I intentionally picked a plan for my cabin out here that involved materials that I could handle by myself.  Largest piece of lumber was a 20' - 2" x !0" ridge beam, and it had to be hefted higher than anything else.  Figured out a way to do it myself.  Rafters were 2 x 8's, and not much of a problem.  The other thing that really was a challenge was installing a 4' x 5', fixed pane window (for the great view).  I think it weighed nearly 200lbs, but figured a way to lift it into place using a small block & tackle.  Much of the building would have been much easier with a second person, and much safer too.  Safety is very, very important in a project like this.  Pretty hard to complete the job with a broken arm or worse.  I'll try to upload some pics this morning to the site Glenn suggested to get the file sizes reduced enough to post them here later today.  At some point I intend to write a detailed account of the building process to share online with others.  Have lots of good pics covering the whole thing, including the privy.  Thanks for your interest, and congrats on getting your land.

Steve

[Woodswalker]

Tried attaching pics from Photobucket to an earlier reply, but no go.  Will try just copying the IMG's here instead:

[glenn-k]

Instead of the img source tag, copy the bottom one - the IMG tag line.

[crose]

Looks great Steve!  I can se the window you referred to...I never thought of that; I suppose that would be pretty heavy.  Is that a river I see in the valley?  Must be nice to have that view through the big window.  Looks like you used concrete pillars and 4x4s for the foundation.

Although the land I will be building on is in Wisconsin, Im living on the central coast of California.  Im from Wisconsin, and refuse to sell the land there, so Im finally getting around to fullfilling the dream of putting up the cabin.  Where about was your cabin in Wisconsin?
cheers,
chris

[Woodswalker]

Hi Chris,

Used concrete "pyramid" blocks with metal brackets embedded on the tops.  These are usually used above ground for decks.  Bottoms of treated 4 x 4 posts were screwed to the brackets.  Placed two layers of 2" thick x foot square concrete pads in the hole first (leveled), and then set the pyramid, with post attached, into the hole.  Back-filled with small rocks.  One nice thing about this setup is that in the future, if one post settles or decays, it can be replaced/repaired easily.

Water down in the valley is lake Curlew.  It's large enough to be on the highway maps, about 10 miles E of town of Republic.  My property is about 1/3 the way up a large hill at about 3,000ft. elevation.  Mountains beyond Lake Curlew go to 7,000ft.  It's a beautiful view.  Area is only about 15 miles from Canada.

My property in WI was at Turtle Lake, about 25 miles E of St. Croix Falls.  Was only about 1.5 hr drive from home in Mpls, so spent lots of time there.  I have a bunch of relatives in WI.  My mother and father grew up in the Colby/Abbottsford area.

Intend this coming summer to add a porch to the front (downhill) side of the cabin, with a metal roof to shade those large windows.  Summers in the area are dry and hot.  Took lots of brewski's last summer to get the cabin up.

Steve

[Woodswalker]

[/img]

Here are some more pics.  Double rainbow over the valley below demonstrates why the cabin is where it is.  Another pic shows a post & attached concrete pyramid lowered into hole.  Hole is 2.5' deep, which is local code for footings to avoid frost heaving.  A third shows the post hole filled with small rock.  There are 9 posts in 3 rows.  After installation, each post was plumbed and braced.  Posts support beams for the floor, and for the rafters/roof.  Tarps over the project were used for shade from the hot sun - to reduce # of brewski's needed (hehe).  After floor joists were installed, I insulated the floor from above before installing 3/4" T & G OSB sheets.  Then became a race (won)  to get roof on before fall rains, to avoid soaking the floor insulation.

Cabin is basically a pole building.  Got the plans off a university extension web site as a free .pdf download.  Have seen same plans and many others on several other university sites.  Can provide details if anyone is interested.

Steve
sprestin@aol.com

[jraabe]

Nice project Steve!

You have done an interesting 16x20 version of the quite similar 14x24 Little House foundaton where I use the same pier block footings. I like your idea of using them at the bottom of the hole as a footing for a PT post. It looks like you have done a pole building with these PT 4x4 "poles" going all the way from the buried pier block to a 4x beam or header that supports the rafters on each side. This is a better way to do a pole building as the more typical round poles are always a problem (should they be inside or outside the walls??)

