Thanks for the explanation. I'm posting a few pictures so you can see what my shallow well looks like.

This is the first section of cement casing in the ground, surrounded by gravel.



Here we're looking down inside the first section of cement casing. The casing is 3 feet in diameter and 4 or 5 feet deep. Water is just starting to seep in on the right side. The gravel at the bottom is 18 to 24 inches deep.



Here the second piece of cement casing is in place with the cement cap in place.



The water from this well will be for washing and flushing the toilet, not for drinking. I plan to put a 300 gallon IBC tank in the cellar and fill the tank up in the spring. This should get me through dry spells.

OK.  You have a cross between a dug shallow well and cistern.  Is this spring fed or just rely on ground water run off?

I don't believe it is spring fed. At this time of year, it is run off water from the hillside. In the summer, the water seeps out of the ledge about 10 feet down. There is ledge throughout the hillside.

My metal roof and chimney are installed! I had a local builder do the work. I don't care for heights and I don't have any experience with metal roofs. He had to wait for a break in the rainy weather we have been having. He did the whole roof in one long day.

I purchased an IBC tote a few weeks ago for water storage during the dry months. It had sunflower seed oil in it, so it wasn't too hard to clean out. I did feel like I was flipping a monster truck tire, as I kept turning the tote over and over to rinse out the soap!



I temporarily put an eye bolt in the cabin framing to lower the tank into the cellar with a rope and pulleys.






I also cut the opening for my front door and picked up a stall shower at HD. The shower is 36 inches square, so it had to go into the house before the front door is installed.



An inch clearance on each side!



Shower safely inside.



I started to put together a temporary front step. Eventually I plan to have a small screened in porch in this area.



I ordered a front door from the local lumber yard. It should be in next week.

Really enjoying this build. Keep the pictures coming. Great work!

iI agree.  And I'm thinking the Zip panels make great siding.  Certainly wouldn't be out of place in rural Alaska, where Tyvek seems to be the siding of choice.

I worked on the cabin last weekend. The front door had arrived at the lumber yard, so I went down and picked that up. I put it inside out of the weather, until the carpenter who did my roof, gets the time to install the front door. I've installed 2 doors before and both of them leaked and were not perfectly level so the door wouldn't stay where I put it. I want this front door to be installed correctly by a pro!



After sitting out in the weather all winter, I finally got around to assembling my steel bulkhead door. The installation was straightforward, but those doors are heavy to hold in place by myself! One of the hinge pins was missing, so I substituted a 16 P nail until I can get a replacement. Now my basement will stay completely dry when it rains!



I finished the temporary front steps and attached them to the stoop with timber lock screws. Did I mention I love timber lock screws! Then it was time for a break.



I slid the concrete cover off the well and measured 2 feet of clear water at the bottom. This is good news because we have had very little rain the past month. My new grass is turning brown.



Here is a view of the rear, south facing side of the cabin. The well is on the left. The little dark object above and to the right of the well cover, is the beginning of my pile of wood chips for my eventual garden. When I see any wood chips free for the taking, I shovel them into the back of the pickup and dump them at the cabin. I have a "Back to Eden" wood chip garden at home which works great. Very little weeding or watering required. The wood chips are used as mulch.

Dave your house looks great. Really enjoy the updates.

I'm trying to decide what to use for siding on my cabin. Right now I'm thinking about using shiplap northern white pine and using a clear stain on it. I spoke with my local lumberyard and they recommend applying the boards vertically. This would require putting horizontal strapping up first to nail the siding to. So assuming 3/4 inch shiplap siding plus 3/4 inch strapping, the total thickness of the siding would be 1.5 inches. What do I do for window trim, which would normally be 3/4 inch thick? Do I double the thickness? What is a good spacing for the strapping? 16 inches?

How do people handle the horizontal butt joints between boards? Do I make sure the joints are square and tight and apply caulking? Or do I have to cut them at a 45 degree angle so the top piece overlaps the lower one?

I've read that it is best to treat both front and back of the boards before putting them up.

Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Dave

Quote from: DavidRaftery on July 02, 2016, 08:50:22 PM
I spoke with my local lumberyard and they recommend applying the boards vertically.

Did their recommendation come with a reason or explanation?  I dislike recommendations like that without reasons.

I don't like horizontal strapping as to me that is simply a place to block the downward flow of water that will get behind the siding.

IF the siding is installed horizontally a rain screen wall can be built. That uses vertical furring usually over the wall studs as well as being installed over the weather resistant barrier (house wrap, building felt (tar paper). The siding is nailed to the verticals. screen is installed top and bottom to keep the insects out. Water that gets between the WR barrier and the siding freely runs out the bottom. There are special insect/vent screens available but with time on your hands you can improvise with insect window screen material.

Some info on rainscreen walls  here and here.  The first article has illustrations on the insect screening. The second article includes images that illustrate a good way to handle those places where a light fixture or an electrical outlet penetrate the siding.

Quote from: DavidRaftery on July 02, 2016, 08:50:22 PM
How do people handle the horizontal butt joints between boards?

The end cuts of the horizontal siding should be primer painted after cutting. The boards should not be butted tight. Leave a small space, 1/8 to 3/16 inch. Then caulk the joint with a caulk that retains some flexibility and is paintable.




Your door and window trims are usually sized to be thick enough to be a 1/4 inch or so thicker than the finished siding layer. Horizontal boards there are not hard butted against the trim either. Space out and caulk. Trim is installed before the siding. If you strap out around the windows and doors with same thickness as the verticals the trim can go on top of that.

Note that if the rainscreen wall is built over exterior foam insulation with a foil face, facing out, you gain some extra R-value under some conditions. The air space permits radiant energy to be bounced back out.

Thanks MountainDon.

The reason the lumberyard gave was that if I apply the shiplap horizontally and water gets under the overlapping top board, there is no place for the water to go and it can sit there and cause rot. I tried to make a sketch. With a vertical installation, the water could drain out from the bottom of the board. I would like to apply it horizontally and coat all surfaces before installing but I don't know if I will end up with problems.

Installing that joint vertically will admit more water IMO, there is a lot of shiplap horizontal siding out there. We have shiplap western cedar in a dolly varden pattern that has been up for about 30 years without issue. It was actually before I knew to use tarpaper or housewrap, it is simply nailed over the sheathing. It might be interesting if I ever open the wall up but no noticeable problems yet. If you have carpenter bee issues there, they like to nest in unpainted white pine, stain does not deter them.

Quote from: Don_P on July 03, 2016, 05:20:40 AM
Installing that joint vertically will admit more water IMO, there is a lot of shiplap horizontal siding out there. We have shiplap western cedar in a dolly varden pattern that has been up for about 30 years without issue. It was actually before I knew to use tarpaper or housewrap, it is simply nailed over the sheathing. It might be interesting if I ever open the wall up but no noticeable problems yet. If you have carpenter bee issues there, they like to nest in unpainted white pine, stain does not deter them.

Don, you've got my curiosity up.  And Google was no help.  What is a dolly varden pattern?

Quote from: ChugiakTinkerer on July 05, 2016, 05:05:43 PM
Don, you've got my curiosity up.  And Google was no help.  What is a dolly varden pattern?

Not Don but this will help.

https://www.google.com/search?q=shiplap+siding+installation+styles&rlz=1T4TSNA_enUS401US438&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiPlLuvsd3NAhUBaSYKHUilAQcQsAQISw&biw=1093&bih=453#imgrc=KO-PvKeZmsubAM%3A

Many thanks!  I've caught plenty of Dolly Varden char in Alaska but never knew anything about the origin of the name.  A little more searching and I see that Dolly Varden was a character in  Charles Dickens' Barnaby Rudge.  That Dolly was colorful and flirtatious, which I suppose was the inspiration for the fish ( http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=dollyvarden.main ).  I wonder how the name applies to that siding style.  The profile does somewhat resemble the drape of a dress over a bustle, I suppose.  Very interesting.

