Well after 3 years of planning, fighting the permit process and purchasing lumber over the last year I finally started on the cabin last month. I have been up there working on it a couple times a week weather pending. Here in northern utah we have had 300% normal snow amounts so that delayed things by a couple of months. Most of the work has been done by myself. Also I have learned a lesson that it takes twice as long to accomplish things than you plan. :-\ Oh well thats ok. Being on the mountain is better than being any where else. I have many pictures that I have taken at the end of each day I have worked. I will post most of them over the next couple of days.
Below is the plans that I am building to.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/plans.jpg)
Week before memorial day I tried to get to the cabin and the last 1/2 mile which is in the shade, still had snow. I had to walk up to the cabin. It was very wet and mucky up there. I had to unload the lumber and 4 wheeler at the bottom. Here are some pics of the trip.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0346.jpg)
Left over snow from the bunk house.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0347.jpg)
Squirrel living in the bunk house
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0350.jpg)
Foundation poured about 18 months ago
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0349.jpg)
4 Wheeler got stuck
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0351.jpg)
Glad to see you've finally gotten a chance to get back on it! Pretty area. Looking forward to more pics & progress!
Just curious about the permit process. May be trying to build something in the same area this year. Thanks.
You have to have engineered and stamped plans. First you have to have the county fire Marshall come an look at you place and get your fire rating. He doesn't even come to talk to you until you have payed a 1000 dollar processing fee. Next is the septic drainage inspection, installation and inspection. There was something else but I don't remember. Once you have gotten this far you can apply for a building permit. Another 800 dollars. Here it has to be at least a 20X20. Mine was 16X36 to start, had to re-engineer, another 600 dollars. Next is the inspection for the foundation. I had my foundation guy handle that. 5000 for the foundation. Next inspection will be the framing. I am about 1/2 way through getting dried in. Next will be plumbing and electrical. Then there is the fire marshal again to see if you have cut out most of your trees and brush. Once all that is done you have final inspection which then you get you can live in your place. That will probably be next year at this rate.
Over the memorial day weekend I took a few extra days off to work on the cabin. Unfortunatly the mother nature had other plans. I did get some work done.
Start of work the friday before
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0353.jpg)
end of day friday
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0354.jpg)
Saturday the wife came up to help some. End of day Saturday.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0356.jpg)
Sunday the weather turned so we didn't go up.
Monday we went up and this is what greeted us.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0357.jpg)
After we unloaded we came off the mountain and went to lunch. After lunch I took the wife home and loaded the truck again and went back up. By the end of the day it started to clear up.
This is what I got done end of day tuesday.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0360.jpg)
End of day wensday
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0361.jpg)
w* [cool]
loved the time i've had in utah (Skiing near salt lake city and mountain biking near Zion)... looking forward to watching your project!
More up dates on 6/4/2011 I brought up my daughter and step son. We got the rest of the floor decking put on they both worked pretty good. It was nice to have some help and it was even nicer to have some good weather.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0363.jpg)
This is about a days worth of work for me.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0358.jpg)
On 6/11/2011 I took my two youngest daughters up to help start framing the cabin. By the end of the second day on friday we had one wall section up. Buy the end of the day Saturday this is where we got.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0366.jpg)
After we finished framing we spent the rest of the day riding the 4 wheelers.
Last Wednesday we had a company party. The first half was business the second half was activities. I took off the second half and went to work on the cabin. I framed up two more walls and put in two windows. I am putting in the window after the walls are up because I can put them in by myself but I can't stand walls up by myself. Windows take alot of time to put in. Here is my progress end of day Wednesday .
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0371.jpg)
Friday the wife and step kids went up to the cabin. We got one of the wall sections up before it got dark. I got up early in the morning and framed up another wall section before the others got up. I love early mornings there. By 8:30 we had two more wall sections up. About that time my father in law came up. He has built 5 or 6 houses in his spare time so he has alot of knowledge. I found out the things that I have done wrong. Oh well it was a good trade off to get his help. We finished the wall and he got the osb on one end. The biggest thing was getting the second floor beams put in. In total there was 6, each of which weighed about 200 pounds. Needless to say I am a little sore this morning.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0373.jpg)
looks good so far. Keep the pictures coming!
