I have always wanted some land in NH, VT or ME that I could build a little cabin on. I spent the past year looking at various properties in NH on which to build my camp. I finally found a lot that I liked and was reasonably priced. It is in a small town and 10 minutes away from a fresh water lake. Town residents have lake access. My lot is a wooded 2.3 acres. The previous owner cleared an area for a house site and put in a dirt driveway, with a culvert installed at the street. The previous owner also had performed a percolation test and had a septic plan designed. My first job is getting the septic design updated, since it was originally done 10 years ago. A septic permit is required by the state of NH for all new building. Then I can apply for my building permit.

This is the view looking up my driveway from the paved secondary town road. The building area will be to the right of the top of the driveway.


This is a view of where I will be building. I am facing east. The top of my driveway is just to the left of this picture.



For the house, I'm thinking of 32' long by 12' wide based on the Little House Plans, with 10' sidewalls and built on cement piers. The first floor would have the  kitchen and bath at one end, a small bedroom at the opposite end, and the living area in the middle.  I'll have 2 lofts at each end for additional sleeping / storage. I'll be using 2x6 walls for the added insulation and plan to use a wood stove for heat. I'm planning to be off grid, using a 12 volt solar system for power, and collect rainwater as my source of water.

Here is a sketch of my floor plan


This is going to be a long term project, most likely taking the next 4 or 5 years to complete, since I will be doing most of the work by myself (except for septic system). It is a 2.5 hour drive from where I live to my NH lot.  My current plan is as follows: 2014 - install septic system in April/May and concrete pier foundation over the summer, 2015 - frame and enclose the house, 2016 - install 12 Volt electrical, plumbing, and insulation, 2017 - finish interior walls, 2018 - build exterior screened deck.

This is my first post. I have learned a lot so far from reading other people's posts. I'll post more once I get started.

 

We must be close. I am also preparing a build in NH and I live 2:38 mins from my door to the NH driveway. I am down the Cape, what about you?

 

Spent good parts of the summer growing up in Meredith and whole summers back then in West Ossipee.  Love that part of the world.  Made me into an outdoors man for life.

My cabin design left out the closets in the bedroom first time, too.  I would suggest trying to squeeze them in somewhere.

Code may require a sink in the bathroom, not sure.

Lots of discussion on various threads that a block foundation around a crawl space or similar is not much more expensive than piers, and its advantages far outweigh any possible cost increases.

My grandfather built a cottage in Holderness in 1950. I spent many summers there in the late 50's and early 60's. We used to drive to Meredith every Saturday to do the laundry and I would get ice cream!

I am thinking more about sub contracting out a full basement. It shouldn't cost too much for this small size and it will double my interior space.

Yes, I will definitely need more closet space. The bedroom may end up just being a bed in the back corner with some sliding drapes around it, without the dividing wall. It would keep the space more open. I could put a good size closet in the corner opposite the bed.

Hi Dave,  if I still lived in NH, I would say welcome to NH!!   I spent 16 years up there before moving back to PA..  but we recently bought land in Maine, with the intent on keeping the new england connection alive - but our drive will be more lik 8 and a half hours...  My son went to Holderness School, and we have friends who teach there ( my son lives in plymouth and works at the school part time )   

We started building here in PA  almost 5 years ago... just moved in permanently last june - nothing wrong with a long term build plan..   we worked as we had time and money.   but,  we still have work to do, and there is no question about the advice to finish the job before moving in..  everything that I want to do now takes me  3 times as long as it would if we were not living here.  Plus,  we are just too comfortable now - slightly less motivation to pick up a hammer  

it seems like a crawl space would be well worth the effort and expense.  otherwise, you are going to have to come up with a plan for insulating your supply pipes and plumbing,  and, even with insulation, your floors are going to be cold..  it can be a long winter, as you probably know..   

have you talked with the local code enforcement officer?   we were very lucky to have a fellow here in the poconos who was very helpful and supportive..   hopefully, you will find a similar experience.   best of luck..  looking forward to seeing lots of pics!    jt

It would be easier to heat and probably cheaper to build if you went wider and shorter, there would also be more useable room in the loft area.

