What plans to buy?

[drlenger]

I am pumped, have been reading all through this site, love all the pics and stories.....I am sold, I plan on starting actual building in the spring.....lots of site work to be done before then.

But here is my question......I have roughed out a 18 x 30 floor plan with a loft, and it seems to work for us.....I used Rob Lemay's 16 x 24 Little House in Michigan as my inspiration....so which plans should I buy to use for this configuration.

also is it necessary to use the 12-12 roof pitch for head space in the loft, with the larger width wouldn't I still be able to get 8' headspace with a 10-12.......I am a chicken and don't want to climb on a 12-12, my home has that pitch and I won't climb on it......would have when I was much younger but at 49 I don't even like the ferris wheel anymore.  Seems that my treestand get lower and lower every year.

as background, I will be building in south central Missouri....very hilly rocky ground, lucky for me the frost line is less than 18"....this will be a family/hunting cabin, set in the middle of 300 acres of beautiful ozark country.  There is an old farmhouse that is unusable and needs to be torn down, but it has a working well and brand new 200 amp power, we already have a 200 amp panel new into our barn.  Lucky for me I have family in the construction supply business and a very good friend of owns a lumber yard....nice friends to have.  My cabin will be roughed in first for cover, then we will begin building another larger cabin for my brother and his family a few hundred yards away.  Hope to have mine completed in time for deer season 2011, and my brother's the following year.

I look forward to hearing from you......

[rick91351]

First off welcome!

Next about the 12 12 pitch on the roof!  Hey you do what you can do... and what you can not.... hire it done or trade labor for labor or barter what ever!  Call a friend that loves high places and steep angles or does not know any better.  Or if that is not a possibility you might invest in some safety harness.  Ol Jarhead he had some very good pointers I think on his thread Topic: Okanogan 14x24 by a lurker look on page 19.

If you are looking for a 18 by 30 you can narrow up a 20 by 30 1 and half story

http://www.jshow.com/y2k/listings/50.html

I do not know your lot or conditions of course but why not just build a 20 x 30.  The plans are all right there, as are the stairs and whole nine yards.  You will not save all that much narrowing it down two feet unless of course you just can not make it fit on your site.  Also there have been a lot of them built and there is a lot of knowledge; do s and don't s lurking here.

[drlenger]

Thanks for the advice Rick, I hate to say this but you sound like my wife.....she says I should just hire someone to do the roof.   I know that I CAN do it......I just don't WANT to do it.....in the end I bet it will be just fine.  I have room for the 20x30.... I guess more space is always good, but we really are trying to keep the price down.  But I bet you are right....2 feet isn't going to make much difference.   I thought I had read somewhere there were some limitations for the the loft floor joist lengths....but I have read so much lately it all starts to run together.   

[rick91351]

Actually that is the reason for the 20 foot.

http://www.awc.org/calculators/span/calc/timbercalcstyle.asp

If you plug in Douglas Fir and Larch
Grade number 1 or better
2X12 at 16 inch centers you will find 20' 9" is the maximum span.

That is and still have what is felt to be an acceptable floor deflection.

However you are a long way away from putting the roofing on.  So lets get some plans and get a permit and get some concrete in the ground.

I keep slipping back .... This is for our retirement home at a old family ranch.  What I am running into the thing right now every where I turn there is a gentleman with his hand out.  "Oh yes we like your plan but it will have to be engineered."   Pay that man $1000  Then "Oh there seem to be another piece of property here."  So we need a survey.  Pay the man $1000.  "Oh yes you need a lot line adjustment even though you own both properties.  After all we would never want to be encroach on yourself."  Pay the man $250.  Okay so lets just make it one piece of property.  "No problem that will be $800 a hearing and a survey."  Why the survey, we are making the line go away?  "Because we need to find the line to make sure we are making the right line go away."  I have seen the book there is only one line there give me your eraser and I can make it go away.  "You are being difficult that is another $1000.99" 

Glad I have the power, and septic all done and out of the way.  I will have to drill another well I guess.  That is sort of penciling out at another $15,000 for it and the pump and figure $2000 for wire, pipe and excavation.             

[drlenger]

my brother is in the construction supply business, he said that everything is done in 4' increments, so if I wanted to save I would have to pull back to 16'.....which when you think about it makes a lot of sense.  

Hated to hear all the legal/code problems you had....where I will be building in southern missouri.....kind of in the middle of nowhere there really isn't much for codes or other requirements.....we can really do pretty much whatever we want, however I do want this place to last for many many years.  

[MountainDon]

my brother is in the construction supply business, he said that everything is done in 4' increments, so if I wanted to save I would have to pull back to 16'.....which when you think about it makes a lot of sense.  

Not to mean to be argumentative, but thinking like that gets you trapped inside 'the box'. Any even number would work out for sheet goods that come 4 feet wide. Our 30 foot long cabin used 7 1/2 sheets down each side, 15 sheets total. With 24" spacing on the studs that worked well. And even if your measurements are not multiples of 2 or 4, so what? On one cabin or house the cost difference caused by 'wasting' material because one wants a specific size will not be noticed by the time the end of the build is reached. A contractor building 500 houses may view that from a different angle.

Don't get tied into a particular dimension solely because sheet goods won't fit without cutting.

Just my opinion and food for thought.

[drlenger]

Thanks Don for the input.....and no you aren't being argumentative.....at this point in my planning all info is good info.....then I just have to filter it all and decide what is most important to me.  In the grand scheme of things the differnce between a couple of sheets is not that big of a deal.  A good friend owns the local lumberyard also....so I will get a good deal on lumber anyway.

just can't wait to get started......might even get footings put in this fall and have it ready to go for the spring