You're moving right along - great views! Yep, keep posting the pics :)
Went up to cabin after work on monday and tuesday to get the windows framed up. I still need to nail them together. I didn't feel like starting the generator while I was up there. I like the nice and quiet. I didn't to them before we stood up the wall because they take so much time and I wanted my help to help get the walls up. It was a lot of work 3 hours driving each day for 3 hours of work up there. I was worth it. This weekend We will finish the sheathing and upper floor joists. Next weekend the trusses.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0376.jpg)
Moving right along. Your progress is inspiring and the view is great! :D :D :D
Generators can be a lovely thing to turn off...
hi - great progress... cant wait to be doing this myself someday!
What did you use for beams?
also.. what sort of things did you find out you did wrong?
The beams are LVL's. Each one is made up of three pieces. About 800 dollars. I had them delivered with the trusses. Each weighed about 200 pounds. My father in law and myself put them up last weekend. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
What I would have done different. Two years ago the guy that put the foundation in told me that he could buy all the lumber, frame it and get it dried in for 15,000. If I had it to do over I would have had him build it. This has been a ton of work. I have learned a lot and lost 15 pounds. I haven't been in this good of shape for 8 years. :)
I had another long weekend of building. I took friday off work and the wife and I went to the cabin. We kind of got a later start but when we got there we got all the lower 8 feet of osb put on all around the outside.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0377.jpg)
We stayed at the bunk house over night and got up around 8. ::) Kind of late for us. The next morning we started the floor joists on the second floor. We went until we ran out of lumber for the floor joists. We also put some osb on the floor joist. This is just temp flooring until the roof gets on then I will take the osb off, put it on the top half of the outside.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0379.jpg)
The plan was to come home saturday afternoon and get more lumber then I was going to go backup and finish the upstairs sunday morning. Well what do they say about the best laid plans. I fed the horse when we got home and my daughters barrel racing horse seem a little odd. When you have horse you get to know them well. So I go to HD to get the lumber that I needed to finish the upstairs. We got all the lumber in the truck. About a thousand pounds worth. Well I thought I had better check the horses one more time. This time I could tell there was something seriously bad with the horse. If you know anything about horses they can colic easy. Last year I lost two horses. So I was in a panic. So we unloaded all the lumber and hooked up the horse trailer and ran him to the vet for an after hours visit. He pumped him full of mineral oil and other drugs and said he should be better in the morning.
The vet called me sunday morning and said I could come and pick him up. So I pick him up sunday morning and spent most of the rest of the day checking on him every hour. Late in the day he was still looking good, so we loaded all the lumber back into the truck. I sent my boss an email that I was taking monday off instead of friday. The wife was staying at the house so I felt ok to leave the horse. She could call me and I could head back if needed. Anyway I got to the cabin around 10 and watch a movie on the laptop to unwind a bit before I went to sleep. Having a great wife makes things a lot easier.
I got up at 7 this morning and got started. Breakfast consisted of a mountain dew and a snickers. Wow I got a ton done until I gassed out around 4pm the temps hit almost 90. Up on the mountain the lot is south facing so it always feels warmer than it is. By 10 I had all the upper floor joists on.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0381.jpg)
By noon I had all the temp floor decking on.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0382.jpg)
By 3:30 I had the upper wall and seal plate competed on one end
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0383.jpg)
I had a lot of stuff to put away so after that I spent 45 minutes cleaning things up, putting things away, and putting the 4 wheelers away. Whew Im tired.
your place is really coming along nicely, and those views are beautiful. as someone who spends a good deal of time working on projects alone, i can say that i'm impressed with how much you've accomplished.
if i could just make one critical observation: osb boards are engineered to be installed horizontally. they have almost no strength installed vertically, and you lose most of rigidity and racking resistance that the sheathing is supposed to provide the structure.
what will you use the room in the 'upper left' corner of the main floor plans? is that a main floor bed room or something else?
i'm thinking of changing plans to the 1 & 1/2 story instead of 2 story... and trying to think it thru. Also, is the open space in the loft that is oposite the stairs just for vaulted ceilings?]
