Thanks Don,

A couple more questions:

Depth of ridge board - if I use 2x8 rafters, do I need a 2x10 for the ridge board or can I use a 2x8 ?  With the 2x8 there would be about an inch of unsupported rafter at the bottom, where it meets the ridge board. I have seen pictures of people doing this both ways.

Overhangs - I was thinking of doing a 16 inch overhang at each end of the house and about a foot along the eaves. Does this sound right? I'm going with a 10/12 pitch.

Thanks,
Dave

The potential danger in using a 2x8 ridge board with a 2x8 rafter is it is possible for a split to start at that unsupported lower edge. You could also use a 2x4 or whatever it takes to fill that space.


As for side wall overhang, have you given any thought to having enough overhang to shade windows in summer, but not enough to block winter sun?  That's what we did with our cabin roof. No direct sun strikes our windows in summer, but it does in winter.

You can also drop the ridgeboard to the bottom of the plumb cut and support the lower edge, letting the upper edge ride above the ridge. The splitting danger is on an underdangle. Your plumb cut on a 10/12 2x8 will be about 9-7/16".

Well since 2015 has ended, I thought I would bring everyone up to date with my build.

My excavator put in my septic tank and leaching field; the system has been inspected and approved by the town.



I capped the foundation in August. The only tricky part was framing the opening to the basement. Since I'm building mostly by myself, I made a couple of jigs to hold the doubled up floor joists in place while I banged the nails in. This is what the floor looked like partially covered with decking.




Here is the ceremonial picture of me relaxing on the finished deck !



I'll have a loft in each end, so I chiseled out the notches for the ledger boards in the wall studs, all at the same time. This was the first time I have done something like this; it was surprisingly easy!



This is the first wall going up. I built the walls in 12 foot sections. Each section was missing a few studs, so it was light enough to lift by myself. I added the other studs and sheathing once the wall was upright.



First two walls up and reinforcing each other.



I did all my work with 18V cordless tools. I bought a 12V charger which will recharge the batteries from the Jeep's cigarette lighter.



This is a view from the loft over the bedroom area. The kitchen will be in the far left corner and the bathroom in the right corner.



I was very lucky to find an old time carpenter to build my roof. He did all the work and I was his helper. We got the entire roof framed, sheathed and taped in 3 days. I learned a lot of tricks from him along the way. This picture shows some of the rafters in place. It was a Sunday and we ran out of wood so this is where we ended for the day.



This is the finished roof. I will have a professional put a metal roof over it in the spring. The riprap stone wall is there to hold the back filled soil in place. Since we hit the ledge digging the foundation and couldn't go any deeper, the finished grade had to be higher to keep the footings below the frost line.



This is a view of the loft area inside. There are temporary loft joists in the middle, which I will leave in place until I get the roof insulated and a finished surface on the inside.



To show the progress this past year, here is a picture from the spring of 2015.



And this is where we are today!



Happy New Year everyone and thank you for all your help this past year!

Hi, your pictures aren't loading because your link needs to be to the picture itself, not a webpage with the picture on it. (It should end in .jpg, .png, etc)

Also, hosting pictures on google can be a problem because there are a lot of security features. imgur.com is a pretty painless site to use.

Quote from: DavidRaftery on January 06, 2016, 05:04:28 PM
I did all my work with 18V cordless tools. I bought a 12V charger which will recharge the batteries from the Jeep's cigarette lighter.

I did notice this, though... I highly recommend against using a modified sign wave inverter to charge your batteries. I had (luckily cheapo) Dewalt drill batteries that I fried this way. Battery chargers (maybe not all of them)  need to see a real sine wave (eg AC power) to function correctly. A lot of times power tool chargers will have a warning written on them to not use a modified sine wave inverter.

A pure sine wave inverter is pricey, but may be a worthy investment. Either that or a generator that produces a true sine wave.

Charging batteries is the only time I've ever had an issue with using modified sine wave.

That's strange.  I looked at the post less than 30 minutes ago and all the pictures appeared.  Then I looked after Nathan posted and now they are not.   

Earlier today the first image appeared. But the next few did not. One of the later ones also displayed.  Now I see none.       No idea....

