14x18 near Winthrop,Wa

[TROYL]

Hello every one i have been learking here a while and wanted to say hello. there are  some beautiful cabins and great ideas on this sight. i'm starting to draw some plans up for a 14x18 cabin with 10 foot walls and a 12/12 steel roof and a 10 foot covered deck off one  side of the cabin. Is this going to look odd with the tall walls?  I 'm going to build it free span inside with a hefty ridge beam and 2x10 rafters. the reason for the 10 foot walls is i am going put a loft in it and would like as much head room as possible and would set the loft floor around 8 foot. what do you folks think of the size of what i have explained? I have a million more questions. but i need the basics first.  thanks for a  great sight.

[Redoverfarm]

TROYL   

I am not sure of your plans but hopefully they will be disected by other members.  The covered deck area on the side?  Is this on a gable end?  Were you thinking of just extending the roof on that side to cover the deck area or are you planning a shed roof which will fall below your existing roof?   Is the deck area on the 14' or 18' side.  Is the 18' side the front or a side?  It is hard to imagine what other people think.    But "WE" will get it all sorted out.  Just let us know what you have and what you want to end up with and I am sure that most will give it their best shot. 

[TROYL]

 The covered deck will be on the 18 foot side.  so 18 foot will be 18 plus the over hangs. jUst some more info for ya too chew on is it will be 2x6 construction on a post and beam foundation. 2 rows of treated 6x6 on on 6 foot centers 2 foot in the ground. with  18 foot 6x8 sitting on top of them and then 2x12x14 on 16 centers. there is an 85 pound snow load in the area and i'm not sure what a live load or dead load is. but using all the info on this sight and trying to caluculate what i need. this what i came up with. Hope i am close 

Im trying to post a pic of what i would like to end up with but having some problems getting it figured out.

[Redoverfarm]

Photobucket is real easy to use on this site.  There is a thread in CP for instructions on Photobucket. Just use the search feature. Maybe it will help.  Then I assume you will be adding a shed roof below your regular roof.  I would try to figure it with no less than a 3/12 pitch.  The meeting at the house can be anywhere you can gain the most pitch and still have the headroom on the eve side of the porch roof.  That is if you want to put a shed roof or you could opt for a gable porch roof if it going to be fairly centered on that 18' run.  Again  ???what you were thinking.

John

[TROYL]

lets try this


http://www.summerwood.com/products/cabins/invermere.html

[MountainDon]

There.

I call that a porch.    How deep? It's 18 feet wide, so what's the other dimension?

85# snow load is getting up there. My personal feeling is you might want to start that shed roof farther up the slope than that image illustrates. That'll make the snow more likely to slide off quickly rather than build up. However it'll dump right on the steps, probably right after you slam the door shut and head for the stairs.     Something to think about.

[TROYL]

Thank you,  yes it would be shed roof butted up as tight as i can get it to the cabin roof and then lower the deck a step or two and with a 10 foot wall i figure i'd have a pretty decent slope. somewere close to to 2.5' to 3' of drop over 10'. the steeper the better the way i see it.  the snow may pile up on the shed roof.

[Redoverfarm]

I am sure others that have built what you are describing and may be able to direct you to the best approach.

I ended up with just a little less on my shed porch than 3/12 but that was because I lacked sufficent headroom at the eve walking off the porch.  My shed is about 12-14" drop from my roof which is a 10/12.  They make a pitch diverter to use when the roof's meet and change pitch.  I decided on the drop for looks as well as function.  The snow coming off the main roof shoots out onto the porch rather than acumulate at the intersection of that pitch change.  Here is a couple of photo of mine.

[rwanders]

Have you considered changing the orientation so that your porch is at the gable end? I live in another high snow area (Alaska) and even lived in Valdez Alaska for 9 years where the average snow fall is 330" a year. You can see what I have built in the project section of this forum under " 1 1/2 story cabin nearing completion in alaska".

ED: added hyperlink to make it easier - MD

[TROYL]

ya i guess that would be a porch .  it was gonna be 10' but may end up 8' deep and will be 21.5 foot wide i'll  have to see it ounce i start building and get a good look at it. i really like things to be in propotion. i have even built a little bird house 1"=1' to see what the end result would be.  figuring the 10 foot walls would look funny.  i had the lumber yard do a load calcultion the beam i would need to support the cabin roof but i didn't tell them i was going to have a loft in it does this make differance. seems it should since you have something holding the walls together?? what do you folks reccomend on the rafters. would you go over the beam of hanger them into the side.

ya i really like the porch on the side the. i intent to make the whole thing a screened porch to keep the bugs out. The snow, i will probably never be there when its that deep i just want it to still be standing in the spring then i get there.

Is there a spell checker on this sight i can't spell worth a darn

[Redoverfarm]

Is there a spell checker on this sight i can't spell worth a darn

Don't feel alone I can't either.

[glenn kangiser]

Spell check - many of us use Firefox which has a spell checker built in but for something that will check all of your spelling get Tinyspell and install it on your computer - free.... http://tinyspell.m6.net/

[rwanders]

If you use a true ridge beam and not a ridge board, then running the rafters over the beam would be the best way and it would also leave the beam exposed (always looks nicer that way) if you want a cathedral ceiling. Using a beam would also allow you to omit collar or rafter ties. John R. would b much better than I to explain the technical differences between ridge boards and ridge beams.

[Pritch]

Hi Troyle. 

I am planning a similar cabin.   I read a book several years ago that differentiated betweed the "Alaskan Trapper" style of cabin, i.e. one that has the door on the gable end and has the roof extend to create a covered area, and the "Appilachian" style, with the covered porch and entrance on the long side of the rectangle.   

Asthetics are important to me and it sounds like they are to you as well.  I also anticipate having higher walls to add headroom and usability to the loft.  I plan on adjusting the dimensions until I find a size that looks proportionate with the higher side walls.  This would include end and side walls, as well as the overhang and perhaps door and window selection.  Building a scale model, even if it is only in Sketchup, can help make this determination.   

-- Pritch

[Pritch]

Have you considered changing the orientation so that your porch is at the gable end? I live in another high snow area (Alaska) and even lived in Valdez Alaska for 9 years where the average snow fall is 330" a year. You can see what I have built in the project section of this forum under " 1 1/2 story cabin nearing completion in alaska".

ED: added hyperlink to make it easier - MD

rwanders,

Your cabin is cool!  I really like the caatwalk from the loft and the upstairs deck using what would otherwise be wasted space.   

-- Pritch

[TROYL]

I looked at a 12x16x9.5 this weekend and it looked really good . looks like a dormer is a must for head room in the loft