Hometown NH Cabin (24x24??)

Started by Starvin, April 14, 2015, 01:01:23 PM

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Starvin

More or less where the front porch will be:

Starvin

FYI - Don is kind enough to be helping me with some of my framing questions. See this thread: http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=14023.0

If anyone else has comments I would be very grateful!


Starvin

Little update:

Hauled in 5 loads of 3" ledge-pack material for the driveway over the weekend. Got the driveway about 2/3 complete. Probably another 3-4 loads to go. The driveway is roughly 500' long with an elevation gain of 50'







Also did a little digging with the backhoe at the site of the cabin to expose some ledge that we will use as the basis of our foundation:






Need to cut a few bigger trees before I can finish the driveway. Hope to have the driveway finished by the end of august and start cutting/milling lumber this fall.

Don_P

There is a new house going in a couple of miles from where I've been working, a friend of my clients. She has graciously allowed us to log the homesite ahead of the excavator. I took the loader up Friday and we have 3 nice hickories back at my mill this evening, 2 mockernuts and a shagbark... cabinets and maybe wainscot in the dining room. There are 3 or 4 smallish cherries I think I'll get, a fair sized red maple and then a nice white oak that is bigger and funkier than I want to drop. I'll see if they can gently dig a little, push it over and let me back in to load it. It is a double for 4-5'. If it pans out I'll get a friend with a 6' chainmill to come in and slab it for the owner of that site as a thank you, hopefully a nicely figured tabletop inside. I've been bucking some of the logs that have a natural Y shape for braced posts... for some future project.

Does the ledge appear to be one solid rock?

Starvin

sounds like great projects Don! Having a mill sure is handy. I am thankful for thrifty, knowledgable and utility-rich neighbors that are willing to help!

Yes it does appear that the ledge is monolithic. I am going to do some more digging next weekend to be sure.


Starvin

Spent some time up at the property last week. Finished the bulk of the driveway, cut some sawlogs and did some milling (8' and 12' timbers).










Starvin

More lumber milled out. 2x4's, 2x6's and 6x6's. Also a few 1x6 planks.

We'll need to pick up a 4' extension for my neighbor's mill in order to mill our our 18' rafters.


Starvin

#32
Bump on my build thread. It seems that the previous pictures are not showing up for me, can others see them?

Regardless, my build is taking a turn (as they tend to do). I'll be starting with an off-grid (no well or septic) 12x18 "bunkhouse" cabin with  with a knee-wall and 12/12 pitch loft. It will eventually become the future "guest house" when I build the larger 24x24 structure (with well, septic, etc.)

My plan is to build it on PT skids, on top of a compacted rip-rap/crushed stone base. The thought is to make it "movable" in the event that long-term plans for the larger house change.

I'm going to build with PT up to the first floor deck (since it will be close to the ground), and rough-sawn from the property above that.




Starvin

#33
I'm thinking the older pictures may have been facebook-linked and that's why they are no longer showing up?

Anyhow, a couple more:

Driveway is 90% complete... almost 600' of it, and fairly steep/curvy


Land clearing almost complete. Another dozen or so trees to go. Cabin will sit to the right, a little past the tractor. Hard to see from the pics, but there is a pretty good mountain view to the center-left (south-facing). Driveway comes in from the left beyond the firewood pile.


Starvin

#34
Another, opposite view of the building lot. Cabin to go on the left, out of shot, beyond the tractor. Top of the driveway is in the middle of the shot, headed down to the right.


azgreg


new land owner

I saw the last post with pictures this afternoon but there are no pictures now?

MountainDon

No images visible.  Neither old or new.    It appears the newer ones are hosted by Google?  I have no first hand experience but have heard there are "tricks" that need to be employed to allow googleusercontent images to post/view in forums. 
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

MountainDon

copied from a search......

Possible workaround. When you open the page that gets created by the Get Shareable Link, can you open the image on that page and right-click on it to get the image URL? The URL should be available publicly. Can you access this link from my photos, because if so then it should work in forums too.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/YPMPaxj3j2qLh2hITNsesxHNYc4FfkKLVCRV5xq6edeb=w712-h1067-no


and if that url is placed within "IMG tags"  it will post here.  The image tag is created when you click on the little Mona Lisa button in the forum compose message window.
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.


Starvin

I switched over to Photobucket per the instructions on this board. The directions MountainDon posted for Google Photos didn't seem to work for me.

Anyways, I fixed (I think) the image links for my 12/5/16 posts. Can someone please confirm they are able to see now?


Starvin

For some reason I am unable to edit my earliest posts in this thread to fix the images... so I'll add some of the more pertinent ones here:

Property is across the street from where this picture is taken


At the highest elevation on the property. Roughly where the cabin will be. Looking south. The road in the first pic runs left to right way down below.


Culvert project where the driveway meets the road


Driveway getting roughed in





Top of the driveway. Cabin will more or less sit where the excavator is now.









ChugiakTinkerer

Thanks for the recent pics.  I can see the ones you posted yesterday as well as today.

Your bunkhouse build is not too far off from what I am planning for our cabin in Alaska.  I'd really love to see those pics of your milling operation.  I'll be hauling my bandsaw mill out this winter and starting the clearing and sawing process.  One thing on my must-have list is a piece of equipment such as a tractor or tracked skid-steer loader.  What model is that orange beauty?  Have you encountered any limitations with it?
My cabin build thread: Alaskan remote 16x28 1.5 story

new land owner

Yes, the pictures are showing and your progress looks good. I am interested in your 6 x 6 Skid foundation as I will be doing the same on a small 12 x 16 building I am planning for this springs. Looking forward to following your project.

Starvin

Quote from: ChugiakTinkerer on December 06, 2016, 01:20:52 PM
Thanks for the recent pics.  I can see the ones you posted yesterday as well as today.