I like where you are headed with the beams.
i'm thinking about the 1 1/2 story considering a walkout basement for some more space.. perhaps as a compromise to a full 2 story.
duncan
mldrenen I had planned on going horizontal with the osb but my father in law said go vertical because his son who is a building inspector said that is how it is done nodays. I called the county inspector and he said to go that way because these days you have to cover all seams and vertical osb has fewer seams.
duncanshannon The room on the upper left in the plans will be the wife and my bedroom. We will stick the kids, family and friends in the bedrooms upstairs. The areas on both sides of the cat walk will be open to the ceiling. As far as the foundation goes, if I had it to do over I would have added 3 more feet to the foundation and had a walk out basement. It would have been another 400 square feet for only 2000 more dollars.
Cool! I'm thinking i'd need a BR on the main and then two upstairs... one being a 'bunk room' for our kids and what ever visitors kids we might have and another for the adults. (we want to be able to go to the cabin with one other family of 4 and be pretty comfortable).
with the walk out, if somewhat finished, we should be able to squeeze 3 families in, or perhaps a boy scout troop!
did you consider a full 2 story at all?
suburbancowboy --- i was wrong. i'd been under the impression that the strength axis stamped on the sheets of osb had to be followed, but further research indicates that it makes little difference. i literally learn something new every day i'm on here.
duncanshannon I really never did consider a full two story. I started out wanting an A Frame but after doing a lot of research and finding this site I went with the 1 1/2 story. I need a steep pitched roof to handle the snow load hear. At one point this winter there was 5 feet of snow on the level here.
Well a little update on last weekends progress. Friday and saturday I took a couple of kids up and we finished the last wall on the upstairs and got all the wall tied together with the cap. On saturday we got one truss put up and move another up on top. Why is it that it takes 4 times longer to do the first one than the rest? After lunch we road the 4 wheelers some before we headed home. If it is all work and no play the kids don't won't want to come and help any more. ;)
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0386.jpg)
We went back up on Sunday night to get ready for the big crew coming up on the morning of the 4th. I got the temp cat walks up to span the gaps before they showed up at 7 that morning. My father, mother and brother in law came up to help get the trusses up. They are great. Here are a couple of pics what we got done.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0394.jpg)
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0392.jpg)
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0399.jpg)
By 2:30 we had all the trusses up and 2 rows of OSB on. Not bad considering the generator got a plugged fuel filter half way through the day. Then we went back to old school. We did a lot of bracing so hopefully the wind don't blow things down.
This weekend I will try and get the rest of the osb up.
Looks good. [cool] Lots of bracing is a good idea. It doesn't take much to tip the trusses over if they aren't braced well. Your 2 rows of OSB will help out a lot to stiffen things up.
Looks good. I really like your floor plan as well. Can't wait to see the finished product!
nice work, the trusses go up fast!
With my in laws not being up this weekend I need to figure out a better way to get the osb up to the roof. I will have the wife who isn't great with heights, one step son who is terrified of heights and a 14 year old step son who is like a monkey. I was going to start with the side that doesn't have any osb on it. I can't man handle it like we did on the south side, just passing it through the rafters, so I was thinking of pushing the 5/8 osb up two ladders for the first row. Then for the second row I was thinking of using a block and tackle approach where the wife and scared son would tie on the osb and the monkey son and myself would pull the osb up into place and then tack it down. Anybody have any better ideas for a limited crew?
Wow progress looks great, your plans must have came from my dream,it looks even better
in the pictures.We hope to start ours soon, keep up the good work and keep the pics coming.
If you nail 2x6's or larger on edge from studs projecting outside and nail posts up to support the free end. Nail blocks under the horizontal and diagonals between the posts. Walkboards on top. This should place you in a safer location to work the bottom sheet. After that I nail up toeboards on that row of osb and do the next. Your help can usually slide up sheets on a pair of leaned up 2x's onto the walkboards. It looks like they could stock you from the high bank easily.
Update for the weekend. We went up friday night and worked on getting the end boards put on the trusses so that we could start on the osb on saturday. Well I found out that my truss crew on the weekend before switch on which side of the line they put the trusses on. This was found when the outer board no longer lined up. So on saturday we started on the other end which I had measured and everything lined up good. So we got to cut out about 1/3 of the trusses and move them to the other side of the line. Then everything fit great.
It was hard work getting the osb up and nailed down. I had rigged a pulley system to the trusses to pull the osb up. I also nailed an extra board on the bottom of the truss for the osb to sit against. I had a 14 years boy up on top and a scardy cat 16 step son on the ground helping the wife tie the osb to the rope to pull up. We leaned two extention ladders agains the roof for the osb to slide up. This worked ok but by 2:30 i was beat and called it a day. Hopefully the in-laws will be up next weekend and we can finish up the roof.
