12'x20' Okanogan Cabin... already likely to go 14'x24' or bigger

Started by nailit69, January 25, 2015, 12:08:25 PM

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nailit69

Quote from: rick91351 on April 12, 2015, 11:08:36 PM
You wrote you grandparents had a cabin in the Blues!  Around LaGrande?

Not sure where it was exactly... been 35 years since i've been there... but IIRC, thier place was 1000 acres and 2 of the property lines were the southern border and the eastern border of Wa. State (roughly).  I remember old pics of the place but it's mostly a memory for me... it was right on the Snake River, they had on old military 6x6 flatbed w/a crate for a drivers seat they used to feed the cows with... we used to joyride it to the river and back.

nailit69

Been trying to find time (more like $$$) to get back up to the cabin to finish mixing the last 25+/- bags of redi-mix and build the cabin floor.  We had a couple of unexpected expenses come up that put the schedule off by a few weeks but should get back on track soon.  My dad was up that way camping in his 5th wheel which was going to also serve as my "Motel" for a few days but he wimped out and came home 2 weeks early so i'm back at square one. 

I can't wait til I have something built so I can stay/camp at the cabin... once the floor is built I can at least campout in the basement... $100 a night just to have a place to lay my head is rediculous, I check in around 9-10pm and leave by 6am... that's cabin money i'm wasting. 

I've got a few days off so I might just load up the dirtbikes and fishing poles and go finish the cement and spend a day or two riding and fishing and worry about the floor on the next trip up.  If I do that I can actually relax a bit more... I have been going full throttle every time i've been there & haven't had time to enjoy any of the sights or do any fishing. 


OlJarhead

Amen to that!  I am still trying to find more time to relax but have so much to do and so little time....

We camped out in a tent trailer for the first year or so when working on the cabin :)  Glad we have it mostly finished now!

nailit69

Quote from: OlJarhead on May 26, 2015, 01:11:58 PM
Amen to that!  I am still trying to find more time to relax but have so much to do and so little time....

We camped out in a tent trailer for the first year or so when working on the cabin :)  Glad we have it mostly finished now!

We picked up a cheap "Fixer Upper" travel trailer from a friend of a friend a couple weeks back that supposedly just needed a "minor" floor repair... this morning I hooked a chain through the windows and ripped the entire thing off the frame.  It wound up being infested with carpenter ants... (I could tell by all the tiny beer cans they left behind).  Thankfully I didn't spend too much on it...it does have brand new wheels and tires on it though so worth the investment I suppose. 

On that note... I found a 19' aluminum box from a box truck that's about to become a new Toyhauler RV...  d* like I didn't have enough to do already.  I have built more than a couple of pretty well known and super bad ass food trucks in my area so I can cut the hell out of a UPS truck without batting an eye.

So, that's where a good portion of the cabin fund has been directed over the last few weeks... should've toughed it out in the hotel, it would've been cheaper in the long run.  Oh well, we'll get back on track soon enough and push the completion date out a few weeks or more if necessary and cross fingers that we get it dried in before winter.

nailit69

I've been working on a full set of "as-built" drawings just in case I ever get called out by the county or anyone else for that matter but also to start building this thing in my head to see how things are gonna go together and if i'm going to run into any problems during construction.



I'm trying to eliminate the need for any center posts especially in the basement and based on my current cabin construction and similar dimensions, I've decided to span the 14'-0" direction w/a 4x10  (8'-0" o.c. +/-) on ea. side of the kitchen popout and run my 2"x 8"x 8'-0" joists @ 16" o.c. joist hangered between them and covered in 3/4" T&G plywood.  I'm also going to duplicate it for the loft floor w/posts under the beams to transfer load directly to the foundation and then ledger off of the studs @ the perimeter and hangered from the beams again.  Top it off with a 25'-0" engineered ridge beam and this should eliminate the need for posts, save time and material as well as making it a little easier to plumb/wire/insulate along the exterior walls between floors.

