Cuyamaca Cabin

Started by flyingvan, May 01, 2016, 02:30:36 PM

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flyingvan

  So this actually was my FIRST build.  It's at the end of our street, bordering the Cuyamaca Rancho State Park.  The lot was cheap because every suitable building site had bedrock (platonic schist, like granite but harder) jutting out of the ground.  The only area with good soil was needed for the septic system.
  The first 9 months were spent putting in the driveway and deciding what to build.  After a few hundred sketches we settled on this:





Find what you love and let it kill you.

flyingvan

  Plan check went well considering I didn't know what I was doing.....I sorta transposed my sketches to an existing set of plans I borrowed and researched all the span tables.  County Planning took me under wing, had me change a few things, and stamped them---with the stipulation a geologist inspect the bedrock, certifying it as suitable to support a house.



  Any boulders that were loose had to be removed





Only one innocent tree had to die for the cause.  It really was difficult (emotionally) to do it



Also had to put in a power pole to get electricity there before getting the permit



Tipping the pole in was a complex affair involving trees, pulleys and an old Dodge

Find what you love and let it kill you.


flyingvan

OK so most of this post will be about the foundation.  If you're building on the cheap, it's likely to mean you got your lot at a bargain and now you don't have awesome DG to build on.  If you have stone, and that stone is stable and suitable to hold up a house, here's an option.



   The stone was drilled and rebar was epoxied into place.  A 2X form was built and suspended over the perimeter.



   It stepped down a bit, which is good--every step down created lateral support for the forms.  The fabric was installed as I went, from one side of the form, through the trench or over the stone, back out the other side.  Careful it's slack enough you don't 'sling' the concrete. 





   Ready to go.  Each cross member has an anchor bolt in it.  The rebar is hanging from them as well, 3 #5's. 


This was fun.  Crawling through the foundation pinning the fabric to and little bits of soil there were, and tying in the rebar. 



   This is moments before pumping in the concrete.  You can see the concrete pumping hose there ready to go, waiting for the first of three trucks.

   

  Pumping it in.  This is the day you call in the helpers, to push it all in good so there are no voids.  It was terrifying, with my forms creaking and complaining.  We were done by 10:30 though.

   

  You can see how the fabric 'balloons' and brings the concrete up to the forms.  No cold joints, and the concrete molds itself beautifully to the bedrock.  The fabric portected the wood so I could use it in the structure.
Find what you love and let it kill you.

flyingvan

Here's the entire cabin delivered in one load.  We removed the straps and the lumber slid off, little by little, down into the canyon.  The driver warned me not to try to stop it (but didn't help retrieve it).  No matter---it gave me a chance to sort it all out in the order it was needed.

Find what you love and let it kill you.

flyingvan

This is where I learned the lesson of the joy of a flat surface.  After I had some joists down it was so much easier to work---so on the second build (Cuyamaca Cottage) when the forms for the foundation were stripped they were used to make a big flat work surface.

   



  Look how the joists JUST clear the tops of the bedrock



Find what you love and let it kill you.


flyingvan

Now for the obligatory framing pictures.  When you build a house, or think about building a house, this is the stage most people think about.  In reality it's a quick, minor (but important to get right) step.  Also the most rewarding, as every day it takes shape.







This was tricky, getting this rake wall in place.  I had to build a bridge and slide it over from the bedroom.  That wall couldn't be balloon framed since there was no way to tip it up



Bad picture, sorry---but a glorious day when the ridge pole goes in.  Everything stiffens up, you have something to measure to, and something to lean a ladder against.



Framing under tarps while it's snowing out





Find what you love and let it kill you.

flyingvan

Now for the curves.....Once the beams were in for the porch, wall, and ridge I started by figuring out the bottoms where they were supported, and figured out splices.  Then a string was slacked to form a curve (A 'Caternary Arch', Don informed me) just spray painted over the string and it left a line to follow on the wood, then copied each piece 7 times.

Here's one of the sections


And all in a row



Too sharp for OSB.  Besides, the underside shows as the porch roof.  T & G it is then.



Now for sheer panel





And the finished project



   ---Thanks for the opportunity and forum to post this, it was fun re-living it
Find what you love and let it kill you.

flyingvan

Some interiors





The bar in the kitchen is at the top of the stairs.  I didn't want a post holding the corner because it would take up floor space and make the kitchen hard to sweep so the banister extends to support it





    This build is at the bottom.  The blue and white house up the street at about 2 o'clock from there is our home, and the framing going on across the street from that is the second build (Cuyamaca Cottage)
Find what you love and let it kill you.