I don't know if this will help or confuse you, I did it while figuring out a roof;
http://www.timbertoolbox.com/Calcs/irreghip.html

QuoteSacrificed a couple 2x6's to the dimensional lumber Gods.

That's why I'm a carpenter, plumbers can't heat with their mistakes  .

Hey Don, I am going to re-hash this topic on my 12 by 16 backyard workshop thread if I have more trouble.  I read how to do it at night and then did it in the morning without re-reading it, and I think I know what I did wrong. 

Finally getting back up to Vermont after a very cluttered six months or so. Family illness, a job change, and plain exhaustion just filled up all my time. While things haven't eased that much, I need the theraputic affect of just being up there, as well as working on place.

I've started installing the T & G in the loft. This is the result of two weekend's worth:



Here's another view:



I've also ordered all the remaining windows, some of which should be delivered in a week or so. It'll be nice to put that big expense behind me. I'm still planning on the porch, but have to wait until the ground thaws a bit more.

We finally have all the windows in! What a difference it makes. Especially a double casement in the west wall that opens up a view to our nearby stream.

Here are views from opposite corners:





And the view out the double casement:

Slightly more progress. Tongue and groove is addictive -- the more you put up, the better it looks, the more you want to put up. But I figure it'll be another month before completing the loft. I can't wait. Picts:



I'm still working on our new, improved bridge. I can't decide to use 4x4's for posts/rail support, or local, rough cut trees. Stay tuned.



-Rich

looks great.  Where in VT are you?  Fayston, washington CO here.  near Sugarbush.

Please continue posting great pictures! I was planning on building 16x20 but I think I might be downsizing to 12x16 because of the budget. I really like the space the 12' walls give and the 12:12 pitch. Great job!

Maybe I missed it while looking at the pictures but what kind of windows and where did you buy them?

Thanks pj and aktundra! We're in Topsham, kind of in the middle of no where (which is a good thing). I chose the size as it sort of adheres to the golden ratio thing, and works for us as plenty large enough for out purposes. As far as windows go, I could bore you for hours about which we chose and the journey to get there. We ended up with mostly Marvin Integrity windows. The one exception is the little one over the stairs, which is the high end Marvin, as they only make that size for the (really) expensive line. While the cost for them all is more than I expected, I am loving these windows. They are beautifully crafted and will no doubt outlast me. We purchased them through the local lumberyard (Oakes Bros. in Bradford).

The one project from this past weekend that makes a noticable improvement - stairs down to our water supply and cooler:

  just lovely small home. I'm hoping to build a similar one but smaller as a guest house/ place for teens to hang out. Without plumbing or kitchen. Beautiful railings.

Thanks cath, it's been a blast, even after a full year now. It's a great sized project for someone eager but with maybe not so much skill ;-). 

It's been a busy few weeks, and we're making good progress. I hope to mostly finish putting up the tongue and groove next weekend, except where cabinets and built-ins will go in. The cabinet project is languishing a bit, but I'm hopeful about getting some work done on them this week. Maybe.

Some photos, in chronological order. These show the current state of the T&G:






In the meantime, I started working on the porch. First up, posts in the ground, all of which came to be placed almost perfectly. Purely accidental.




Yesterday morning we got an early start on a beautiful day. I don't know if I'm getting really good at designing structures or I'm just really lucky, but this worked out really well.







What I have yet to get right is lumber estimation. I have about 7 more boards to go, despite a mid-morning lumberyard trip. We'll get it next week.




I am so very happy with how this turned out. It looks great and is very solid. Next step is finding, cutting and prepping some white cedar posts, and figuring out how to roof it all. Stay tuned...

Wrap around porch that is going to look good.

The deck adds a lot, it breaks up the vertical height and looks great!!! I like the cool bridges too!  Nice job    

Plus One on the speedfunks comment!!!
The base house was fine functionally, but???

With the roofed porch I can say "OH! So that's what he was thinking !!"

Great Job!!

the covered porch will really help that place not look so tall and skinny, looks good. i like the way you did the boarder the oposite direction

Another month of weekend work on our place. I finished up most of the T & G inside, finally got the cabinet carcasses together and in, with face frames on. There are a lot of details yet to take care of inside yet.







But the project I'm mostly focused on now is the porch. I've found, cut, and debarked a bunch of potential white cedar posts.



But I was stumped (pun intended) as to how to anchor what is effectively a tree to the deck, while keeping it a little off the deck so it doesn't rot. Simpson doesn't make post anchors for round posts. An interwebs search turned up some expensive possibilities. But then I thought of a horizontal bar I had made outside for my daughter when she was into gymnastics, which used a 3/4 galvanized pipe screwed into a floor flange. So I adapted that idea to this:



Then, I just drilled a hole in the bottom of a post and ta-da:



In the coming weeks I'll be continuing work on the porch, thinking about a countertop, maybe starting on some built-in seating, and also working on the bridge. And loving every minute of it.

Looking great! I like your strorage ideas and the covered porch will make the place.

Very nice. What are your plans for a restroom? The porch really makes it look better. Doesn't seem as slender as it did before. Nice job with the reverse book shelf.

Thanks, guys.

Weasel, we have a tented poop palace that will do (!) for now. Later this year I hope to put in a composting toilet in a little shed addition off the back. That's still pretty tentative - I haven't put a lot of thought or research into yet.

I love all the T & G. The porch looks like it will be a great place to relax. Very clever way to do the posts. Looking forward to watching the progress!

I'm making some decent progress on the porch roof, but it's a time-consuming job. The pictures below represent the last 3 weekends. First, I got all the posts in, with the doubled header attached. That went really smoothly.



Then I had the big lumber delivery in the hope that I'd get a lot done. A hot, humid and rainy weekend allowed me only to get the regular rafters in.



My first attempt at the hip rafter was a complete bust, so, I put that off until this past weekend. It took a lot of studying and 3 hours of checking, double-checking, climbing ladders, etc., but I finally got it in. The jack hip rafters were relatively easy after that.



I wanted the ceiling of the porch to at least appear like it was beadboarded, so I got some 4 x 8 sheets of 1/4" ply with a beaded pattern cut into them. The quality wasn't exactly equivalent to the price, but real beadboard would have cost much more. Anyway, I primed up some of it and put that up, followed by some 1/2" CDX ply. This all would have gone faster had I been more fastidious about making sure all the rafters were square to the house. As such, I've condemned myself to non-rectangular parallelogram roof sheathing hell. Nevertheless, the results are nearly as good as I expected.



I'm hoping to get the rest done next weekend, then save up to have the metal roofing guys finish it off.

The results are great! The porch will be great place to sit and admire your roof-LOL
Cathy

Thanks Cathy! The porch really makes the place feel more complete. I hope to actually enjoy at some point this weekend. I didn't sit much last weekend, trying to finish the roof. As usually happens, nature intervenes to slow things down:



But I did manage to finish up late Sunday. I hope to avoid ladders for a while.



We just need to have the roofer come and put on the metal roofing. And find the $$$ to pay for it, of course.

The porch posts really add character. It fits in so well with the natural surroundings. You're doing a great job! I love visiting Vermont, it is so beautiful. Skied there a few times. I was born in Massachusetts. We visited Vermont occasionally. The fall is my favorite time of year. The colors are georgous. Winter's a bit long though. (my cup of hot chocolate-brr) I've turned into a whimp