Just want to mention that Mike Holmes is confusing AAVs with mechanical (spring loaded) "cheater vents." Lots of people do that. Those spring loaded vents were never code approved.

Clearly I am not a plumber, but I have done a fair bit of searching on them after my plumbing book said they are good stuff. They have been used in Europe for about 45 years now. I couldn't find any examples failures. Just some guys don't like them cause they run the pipe up through the walls, because you know, you run the pipe up through the walls. 

Personally I would never use a mechanical vent. I'm sure things have changed a lot, but three generations before me were in the plumbing trade and my father was not only a plumber but a building inspector for 40 years too, and I was always told to never use mechanical vents. You'd also be surprised at how much you can get a piece of ABS to bend when you're trying to get it into a wall.

After 15 years of experience with AAV's installed in remodel and new construction, and no reported problems, I would recommend their use when connection to a vent stack is not a practical alternative.

After taking the winter off, I am back working on the cabin.
This winter was a normal 5 to 6 feet amount of snowfall, unlike the previous freak winter where there was only about a foot of snow. The metal roof sheds the snow well. There was no snow on the roof, the several times I visited. The falling snow leaves snow piles along the front and back of the cabin.



I drove up in May to fill up my 300 gallon water tank from the well.  I hooked up a 12 volt pump to one end of 100 feet of potable water hose and the other end to the IBC tote. My deep cycle battery provided the power. It took about 3 hours to fill the water tank. I need to eventually remove that concrete cover and build a pump house over the well. That well cover is heavy!



The week of the 4th of July, I headed up to work on the plumbing vent piping. After reading the above helpful comments and since it is a relatively small job, I decided to place the vent piping in the walls. I used a miter box to cut pipe and that worked out very well.




I drilled a couple of pilot holes for the toilet and shower drains to make sure I was far enough from the floor joists to join the pipe. I nailed down the underlayment in the bathroom floor and temporarily laid down some tiles to see how they looked.



When I go back in a few weeks, I will work on the drain lines from the cellar. My first job will be routing the vent pipe around the top of the foundation. There is a 7 inch space between the wall and the first floor joist, to fit my pipe through. The pipe in the picture is just blocked up to hold it in place. It will need to be cut to fit the 90 or 45 degree elbows that I end up using.



I found this press to fit, non-cement toilet closet flange at HD the other day. It looks pretty simple to use. Has anyone used one of these? Any suggestions?



I took my old cooler and added 2 inches of rigid foam insulation on all sides to build a super cooler. It looks ugly but it sure keeps in the cold!
Thanks.

Dave, I've seen those press to fit,  I wouldn't want to count on that flimsy gasket for such an important connection.  I'd take it back and use the PVC cement and a normal flange. 

I didn't buy it. It seemed like a good idea, but not heavy duty enough. Just wanted to see what others thought. I'm headed up to the cabin tomorrow and will use a normal flange. Hopefully I will get my drain lines installed and tied into the septic field this weekend. My biggest concern is lining up the pipe from the toilet flange to the main stack. I'll dry fit the pieces together and then put alignment marks on the stack and sanitary tee fitting before cementing them in.

I spent 2 days at the cabin this weekend. I worked on the waste stack in the cellar, working my way down. My biggest concern was lining up the pipe between the stack and the toilet. I dry fit the pipe and when it looked good, I cemented it together. I lucked out cutting the hole for the toilet flange - my hole saw was just the right size. A couple of strokes with the wood rasp and the flange fit perfectly. I have a double header under the wall where the kitchen sink drain will run, so I plan to run the pipe down through the floor instead of inside the wall.





I installed a piece of plywood along the wall where the kitchen counter will go and put a coat of polyurethane on it. This will be my temporary counter. Next trip up, I'll put in the kitchen sink and plumb it up.



I brought my 250 watt solar panel and charge controller up with me this trip, but didn't get the chance to hook them up. I still need some fuses and proper lugs to hook up correctly. When I got home, I found the on demand water pump I ordered, had arrived. I need to do some research on Pex piping and connectors next !

Your place is coming along very nice.   Can't wait to see the finished project and start my own.

I took a few days vacation last week and drove up to the cabin. It was nice to get away and enjoy the peace and quiet surrounded by woods!

I worked plumbing the soil stack. The hardest part was routing the pipe in a U shape to hook up to the pipe headed out to the septic tank. I kept measuring, cutting pipe, dry fitting everything and marking the correct angles until it was all hooked up. The last piece I installed was the long sweep 90 fitting. I had to cement both ends and then attach it to both connecting pipes before everything hardened.



I traced the outline of my new kitchen sink on the plywood counter and cut out the opening. My jigsaw battery gave out halfway through so I used my handsaw the rest of the way. The double sink fits nicely. I had purchased a plumbing kit to hook up a double sink. I tried it out, but didn't like how it fit. I'll return it and hook up the drains the standard way. I still need to determine the height of the drain pipe above the floor.







