Wish us Luck!

[Yeti Dog]

Rhino,  I have been following your cabin and it looks fantastic.  So you dropped the loft 2 feet and kept with the original walls as in the plans.  Any other modifications to the walls?  I was actually showing my wife your cabin yesterday and we were studying the loft as best we could in the photos.  Help me out here, are rafters going to be just as strong as manufactured trusses?

[MaineRhino]

I did not follow the plans you have. My plans were in my head and a notebook.

I'm not sure about the rafter vs. truss strength, but we went 16'oc for the added strength.

Feel free to check my photobucket page  https://s223.photobucket.com/albums/dd127/MaineRhino/Mountain%20Camp/  for additional pics. And just ask if there are additional details you need, or more photos for clarification.

[MountainDon]

Rafters and trusses can be equal or better either way, depending on span, quality of materials and workmanship and design. In other words, given "ordinary" spans, one is as good as the other; just different. Pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages for both.

For my simple gable roof, 16 ft span, one reason I chose rafters was that one truss company would not deliver up my primitive road. The other firm would, but the cost was high. Another reason was I was working alone. If I'd had a couple helpers trusses would have gone quicker.

[Yeti Dog]

Well we made it through our bitter cold winter (weeks at -45 and colder) and it is time to start thinking about building again.  I have been out to our property quite a bit this winter with the dogs and there is still a good 2 feet of snow on the ground.  I hope I will be able to see dirt by late may so I can start digging for the foundation.  I know speed is not the way to build a house but what is the fastest time someone has been able to get dried in, in a 1 and a half story cabin?  My housing situation is changing where I work and I would like to (or need to) be able to get into it by september where the nights are already below freezing.  Keep in mind I have to keep up a busy work schedule.  Look forward to picking some of your brains here in the near future.

[Yeti Dog]

I guess while I am at it another question for everyone.  How many folks out there are off the grid and hauling water to their site?  I am planning on still using an outhouse but be able to use sinks and a quick shower using a 300-500 gallon water tank in the house.  Power is still about $15,000 away so I will go with solar and generator for the mean time.  Gotta love interior Alaska!

[glenn kangiser]

Sounds like fun soon, Yeti Dog.  Could you harvest rainwater or is all of your water a solid mineral?

We have neighbors who get nearly all of their water from rainwater harvesting but do haul if they get low. 

We are off grid but pump from our well with solar.  I have set up a solar stock water system for another neighbor and am designing another  for a customer who wants to store spring water for extra vineyard irrigation water.

Do you have any source of water nearby that a solar pump could provide water from?