Also toying with the idea of getting rid of the washer/dryer closet and trying to shoehorn a set of stairs in there and put the W/D in the basement when that time comes.


nailit69

Been a while since i've updated the progress on our place.  We decided it was time to get the remainder of the foundation work at the cabin wrapped up before winter comes... 30 bags of redi mix to fill the foundation and 20 yds of gravel fill.  It was good to get back out there but as I rounded the last corner I was met with a BIG surprise when we pulled up... NEIGHBORS...DIRTY HIPPY NEIGHBORS... now, on a total of 60 acres, there's a trailer and 2 motorhomes about 200 yds. out from my place. 

Why the hell on an entire F*ing mountain would you post up your dirty hippy camp and delapidated motorhomes and trailers on the same 2 acre patch of land as mine?  Find your own mountain.

No garbage yet and they seem nice enough but i didn't plan this with provisions for any crappy blue tarp hippy communes nearby, god only knows how they're dealing with thier waste but i'm guessing it's less than legit... just guessing by what appears to be a crude outhouse in the trees with the beginnings of a hand dug well about 30'-40' directly downhill from there. I hope I don't have to rat myself out to get them to install a legal septic system but things gotta be dealt with properly.  The other original neighbors aren't too happy about them either and came down to express thier displeasure and help spread gravel.

Met a couple of the other neighbors... interesting bunch... if they were on horseback they would almost certainly be "outlaws" if I was judging them on looks alone... nice guys although rumor has it they have a shimmering silver mine up there and defend it mercilessly.

Long story short... i'm going to finish the cabin as planned and hope the inability to make the payment and or a brutally cold weather forces them back down the mountain... or else we're selling.  i'm not driving 5hrs. as well as busting my ass for hundreds of hours to look out the window and see a dirty hippy camp.  I was actually interested in buying the adjacent properties to prevent this but apperantly these clowns got there first.

Ridgeracing

That sucks!! Feel your pain. I have a nice cabin with another 100yds away and is not a problem. Until this past year when it was bought by a couple with three 23-30yr old sons with families each that come up and party every weekend. And since there cabin is not big enough they have cleared out the woods to park 2 large 30ft RVs there. It is just frustrating to see what was ounce a nice wooded cabin area turned into a trailer park with a dozen of noisy people on weekends. They are polite so I bighte my tongue d*

nailit69

Yea... this guy is nice enough, friendly, semi helpful (really good at drinking muh beer),etc.but he seems needy. I went there with an idea, a truckload of tools, and some material and built it w no outside help. This guy wants my old tarp, my old pallets, my old 2x6, and thats just one trip... he wants me to haul "a few things" in to make his life easier... i want him to leave not help him stay... if he's still there in the spring i might scratch off a nice pad site on the other side of his place so were not such close neighbors.

According to the neighbor thats lived there for 20 yrs... he said that many have come and tried to tuff it out but nobody's ever made it long... hopefully  these fellas wont last up there either The original neighbor said we were the first in that time that built something permanent there since he's been there. The place is awesome and we really love the area, the drive, the location  and even the neighbors but its been eating at me since Saturday morning and got me thinking about something an hour or two closer. I'll give it1or 2yrs and see who's still on the hill but i want more privacy.

MountainDon

How big is your property?  There is something to be said for building in the more or less center.  The only way to control who builds near you is to own more land.  Not always a practical solution as far as $$ go though.

Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.


nailit69

Quote from: MountainDon on October 07, 2015, 01:58:50 PM
How big is your property?  There is something to be said for building in the more or less center.  The only way to control who builds near you is to own more land.  Not always a practical solution as far as $$ go though.

