Look over my plans (Picture Heavy)-Updated 29Oct

duncanshannon · November 20, 2011, 03:38:42 PM

QuoteNow with more balloon

does that mean the middle of the gable end 2x6's are about 20' long?

duncanshannon · November 20, 2011, 03:46:32 PM

QuoteHere are my new plans for our 24x32 cabin incase anyone is interested. We cut it down from around 1200sq/ft to about 770sq/ft.

Can you post some pics... at least the floorplan for everyone?

i really liked your layout at 40'. curious to see how you downsized. i'm not convinced yet on my layout... want 1 1/2 story, 3 br. do i put on on main floor and have 2 up and open ceiling on part... or none down and 3 up with a full layout upstairs... guessing that is what you changed.

1 br on mail floor would be nice as people get older too...

installing sketchup right now...

lastly... how long did it take you to make the plans? i look at the blank screen (in SketchUP) and stare as I cant quite figure out how to begin... whats the rough order that you went thru to make the SU plans?

November 20, 2011, 06:13:30 PM

It takes me about a week to complete each plan, but I only get a few hours of free time a day to work on them. I would say maybe 8-10 hours to do the whole thing. I usually start with the floor plan. Once I convince my wife to stop chaning her mind, I start drawing the floor joist and work my way up from the bottom. Drawing in SketchUp is nice because it is easy to move entire walls around.

When I am modeling, I draw everything with components. I create a component for every structural member, then copy it and scale it to fit my needs. SketchUp has some handy features that make it easy for drawing framing. For instance, after you move a stud 16" with the move command you can type in "x10" and it will repeat that move command 10 times. Now you have 10 studs, 16" OC.

There are things about this plan that I still dont like. I dont like the inswing exterior door. By code it is required to have two enterances, but we probly wont ever use this one. We have talked about taking it out after the inspector signs off on the house. I do like that the wood stove is closer to the bedrooms. My big problem with the 20x40 was that the woodstove was on the other side of the house. I could see the upstairs rooms getting too cold,

firefox · November 20, 2011, 08:50:39 PM

Having two doors will not seem like such a bad thing when your house is on fire and the
fire is blocking your exit thru the front and only door. Please think about this and discuss it with your wife.
Bruce

MWAndrus · November 20, 2011, 09:12:14 PM

Take a look at my options for placement of exterior doors. If the house is on fire and I need to get out, I have six other windows to choose from. I dont see how a door 10 feet from the other will give me much advantage.

November 20, 2011, 09:34:50 PM

Unless it's an ammendment R301 requires one egress door.
For the gable framing check table R602.3.1 you are outside of the footnotes but it's somewhere to start.

firefox · November 21, 2011, 06:10:33 AM

Thanks for the clarification Don_P. My thoughts were along the line of something
happening to make the door unusable such as a falling object due to the fire. The time it
takes to get through a window with jaged glass etc. can be an eterity.

I'd hate to hear of someone hurt or killed because of it. Not trying to give anyone a hard time.
Bruce

Don_P · November 21, 2011, 06:43:44 AM

I'm certainly not saying I like it, just putting the minimum out there. Our bedroom is on the second floor with the woodstove wrapped by the stairs. The exit through any door would more than likely be blocked. We have a large horizontal sliding window in the room. The plan is to hang and drop... definitely not ideal.

I quickly ran the numbers on tall gable studs calling the wall 20' and using 20psf wind load... 2x6's @ 8" ctrs or 2x8's @ 16"oc. worked for me. On the current house I'm working on the porch roof and ceiling are providing diaphragm reinforcing to the tall wall, creating a deep beam on the outside rather than on the inside.

firefox · November 21, 2011, 02:09:15 PM

Hi Don,
You might want to keep a heavy object like a table lamp with a heavy base
near by the window, just in case the fire caused the wall to shift and jam the sliding
window. Not trying to be an alarmist here, it just poped into my head when I read your post.
I am a great admirer of all your posts!
Bruce

December 30, 2011, 09:38:32 AM

Well, I sent in my plans to the building inspector and his response was pretty positive. His biggest complaint is that I didn't have enough glazing(windows) in the living area. Easy fix. One thing that he wants me to do has me kind of scratching my head a little. He told me that he wants me to put down a layer of plastic inbetween the floor joist and the subfloor to keep moisture from getting down into the insulation. If I do this, I wont be able to glue the subfloor to the joist, so I am going to have to get some clarification on how he wants that done.

John Raabe · December 30, 2011, 11:50:45 AM

Usually the subflooring itself serves as a good vapor barrier on the floor system. If you have gross flooding of the floor above, the poly below the subfloor will not keep the insulation dry, only change (perhaps) where it gets soaked. If that is the goal then the film would be better placed between the sub and final flooring.