Addiing on to my cabin

hnash53 · December 17, 2008, 08:28:01 PM

I am planning on building a 16x40 addition on to my current cabin. I will build at right angles (L-shaped) to the long axis (28 feet) of my current cabin.

In other words, the 16 foot wide east (or rear) end of my cabin will share a wall with the new addition.

Question is, do I have to build a second wall on to the existing wall, or can the existing wall be "shared" with the new addition?

http://www.countryplans.com/nash.html

If you scroll down about 2/3 of the way down the page

, you'll see the "Rear Wall". That's the wall I am asking about.

Thanks for your input.

Hal Nash

Whitlock · December 17, 2008, 08:48:25 PM

Hey I read about you in Backwoods home or the Countryside magazine a long time ago.
Glad to see your still working on your dwelling.

December 17, 2008, 09:39:16 PM

You could strip the siding or at least the corner batt away at the corners so you can attach the corner studs of the addition securely to the existing corner studs of the back wall, so the existing back wall would be incorporated into the addition.

It looks like one addition corner stud would attach on the back wall and the other would attach around the corner on the side wall so the wall extension could be flush with the face of the back wall.

What do you plan to do with the roof of the addition? If you want a peaked roof as opposed to a shed roof, it might be easier if you extend off a side wall instead of the back wall.

MountainDon · December 17, 2008, 10:07:38 PM

Question/comment:

1. Are you going to simply cut a standard size door in the existing end wall, or knock out a piece, or all of it?

2. Is this 16x40 addition going to extend both north and south along the east wall, making a T shape? Or is it going to be added to the east end wall and extend only north or south to make an L shape?

Harry's question about the roof is a good one. What do you envision? Am I right in assuming the new roof would be a 12:12 also?

If we assume you want to end up with an L shape, it would seem to me the easiest way to do the addition would be to extend the cabin in the east direction by the 16 feet and then place a 24 foot addition at right angles connecting to the new construction. That way the existing roof would be carried eastwards and the roof for the L shape addition would be connected to the new roof framing. You would need a beam in the extended south wall if there was not going to be a load bearing wall right there.

Of course that might not work out for your new floor plan.

As to your actual question, there would be ways around doubling the east wall. It would depend partly on what the interior wall layout is going to be and have to ensure that loads from the rafters are properly supported. A drawing illustrating the existing floor plan and the proposed addition might be nice to see.

How will the new space be heated?

Hal, how's your power working out? Did you build a wind generator?

PEG688 · December 17, 2008, 11:12:26 PM

Good work guys , lots of questions need to be answered before a "Sure go ahead" can be issued.

But sure IF you can support the floor , and all your doing if cutting a new door opening in the old wall , sure the existing wall can be used if you do what the other guys are asking , strip old siding , add a header IF you can't fit the door opening in where that window header is . The window looks to be a 2-0 so MTL it's not large / wide enought for a door header.

How you attach the floors together will be important IF you can get you joist spans to work out as well.

But it is common to reuse , or just use a old existing exterior wall. Your jamb widths for any doors that go in my need to be special ordered IF you leave the existing sheathing in place . Which also can be a problem for the electrician / plumber / HVAC guys.

So in closing " IT depends!"

December 18, 2008, 10:22:20 PM

Thanks for the input people.

I was planning on putting in a 5' wide opening in the end/rear wall. Of course I'll need a header...that's a given.

I plan to make it an L-shape. I had considered keeping a 12 in 12 pitch and building what Glenn K had called a "cricket" to continue the existing roof into the new roof.

However, I am considering building a one story shed roof off the back and that would make any roof questions moot.

I 'll heat with the stove that's in the original part. And use some kind of air moving system to move heat into the new part. I also have plans to build a homemade solar air heater. I'll probably also put in a ventless propane wall heater for supplemental heat, or for when I'm not there to keep things from freezing.

As for wind generators, I scored 2, yes two, Air-x's for $800..that's for both and one is the marine version. One was up for 30 days and the other is unused.

Peg, I will be the electrician, plumber, and HVAC guy. Coming up with creative ways to get all this done.

So from your responses, I take it that I can "share the wall" as long as the proper structural features get included to insure the strength and integrity of the structure.

More questions to come as I think of them....