Here is where we ended up by the end of the day.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0401.jpg)
More pics from this last weeks work. I have my mother, father, brother and sister in law and some of the kids come up this last weekend. This brother in law is a building inspector for a city not far from here. It was his first time up. Friday night we didn't get much done, mostly clean up and prep for the next morning. We ended up watching "red riding hood" the movie in the bunk house. In the morning I let the brother in law look at the plan and asked him what I was missing for the framing inspection. There was 5 or 6 small things that I need to do. The one big things was on the east side where the front door and widows are I put the hurricane straps on the inside the osb instead of the out side.
This was a job taking the osb off and putting straps on the outside of the osb. This is what the women and kids worked on for a while.
The men focused on the rest of the roof.
Here a pic of how we got the osb on the roof. I had rigged a double pully system to pull the osb up to the roof. We had two ladders leaning against the roof, we would then lean the 5/8 osb against the ladders. The outside person whould pull the osb over to the ladders and connect the rope. The inside guy would pull the rope and slide the osb to the roof. The two truss guys would then place the osb and tack it down. This took us about three hours to get the rest of the osb on the roof. Here is a pic of how things where set up.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0404.jpg)
Here we are trying to get the end boards on the roof. That was a lot of work. I'm glad my father in law age 62 isn't afraid of heights. He is the one on the top. 30 feet up and 12/12 pitch roof.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0409.jpg)
By end of day all the osb was on and the end boards was on the west side. You have to love good in laws. It was my mother in laws birth day and she spent it helping us. But what else can be better than spending the day with family working together. Last time my family helped me like that was 1998 :-[
end of day
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0412.jpg)
Next task for this next week is to get the internal blocking in and the rest of the osb on the outside.
I went up to do some work on the cabin last night after work. I focused on doing some prep work for this weekend. I have a couple of days off and I am hoping to get dried in. Anyway when after I pulled up I felt like I was coming home, it was so peaceful. I only saw one other person on the mountain. The feeling really kind of surprised me. It was like the scene in avatar when the guy says "things are different now, when I am a navi that seems real and being a human is foreign." Has anybody else ever experienced this?
Oh yeah, definitely! We're more or less dried in, but when I get up to our place and it's so peaceful, I feel like I've entered my sanctuary. Can't wait to get up there again this Friday. My only regret is we have no view, certainly nothing like yours.
Nice work and a real handsome location. I do remember that feeling of connectedness. It's powerful but it can slip away with too much familiarity and a nagging to-do list. :D :D :D
Well I have been busy the last four days. Friday and Saturday the wife and kids came up and we put in over 100 blockings for the trusses and the walls and the rest of the osb on the north side. We also got the end boards on the roof and tacked the rest of the roof osb down.
Here we are putting the end boards on the roof.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0461.jpg)
Here is me and the step son tacking down the roof.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0462.jpg)
This is where we got by end of day Saturday.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0465.jpg)
I took the family home on Saturday night for some rest.
Sunday morning I got up at 6 and headed back for two more days of work. I finished a lot of things that my bother in law said needed to be done for the framing inspection. I also finished the osb on the south side and the windows put in on the north side. That stuff is heavy pushing it up 10 feet. I also got the upper wall framing done on the east and west side. I started putting the osb on the east side but when I would get them up and about to staple them they would fall outwards and about knock me off the ladder. After this happens twice I decided to call it a day. No sense getting hurt. Where is a shot of the east wall framing.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0466.jpg)
I am going to take a week off to go camping with my daughter from Washington. In two weeks hopefully I will get the metal on the roof.
Last weekend the wife, my step son went up to see what we could get done. Friday we got some osb on the north end. We also started on the roofing. Got the sticky felt on the bottom and two rows of metal on. After the sticky felt we went with vertical felt instead of horizontal. We would put down a row of felt then a sheet of metal with out having to move the ladder several times.
Here we are getting the metal on.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0472.jpg)
Here we are trying to get the east side finished. Man the scaffolding was shaky and high up.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0475.jpg)
Here is the end of day progress.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0476.jpg)
Monday and tuesday I went up to spend some time on the interior framing. I'm not sure if it is needed for the framing inspection or not.
