12x18 "Shed" going up in Lakes Region NH

Lorangerlife · September 29, 2008, 08:19:33 PM

It all started when I was about to take out a construction loan to build a house and stumbled upon this site. Once I saw the 10x14 and begin looking at small homes and cabins I realized that I could do this myself being rent and mortgage free as a result of some sacrifice and a lot of hard work.

I'll be sure to post more pics as I go through the phases of construction so that everyone can steer me in the right direction. As of now I have my piers in and Saturday I am getting a delivery for everything up to the sub-floor.

Here are my plans:

10" sonatubes 36" frostline depth with crushed stone and bigfoot footers below that.
Simpson brackets to 4x4 posts attached to 2x12x18 beams laminated together with ply in the middle. 45 degree brackets for support
2x10 floor joists with insulation and 1/4" mesh to keep the critters out and the insulation in.
adventec 22/23" T+G sub floor with bamboo flooring courtesy of lumber liquidators.
Walls are 2x6x12 with the intentions of creating a simple sleeping loft over what will be a small bath and kitchen
Low slope near flat shed style roof with metal roofing made with 2x10x16 for the overhang.

I know I could have done a traditional roof for this but I just like the shed roof design that I see in a lot of the modern designs (even if some of them are from the 50's lol)

I would love to have any and all input. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

I sketched this up directly from Johns little house plans with very minor changes. It is amazing at how versatile these plans really are! Thanks John!!!

Lorangerlife · September 29, 2008, 08:47:13 PM

Here are a couple progress pics of the work completed so far.
Running the stakes and line wasn't too bad after a couple adjustments I was square =) (I thought it was going to take longer than it did.)
All six tubes are in but I only have pics of the first 3. We used a 2 man power auger and then widened the holes for gravel base and footers. I'm not too concerned with the tubes being level to each other. The big concern was that they were straight and all at the frost depth.
Pic of my 8 week old puppy Xandyr supervising the work.

We lugged in pretty close to a pallet of 80lb bags of quickcrete, 50lb bags of stone, and water came from the stream that runs through my property. We cleared a bit of land if you compare it to what it looked like before but I still need to take a Wednesday off for 1/2 price backhoe rental down at Lucky Lennies so I can do some grading and dig a ditch for drainage around the perimeter.

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September 29, 2008, 11:25:16 PM

Good start. We'll all be watching as you move along.

Do you ever misplace your camo samurai in the woods?

...sorry, I couldn't help myself.

Lorangerlife · September 30, 2008, 01:03:09 AM

It blends into the woods well enough that my neighbors would never see it =)

Truth be told it was metal flake pink

when I first bought it hence the camo

My pup refused to get in it until I painted it $:-\$

glenn kangiser · September 30, 2008, 01:06:20 AM

Mary Kay hmm

September 30, 2008, 11:06:08 AM

Those woods are pretty thick! Must have been quite a job clearing out the area - you'll have lots of fire wood like MtnDon!

BTW, cute pup! I don't blame him for being embarrassed to ride in a pink Jeep!

Lorangerlife · September 30, 2008, 01:40:36 PM

Quote from: Sassy on September 30, 2008, 11:06:08 AM
Those woods are pretty thick! Must have been quite a job clearing out the area - you'll have lots of fire wood like MtnDon!

BTW, cute pup! I don't blame him for being embarrassed to ride in a pink Jeep!

Hardest part of clearing was not getting them hung up on one another on the way down. Couple of times I had to yank some pretty big trees with the little zuki and hope for the best lol.

Xandyr likes to think he is the cutest thing ever with all the attention...

considerations · September 30, 2008, 09:59:22 PM

"Do you ever misplace your camo samurai in the woods"

Don't let these guys give you a bad time, I lose my truck in the grocery parking lot.

It's actually pretty fun to do these projects with all the help you can get on the forum.

You are really smokin along. You may beat winter.

MountainDon · September 30, 2008, 10:13:31 PM

Quote from: considerations on September 30, 2008, 09:59:22 PM
.... I lose my truck in the grocery parking lot...

That's one reason I prefer to drive my Cherokee; lifted with the roof rack it's much easier to find in a parking lot than the silver Civic.

September 30, 2008, 10:17:44 PM

Quote from: Lorangerlife on September 30, 2008, 01:40:36 PM

Hardest part of clearing was not getting them hung up on one another on the way down.

Yep, I had that experience several times too.

Lorangerlife · September 30, 2008, 10:21:40 PM

Although when I first picked it up there was no losing it anywhere, you do not know what its like to get made fun of until you sell your new Lincoln to build a house and show up at work in this lol...

MountainDon · September 30, 2008, 10:26:36 PM

Oh My....

Lorangerlife · October 02, 2008, 08:17:12 PM

Just finished tossing together a quick blog on my site for additional pics/rants that I might not post here.

cabin.lorangerlife.com

Anyone can stop by and leave comments etc without creating an account... I just ask to keep it respectable for when my family and friends check out the updates.

dmlsr · October 06, 2008, 02:14:24 PM

keep up the hard work

October 06, 2008, 05:29:17 PM

WOW

that is PINK.

Will the selling of the Lincoln finance a large portion of the build? oh and I hope you are not a welder, pipe fitter, or something similar as I can imagine it would be merciless at work.

Lorangerlife · October 06, 2008, 06:16:24 PM

Back from the Cabin with a couple updates. I know I should have gotten more done this weekend, but I had a ton of running around and a side project on the Zuki to do as well.