I also hooked up my solar panel and charge controller for the first time. It was just a test run, but everything seemed to work well. The charge controller was putting out 14.5 volts to my battery. While my marine battery was charging, I also hooked up my Ryobi battery car charger and charged my power tool batteries. I rested the solar panel against the cabin at night so any deer walking around at night would not step on it. Eventually I will build a stand for the solar panel. I took measurements of the battery and charge controller, so I can build a battery box on the east side of the cabin. I will size the box for 3 batteries, vent it and put 2 inch rigid insulation on the inside of the box.



Each day around 6 pm, I would go down to the lake and cool off from the day's work. I even did some blueberry picking on Friday!



I had a nice visit on Saturday with CBC58 from Country Plans! He stopped by for a tour of the cabin. We spent 30 minutes chatting, while I showed him around the work site. Hopefully I'll be back up in 2 weeks to hook up the sink, toilet and water pump.

Dave I am not sure there is a standard height.  Normally it is what your fittings work out to and give you some wiggle room to make repairs later.  Don't forget to get a trap that can taken apart to retrieve lost items or remove clogs.  Both sinks can feed into one trap.

Insulation question: I have 2x8 roof rafters and p;an on using 6 inch fiberglass insulation. This should give me about an inch of clearance between the roof sheathing and the top of the insulation. I have vents at the soffits and the ridge. Will this work ok to prevent moisture buildup, or do I have to use those thin, rigid pink styrofoam channels above the insulation? I was planning on only using the styrofoam channels at the eaves to keep the soffits open.

You shouldn't need the channels IMO.  You can also fasten some thin strips of rigid insulation to ensure it doesn't get compressed if you are worried.  I think gravity will keep it clear for you.  6 inches is only going to be around R20 though.  I know in my area code is R38, I'd assume it's higher where you are in NH.  I'd consider some rigid insulation on top (well below actually) of your batts, then your drywall or whatever your finished ceiling is.  I assume you are in a purely heating zone there?

Dave,

I bought a house in NH that was improperly insulated with no airflow to keep the roof cold and it was a constant battle with ice dams and leaks.  Had to rake the snow off after each storm.  Personally I would err on the side of caution and spend the few dollars for channels if not simply for peace of mind.  Once you cover it up you can't go back without major hassle and expense.

EDIT:  I just remembered that you have a nice metal roof and don't know if those are subject to the same problems asphalt roofs endure.  Guessing not nearly as much if at all since most of the snow slides off.

Thanks for giving me a tour of your place - gave me some ideas and things to think about...  I tried to send a message earlier via this site but it appears not to have gone through...

Thanks for the insulation suggestions. One of the reasons I went with 8 inch rafters was to be able to use the 6 inch fiberglass batts. I priced out the rigid foam channels and it would cost about $150 extra to use them for the whole roof. I let you know what I decide.  Yes, NH has strict insulation requirements but one of the reasons I bought this land, is that the town does not enforce building codes and does not do inspections of construction. It is going to be another 2 years before I panel the underside of the roof; we'll see at that time if I want to do the extra work of adding additional rigid insulation.  I also think that with the small size of the cabin, the heat from my wood stove is going to have me opening the windows to let out the heat!

I drove up to the cabin Thursday night to work for 2 days.  I put 2 coats of pain on the front door and painted the boards for my rear soffits. When I put up the front soffits, I painted them after they were up and had to deal with paint dripping on my head. I learned my lesson!



I replaced my old black chimney pipe with some new ones from the same manufacturer that made the class A stainless pipe on the roof.  The new pipe is better made and has a telescoping section of pipe. This will allow me to remove the pipe for cleaning from the inside without having to move the stove. I built a test fire Saturday morning.



I dry fit the drain piping under the kitchen sink on Saturday. I haven't decided whether to hard pipe the P trap discharge line to the T fitting or use a piece of hard rubber hose temporarily. I plan to keep the sink in this location when I eventually get cabinets and a real kitchen counter. Hopefully I can line the pipe up in the future.




My solar panel is going to live against the wall this winter until I can build a frame for it in the spring.

I'm loving the look of your place, Dave.

My husband and I are moving to Oregon sometime in the next 6-8 months and will be looking for land to build a 14x24 full two-story house. Since he's the primary breadwinner, I will be the primary housebuilder  and, while I have many resources (family in the area that are home construction professionals, who will be on call to keep me from doing anything too stupid), it's a gigantic step for someone who has never built anything bigger than a tree house. Been studying a ton and working 2 days a week with Habitat for Humanity to learn and get in the groove. It's super encouraging seeing your place come together - really helpful as we make our plans.

Cheers!

I took vacation last week and headed up to the cabin. The weather was great with daytime temps in the 70's and night temps in the 50's. The best thing is there were no bugs!

One major goal was to get the rear soffit installed. First I built a framework of 2x4s to nail the soffits to. I cut screening and stapled it to the underside of one half of the soffit. Then I nailed both halves of the soffit I place. Two of the soffits were 12 feet long and the remaining one was an 8 footer. Once the boards were secure, I reached from inside of the soffit to staple the other side of the screen in place. It came out nice.