I updated the links and the pictures are showing (for now!). When I posted this earlier today, the pictures showed up, but tonight they didn't.

NathanS, thank you for the link to imgur.com. I moved the photos there and it discovered that imgur creates the links for me. I just have to cut and paste. Much easier!  Thanks for the reminder about pure sine wave inverters. My tools are Ryobi and the battery charger is made by Ryobi specifically to be powered by a 12V battery. Works like a champ.

Quote from: DavidRaftery on January 06, 2016, 10:33:45 PM
I updated the links and the pictures are showing (for now!). When I posted this earlier today, the pictures showed up, but tonight they didn't.

NathanS, thank you for the link to imgur.com. I moved the photos there and it discovered that imgur creates the links for me. I just have to cut and paste. Much easier!  Thanks for the reminder about pure sine wave inverters. My tools are Ryobi and the battery charger is made by Ryobi specifically to be powered by a 12V battery. Works like a champ.

Your house looks great.

I didn't realize that the cordless tool manufacturers make DC chargers... that is awesome. I am going to do most of my house build using a cordless circular saw and drills.

Are your sidewalls 10' or 12'?

Sidewalls are 10' tall. Bottom of loft joists are 7' 6" above sub-floor. Loft joists are 8" deep. Roof pitch is 12/12. I'm glad I went with this pitch for the additional headroom in the lofts.

The headroom in the loft is my dilemma. With your 14' width and 12/12 pitch how much of your width in the loft is 7' or above? I'm going to need a decent size bedroom up there. In fact it is probably going to be the main factor in my decision on the width of my cabin. Thanks for replying. Reading others experiences in this forum has helped me make a lot of decisions.

I'll take measurements the next time I go up there, but that may be another month or two from now with the cold weather.

In the previous picture above showing the loft area, the step ladder is about 4' tall. I'm estimating 3.5' to 4' in from each side is below 7'.  That leaves only a 5 to 6 feet width under the peak with headroom over 7'.

With the narrower building you can increase the width of the head room area with a shed dormer or two. That's our plan so far (subject to change a half million times).

Thanks Dave. That gives me a much better understanding.

Azgreg, I would love the dormers but I think that would mean a ridge beam verses a ridge board and more foundation support for the beam. I'm trying to keep things as simple as possible and keep the cost down. I understand the changing of plans. Sometimes I think trying to reach a final decision on how to and what to build is going to be harder than the building of it.

I've been thinking how to put on my fascia and soffits. My rafter tails are cut and ready for the subfascia. This isn't the greatest picture, but it shows what they look like.



I've been reading the discussion on this topic:

http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=10641.650

where I found this useful drawing.



I plan to use 2x for the subfascia. I have to measure the 8" rafters to see how wide the subfascia should be. I suppose it is ok if the subfascia extends an inch or so below the rafters? I would just adjust the soffit nailers to meet the bottom of the subfascia.

I think I need to get the fascia on before putting on the metal roof.

I made it up to my cabin last weekend for the first time since the end of December. The ground was saturated with runoff from the hillside. Mud season was in full swing. The great news is that my basement was completely dry! My excavator knew what he was doing with draining water away from the basement. I was also able to drive up my driveway with no problem; the 6" rock keeps it nice and dry.

My job was to install the fascia, so my roofer can put on the metal roof. The subfascia was the hardest part. The 12' long 2x8's are heavy when installing them alone. I put a nail at the center of the fascia and then tacked it in place from the ladder. Then I adjusted each end and nailed them in. I nailed scraps of wood on the bottom edge of the roof to help position the fascia.



Priming the finish fascia.



Putting up the finish fascia.






My old Jeep finally gave up the ghost, so I bought a used GMC Canyon with 100K miles on it. The pickup will be more useful with building my cabin.



Vickeyd - I measured my loft. Of the 13' wide loft, there is only 3' where the height is 7' or above, and there is 4' 6" where the height is over 6'. I will try to make a sketch, scan it and upload it within the next few days

vickeyd - here is a drawing (not to scale) of my loft measurements.