Here is the bathroom. It was nice to work on something inside for a change.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0479.jpg)
This last weekend I went and visited my daughter on orcas island in washington state. The weather was great. Never over 75. The goal for this next week is to finish the roof, West end osb, windows. I will then be dried in. YES!!!!!!!!!
Looks great!
Are there trade offs for making the felt go vertical?
Also.... 12' walls? How tall at the interior peak with the scissors trusses?
Quote from: duncanshannon on August 14, 2011, 07:36:32 PM
Looks great!
Are there trade offs for making the felt go vertical?
It's wrong
You will use more felt than running it horizontally because there should be more overlap with vertical lap joints than horizontal lapping.
At least according to standard methods approved by codes.
Vertical placement would provide more points for wind blown water to be blown under the lap.
Probably more reasons why vertical is a bad idea.
I understand the reasoning behind vertical placement, but that still doesn't make it right. Better to hire out and have it done right.
My opinion of course.
Don points out some of the negatives. Positives you have to move the ladders less and it felt much safer. I'm also about out of money for the project this year. Lots of bad luck this year with cars, horses and kids.
The peak on the second floor is 9 feet. It really feels like a full second floor.
Quote from: suburbancowboy on August 14, 2011, 10:14:30 PM
The peak on the second floor is 9 feet. It really feels like a full second floor.
12' 2x6 walls?
Correct 12' walls.
Well here's an update for the last weekend. We got the osb on the north side tacked down. When we put it up it was hard to reach the bottom sheets. My step son is like spider man, he loves this kind of stuff.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0548.jpg)
We also got the rest of the metal on the roof. What a relief to get this finished. Notice the reused of the wall jack, that is next to me. That is how we got the sheets of metal up.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0551.jpg)
Sunday I also went back up and cut out five of the windows and put three in. I had the other two windows but they ended up being bad. I had bought them used and I guess I didn't check them close enough. No biggy, just another 200 dollars for HD. I also worked on the 2nd row of osb on the West side. Another half day and I will be dried in. Man I'm pooped.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0554.jpg)
Great job! Your stepson is brave!
I know exactly how you feel...pooped. Im about a week ahead of ya as far as build goes. few more good days and I should be dried in.
This has been a great weekend and a very frustrating weekend. I spent the last five days on the cabin. I finally got it dried in!! :) I worked my butt off because I scheduled the framing inspection today. It was set for 9AM. I was sick with anticipation and nervous as heck. Well when the old guy gets there I can tell this will be tough sell. I guess that things must be slow for the county because he was very picky. I had 4 things fail. None of which I would have cared about. His attitude was like a cop. Not a very pleasant experience. All together another weekends worth of work and another 200 - 300 dollars. After all the work I put in I felt like I was punched in the gut. I did gets some good info from him on how to do the plumbing. Is this typical of most inspectors?
The only ones I've ever dealt with ranged from a folksy old fart who I got along well with to the rather stiff and proper but pleasant. Picky yes, but on things that I'd say count. Like that collar ties were used along with rafter ties/ceiling joists.
What did he pick on, out of curiosity.
The failed items were:
1. Not enough staples on a few sections of osb on the walls. Some where spaced 12 inches versus 6 inches.
2. No foam under the seal plate. I had been told this was optional with a crawl space. They said spray foam will be ok.
3. I used the 2" washers for the anchor bolt supplied by the foundation guy. The foundation did pass inspection. They want 3" square washers. Put in where I can. I crawled under there and it will be a major pain to put in.
4. When I put the floor boards on I was told if I used staples I didn't need to glue the floor boards to the floor joist. Well some of the floor boards have come loose over time so he wants me to re-nail all the floor boards to the joist. This isn't even part of the code, how squeaky the floors are.
Like I said before nothing huge just a big pain in the butt. >:(
So far my building inspector has been very helpful. He tore apart my design for a building plan. Yes it hurts a little, but I didn't disagree with many of the critiques. I was wrong on most. The ones that I wasn't, I knew I wasn't and discussed them with him. He was more impressed that I actually read the code than upset for disagreeing. There were a few items which he required that were above code requirements, but I didn't care. The suggestions and tips far outweighed the changes or extra work on my part. I look at it as what would it have cost me to have a professional licensed engineer that has seen hundreds of building built over 30 years give me suggestions in design and building? The trade off for me in that was putting in wider doors and losing some closet space.