Still, I wonder... what do you see as the advantage for doing pole construction over doing the same foundation but having it support a platform floor and then stud framing the walls on the deck and tilting them up in place?

Whenever I look at pole buildings I see what goes into the infill between the poles or posts and see that the most inexpensive thing to build with is stud frame walls. Then, once those are in place, we can throw the posts away as the framing is plenty strong enough to carry all the loads, is more energy efficient and is simpler to build.

So, I've come to doing pole frame foundations but using convention platfrom framed floors and walls above.

I've taken the liberty of taking Woodswalkers fine photos and done a one-page overview of how I would use this foundation alternative for a platfrom frame foundation. http://www.countryplans.com/Downloads/pier%20block%20foundation.pdf

I've also added this to the ongoing PDF library of articles.

[Woodswalker]

John,

Thanks much for your comments.  And, thanks also for doing a posting on the details of how to get pics to appear.  Have now got it figured out.

Regarding your question and comments about why I chose to use a pole system extending to the tops of the walls, rather than just do a platform with conventional walls above, I offer the following description of my approach and advantages.

Plans I used resulted in a double 2" x 8" x 10' header/beam between each post, flush with the top, bearing on 2" x 4" blocks bolted thru the posts.  Then a 20' x 2" x 4" was attached atop the entire wall to tie it together.  I then framed each 10' infill section with single plates, top & bottom, and no headers over doors or windows.  Then tipped them easily up into place.  The advantages I see in this method over the platform method include:

1.  Lifting a 20' conventional 2" x 4" wall with headers by myself would have been very difficult.  Probably be impossible if 6" studs were used.  No trees nearby for attaching any sort of pulley system or winch to lift a wall.

2.  Full-height pole structures are very strong and resist wind racking very well.  Locals on the hill told me winds in the area can sometimes be very strong.  The T1-11 siding/sheathing I used extends up to the top of the 2" x 8" headers and was attached with screws, which really ties the walls together.

3.  Since the footprint is small, I decided to go wilth a "cathedral" type of ceiling, using 2" x 8" rafters (for adequate insulation), and exposed collar beams (every other rafter).  Also used 5/8" plywood for the roof and asphalt shingles.  These details, combined with a sometimes significant snow load make for a heavy roof structure bearing on the walls.  I think the system I used can handle this better than a conventional 2x4 wall.  As a sage from up the hill (about 80yrs) said to me as he looked at the framed-up rafters: "that roof will last longer than you care to use it."  I greatly value such comments from those with many years of experience.

A fairly minor drawback of my approach was that the PT poles twisted some as they dried in that intense summer sun.  Had to use a drawknife on them a little on the outside to flatten the plane for sheathing.  Will probably need to do the same on the interior before rocking.

Steve

[jraabe]

Thanks Steve for that analysis. You make a good case for the modified pole frame system that you have done.

I might try using it in a future plan. Do you think you were able to get the roof on quicker and get the project under cover earlier? What if you had done 6x6 posts and 2x6 framing, would that have made a difference? And, finally, do you think it was more expensive and that you used more lumber than a stick framed project?

[Woodswalker]

John,

I considered using 4 x 6 or 6 x 6 posts, but decided they would be too heavy for me to handle alone.  Because I was building on a bit of a slope, the downhill posts needed to be 12' long, so I just got them all at 12' and cut excess from tops.  Posts need to be attached with screws to the brackets on the pier blocks before lowering them into the holes.  Had all I could handle lifting the 4 x 4 PT posts & blocks into the holes.  I suppose one could dig wide-enough holes to allow blocks to be placed in and then attach the posts, but that's a lot of extra digging.  Since I'll be heating with wood and don't really plan on using the place in the winter, more wall thickness for additional insulation didn't seem necessary.  If 6" posts & wall studs were used, the cost would also go up some.  Don't believe I've mentioned yet that I used a transit to shoot the floor elevations on the posts and measured up from there to get the top-of-wall points before cutting the posts.

Don't think the full-height post system gets the roof on faster.  I cut and installed individual rafters after establishing and supporting the ridge beam at the proper height.  Using pre-built or purchased trusses would speed up roof installation, but I would not have been able to install them on my own.  If I had been building with one other person helping, I probably would have made several changes.

Nice job on the pdf.  Knew I took those pics for a reason!

Thanks for your interest and comments.