I figured out where I wanted my 120 V electrical outlet boxes and started running some 14 gauge wire through the walls until I ran out of wire. The kitchen and bathroom will get 12 gauge. All the wires will run to a future breaker box on the west basement wall. I still have to run my 12 VDC wire. I picked up a second 250 watt solar panel which I had ordered at HD. I found some pictures of a simple wooden A frame style solar panel support, which I will build at home and then assemble in NH. I also plan to build an insulated battery box at home over the winter, which I will place on the east side of the cabin next to the bulkhead door. I plan to eventually put my charge controller, fuses and inverter on the east wall inside the cellar.





I stapled up pink Styrofoam spacers between rafters, in preparation to adding insulation batts.



The color of the foliage improved in the week I was there. I like the light from the full moon reflecting off the roof.







Question about fire stops:  I have 10 foot walls, with the top 2 feet forming a kneewall in the lofts. I assume I should nail in horizontal 2x6's as fire stops. Should I nail them in approximately half way up? I need to do this before insulating the walls.
Thanks,
Dave

Thanks for the encouragement tugdor!
Working with Habitat is a great way to get experience. My daughter volunteered for a week with Habitat and learned how to hang drywall ! My prior experience was building a 8'x 14'storage shed in our backyard!
Having a second story is a great idea.  I'm glad I went with 10 foot walls for the extra headroom. If my children ever want more room, they can always add loft joists over the open middle section and end up with a full second floor.
Good luck on your search for land and your future build!
Dave

I headed up again last weekend with a load of wood chips in the truck. I placed them on the hillside to try and reduce the erosion in the spring. Looks like I will need another 4 truckloads! The weather was unseasonably warm again with temps in the high 60s. I'm not complaining!



I pumped out my water tank to get ready for winter. It only took about 2 hours. I drained out the small amount in the bottom of the tank on the floor. There is a drain in the corner and the concrete contractor did a nice job of gently sloping the floor toward the drain.



About one quarter of the roof is insulated now, so I put up a temporary loft joist to support the plywood for insulating the next section. I'll remove it once I'm done because it is way too close to the stovepipe !





I also started nailing up fire blocking in the walls.

Question on insulating:

Is there anything special I need to do when insulating between the 2 rafters above the ceiling box that my insulated stove pipe runs through? My concern is ventilation. There is airflow from the soffits to the peak, between all the other rafters, but there isn't really any airflow above that ceiling box. Or should I use a rigid insulation in this area, instead of the fiberglass bats I am using elsewhere?



Thanks,
Dave

Happy New Year! I'm still here and working on the cabin. I've been delinquent at posting in 2018. Progress last year included finishing the plumbing, building the bathroom, finishing insulating under the roof and adding more windows.

I finally finished installing the vent and drain piping. Getting ready to set the toilet took awhile. I nailed down Sureply underlayment and put down half of the vinyl tile floor. Then I could set and secure the toilet. This was my first time using PEX pipe. I did well so far - no leaks! My system is pretty simple, just cold water to the kitchen sink and the toilet. I haven't hooked up the shower yet. That is a lower priority. I built walls around the bathroom, that are removable, for when I decide to finish the shower. I installed the bathroom door; I surprised myself - it is level, it stays in the position I leave it, instead of swinging open or closed.

The insulation is finished under the roof and about 3/4 of the walls are insulated.

I am using a 12 volt RV pump in the basement for my potable water supply. The hoses to the pump are temporary; I'll secure them better one of these days! The pump works fine and I finally have running water!




I installed two windows this year, one in the loft and one in the bathroom. I have one more window to install in the east loft this year.




This is the view looking west from the kitchen end of the cabin. Most of the insulation has been installed since I took this picture.



This view is looking east toward the kitchen, bath and wood stove. I picked up a couch at Ikea which converts into a bed. Much more comfortable than my camping cot!



This is the view of the outside of the cabin this past October, with my daughter in front.

It's looking good!

Nice! 

I headed up to the cabin on the Monday before Thanksgiving to close up the cabin for the winter. I didn't realize there was 6 inches of snow on the ground. I was only able to get the truck a short ways into the driveway.



I used a toboggan to bring my supplies into the cabin.



I continued with my kitchen wiring while I was there.



On Tuesday it snowed another 8 inches. This is a view from my front door.



I'm happy with my metal roof; the snow just slides off.



I had ordered my propane kitchen stove in early October and was hoping to bring it to the cabin before winter, but the stove was backordered and didn't come in until early December. It turned out ok because with the early snow fall there was no way I could get the stove inside the cabin. It will set next to my snow blower for the winter.

Ahh beautiful snow, love looking at it dont like shoveling it lol.

Hey I didnt know you had a channel, I subscribed to yours as well and will look forward to your vids, lol it's a small world after all. I left a comment on your last vid. I looked up NH how far it is from me if I can come by and help you but damn it's over a 1000 miles from me and a 16 hour drive.

Awesome project my next one will be very close to your's (16by24 or so)

/cheers