I don't understand the square washer issue?
Quote from: Squirl on September 07, 2011, 03:52:57 PM
I don't understand the square washer issue?
A 3" square washer has much greater surface area; 9 sq inches vs. 3.142 sq inches for the 2" round washer. That will provide much more hold down (almost 3x) in case high winds try to lift or push the structure off the foundation.
Just a little update. A couple of weeks ago we got dried in. Here is the latest pic of the outside.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0557.jpg)
Last week I got all the framing inspections issues fixed..
This weekend I started the plumbing. I got the sub floor in, the flooring and the wholes for toilet the and shower. I will install the toilet and shower tomorrow after work.
The colors on the mountain are incredible right now. I thought I would show you all some images.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0560.jpg)
This one is behind the cabin.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0561.jpg)
Just an update on my progress. Yesterday I passed the framing inspection. :) But the plumbing failed. It had a very slow leak in the water lines. 5 pounds over a 15 minute period. I also had a leak in the waste lines. I think it might be bad values. When I tested it I didn't wait that long to see if I lost pressure. At least the Framing passed so now I can start putting on the house wrap. I was up there last Saturday working on the plumbing and it had snowed 8 inches. :-\ By Tuesday most of it had melted. ::)
This weekend I might also start putting on the hardie planks on the north side just for some extra protections.
Do any of you know of some good online resources that I can check out for putting on hardie planks? I have heard rumors that there are extra steps to putting it on.
Hardie has full instructions on their website. Download the directions for the right product and see if there are any special clearances, etc. for your location / altitude. It's their product, they should know. That's the way I did it.
Solosiders are invaluable for hanging
hi-
i just recently started hanging my hardie plank. as don said, the instructions are pretty good.
I had some solosiders but after comparing reviews to the Geckos... i swapped.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VERBCU/
happy to answer any questions I can about the hardie.
also... i picked up one of these on craigs list. works pretty well.
http://www.amazon.com/PacTool-International-SS404-SteelHead-Cutting/dp/B0000DCBJH/
nice to have the lesser ammounts of bad-for-you-to-inhale dust.
Well the weather is a changing. This weekend we went to the cabin for what might be the last time this year. We got every thin put away. :-[ There is suppose to lots of snow up there this week. Here are some pictures to catch every body up.
Here is the upstairs on the west side. The barrel on the left is what will supply the water when the in ground line is frozen. We will also use the water tank for the short term until the outside tank gets install some time next year. I will also put in a 12 volt pump if needed.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0592.jpg)
Here is a shot of the bathroom plumbing. The pex pipe was much easier than I thought it would be.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0590.jpg)
Here is a shot of the kitchen. I went way over board on it this early. I thought that all the plumbing in the kitchen and bathroom needed to be in place for the plumbing inspection. I was wrong :-\ but I will be further along next year :D
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0591.jpg)
I also got most of the house wrap done.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0588.jpg)
Here are some great shots of the view and trip up the mountain in late fall.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0593.jpg)
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0587.jpg)
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0585.jpg)
I'm curious as to what the sprinklers are for?
Also, is looks like a lot of your PEX maybe on outside walls. Take care to get insulation between the pipes and the OSB to help prevent freezing. You might want to consider tucking some pieces of foam or foil faced foam between the OSB and the PEX.
The sprinklers are at some farmers field at the bottom of the mountain. I'm half wondering if some farmer forgot they are on. It is in a back field at the bottom of the mountain. I just thought the ice formations looked cool.
I will finish the insulation behind the plumbing next spring. Just plumb ran out of time before the snow hit.
If he still has something growing they will sometimes turn on the sprinklers if it drops below freezing to keep the crops from freezing.
Strong place for a toilet. Lol ???
looking good! must be a bummer to close up for the winter :(
QuoteThe pex pipe was much easier than I thought it would be.
I was kinda looking forward to doing the PEX.... however its the one part of a build in Wisconsin that you must hire a licensed professional... :(
I think homeowners can do their own PEX in Wisconsin as long its on a building they own.
Man youre looking really good and have gotten alot done. I noticed that you sealed all 4 edges of the windows nailing flange with foil window wrap. When I did mine I was told to wrap the bottom piece on the sill. install the windows and then go over the sides and top overlapping. The reason was if water/condesation got behind the flanges it would drain out the bottom and this was left unseal with silicone too. Just curiouse cause I had to redo 2 windows I had installed already.