Beams, joists, and advantec are done although I forgot to take a pic of the latter this morning before I left for what will soon be my 80 mile each way commute.
As you can see I built this pretty high off the ground as I want to be above the snow and out of the water come spring being towards the bottom of a mountain. This will also give me an enclosed crawl space that will be insulated to keep pipes from freezing.

This is the little side project that took some of my time this weekend. I got sick of everyone teasing me about driving the samurai and selling the Lincoln so I did a "little" work to it Sunday night at my friends shop to make it a little more beefy.

6" spring over axle lift
2" shackles
rs9000 long travel shocks with fabricated mounts in the rear
extended brake lines at all 4 corners
front and rear lockers
full cross over steering setup
5.29 gears
33x12.5x15 Contitrac Mud terrains
12x15 American racing wagon wheels
custom drive shafts for the different axles (yes a swapped axles too)
drive shaft spacers to eliminate slip yolk failure

Lorangerlife · October 06, 2008, 07:16:29 PM

Quote from: soomb on October 06, 2008, 05:29:17 PM
WOW that is PINK.

Will the selling of the Lincoln finance a large portion of the build? oh and I hope you are not a welder, pipe fitter, or something similar as I can imagine it would be merciless at work.

Selling the Lincoln gave me a chunk of cash to get started building, pay off some debt, and grab the Zuki. It was an 06' so I didn't get a huge amount of money. I think the biggest savings is not shelling out $70+ every 2 days for gas.

soomb · October 06, 2008, 08:09:29 PM

Nice job on the Zuki. I am bouncing along in a Cherokee with 31" and a 4" lift, how does your handle at highway speed? (sorry for the short hijack off topic)

Lorangerlife · October 06, 2008, 09:22:27 PM

Quote from: soomb on October 06, 2008, 08:09:29 PM
Nice job on the Zuki. I am bouncing along in a Cherokee with 31" and a 4" lift, how does your handle at highway speed? (sorry for the short hijack off topic)

I think it should be an ok hijack for the moment. Absolutely feel free to hit me up over on my blog if you want about the zuki or offroading some more.

The gearing only allows for a top speed of a about 60-65ish without pushing it. That being said without my sway bar or steering damper in at the moment I can say that driving it at those speeds was a little hairy today whenever there was a crosswind or a semi trailer driver whizzing by. The big question is how will it handle once my 3" national springs and missing link shackles come in.

All in all the Zuki is pretty safe and solid living a way better life now that it hasn't sat for a year in someones back yard lol..

Lorangerlife · October 10, 2008, 01:52:10 PM

I feel like such a lacky. All I have been doing is working like crazy so I have enough cash to get the Cabin finished and as a result I haven't been working on the cabin.

One more crazy week here at work and I can head back up with some cash to get the walls and roof on before the weather really starts to turn.

I do have a question concerning my 18' walls. What is the best way to build them in 2 sections? one wall is just a solid wall and the other is where my windows and doors are going.

Any suggestions?

October 13, 2008, 02:28:16 PM

"All I have been doing is working like crazy so I have enough cash to get the Cabin finished and as a result I haven't been working on the cabin."

You are not alone in that paradox. You'll find you have plenty of cash and time when it is so cold that you groan at suiting up to go work on the cabin.

Murphy rules.

I kinda liked the pink, hard to loose in a parking lot.

(leave it to a girl....)

Lorangerlife · October 13, 2008, 06:34:12 PM

Thanks for the kind words =)

The cold I am not afraid of if I can get dried in. The Snow is what I am worried about.

I'm also curious to see what living in less the 300sq ft will be like for the dog and I seeing we will be living here full time until the house is built. The 12 foot high walls were absolutely the way to go though, giving me room for a couple small lofts.

~A~

soomb · October 13, 2008, 06:42:31 PM

Can't wait to see the progress.

PS- what does your county require for the building? (inspections, submissions, stamps, fees, bla bla bal)

Lorangerlife · October 13, 2008, 07:38:03 PM

Quote from: soomb on October 13, 2008, 06:42:31 PM
Can't wait to see the progress.

PS- what does your county require for the building? (inspections, submissions, stamps, fees, bla bla bal)

Crossing my fingers this Sunday I will be able to start tossing some of these walls up depending on how the week goes here at the office through Saturday.

My town is pretty weird. If you are in the town center they are more strict with what you can and cant do in accordance with the historic value of the town. For the 1400sq ft addition we did on my brothers house we got a permit and nobody ever came out lol... $250 min fee for any remodel or build for a dwelling.

For a shed it is $25.00. Keep in mind they want a permit for everything and anything including a fence,deck, pool, shed, etc. Not to squawk about what you are building but to collect the fees because it is a small town. Just over 2000 people in the winter and 4-6k n the summer when the lake is able to be used.

None of my neighbors are going to bark about me staying there in my "shed" though. You can't see the shed from the culdesac nevermind any of their homes. The biggest thing is that I will be using a rainwater/hand dug well, solar, and grey/blackwater recycling strategy until after the house is done and I can change it to an accessory dwelling on paper (aka in-law).

Hope I didn't ramble on too much.

MountainDon · October 13, 2008, 07:55:05 PM

Quote from: Lorangerlife on October 10, 2008, 01:52:10 PM
I do have a question concerning my 18' walls. What is the best way to build them in 2 sections? one wall is just a solid wall and the other is where my windows and doors are going.

Any suggestions?

Break them into two pieces at a convenient stud. Like in the drawings below. It's how I did my 30 foot side walls.

Leave that one stud out, erect the sections. Then insert and toe-nail the stud into place.