14x36 in Northwest Arkansas

[jdhen]

We were suppose to start drywall on Monday but I arrived to 6-8 inches of snow on the ground so the crew didn't show.


They started in on tuesday and finished hanging today.  Taping and floating on Friday.



Across from the stove I plan a L-shaped built-in dining booth.


I didn't have them rock the interior of the closet because I want to put some shelves between the studs for additional storage.  The closet will serve as a pantry of sorts for the kitchen.


Cubby for the manifold.


Closet at the top of the stairs.


Looking back down.


Office/ guest room



Both of the upstairs bedrooms have interior windows that will look down into the stairwell.  We also put one looking into the bathroom but that will have an opaque or stained glass insert- only to keep the light moving.

Bathroom- as best I could photograph such a small space!

Back towards the future linen closet and window to the stairwell.


Interior window from the living room to the office.


The "dog room"


Looking into the laundry room. Future home of the washer/dryer, freezer, sink, dog food preparation area(don't ask)


Upstairs looking from one bedroom to another.

Of course the snow melted fast with temps in the 60's so now it's a muddy, soggy mess.  And more rain in the forecast    Luckily the berm is working well to keep the water away from the house.  We'll add another french drain close to the fence.



And this is dry compared to yesterday!


We've started the fencing to keep our dogs in check.

Probably enough photos for now!

[MountainDon]

Isn't it nice to have someone else do the sheetrock?     Even if you have to pay them.

[jdhen]

MD, I will write this check with such pleasure.  You just can't imagine   
Watching these 3 large gentleman hoist 5/8 sheets to the ceiling made me so glad to let someone else have that fun (not to mention the incredible amounts of dust)!  I can't believe I ever thought this was a job that I could or would even want to do!

[Redoverfarm]

Looking good Jdhen.  Appears you are on the the downhill side now.

[jdhen]

Thanks, Red.  I'm starting to feel the momentum building!  It's starting to feel "real".

[jhen]

Dust? What dust? Just wait until they've taped and started to sand, then you'll see the real dust.

Looking really good, Jesse.

Oh, what I'd give to have dogs that would stay inside a 4 foot fence.

[jdhen]

Damn!  It gets worse?  I can't imagine anything worse than the way that drill/router shoots dust directly in the eyes of the user when they're cutting out for outlet boxes and switches.  Looks brutal!

Dad, you wouldn't have a problem with jumping dogs if you learned how to keep them off your kitchen counter at feeding time!  Once they master that, getting over a fence is easy 

[Bobmarlon]

Damn everything looks so great.  I cant wait to see how your built in turns out I was thinking of doing something similar.  Also I would like to ad if anyone should work in the snow I think it should be drywallers,  they always work in a dry insulated room.    Looks like the did a good job though.   

[ScottA]

Nice progress. I like those interior windows. Very cool. 

[Bishopknight]

JD,

You're smart to sub out the drywall. Your place looks great! Love the progress pics.

[archimedes]

I did the drywall on my last project, never, ever, again.  Then I found out how relatively cheaply you can get someone to do it for you - argh!

It's looking really, really good.  You should be proud.

[jdhen]

Thanks to all for the encouraging comments!

[speedfunk]

One more encouraging comment coming!  It's looking awesome.  You really are building a very nice quality home.  I'm looking forward to see how it comes out.  It has personality

Question on the roof ridge cap.  Do you use the "vented" cap ?  We are getting quotes so I'm designing the roof and I'm not sure if it's necessary .  Granted you roof is place on decking and mine will be on purlins so I'm leaning toward getting the vented kit b/c of the way our roof system vents.  Just curious.  Did they use roof rakes on the sides?  I tried to look at pics but I could not tell.


It's funny how people seem to dislike drywall so much.   I've done it and vowed NEVER again.   Could not pay me enough to do that for a living. 

Jeff

[jdhen]

Thanks, Jeff.  It the kudos that keep you going! 

To answer your question, it is a vented cap in that it is an A- shaped piece of metal that is fastened to the tops of the standing seams.  They bent the ends of the panels up under the ridge cap so you don't get a full 1-3/8 space...maybe something more like 3/8ths.  But it will make a nice space for air to escape the small attic space.  Also when I add that to the triangle vents at each gable end I should have enough free space for the house fan to exhaust the hot air in the summer.

Now, even with that steep pitch I had to have them come back and attach that brillo pad like mesh under the cap because one time with snow on the roof and a strong northwest wind, snow actually was blown back up under the cap and fell down into the attic space (well, actually it made it into the bedroom- this was before insulation and drywall).  If you go with vented, I'd make sure to use it on your house because it's an even less steep pitch (is it like a 4/12?) and I would think that snow would more easily make its way in.  I had them completely close off the shed roof's on both sides because they are less than 3/12 and snow very easily came in the house when it slid off the 12/12.  Not a lot, but enough to make me nervous about eventual water damage marks on the drywall ceiling.

They did use rake trim and eave trim as well.  In fact, both trims were integral to the panels as they helped to fasten them in place.  I've never been big on rake trim for metal roofs but I'm very happy with the way that it looks.  It's not as bulky looking as some rake trims I've seen.  Plus both the rake and the eave have a slight turn-out at the ends to help water to drip away from the facia board.

[jdhen]

How long should one wait after the drywall finisher to start painting?
They've done the taping and the first coat of mud.  Tomorrow they will sand and coat again and then finish with an orange peel texture (not sure if that will happen on the same day). 
After that can I just paint once the surface feels dry to the tough?   Or, should I give it a few days?