Dave, I would think that water in the gap as shown in your figure would evaporate.  At the very worst, it could cause rot in you siding.  Shiplap oriented vertically could allow much more water to seep between boards and end up behind the siding, where it won't evaporate nearly as readily.  Especially if it encounters horizontally applied furring.  Such an installation may also cause rot, but it wouldn't necessarily be limited to the siding.  Horizontal application seems like a much better idea.

Not a clue why its called that... and then there are the Jenny Lind houses 
Ah here that one is,
http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1010

and more,
This wall system is known by various names across America. If you are in the Far West it is most likely known as Single Wall Construction or Board and Batten Construction. In West Texas and part of Oklahoma, Box and Strip. In the Upland South, Box or Boxed Construction, In West Virginia and Part of Kentucky they took the nickname Jenny Lind's (with several spelling variations). In Hawaii they are known as Hawaii Plantation Style.

I've heard it called bargeboard in New Orleans as well, the final use of a southbound barge from the heartland, they would walk or ride back home on the Natchez Trace. Whoops took y'all surfing, sorry bout that 

Oh, F.L. Wright used it in his Usonian houses as well.

In Montana a Dolly Varden and a Bull Trout are the same thing. Then you get over into Washington and, if memory serves, a Dolly Varden is a totally different fish.

Makes for a nice siding.

Well, there's a couple of ways of looking at it. I chose it because I thought it would do better if something impacted the siding since it is fully bedded on the wall. however, a bevel or clapboard siding is just touching the wall in a couple of places, sort of a rainscreen approach in that the backside can dry better not being flat against the sheathing. More stuff to ruminate.

I really think that any wall with insulation in it should have a rain screen. In addition to helping the wind driven rain leak out, the cladding itself needs to be able to dry in both directions.

If I was doing board and batten I would do vertical then horizontal furring. Or if there was some smart way of allowing water past the horizontal furring without forking over a ton of cash.

Thank you for all the advice on the siding. I plan to go with the horizontal shiplap siding. I'll stain the boards before I install them and make sure the top facing edge of each board gets a generous application of stain.

I installed the soffit vents on the front of my cabin this past week. I went with the screening between the two boards. I built a framework to support the soffits first.



I stapled the screening on before installing the first board.



Here is what the finished soffit looks like. As usual, working by myself, everything took longer than expected. I don't know how many times I went up the down that ladder !

My front door is now installed. Excellent job by my carpenter friend. When I open the door, it stays put!



I installed a lock and a dead bolt, so now I can lock up the cabin.



I finished the interior framing of the 3 windows on the back of the house.



I also closed up the opening in the back that I had been using as a temporary door.



I ordered some ship lap siding; it will be delivered on 8 August.

Question about installing my shiplap siding horizontally - do I leave any space between the boards? I was thinking of leaving 1/8 inch space between the boards. I asked at the local lumber yard; they said to but the boards up tight because they will shrink. I understand that I should leave 1/8 space at the ends and fill that gap with caulk.

I had the siding delivered for the front of the cabin last week. I am staining the boards a natural color before I install them.



I also installed one of the back windows. Now I have some cross ventilation!



I took an hour off to pick some blueberries at a farm a mile down the road.

Cool, I think our blueberries were done 3-4 weeks ago, the wild ones up on the high peaks should be about ripe now.
I would apply it tight. I've only experienced shrinkage there. An 8d nail makes a good spacer to form a gap in caulk joints. Cut an X in the top of a cottage cheese/yogurt type container, stich a cheap paintbrush thru the X and put some paint in the container. Hit the freshly cut ends at the sawbench, that is really where the rot starts most of the time, wicking in thirsty end grain.

Thanks Don_P.

My buddy Jonathan came up to help this past weekend. Work progresses a lot faster with 2 people on the job! We installed the rest of the windows on the rear, south side of the cabin.



We also started putting up some siding on the front. I have to wait a few more weeks for the 2 kitchen casement windows to arrive, so the siding in that area will have to wait for the windows to be installed.