Our place is 20 acres...  i was attempting that piece and another adjacent 20 but they beat me to it... ive got another pad i was going to cut in up higher for a future bigger cabin... although it is higher up and farther away, unfortunately i can see him from there too.. lol

rick91351

Will be weird if they hang out for very long.  Everyone has the homestead dream. Soon they figure out tendin' the garden & living on dreams just is not what they figured it was gonna' be.  Meanwhile back at your place best start amassing a down on that piece of property.  I got a feeling.........
Proverbs 24:3-5 Through wisdom is an house builded; an by understanding it is established.  4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.

Adam Roby

Quote from: MountainDon on October 07, 2015, 01:58:50 PM
How big is your property?  There is something to be said for building in the more or less center.  The only way to control who builds near you is to own more land.  Not always a practical solution as far as $$ go though.

I did everything I could to get the biggest piece of land possible for the money I could scrape together.  Now I am building a driveway into the property, right dab in the middle for this exact reason.  Friend of mine keeps telling me to top where I am, you're far enough in... nah, I want to be in the middle.  At the moment there is nobody in sight, all vacant land all around for miles... but I know things can change quickly as they did for you.

I hope for you they get too lazy to maintain it and stop going.  Maybe you can get a deal on the bankruptcy sale.  ;)

nailit69

I hope they do get to live thier American dream... just not next to me.

Ya... "Bill" seems to be the guy that shows up 5 minutes after I show up, shortly after comes the "got  any beer" ffollowed by 100 different ways I could do things better, etc.. I guess its the little things like food and beer and gas to run a genny that become more and more valuable the colder it gets, his plan is to heat his 1970 something rvw propane... 120 gallons... with no deliveries til spring and no transportation this guy could die up there. Time will tell if be can make it... I build houses and know all to well how disappointed people can be when they get new neighbors... i knew going in this might happen. Im not afraid to build a kick ass cabin and turn it... itll pay to build a bigger better cabin on a nicer piece of land elsewhere.

"Steven and Matt" are two of the original neighbors they dont come around often but drive by usually once a day and if i flag him down theyll bring us water when we need it and offered dumptruck and tractor work and i bit... I gave him $100 for the help and 5 gallons of gasoline (all i had)... he saved me at least a full day of work though... that's the neighbors I like. Funny thing about it is i think he'd rather have more fuel than the money... guess it about what you need out there.

OlJarhead

We call them "Winter Kill" up here.  They buy in the spring/summer/fall with the intention of living the life and sell in the spring after the winter finishes them off :P


nailit69

Quote from: OlJarhead on October 09, 2015, 12:56:40 PM
We call them "Winter Kill" up here.  They buy in the spring/summer/fall with the intention of living the life and sell in the spring after the winter finishes them off :P

Hope your right... although if he survives the winter he's one tough bird but i don't see it happening. Knowing what i know, I wouldn't attempt to do what hes about to... neighbors say in 20 years, the lowest snow level they've seen was 2' and the highest was 5'... if hes having trouble now getting fuel and supplies things can only get worse for him.

nailit69

Well, it's been a long wet winter and things are finally drying out and the sunshine has returned.  I'm getting pretty excited to head back up to our place in the Okanogan and get some things done over there this year and try and find some of that elusive free time to enjoy all that the area has to offer up. 

I was able to stay in touch with the neighbors, texting them every few weeks to see how things are going up on the mountain and last report was... "All is well and the snow is almost gone"... Yay!!! 

I've been busy gathering more parts and pieces for the cabin, got a few leftover 10' sticks of PEX, a 100' roll of 14/2 Romex, a beefy 12v flojet on demand water pump, some misc. fittings for my water tank system, I picked up a free airtight woodstove w/pipe, some cast iron cookware, a gas cooktop, etc..

The plan is to head over as soon as we can get a lumber delivery up there to build the 1st floor and maybe do a little more dirtwork in preperation for the framing.  We might have to haul it in ourselves if the road restriction isn't lifted yet but it's only a couple of trips.

Then... i'm hoping to head back up in late May/June and start building the rest of the cabin and then maybe a final trip towards the end of the summer Sept/Oct. to install the metal roofing and get it boarded up and ready for winter. 