I spent 3 days this past weekend at my cabin. I met with my roofer on Friday morning and we negotiated a labor price for him to install a metal roof. He will make a list of the material needed and I will have the local lumberyard order it on my account. He will also install the chimney for my wood stove. I have to order the support box and associated flashing and insulated stovepipe for the chimney.

On Saturday I picked up my wood stove at the dealer in Laconia, NH. I bought at Vermont Castings Aspen. It is small but it weighs 250 pounds! Since I am working alone, I used a block and tackle to get it out of my truck and into the house.








I finished up the remaining fascia on the east gable end this weekend and installed the small triangular piece of sheathing at the peak. That took a couple of cuts to fit properly. I immediately noticed that it was warmer inside the cabin with the one piece of sheathing installed at the peak. The wind used to pass through the top of the gable ends and remove the warm air. The weather was perfect for working: in the 70's with no bugs yet. They will be coming soon enough! I saw an eagle soaring above me on Saturday afternoon, just riding the wind.



I'm going to order 1 window this week and put it in on my next trip north. I need to get some more light inside! I'll get the chimney pipe and fittings delivered to my home and take that stuff up north as well.

Yes, that little stove is heavy! We have one. Fortunately I had three helpers who did all the heavy work moving it inside. 

Looking good... it'll be nice to get some windows in.

Did some more work at the cabin last weekend. I brought the class A chimney pipe and support box, which I had ordered on line, up north with me. I met with my roofer on Saturday morning and we discussed where the chimney pipe and plumbing vent stack pipe will go. The metal roofing is at the lumberyard; he is just waiting for some dry weather to install it.

I put down a 1/2 inch sheet of cement board and covered it with cement pavers, for the hearth that the wood stove will sit on. Then I had to wrestle the 250 pound wood stove into position with my rope and pulleys.



I think I discovered the trick to assembling the black chimney pipe. I laid the open pipe sections on the floor and aligned the long seam. Then I pressed down on the seam until it snapped together. I stood each section of pipe upright on the floor and tapped each end with my hands, to make sure the seam was closed. Then I inserted the pipe sections together over the stove to show my roofer where to cut the opening in the roof. The corner behind the wood stove is where the bathroom will be.



I installed my first window on the front of the cabin on Saturday. The window is not that large, but it sure is heavy! Now I have some more light inside. Unfortunately there was no paper copy of the owner's manual for the window. It is available on line. I wanted to read the manual first, before I start removing what I think are blocking pieces for transport.





I checked the water level in my well; it is full, like I expected. What I didn't expect was to sink 18 inches into the wet ground next to the well casing. I had to pull myself out and onto the top of the well cover!

Some of those stoves are really heavy.  My Hearthstone weighed in at 550 pounds.  All that 4 people wanted to do moving it short distances.  I used my tractor to transfer it from my truck bed to the doorway.

Just wondering if you have a riser around your well casing that you are standing on?

Sorry, I don't know what a riser is.    I have 2 sections of well casing, each about 4 feet long; the bottom well casing sits on 3 feet of gravel. I have a cement cover on top of the casing. I know I'll have to get some sod and grass growing on top of that subsoil eventually, to keep me from sinking into the saturated soil in the springtime.

Quote from: DavidRaftery on May 04, 2016, 09:37:20 PM
Sorry, I don't know what a riser is.    I have 2 sections of well casing, each about 4 feet long; the bottom well casing sits on 3 feet of gravel. I have a cement cover on top of the casing. I know I'll have to get some sod and grass growing on top of that subsoil eventually, to keep me from sinking into the saturated soil in the springtime.

Dave well casing is typically 6" diameter and can be metal or PVC Sch 80.  Here it has to be at least 2' above grade so that surface water will not penetrate the well and contaminate the water.

https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=&oq=well+casing&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4TSNA_enUS401US438&q=well+casing+pipe&gs_l=hp..2.0l5.0.0.0.8621...........0.xDALvgtiEHI

A "riser" as it is commonly known is a concrete cast ( or plastic)component that is generally laid over a septic tank lid or other underground components to allow access to that underground opening without digging up soil.  So I am just wondering what you actually have?

http://americanconcrete.com/standard_dwg_pdf/residential_products/riser_blocks/2963.pdf