Don's advice is very practical..   also less expensive to build..  you can get the same square footage from a 16 x 24  foundation..  8 less feet of perimeter to build and pay for..  but maybe  you have a particular reason for the long skinny design -  a fairly common design in the South -  shotgun style...   not quite as popular in the north country!  jt

Aside from contracting out the septic system and foundation, I need to plan on doing all the building by myself. So an important aspect is how wide a structure do I feel comfortable building without any help.
My prior experience is a 8' wide by 14' long storage shed, which I built by myself in my backyard 2 years ago. Based on that build, I am comfortable building a 12' wide structure, even though I know it is not the most efficient use of materials and space. I might be talked into 14' wide, but I wouldn't have the confidence of building a 16' wide house by myself.
So that is how I arrived at my current thinking of 12' x 32'. The combined living room and dining room area in my existing house is about this size, so I can walk through these 2 rooms and accurately visualize the spaces.

I plan to purchase one of the 'building alone' books mentioned here in the forums, before I start building.

There are no building codes or zoning in the town I will be building in.

Thank you for the feedback.

I drove up to my lot last Saturday to meet with the septic designer and excavator. There was still snow on parts of the lot. My neighbor had told me there is a lot of runoff in the spring. He was correct; it was very muddy. This may be a good thing because eventually I would like to collect subsurface water into a cistern, instead of drilling a well. The septic designer had put together the design over 10 years ago for the previous owner, who had not gone any further with his build. We found the 2 maple trees that he had marked 10 years ago. That will make his job easier of updating the design for my camp.

There was still up to 2 feet of snow on the ground in the shady areas. We plan to meet again in about a month when things dry out. Then we mark where the house will go and the designer can update his plans.

This is my Jeep as far as it would go up the driveway in 4WD before the mud stopped it



This is looking east at one of the maple trees previously marked by the septic engineer. The leeching field will be to the left of this tree.



This is the view looking west from the above maple tree. My cabin will be in this area.



This is the original septic design drawing for the lot. We will update this with the location for my smaller cabin.



Thanks to the comments in this forum, I have decided to go with a poured foundation. I am also going to change the dimensions of the house to 14' x 32'. (Is there any way I can change the title of this topic to prevent confusion in the future? Maybe I can contact the administrator.)

Dave

There ya' go; 14x32 shall be in the subject on all further posts.   

Quote from: MountainDon on April 20, 2014, 08:52:38 PM
There ya' go; 14x32 shall be in the subject on all further posts.   

No doubt about it MD has the touch....   

Good luck hope all goes smooth.............

MD, thank you very much kind sir.

hey dave,  nice shots..   looks like a great spot for your cottage.   i loved living in NH , and I hope to have at least a semi permanent spot in maine one day,  but i sure love the fact that the snow is gone and spring is well underway here in PA..   my introduction to mud season in NH was the day when i borrowed a school van and figured i could turn around in the "dirt" lot by the side of a country road..  that was a mistake!   i was pretty lucky to get out of that mess without calling a tow truck..   jt

I drove up to my lot Tuesday night and slept in my Jeep. I met with my septic designer on Wednesday morning. We located where the septic tank and leeching field will be and staked out a preliminary location for the cabin. He told me that the leeching field is the only component that is at a fixed location; the position of the septic tank and house can be moved around a bit without a problem as long as the grade is correct. He will update the design and submit it to the state for approval next week. A couple of weeks after that I should have state approval and I can apply for my building permit.

In the afternoon, I cut down a lot of saplings that were growing wild.

This is the cabin site looking west. I put bright clothing and my hat on the stakes to make them visible. The stake at the right front is naked.



This is the cabin site looking east.



This is the cabin site looking north. The hood of my Jeep is at the far left and the stake with my hat on it is at the far right.