The wrap around the window is like a super sticky extra thick duck tape. Here in Utah that is what all the builder put around the windows. The down side is that it looses its stickiness as it heats and cools over time, then it pulls away from the wood. On most of the corners I had to staple the tape back up. I could see it sealing really good if you put the house wrap and siding on soon after. But alas I am doing this mostly by my self. :-\
Wednesday Morning - February 8th, 2012 Oklahoma
Thanks suburbancowboy,
I am following your build very closely and I appreciate all of your pictures. I am doing two lofts with a catwalk just like you are. Could you give us a shot of your main floor plans? Also, I would love to see better pictures of the way you did your stairs.
I also like the way your running your loft joists parallel with the long walls and meeting the LVL's, that's very interesting. Most people here have done them perpendicular to the long walls. What did you use for joists for the main lofts? What did you use for the catwalk portion, 2x12's, 2x10's?
Again, your place looks great and I look forward to seeing more. More power to you sir!
Glad you like it. The plans are on the very first post on this thread. I wrapped up work on the cabin at the end of October because of snow.
My engineer had me run the floor joist the other way to reduce cost and conform to utah specs. There are two sets of 6X12X20 lvl beams at 12' intervals. The short walls on the end in the cabin was only 8 feet. The 2X8X12' floor joist on the top are attached to the lvl beams using a joist hangers and then on the other end they sit on top of the 8 foot wall on the other end. I then built a 4 foot knee wall to bring them up to the 12 feet. The floor joist was on 16 inch centers. I then put 2X6's on for the upper floor.
As far as the stairs go this is the only other pic I have. At first I was going to fill in under the stair for storage, with the door under the upper part of the stairs. Now I am thinking that I will leave the bottom part under the stairs open to put wood in for winter use for the fire place. I will put a small door under the landing for storage. Under the upper part of the stairs I will leave open and put a small half circle dining room table with two chairs for when the wife and I go up by our selves.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0589.jpg)
On a sad note I got a call from one of my neighbors up there during the super bowl last Sunday that my place was broken into. They wasn't sure what had been stolen. 10 cabins on my side of the mountain had been hit that they know of so far. So monday I took the day off and drove the 4 wheeler up to the place. The scum bags really busted up the front door on the cabin. On the shed/bunk house is was a steel door and had less damage but the locks was destroyed. The great news is that they didn't take anything. I guess they didn't want to haul out my 200 pound generator 200 yards through 2 feet of snow. So now I'm not sure how to feel. Happy or sad. Anyway while I was up there I fixed the doors and locks enough to keep the honest people out.
Sorry to hear that - Its a worry i have too - but there's not a lot I can do about it from down here.
I have the place set up with two game cams monitoring the entry to the property and the door to my present trailer.
They won't be able to steal the trailer till spring ! but we clothes and food etc in the trailer ..
If you can get up there by ATv you have no excuse to stop for winter ! ;D
Problem with getting up there in the winter is my 4 wheeler only works on well packed trails with temps below freezing. I tried getting up there last year in the spring on the 4 wheeler and got stuck because the snow was to soft. Next year I will have a Kawasaki Teryx4 with tracks. No way will the snow stop me!!! ;D
Looking good! Keep it up!
Finally made it back up to the cabin this last weekend. Main purpose to access how the cabin weathered and haul up the 4 wheelers. Here is the last part of the road to the cabin. It is in a shady draw.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0679.jpg)
If I had more aggressive tires on the truck I could have drove the rest of the way.
Once I got up there I notice some bad wind damage. One of the piece of metal on the roof had blown off(my fault I didn't trim off the over hang, all the upper house wrap gone and part of the house wrap on the front. It must have been one heck of a wind storm.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0678.jpg)
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0677.jpg)
Saturday I just kind of cleaned up and did some planning. I also removed the temp floor on the up stairs that I had finished yet.
I also took monday off. It was really warm weather. I picked up some 2X6 to work on the upper floor, but there was still a little to much snow on the road so I hauled the wood up on the 4 wheelers. Any way it was a really great day on the mountain. Dry at my place but snowy just 50 feet higher on the mountain. We are 6 weeks ahead of last year. ;D
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/100_0681.jpg)
Plan for next week start the brick for the wood burning stove, then the chimney guys can come up.
