12 X 20 Cabin in NE Iowa

[heyni]

Hi Everyone,
1st post but longtime reader...thanks for all the good information accumulated here.  It has all been a very big help in both practical tips and serious motivation.

My brothers and I have about 70 acres in hilly NE Iowa and this year have finally started building our first cabin.  The location has some inherent difficulties. The three biggest being we all live about 5 hours away, to get to our building site we have to portage a river, and there is no power at all.  Sounds great!

We decided on 12 x 20 for a few reasons.  One, small amount of waste for the materials which are going to be hard to get in to the site (fore mentioned river).  Two, this being the first cabin we thought to start fairly small. Three, and most importantly, we received a good sized load of old lumber for free (mainly 6x6, 4x6, and 2x10) which in combination made it possible to do most of the foundation and sub floor without spending any money.  Very important since our associated wives see "The Land", as we call it, as one gigantic money pit!  Also, the cabin needs to be off the ground in case the river gets angry.

The first weekend we cleared some trees and dug eight 48" holes with one old post hole digger.  Tree clearing went quick...one old post hole digger which is only about 44 inches long sucks for digging 8 48" holes.  (Note: next cabin we may rent a power auger, either hand or tractor operated, depending on river level as well as the mood of the money watching wives).  No pictures due to extremely boring nature of this phase of the project.

The second weekend went as follows:

Putting posts in



We moved along nicely until this showed up:


We let the posts cure for a bit then cut the tops off to level them off, then went fishing:


The next day we put the 4x6 beams on with about 14" of overhang:




Marked out were the 2x10 joists will go:


Admired Matt's work (to his defense this is what you get with free, twisted lumber):


Starting to put up the joists... Progress slows...good beer gone:


Just to prove to my 5 year daughter that the land is not only full of scary bugs:


Joists done:


We decided to put in furring strips and drop in some 3/8 plywood to help keep the warmth in and the bugs and critters out:


Cutting all this plywood was tough since are free joists had a lot bows in them:


We glued, nailed and caulked in the plywood...then dropped in the insulation:


Then put down the sub-floor:



Just for more motivation down the road the view from the front porch:


Next we need to actually determine a layout...we are still arguing about some design issues.  Next weekend up there the goal will be walls and possibly roof but we will see...
Thanks for looking.

[MountainDon]

Nice. Seventy acres is almost enough to keep away from the neighbors. 

A quick note: even though those piers are in the ground 48 inches and no doubt seem to be set fairly well, I'd recommend bracing them before getting the walls and roof on. Things that are left to "do a little later" have a habit of staying undone for quite a while. At least with me. You should have some diagonal bracing, forming triangles between the posts and beams in the lengthwise direction and some bracing across the narrow dimension as well. We have had a member leave the bracing out and he had some real big issues when spring rolled around.

[heyni]

Thanks for the tip Don.  We actually had that very discussion about bracing while we putting up the joists because I remembered a discussion about it here.   We will definitely put them in since we have plenty of chunks of 4 x 6 anyway.

You can never have enough acres to escape neighbors, hunters, or paddlers!

[Don_P]

  Haven't seen a spotted cow in awhile. We built a house down the road from them off 14. Had to watch the locals though, they were apt to break into yodeling the cow home after a few too many 

[Redoverfarm]

heyni  to the other side.  Nice progress.  Wondering if you gave any thought to rain and the subfloor.  It would really mess up the insulation.  Tarp, plastic or the like until you got it dried in.  Just don't let the "spotted cow" win. 

[heyni]

Thanks John.
No worries, we put all the extra materials in the middle of the platform then tarped it good creating a little tarp pyramid to help shed water.
nick

[heyni]

Update of the work done the weekend of 11/12/2010.

Our goal was to get the walls and roof up as well as some kind of Ice & Water shield for the roof since we may not get back up there until spring.

Theme for the weekend: Terrible weather!  Which was bad luck since the previous three weeks it had been clear skies and 60s.  Our weekend was constant precipitation in three forms: rain, sleet, and snow!  This really cut down on the fun factor and turned this project into something a little too much like work. 

Anyway, we go the roof and walls are up (barely) and we did not even try the ice & water shield since the roof got all wet.  Bad weather (and as result freezing hands and slippery ladders) really slows you down.  I even thought I would get the diagonal bracing in mentioned above done in my "spare" time...HA.

We were lucky enough to had a contractor buddy with us.   He pretty much designed the layout, did a material list, and told us what to do which really sped things up.  Thank you Bill.

Framing first wall with balloon framing (a first for me):


Back door header:


First wall up:


Second wall up:


Third wall up (in the dark):


Fourth wall and ridge beam:


Rafter time:


Roof up:


Some interior shots:



We just sheeted over the doors and windows for now

Back door (only thing open):


Improvised tarp until finished roof time:


I want to get up before any real snow and get the diagonal bracing done...we will see!
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

nick

[Sassy]

You guys made some great progress in spite of the weather!   

[heyni]

Quick update.  No one had been to the building site since November and we were a little worried about our temporary tarp roof.  My brothers made it out there this past weekend and everything looks good.  Tarp still on the roof and all dry inside...not bad considering the rough winter we had.  Hopefully we will get out there soon once the weather clears and get a real roof put on!

[duncanshannon]

looking good! thanks for taking the time to share the pics etc. 

70 acres is awesome.

iowa has hills??   

[dug]

 

iowa has hills??

I grew up in Iowa and rode my bicycle across it a half dozen times in a parade of 10,000 riders called RAGBRAI. Believe me, it's pretty much nothing but hills!

[duncanshannon]

Yeah, I know...  I'm from minnesota and had to give you abit of a hard time!  We are hoping to build in NW Wisconsin in a few years (Spooner Area).

I've thought about riding in a RAGBRI ride sometime... I road Ride The Rockies in colorado in 2009, which was a blast.  Mountain passes and the elevation proved really hard to train for!

Duncan

[heyni]

There are small hills!  We are only about 1/2 hour from the Minnesota border.
nick