Loft or no loft recommendations

[jakes32guitar]

Hello,  My wife and I are hoping to break ground this spring on a cabin to be built on land we already own.  I've looked at many plans from this site mostly coming back to the 1.5 story and expanding it to 36 or so long, but recently we have decided it would better suit our needs to build a 24' wide structure and fit 2 beds and a bathroom on the main level.  Now what I am hung up on is whether or not to build it as a 1.5 story or have a loft at all?  We plan for a crawl space and want tall cathedral ceilings with big windows.  Would you recommend we build with a loft or just a single story with 9' tall side walls and cathedral in the living area?

[MountainDon]

It may be a personal thing, but I do not like lofts in cabins.  Lofts tend to be warmer than the main floor in any weather.  Lofts are mostly used as a sleeping space. I like to have my sleeping space cooler than the living space. There is an unsatisfactory dichotomy with all that.

I do like 9-foot ceilings. A cathedral ceiling can be attractive. A conventionally constructed rafter ceiling comes along with insulation issues. The usual 2x12's don't have room for enough insulation unless one does spray in foam or uses rigid sheet foam panels on top of the roof sheathing.  A cathedral "look" can be achieved with engineered and factory-made scissors trusses. When designed with a raised heel there is sufficient space right out to the sidewalls for a proper amount of ceiling/roof insulation. If the location is in the more northern states of the US the recommended R-value for a ceiling is often R-49 or better.

Your state will likely have specific requirements for new construction. It may also use RESCheck which makes it possible to plan and trade insulation in one place for more insulation in another. That can help with using large windows in some areas.

[Rys]

HI Jake! Personally I love lofts. Been chasing my cabin dream for several years now. We
're working out the details for our build this spring as well.
Welcome to the forum. Lots of knowledgable people here to bounce things off of.

[Dave Sparks]

No Loft for the reasons Don stated. Bedrooms need to be cooler than living, or you open the door. Can't do that with a loft.

[jsahara24]

I like a loft for overflow sleeping of guests, but not for myself.  My cabin is similar to what you describe, living room on one end with a cathedral ceiling and the other end bedrooms on the 1st floor with a sleeping loft above.  I got a really big ceiling fan in the living room and a smaller one in the loft but the loft is still warmer than downstairs by a couple/few degrees. 

Other thing to consider is privacy, with a loft when someone wakes up and goes to the living room its hard not to wake up the people sleeping in the loft.....I am thinking about installing a wall to separate the loft from the main cathedral ceiling living room.  Or perhaps a half wall, not sure yet...

Good luck..

[jakes32guitar]

Thank you for the input so far,  a couple notes, either way my plan would be for the 2 bedrooms on the main level: the loft would just be for overflow sleeping.   I would also plan to use scissor trusses to get the open cathedral look.   Would any one have any notes on cost difference for the same structure with and without a basic loft?  Also jsahara24 would you have any pictures or more details of your cabin by chance?

[jsahara24]

My cabin is 28' wide and 50' long.  I have 4 bedrooms, a bathroom and laundry room on the back half (25') and the other half is living/dining.  The loft is above the bedrooms.  I balloon framed the bedroom side with 10' walls and a structural ridge beam to give the loft more headroom.  These pictures are old but will give you the idea.....

[DaveOrr]

My cabin is 24X36' with a 16X24' loft.
Loft will have a bed for visitors, it has a 4'X6' slider window that can be opened a bit to provide cooler air.
The loft will mainly be a place for me to work on building fishing rods, tying flies and a music studio.
Nothing like looking out over the lake from on high while writing a new tune or working on my DJ practice.

My bedroom is on the main floor right beside the washroom.
I'm gettin' old and need to go in the middle of the night now and again.

I'm putting in a fan over the open section to move the air around.
The roof is partially vaulted with an 11' wide flat section that I will be blowing in R60.
The vaulted section gets R32.