Thanks again. you guys/gals are great!!!

MountainDon · December 18, 2008, 10:44:45 PM

Hal, maybe I'm overly sensitive to the use of ventless heaters. You might want to think about that carefully.

Two of my good neighbors near our cabin came close to being killed from CO from an unvented appliance in their cabin this past spring. Yes it had the low oxygen shut off device but it produced enough CO to make them both very ill, while the oxygen level was sufficient to allow the unit to continue to operate. What may have saved them was having to get up and leave for work at 5 AM. Friends at the lab saw them and gave them a scientific grade CO meter to take home. Our friends had no idea they might have been poisoned by CO. They tested and found the levels way way up there in the danger zone. Oh, their CO monitor in the cabin had dead batteries; the batteries had died over the winter with the cabin empty so the low battery warning was never heard.

That's my opinion anyhow. For the record I'm even planning on venting the propane refrigerator.

I have a direct vent propane heater I got through Northern Tool, that will be installed come spring. It's made by Empire, but without a couple bells and whistles. The vent is not an extendable type like the more expensive ones... it must be cut to length. Big deal, I'll only install it once. I called the Empire factory and they even sent me the high altitude orifice before I had committed to buying it.

MountainDon · December 18, 2008, 11:02:08 PM

An addendum to my previous post...

A gas appliance that is not used frequently may be more of a danger as far as the CO risk goes, than an appliance that is in constant use. The propane tech traced the cause of the CO production to a partly obstructed burner. Obstructed by spider webs. A spider had spun enough of a web to block the intake air by just enough to allow combustion that produced enough CO to be deadly.

glenn kangiser · December 19, 2008, 12:50:51 AM

Quote from: MountainDon on December 18, 2008, 11:02:08 PM
An addendum to my previous post...

A gas appliance that is not used frequently may be more of a danger as far as the CO risk goes, than an appliance that is in constant use. The propane tech traced the cause of the CO production to a partly obstructed burner. Obstructed by spider webs. A spider had spun enough of a web to block the intake air by just enough to allow combustion that produced enough CO to be deadly.

Don - not a small concern. We had that happen to our propane refrigerator about a year or so ago. We were getting headaches - not too much of a noticeable smell -- spider web in the burner.

We have since changed to an electric.

December 20, 2008, 11:32:21 AM

Thanks for the thoughts on the propane heater.

Attention to details can probably prevent the things you are talking about. Mindfulness of where/how/why one is living as one does is the essence of off grid living. In our culture, mindlessness rather than mindfulness prevails. A more mindful lifestyle is what I am looking for.

But I also realize that one can even become more mindful connected to the grid. When I turn on a light in my city dwelling, I sometimes am amazed that it even comes on, likewise with the water spout. And also that my heater comes on automatically.

However, all of that tends to eventually numb me out. With everything done for us, I feel a loss of self-sufficiency. In my cabin, everything seems so much more real and genuine. When I turn on a light, or a water spout and light and water actually "happen" there's a sense of greater appreciation, and humility, too.

Wow. Where'd I get off on all that?

Anyway, I have a propane fridge...and I also have moths we call "millers" here. They are attracted to the small amount of light produced by the flame, so they fly right into it. Eventually, the burner is clogged with the ashes of incinerated moths and burns inefficiently and thereby producing CO. I have to blow it out (a can of compressed air would do it well) and re-light it. Similar to the spider web story you told.

Thanks for the thought about the high altitude jet necessary for propane heaters.

Hal

glenn kangiser · December 20, 2008, 11:44:20 AM

I would suggest a CO detector by the fridge. They are pretty cheap.

Whitlock · December 20, 2008, 12:08:09 PM

Quote from: hnash53 on December 20, 2008, 11:32:21 AM

Attention to details can probably prevent the things you are talking about. Mindfulness of where/how/why one is living as one does is the essence of off grid living. In our culture, mindlessness rather than mindfulness prevails. A more mindful lifestyle is what I am looking for.

However, all of that tends to eventually numb me out. With everything done for us, I feel a loss of self-sufficiency. In my cabin, everything seems so much more real and genuine. When I turn on a light, or a water spout and light and water actually "happen" there's a sense of greater appreciation, and humility, too.

Wow. Where'd I get off on all that?

Hal

Now your livin