16' x 28' loft house

[jhambley]

I thought I would share a few of my photos.
I purchased 20 acres last year and built a 2 acre pond last fall. I'm now constructing a small building that will be used as my office (as well as a place for my family to "camp out" as we start building our house).

It is 16' x 28' with ladder stairs to the 2nd floor. I would be happy to provide more details if anyone is interested.

http://www.alpinecreek.com/parkerkansas/images/officeacrosspond.jpg

http://www.alpinecreek.com/parkerkansas/images/officesoutheast.jpg

http://www.alpinecreek.com/parkerkansas/images/officenorth2.jpg

[glenn-k]

Nice photos, jhambley, and its got one of those door cover doohickeys -what do you call yours -Porch Roof?

Looks great.

[Okie_Bob]

Looks great!!!
One question, I'm curious about the siding you put on and the reason for putting it up from the top down? Looks like Hardi Board which I love. Also, I didn't notice any tarpaper under the siding, do you plan on using any? I would recommend you do.
Great Work!! Congradulations!
Okie Bob

[Brandon]

How did you fill the pond when it looks like there would be no storm water run off.

Looks Great.

[jraabe]

Very handsome. You have done a particularly good job of window placement.

Very tidy with good proportions! I expect this to turn out very well for you.

Here is another version of what is being called here the doohickey-type roof...



In this case the supports are nice clean 2x6s with a very slight radius cut with the scroll saw. Double studs at the wall carry the load.

[jhambley]

Thanks for your kind words.

The siding is called Smart Siding which is an OSB type siding material which carries a 25 year warrantee. The siding on the top wall was loosely nailed into place when it was on the floor and then lifted into place and the remaining siding slid underneath before final nailing.

The pond is fed via approximately 25 acres of run off from the south (just out of the photo).  We stocked it a few months ago with minnows, bluegill, and channel catfish. The largemouth bass will be added this fall if everything goes well.

I really like the photo John posted of the "doohickey roof".  It's amazing how much that slight curve on the supports adds to the overall impression.

We finished adding the shed roof over the deck today and set the two 6' sliders in the front. I was too rushed for time to take any photos today but I'll take some tomorrow and post.

[Bart_Cubbins]

Very nice jhambley!

Is a ladder stair the same as a Jefferson stair, with alternating left/right steps? Please post a photo of it, thanks.

[glenn-k]

I can't take all the credit for the Doohickey roof name - It was coined by Wendy, Heather's ( of Heather's House) mother.  

I thought she did good.

[jhambley]

Bart.

I meant to say a ship's ladder (not ladder stair) with side mounted handrails. You would have to decend going backwards...like a ladder.

I thought this might be safer than the alternating treads as my kids are used to climbing their play fort which has a sloped ladder. If they slip they fall against the ladder instead of tumbling down the stairs.

I'm giving serious consideration however to the alternating tread as John details here:

http://www.countryplans.com/alt_stair/

[glenn-k]

J - Bob mentioned the tarpaper above - for a temporary shed it may not be imperative but it seems  for your house you will want to check it out- also consider a screen wall where the siding is spaced out from the sheathing and paper so water can drain.  A recent article posted by a member mentioned it as being one of the best methods of cutting down possible water damage.

[DavidLeBlanc]

Killer site for info about house wrap/felt paper, foam insulation and etc. A real treasure trove of info: http://www.umass.edu/bmatwt/publications/by_title.html

This is the site that was posted in another thread about housewrap vs. felt paper etc.

There's another "must read" article on waterproofing your structure. Relying on caulking is a no-no.

BTW, I would call the porch dohicky roof an awning...

[jhambley]

Thanks for the links on house wrap. It was an interesting read and I would have done things differently if I had read that article before applying the lap siding. I'll make certain to use #30 tar paper on my house.

The article did mentioned a small advantage of applying lap siding as is retains a small air cavity behind the siding and in front of the sheathing.
 
Thanks again for the info!

[jhambley]

Not the best angle but the sun was going down and I
wanted to post a photo of the office after completing the shed roof on the front. It really helped break up the vertical height.

http://www.alpinecreek.com/parkerkansas/images/officeshedroof3.jpg

[peg_688]

Great progress   Looks good , love the pond    HTBH  ;)PEG

[ketdryn]

Your pictures are great!  I can't wait to see more.

[glenn-k]

Welcome, Kate.

jhambley, I have seen a lot of single wall buildings that lasted a lot of years without paper, --garages etc, but I think the 30lb felt and the screen wall -with spacers under the siding to let water drain would make the best long lasting combination.  Someone makes some little strips to drain and screen the bottom also.  I don't know the name of the product right off hand.

[jhambley]

Here are a few photos now that the deck is complete.
The painters are coming tommorrow.

http://www.alpinecreek.com/parkerkansas/images/officedeck1.jpg

http://www.alpinecreek.com/parkerkansas/images/officedeck2.jpg

[ketdryn]

Your project is taking shape beautifully!  Would love to see how you lay out the interior.  

I've just ordered the Big Enchalada and Victoria Cottage plans.  Am thinking about starting with a studio cottage, hence my interest in your project.

Cheers from North of 60!