Steve

[glenn-k]

Seems we learn something from everyone who takes time to post their project here, Steve.  Thanks for posting yours.

[mark_chenail]

Nice little place Steve.  This is basically how I started building my place in Missouri.  The platform just hangs on the posts and I did conventional 2x4 framing between the main posts.   You are sure right about the weight of 5x5 and 6x6 posts.  The first section of my house was built with 16 foot 5x5 posts and it took four men to lift them up and get them into the holes. I dont even want  to know how heavy a 6x6 post would be.  

As to getting under roof faster, I did do something differently then Steve, in the first section of my house.Once I had the posts in the ground and the rim joists attached, I attached a 2x8 beam all around the building at the ceiling height on the exterior of the posts. I then put up a rafter at each post reaching to the ridge beam in the middle and resting on that 2x8 beam.  Those rafters were on 6' centers. Then I laid 2x4 purlins over the rafters
and installed metal roofing.  Once the roof was on and under cover, I finished the floor framing and did the conventional 2x4 wall framing between the posts. The building was sheathed with 1/2" osb and 3/8" T1-11
siding that came up to the bottom edge of the 2x8 beam.  The 2x8 beam stood proud of the surface and created a sort of simple cornice and a nice shadow line.  Its a great method and fairly quick and the nice thing is that you can work under cover during hot or wet  weather and as Steve says the smaller infill panels are easier for one man to build and lift.
I must say that I did change to standard 2 foot spacing on the rafters as it made it much easier to install standard batt insulation, but all and all, the modified pole building method is just great for an owner builder.

[jraabe]

Thanks to Steve, Mark and everyone here for sharing their good ideas. This may have to evolve into a set of house plans if only because this is too good not to capture and have available for others.

I think what we're doing is evolving a system that is a simple, strong and economical cabin for an owner-builder without a big framing crew.

[Woodswalker]

Mark,

Thanks for your comments and description of your approach.  I like metal roofing (especially when it rains), and intend to use metal for roofing a porch I'll add to the cabin this summer.  I also like your 2 x 8 all-around method.  Plan I used called for doubled 2 x 8's just for the two load-bearing walls, and I wondered if perhaps that was a bit overbuilt.  I really like that you were able to get the roof on quickly for shade and rain protection while framing and sheathing the floor.  Think if I had to do it over, I'd use your method.  Height of my walls is a bit shy, and I need to cut into the doubled 2 x 8's an inch or so to get standard enty doors to fit.  Your experience negates my concern about maybe unduly weakening the support  for the roof.

Another comment I need to make is that I intentionally picked a plan using even 4' increments (16' x20').  That reduces waste, and helps keep the cost down.  Two other cost-saving things I did include:  buying all the windows at the local Habitat reuse store for about 25% of retail (they were new, unused);  buying "shop-grade" T1-11 sheets at 1/3 off normal price.

Collaboration creates innovation and efficiency.  Thanks to you all for your inputs and wisdom.

Steve

[crose]

Hey Steve,
Hmm, I started a post but I somehow ended it without finishing.  Hope this doesnt get said twice..

Thanks for the feedback on the posts in the ground, 2" concreate pads and the pyramids.  I do like idea that if they go bad, you can easily replace them.  Of course, easter WA is pretty dry, and the void spaces in the rocks should keep the water off them as well, I suspect.

I didnt get to much to the western side of WI, but when I was there, I was pretty impressed with the hills, trees, and the river.  Im from the north central to north eastern side, near the U.P.  But as the crow flies, St. Croix and Abbotsford really are not that far.  As I recall, there were a couple great breweries over there....something something "red."  Probably the thing I miss the most, now being out west, is rain in the summer, complete with thunder and lightening.  Central CA is nice for beachcombers I guess.

Anyway, the place looks great! and awesome views too.  Hope you can keep cool during the porch project.

Chris

[Woodswalker]

Here are a couple pics of the privy I built in my garage and hauled to the cabin site.  Used 2 x 3's and translucent roof panels to save weight.  Still had to use hydraulics on my little tractor to load it into the truck.  Bolted it onto a square of notched PT 2 x 6's as a base.  Also built 4 heavy-duty, large sawhorses per plans in Fine Homebuilding for the cabin project.


fixed photo links; something happened with change to SWF - MD