16 x 28 in Athens, VT

[cabinfever]

Kevin: The policy I got was basically fire, lightening and vandalism ($50,000), theft of materials ($20,000), medical ($5,000), and liability ($500,000). 1 year was a little over $600. I can renew it next year or - hopefully - move to a homeowner's policy if the place is finished.

Pictures: I need to go back and read how to post them here - which I'll do soon.

Update: The property is graded, and the trenches were dug for the foundation last night. Even after grading, though, the front is going to have to be stepped down to get below the frost line, so I'm going to be in for about $600 more than expected. I understand that the footings will go in tomorrow, and the whole thing should be ready for me to apply foundation sealant this weekend. Not likely, though - my Son's 3rd b-day is this weekend, and we've got a shindig planned that will take up most of Saturday. Thinking about a camping trip over Memorial day weekend to seal and lay down the sills.

Question: I'm going with a simple 16 x 24 box with 8' walls and a 12/12 roof, but I want to add a 7' deep porch off the front with a 5 or 6/12 slope. How do I tie this into the roof? Do I just land the tops of the porch rafters on the roof sheathing above a roof rafter and nail it down?

Also, How much should I expect to spend framing, roofing and siding said box (excluding the 10 windows and doors)? I'll have about $12,000 left after the foundation and land work, and I'm figuring I'll be spending $2,500 on doors and windows. Am I likely to make it?

[cabinfever]

Hopefully I'm doing this right...

The old meetinghouse across from my land



The site before clearing



The site after clearing



Both of the last photos were taken with a cell phone - I'll load better photos soon.

[cabinfever]

The foundation is in. The excavator asked me if I wanted him to break off the form ties and seal it before backfilling, but I figure it's high time I start pitching in. Drove up last Sunday to take a look and break off the ties. This weekend I'll go up and do the sealing.



Anyone have an opinion on the best product to seal the exterior with?

[Beavers]

Mind if I ask the cost of your foundation?

I'm also working on a 16x28.  Doing a concrete pier foundation, and should have a little over $1500 invested in it when done.  Just wondering how much more a full basement would of cost me.

[cabinfever]

Sure, Beavers - I've actually posted all the costs at www.newenglandcabin.blogspot.com. The foundation itself will end up being about 6,000 including a ratslab. It was about 600 more than originally estimated when we found that the front wall needed to drop down an additional 4 feet because of the slope of the land. Add to that about 1000 in excavating and backfilling costs and you've got the ridiculous total of 7000  for 16 x 28. If I had it to do over again, I'd seriously consider just doing piers.

[waggin]

You'll learn to love that basement though, for storage or a cool spot during the summer heat.  Of course, it might act as a vacuum and suck in all kinds of junk to fill it up.  You know how nature abhors a vacuum.

[cabinfever]

Ain't that the truth, Waggin. I liked the thought of building something small in part of prevent us from accumulating more 'stuff' to fill it. My life in Connecticut is complicated enough as it is - in Vermont I want simplicity.

I should have meantioned in the post to Beavers that it's not even a basement - it's a crawlspace. I'll have just about 4 feet from slab to floor joists.

[Beavers]

Thanks for the cost info on your foundation.

That is a lot of money, but I'm sure those guys earned it...I'm learning right now just how tough concrete work really is! 
I'm sure it saved you a lot of time as well.  It has to take forever to do a crawlspace on your own.

[Don_P]

Alot depends on frost depth, I've done 'em with a tiller and block in a coupla weeks. You're also getting a much stronger foundation with a crawlspace vs piers. Lateral loads are distributed along long walls that run in 2 directions attached to a rigid floor diaphragm. That is far less likely to overturn or allow the house to slide or uplift if it gets interesting outside.

[cabinfever]

In Southern VT we need to be down 48 inches and the amount of rocks I encounterd in two test holes convinced me that I was going to need an excavator anyway. I hate working with concrete, and hate digging almost as much. I talked with a bunch of contractors and locals about piers, and they universally talked me out of it, citing insurance concerns, resale value, stability and crittter control. In the end I sacrificed getting my well this year to to do what I did.

Back from sealing the foundation this weekend - my god petroleum-based sealant is a mess to work with, no matter how careful you try to be. On the plus side, the weather couldn't have been any more perfect and we were pleasantly suprised to realize there seemed to be no mosquitoes at all.

I'll post pics later today. Next steps: Backfill, set up the temporary power, finalize the plans and order the framing materials. Next trip up is the Saturday after next to take care of the sills.

[Don_P]

It might not be a big deal here but the foundation is stronger if you backfill after the floor is on.

[cabinfever]

Don - I hadn't heard that before; I'll look into it.

Here are the photos...