This is a view of the saplings between the driveway and the cabin location.



This is the same view after I removed a bunch of the saplings. I forgot my pruning shears to get the smaller stuff. The bow saw doesn't work when the trunks are less than 1/2 inch in diameter.



My next task is to get some quotes for the foundation.

Dave

looking good!  I bet you are getting excited now, having met with the septic designer..  kind of makes it all that more real!    looking forward to lots of posts this summer!   jt

Good news: I received my approved building permit 2 weeks ago, so hopefully I can post some progress soon!

My septic designer finished updating the design in September and we submitted it to the state for approval. The state was pretty quick; they sent my approval within 2 weeks. Then I had to fill out and get state approval on minimum allowed insulation for my cabin. Stuff like R-19 in the walls and certain minimum insulation in the floor and roof; also windows need a certain e value. Once I got that stamped, I took all the paperwork to the town hall with a check for $100 to apply for the building permit. The town mailed me my building permit within 2 weeks.

I am hoping to get my septic system in this fall and possibly the foundation, depending on my excavator's schedule.

Good, nice to see reasonable permit fees.

I met with my excavator this past Friday. He is ready to start work as soon as the ground dries up a bit and the road ban on heavy equipment is lifted. First he will dig a trench on the uphill side of the driveway leading down to the street and fill it with gravel. This will provide a path for the spring run-off water to flow as opposed to washing over the driveway. Once the driveway dries out, he will shape it a bit so I can park a couple of cars on top and have room to turn around. He will bring in 6 inch rock to put down on top. My understanding is the rock interlocks together and forms a stable base which will hold up to heavy equipment even in the wet weather. I'll post pictures once the rock is in place. Eventually he will put down a layer of 2 inch gravel on top of this base.

I have the area for the foundation marked. He will dig the foundation hole next. I will be using a foundation contractor that my excavator recommended, so he should do a good job. They have both lived in town for 20+ years. We will put in gravel outside the footings and lay a perimeter drain all around, which will lead downhill away from the house. I'll have a bulkhead door for outside access to the cellar. My excavator will install the septic system at the same time.

Things will finally get started moving along in the next few weeks. I'm getting excited ! Hopefully I will be banging nails by June! My employer instituted a new policy at work, where we work 9 hour days Monday thru Thursday and then get every second Friday as a day off. This should work out well and give me a 3 day weekend every other week to work on the house.

Question on attaching loft joists.
I plan to build 10' high walls so I get an extra 2' of space in the loft. I intend to notch the 2x6 wall studs to receive 2x6 ledger boards at the proper height. The loft joists will be attached to the ledger boards. I am planning on laying the loft joists on top of the ledger boards and nailing them to the corresponding stud as shown below. I have seen others use joist hangers on the ledger boards to attach the loft joists.
What are the pros and cons with doing it one way or the other?



Thanks,
Dave

As illustrated is much better than joist hangers. The joists face nailed to the studs can withstand some tension. Joist hangers are just that, hangers meant to support vertical loads and not meant for tension loads at all. 


Is the roof to have a ridge beam (not a ridge board) with columns to carry one half the roof lead down to the foundation? That removes the horizontal component of the rafter tail loads from those short wall stud extensions.

Thanks for the suggestion on the loft joists, Don.

I'm planning on using a ridge board for the rafters. I'm building alone and don't want to have to deal with getting a ridge beam into place by myself. I know several people here on the forum building with 10 foot sidewalls who have used a ridge board, and their houses seem to be doing ok. I plan on a 8 foot loft on each end. I think I could use collar ties on the 16 foot section in the middle of the house?

Question on floor framing. I want to put an opening for a trap door in my floor so I have access to the cellar from inside the cabin.  The opening will be near the wall, and close to the foundation. In my sketch, I doubled up on the floor joists on one end of the opening. Should I double up on the other end as well?



Thanks,
Dave

Yes, I'd double the joist at 152"