[cbc58]

you might want to wait a couple of days for all the dust to settle and things to dry thoroughly.  do they have heat going on to dry the joint compoud or are they using the quick dry stuff?  you could probably get away with just going ahead and painting but waiting a day or so wouldn't hurt just to make sure everything is dry and settled.  that's what i would do but others might just do it.

i really like your cabin/home.  the title says 14x36 but it's got to be wider than 14.  what is the total width with the addition on the side?  one other question:  i looks like your stove pipe goes up at a slight angle in one of your recent pictures... is that just a matter of moving it to straighten it out or is there an issue with the placement and the where it goes through the roof.  I ask because i may build a similar type place and put the stove in that location.

[jdhen]

Thanks for the advice, CBC.  I'm not sure what type of compound they are using.  I'll have to check with them.  It's been 2 days and they haven't been back but in some spots where it went on thick you can tell there's still a bit of moisture in the plaster.  I've run the woodstove a few times and have had the windows open with lots of wind so that seems to be helping.

Thanks for the compliment.  You're right, it's not really a 14x36 anymore.  The addition off the north was suppose to be a screened-in porch and storage area when we started but it became much more as we built.  It's now a 22x36 not counting the sun porch off the south side.   We also plan a another room to the east off of the living room so that will make it larger as well.  This building thing is fatiguing but addictive as well

I've had to move the stove around a few times on the platform with all the recent activity so that's why the pipe is not straight.  Still, even on an angle it works fine.  There's quite a bit of flexibility with the sections.  I do wish I'd placed the chase a few inches back from where I did but that does move the stove closer to the stairs than the factory recommended distance.  The stove has a built in heat shield that keeps the heat from strongly radiating.  Even where I have it now, when it's totally fired up, I never feel any significant warmth transmitted to the stairs (or now drywall). I may leave it in place and leave the bend after it rises above the loft beams.  Now that there is dry wall upstairs it's difficult to see that there's any leaning at all.

[speedfunk]

We got a parts list from one of the local retailers which has helped a great deal.  I'm glad you mentioned the Brillo pad stuff.  I think from what your saying that it makes sense to install it. 

I also know what your saying about the rakes looking a quite substantial.  But I do see how it helps keep the ends from pulling up in a high wind.  The firstday we built has issues with high winds.  There is no roof rake on the sides on that.  Looking forward to getting the roof on.

Thanks Jesse for that great explanation.

[OlJarhead]

I noticed that Don put in something similar.  Is this for your water lines or some kind of heating system?

I've never seen these 'pex manifolds' before and am wondering why I keep seeing them

http://www.pexsupply.com/Viega-MXBD14-2-3-8-14-Port-Compression-MANABLOC-6-hot-8-cold-5380000-p
I found that -- interesting.  So it's a plumbing distro for multiple locations?

For my little cabin I can't imagine using one but perhaps if they made something with 3 colds and 2 hots I'd be interested.

[jdhen]

It's for the water lines.  The main supply line comes in at the bottom.  The top 2 lines go to and from the water heater.  The white lines supply the cold water and the red to the hot.  It basically allows you to run a dedicated line to each faucet.
This is the smallest manifold I could find.  They make some small copper manifolds that have from 2 or more outlets with shut-off valves so you might make something like that work in your situation.

[John Raabe]

This is a nice neat system that is so much more doable for an owner than cutting and sweating copper pipe (like we did!)

[OlJarhead]

It's for the water lines.  The main supply line comes in at the bottom.  The top 2 lines go to and from the water heater.  The white lines supply the cold water and the red to the hot.  It basically allows you to run a dedicated line to each faucet.
This is the smallest manifold I could find.  They make some small copper manifolds that have from 2 or more outlets with shut-off valves so you might make something like that work in your situation.

Thanks for the reply.

Interesting really.  I can see doing this in my case too becuase I have a main pipe that would come to the manifold from the cistern and then the hot going to the instant on LP heater and running the home runs to where they are needed.

I wonder if it wouldn't work to use this to run to a water spicket on the side of the house too?  Also to have reserve for an extra room if one should be added with a bathroom in it also.

In my case I need cold to go to the kitchen sink, bathroom sink, tub and composting toilet and then hot to the tub/shower, kitchen and bathroom sinks.  So have 7 or 8 leads is pretty excessive but for $90 if they can be plugged off it might be worth it.  I could run one of the colds to the back and front walls of the cabin allowing me to hook up watering/sprinkling hoses to them then.

[ScottA]

Damn that's pretty. You should be a plumber. 

[jdhen]

Scott, you really are too kind.  While I am proud of the way the pex turned out you notice I haven't been posting lots of pics of the DWV    Not real clean with the primer or the glue.



Jarhead- I have 2 cold lines running to hose bibs under the house and that will run through the foundation wall.  It will be useful for small amounts of watering but they recommend that if you're planning to use it for heavy irrigation to run it separately off the main and not through the manifold.
It's easy to plug off unused ports.  I have one and the plugs cost $.60 or so.

[jdhen]

Started in on the cabinets.  Still need to do the face frame but that will be later.
The cabinet walls are oak plywood.  I hate to do it but my wife wants them painted.  She'll let me leave the interiors exposed.  I could have just purchased the birch ply but it was the same price as the oak.  The tops are exterior grade 3/4 inch ply.






All counter tops will  be tiled.

Everything is now draped in plastic as the texture crew finished up the drywall today.  I had them leave it up because it will make the painting much easier.  That starts tomorrow 



While they were working I added some gates to both entries.  The double gate enters the future large garden spot.