Next year I should be able to buy/install the windows and get it sided.  I'm also toying with the idea of burning the siding in a traditional japanese method known as "Shoa Sugi Bahn"... it's a natural insect repellant as well as adding a little bit of natural fireproofing... still on the fence about it but will also make it look 10x older than it is which I like too. 

I think I might bring my rowboat and stash it in the basement so I can do some fishing but we'll see if I have room on the lumber rack for it and I also want to bring my dirtbike to do some serious exploring instead of putting around in the 4x4, but again... we'll see.

Stein


nailit69

Quote from: Stein on March 26, 2016, 12:02:08 AM
Did the neighbor say if the hippies survive the winter?

  ;) I haven't asked... I didn't want to be "that guy".  I'm sort of over it... for now anyway. 

I did do a title search the other day and noticed his name wasn't listed as the legal owner so he may have already given up... our parcel was listed on the assessors site in our name within a week or two after closing.  I'm guessing a bunch of his shit is probably still there either way.

There was 3' of snow up there this winter and it's been there since before X-mas and there was still 2' a month or so ago... it can't have been easy dealing with it if he wasn't prepared by then.  Maybe i'm just a snow sissy (i'm not) and he's a real he man and laughs at 3' of snow... we'll see how things be up there soon enough.

I need to save up a little more $$ for my floor framing package and some other misc. and then i'm heading up in a few weeks.  I'm intentionally putting it off until the last week or two of April hoping to see more of the spring colors up there as well as having some warmer weather too.  I completely missed it last year, we had the foundation wrapped up (for the most part) by March and didn't get back up there until October after the fires and everything was just about done for the year by then but we did catch the tail end of the leaves turning.

nailit69

 :)Hooray!!!  We got the money together yesterday for the cabin framing... most of it anyway.  Going off my materials cost estimates from last year, I think I have enough to get it framed up, roofed, and covered in Tyvek.  I won't have enough to install windows or siding this year so just looking to get it up, weathered in, and boarded up before winter hits. 

I'm going back and forth on roofing material... I can use 30yr. architectural comp at a cost of about $600 or go with 3 rib metal for about $1,200 or standing seam metal for about $2,000.   

I didn't really want to use comp...  although I am the most familiar with comp and feel comfortable using it and being able to keep things weatherproof. 

I don't really like the 3 rib look on roofs or the screws that stick up but it's my cheapest metal roof option. 

Not sure I can afford (or afford to wait) for standing seam... it's what I want but I have to compromise so I may just do comp and in a few years tear it off and go w/standing seam... or just let my kids deal with it... i'll be too old by then.

OlJarhead

Have you checked pricing at Midway?  I found they were better priced that the big box places.  We went with 2' rib from them and love it.


nailit69

Ya... Midway is the shwiz.   I've priced it out... I just don't think I/we can afford it right now. 

Like everyone else, we're on a tight budget.  Right now it's a choice between roofing or no roofing.  I don't mind using comp, I was thinking of long term wear and durability and figure metal is the best way but it's not the end of the world if I can't afford it.  I'll put metal on in a few years... I just want it up and weatherproof this year.

If some extra money turns up I may go w/metal but in reality it'll probably end up in comp for now.

rick91351

We went standing seam - very spendy but I know it is not going any where and it sheds snow very well.   
Proverbs 24:3-5 Through wisdom is an house builded; an by understanding it is established.  4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.

nailit69

I wish I could afford to do standing seam but it's not the end of the world for me.  Architectural Comp looks nice enough, wears well, and should give years of service before needing to be replaced.

UK4X4

we did our first winter with just house wrap and some battens on the roof  with no issues, we did the roof the following spring when we had some cash free

We didn't cut the window openings either till we had the windows, it was just one big wrapped wooden box the first winter, less wind filtering through the better

nailit69

Yep, Tyvek and battens on the walls... I'll save the window cutouts and put 'em back in whenever we leave, it should be fine over the winter.