[pocono_couple]

hi guys,
  i just saw your post for the first time today... we also built a shed as a starter project.   And, i will soon be trying to find an insurer here in PA who is as flexible as the one that you apparently found!.
  my daughter is moving to vt in a few weeks.  we went up to move some furniture and to check out the apartment.  I think that your house is going to be twice as big as her living space.. maybe even a bit more!  We had a great time in Burlington, and I expect that we will be visiting as often as practical. 
  I am looking forward to see pics of the progress that you all are making.  good luck!

[cabinfever]

Hey Poco! Did you find the shed project as informative as I did? I changed a number of construction details and well as my ideas of what I could and couldn't do by myself.

You could try my insurer - I thought I understood that the insure outside of VT/NH also.

Burlington is a great town - you're daughter will enjoy it. It's quite a ways up, though - we're less a half hour from the Southern border.

[ScottA]

Looks great! I'll second what Don said about putting the floor on before backfill.

[Bishopknight]

Cabinfever,

Great job! Do you mind if I ask what kind of sealer you used?  I have to do this step soon so I'm just curious.

Thanks,
BK

[pocono_couple]

my daughter is actually about half an hour north of Burlington.. out in dairy farm country. ( and a little further from PA   )
  I tried to contact the  co op  insurance, but it looked like they worked exclusively in VT and NH.  At any rate, after i posted, i got motivated to go out and check on local insurance companies.  the first one,  All State, flatly refused, politely, of course.   And, the woman in the office did direct me to an office for an insurance broker a few blocks away .     I had better luck there.  the guy got in touch with Traveler's Insurance, and I walked out with a policy..  that is going to make us feel a bit better. 
   the shed project was not my first building experience, but it was the first time that my wife participated in the project.  it was a good confidence builder for her.   

[cabinfever]

BK - I used a petroleum-based fibered roof coating that advertised itself as being for roofs and foundations. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name. I was one of two options at my local Lowes - the other being a rubberized water-based coating. It came in 5-gallon tubs, and two were more than enough to cover 16 x 28. Before applying it, I broke off all the form ties and covered them with fibered roofing tar. Wear junk clothes and bring some Go-Jo with you - the job's a mess.

Poco - I didn't realize you could go 30 minutes north of Burlington and still be in the US! Don't know why I thought my insurance was sold outside of VT/NH - sorry about that.

[Bishopknight]

I'd probably lean towards the petroleum based product also. Thanks for the info! 

[cabinfever]

Hi all!

Here's the latest photos of the project. We spent the weekend and managed to get most of the floor together. I'll have to run back up next week to finish up.

It's been raining up here every day (it seems). I put down a big sheet of plastic before I left, but I'm wondering: The deck sheathing is Advantec 3/4" OSB. Anything I can/should do to protect it from the elements until the roof is up a month or two from now?

My son sat on the sidelines and provided moral support...



...while we framed the floor with 16' spans of SPF 2 x 12s...



...and covered it in Advantek.



Beautiful weather (for the first time in 2 weeks) on Saturday, with rain followed by nice weather on Sunday. CVPS still hasn't hooked up my temporary power, though, so we got to listen to the generator for 2 days.

[cabinfever]

Hey all!

We've been up to the site every two weeks for the last 2 months, and it feels like we're making pretty good progress. Most of the work has been done with the help of my sister (who is a slave driver) and my brother-in-law. We've been at war with the weather, which has been changing daily between downpours and sunshine, but - on the upside - it's been in the mid-70's when it hasn't been raining, so there's that, anyway.

Living in the coast in CT, the lack of mosquitoes in Athens has been a revelation.

We're rapidly approaching the roofing, and - given the 12/12 pitch - I keep playing with the idea of contracting for the sheathing and surfacing (metal, probably).

Some picks from the holiday weekend:



Kitchen will be on the left, bath on the right...


And the living space...


We'll have two 10' lofts above. Getting the walls and lofts up was exciting - it finally began to feel like a cabin.

Interesting experience: We have now met 3 of our neighbors who moved here from 'away', but none of the VT natives have introduced themselves. Not sure how to take that.

[diyfrank]

looks like your making good progress.
Ive met the one neighbor I have where I'm building. He and his wife seems like nice people. They move there from Alaska and like the off grid way of life.  They said the locals were some what unfriendly towards outsider buying and building.
ol well.

Keep the pic's coming

[Bishopknight]

Very nice! I like the small rock wall connecting to the foundation as well.

[cabinfever]

Frank - To be fair, I suppose I'd have mixed feelings if my town were slowly being overtaken by outsiders, and that looks like what is beginning to happen to Athens.  I also understand that the 'flatlanders' who moved in before us have managed to get into a bit of a war with one of the natives, and I'm sure that didn't help.

[rdzone]

Cabinfever,

I noticed in your pictures that a number of the window and door openings do not have any headers, are they on the gable ends?  Just curious.  Other than that things are looking great.