[jonseyhay]

Cricky jhambley,
You guys a really flying into that house. When you are finished there, you can send that crew over here. My place has come to a screeching halt over the last few weeks. With you guys on the job, I could be moving in next week.
jonesy

[jhambley]

ketdryn

I purchased John's two story plan set as well as a plan set from another architect in Canada. I then worked to take the best of both plans to come up with the best layout for my office.

Here is a link to the layout.

http://www.alpinecreek.com/parkerkansas/images/officeplan.gif

I'm using the bedroom as a server room as I'm a computer programmer and the main living room as my office. The kitchenette will include a full size sink, microwave and under-the-counter refrigerator.
 
The second floor has catherdral ceilings to 9'. The upstairs space is one large room except for a closet that contains my hot water tank and furnace. I increased the size of the opening to the second floor to 3' x 4' and will be building a ladder stair that will not be as steep as the one shown in the plan.

Exterior walls are 2 x 6 and the roof rafter are 2 x 10 to allow for plenty of insulation. The foundation is  slab on grade.

I'd be glad to answer any other questions as best I can.

[jhambley]

Forgot to mention:

The first floor ceiling height is 8' and I used 2 x 10 floor joists. I then placed a 4' knee wall on the second floor and set a 12/12 roof on top of that. I used collar ties on each rafter to flaten the ceiling at 9'.

I didn't put any windows in the server room but I framed a 4' header so I can add a separate through the wall air conditioner (like you see in hotels) to cool the servers. The rest of the office will use a separate central heating/cooling system.

I will be placing a LP generator on the west side of the building to provide backup power to the computers.

Generator Link:

http://www.guardiangenerators.com/products/guardian.asp?NavID=1

[ketdryn]

Thanks for the information.  I love the way your house looks - so much so that I've saved it as my desk top background.  The style is similar to the sturdy homes in the Maritimes and Newfoundland.  I love its simplicity and strong vertical lines.  It will serve as inspiration until I'm ready to build.  Cheers.  

[FrankInWI]

Contributions like yours make this site live!  Thanks so much.  It just makes me drool to get hamering on my place.  I'll have a lot of good ideas to guide me by the time I sit down to really decide what to do.  
Can you take a minute to tell us about how you did the pond?  What type of equipment dug it out?  No liner of course, is it clay and or high ground water that keeps it up?  Thanks... really Thank you for sharing.
Frank

[jhambley]

FrankInWI,

When we purchased our property last August it was 20 acres in soy beans. The front part (now the pond)
was a drainage terrace that carried the run off from approximately 25 acres of crop land to the south of us. I knew this area would always be wet and potentially dangerous when the water was rushing across after a large rain. I decided to check into building a pond. I asked the locals who they might recommend and was directed to a gentlemen who does "dirt work" and was an experienced pond builder. Turns out he had farmed my property in the past for 20 years.

I explained that my wife would kill me if I spent money digging a hole that wouldn't fill or hold water. He assured me that the run off was sufficient. He dug test holes to check for rock and to determine if we had enough good clay.

He gave me a price that seemed very high at the time ($5,000.00 for a 1.5-2.0 acre pond). In the mean time I had discovered a discussion forum for private pond owners (seems like there is a forum for every interest) called http://www.pondboss.com. I made a post and descibed the work to be performed and the estimate I was given and quickly found out this was a very good price.

So...I gave him the go ahead and kept my fingers crossed. I have posted a few links of the building below. They used a bull dozer, backhoe, and bob cat to build the pond. Most of the work was dozer work with the backhoe used to build the core of the dam.
The core is basically the trench dug below the dam to prevent the water from running under the dam itself. They used a white clay powder called benonite in the bottom of the core trench. The powder expands to 20-30 times it normal size when it mixes with water to seal the trench.

It took about 7 days to build the pond. We finished just before Thanksgiving and after some heavy winter rain storms, it was full in just a few months.

It's not the deepest pond (only 8 feet) but it is plenty deep for the type of pond I wanted. The county fire department has asked my permission to install a dry hydrant in case of a fire close by. They told me they could pump 1,000 gallons per minute for 5 hours from the pond and only bring the water level down 1 foot. Two surface acres of water is a lot of gallons.

Hope this answers some of your questions. Let me know if you have any others. I'm no expert and again recommend the pond boss site. It is a great resource if you are thinking of making the plunge.

Good Luck!

Just Starting - View from neighbor's drive way
http://www.alpinecreek.com/parkerkansas/images/pond3.jpg

Equipment Photos
http://www.alpinecreek.com/parkerkansas/images/pond7.jpg
http://www.alpinecreek.com/parkerkansas/images/pond6.jpg

Pond Starting to Fill
http://www.alpinecreek.com/parkerkansas/images/pond77.jpg

Looking Across Dam - We built it so we could drive across it from the highway
http://www.alpinecreek.com/parkerkansas/images/Pad6.jpg

My wife standfing on the office pad before slab was poured
http://www.alpinecreek.com/parkerkansas/images/Pad2.jpg

View from the office pad before slab was poured
http://www.alpinecreek.com/parkerkansas/images/Pad7.jpg

[jhambley]

ketdryn

I don't know if I can handle the pressure of my project being made into desktop wallpaper. Hope I don't disappoint you as we move forward!!