Your bunkhouse build is not too far off from what I am planning for our cabin in Alaska.  I'd really love to see those pics of your milling operation.  I'll be hauling my bandsaw mill out this winter and starting the clearing and sawing process.  One thing on my must-have list is a piece of equipment such as a tractor or tracked skid-steer loader.  What model is that orange beauty?  Have you encountered any limitations with it?

Thanks guys!

The mill is my neighbors. It is a Norwood and is pretty slick!




The tractor is my fathers. It is a Kubota L5030. He has a backhoe for it, as well as a logging winch. It is a GREAT machine. We spread all of the material for my driveway (6 tri-axle loads) with it. Also pulled out A LOT of stumps, and, while it will work if you have some patience (helps to have non-rocky soil too, we dont!), it is no match for a good excavator.





Starvin

Looking for critiques on framing. I show platform framing above, but have had some (other forums) suggest balloon framing. Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Also, trying to avoid collar ties as I don't want to lose the headroom in the loft. Is this possible?

One more, will 2x8 rough sawn pine be ok for the rafters or do I need to jump to 2x10?


ChugiakTinkerer

Will you have a county inspector to contend with?  If so, then he'll trump any advice you get over the net.  :)

I'll be doing balloon framing.  Don't want a hinge on a tall wall, especially where I won't have a loft floor to provide reinforcement.

If you make your ridge board structural, you won't need rafter ties.  That means the ridge is carrying the load for half the roof, reducing the outward thrust of the rafters to zero.  In theory, anyhow.  You could easily accomplish a ridge beam with LVL that spans the 18', and probably even use your hand-sawn too.  What is the ground snow load you are dealing with?  With a structural ridge you can do away with the post in the loft.  Alternatively you could support a structural ridge with the post mid-way, but for best support you would want to continue it on the first floor too.  That way there is a straight line of support from the ridgeline down to the skid.

Collar ties are the ones that tie together the top of the rafters.  They are meant to keep rafters from spreading due to uplift.  You get the same benefit by using strapping across the ridge peak.  For max headroom in the loft use rafter strapping instead of collar ties.  Rafter ties are the ones that tie the bottoms of the rafters together and are meant to counter the spreading forces that would bow the walls out.  If installed on the top plate they become the ceiling joists.  With trusses or a structural ridge the outward thrust is negated so you don't have ti use rafter ties.  This is how to get the cathedral ceiling and still meet code.
My cabin build thread: Alaskan remote 16x28 1.5 story

Starvin

Thanks a lot for the advice! Thankfully, no building inspection process in my town! :)

Don_P

In the open room, as the eave wall changes from loft to greatroom, those walls should be full height, you have a weak hinge in the wall. The tall gable is the same way, balloon frame it. Studs should run from points of lateral support, floor to floor or floor to roof.

Starvin

Quote from: Don_P on December 07, 2016, 06:33:47 PM
In the open room, as the eave wall changes from loft to greatroom, those walls should be full height, you have a weak hinge in the wall. The tall gable is the same way, balloon frame it. Studs should run from points of lateral support, floor to floor or floor to roof.

Thanks Don! - I have heard the same feedback about the eave walls in the open area. I'm redesigning that now. People have also suggested that I balloon frame the whole eave wall (both sides), including the loft area, since the knee walls in the loft area also represents a "hinge" point. Your thoughts?

Regarding the tall gable with the stacked windows, I was wondering if balloon framing is best. With the windows and all the headers and king/jack studs, there wouldn't be very many full-height studs to balloon frame. Thoughts?

ChugiakTinkerer

Quote from: Starvin on December 08, 2016, 08:42:09 AM
Thanks Don! - I have heard the same feedback about the eave walls in the open area. I'm redesigning that now. People have also suggested that I balloon frame the whole eave wall (both sides), including the loft area, since the knee walls in the loft area also represents a "hinge" point. Your thoughts?

Regarding the tall gable with the stacked windows, I was wondering if balloon framing is best. With the windows and all the headers and king/jack studs, there wouldn't be very many full-height studs to balloon frame. Thoughts?

Don_P has worked diligently to help me understand the lateral forces that work on a structure.  My initial design was much like yours, and assumed platform framing for all the walls.  The thing that got me thinking about continuous studs from floor to roof was when he pointed out how the effects of lateral forces from wind (or earth movement) are magnified when there is an extreme load bearing from above.  Weather conditions could occur such that an accumulation of snow builds on the roof that approaches or exceeds the design roof load.  As long as the walls remain in plane they hold the load.  But if a sufficiently strong gust of wind deflects the wall by a couple inches it could be enough to cause the vertical support to buckle.

The solution is to make the wall stiff enough that it won't deflect that much.  Not putting in a hinge line is a big help there, but the stacked windows does reduce the ability to have floor to ceiling studs.  I am opting to put a stud column down the center of the wall, giving a path of direct support from the footing to the ridge beam.  You might give that a try in your sketch and see if you can live with it.  There are other ways of stiffening a wall, such as having 12" stud spacing, using 2x6 or 2x8 studs, and putting 3/4" sheathing on the outside and even the inside of the wall.

This all might be overkill for your bunkhouse design, but when you step outside of the prescriptions of the building code, you should so your very best to ensure that you and your family will be safe and snug inside whatever you build.  Also if the gable wall isn't load bearing you can probably afford more flexibility in that wall.

EDIT TO ADD: Reading what I posted I don't think I was very clear.  I am suggesting you look at changing the large window in the gable wall to two smaller windows, with a built-up stud column running up the center.  This would probably only be necessary if you opt for a structural ridge that needs each end of the ridge beam to be supported adequately.
My cabin build thread: Alaskan remote 16x28 1.5 story