I really like your floor plan and I am following your thread! Keep up the good work and keep the pictures coming!
Went up to the cabin today after work to haul up some lumber and get a little work done. I also wanted to see if the roads was clear yet. It snow a little this weekend up there, 10 inches, but it was also in the 50's up there yesterday so I went for it. To my suprise the left side of the road was melted off so I was able to get all the way to the cabin in the truck. :)
Here is what I got done before the sun went down. I leave the gaps in the floor boards so that the clamps have some place to grab. I then go back and fill in the boards later. It take about 15 minutes per row to pre-drill the holes and then put the screw in. Even with the clamps with the cool weather there is small gaps between boards. I am hoping the poly I put down will fill them in.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120417_191618.jpg)
On the way back down the hill I chased a flock of turkeys down the road. At first the thought what the heck is that in the road. The toms had there tail feather spread out and looked huge. I grabbed the phone and snapped this shot while trying to stay on the road.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120417_202020.jpg)
Nice flock of Turkeys! :)
Just an update of what has been going on the last couple of weeks. I have finished the second floor flooring and started the pad for the fire place. I worked on it last weekend and went up after work yesterday hoping to finish. I have never done any brick work before so I have kind of made a mess. First I put down the cement fiberboard to the shape and size I wanted. I then laid out the bricks the way I wanted. Then I put in the mortar. Man this takes a long time mixing the mortar in the bucket then applying in the gaps with a hand trowel.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120430_191358.jpg)
The brick under the stairs will be for wood storage. The rest is for the fireplace to set on. Chimney guy is coming Friday.
One thing that I need some help on is when I use my grinder with a wire brush to get the mortar off the brick it is turning the bricks from there redish brown color to grey. You can see this in the picture where in the middle I had brushed the mortar off. How can I get the red back out on the brick???? ??? Will soap and water clean it up? Anyway three more hours and 20 more bricks and I will be done.
If you try the wire wheel, I'd sure try it under the stairs first to make sure you are happy with how it turns out. May eat the brick away as fast as the mortar. With a fireplace on it, and wood under the stairs I wouldn't be too concerned. It will have a rustic look. Appreciate you sharing all the pics, I enjoy following your build.
I think the masons around here use a mild acid solution of some sort to get the mortar off the brick, maybe someone else knows exactly what they use...I am no mason :)
I found this hope it helps:
I try to clean mortar from brick or stone as soon as I can brush the mortar without smearing it in the joints. At that point, a dry brush and a sponge damp with water are all that's needed. However, cleaning mortar off brick even years after application is still possible, and muriatic acid is still the agent to use.
Muriatic acid is a form of hydrochloric acid that dissolves mortar. Be sure to follow the instructions on the container closely. Typically, those instructions say to begin by mixing a 9:1 (10%) solution of water to acid. The acid should always be added to the water and not vice versa.
Next the brick is wet down with water, and the acid solution is applied with an acid-resistant brush. The solution should sizzle and fizz as it dissolves the mortar. Leave the solution on for a few minutes, and then rinse the brick with water. It's important to rinse between applications because the acid solution will begin to dissolve the mortar in the joints as well as the brick itself.
If the mortar you're removing doesn't come off on the first try, repeat the process until it does. As the mortar bond weakens, use mechanical and abrasive force in the form of a chisel, a scraper or an abrasive pad. If you need to speed up the process, gradually increase the amount of acid in the mix. When all the clumps of mortar are removed, you usually will be left with a stain that looks like a faint shadow after the brick dries. At this point, apply a coat of masonry sealer, and that shadow should disappear. There are many sealers on the market, but one that I've had good luck with is Glaze 'N Seal (800-486- 1414). As a word of caution, be sure to wear eye protection, acid-resistant gloves and old clothes when cleaning with muriatic acid. Fabric and flesh don't offer nearly the resistance to the acid that the mortar does.
Well another long weekend got alot done but not as much as I wanted to.
Friday my chimney and gas line guy came up. There was three of them. They got the chimney up in about three hours. Looks really good. They also did the gas line. That took them a few hours also. It looks really nice. So far that is the only piece I have hired out and I'm glad I did. I couldn't have done the gas line and the chimney would have been a major stress.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120504_185226.jpg)
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120504_185312.jpg)
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120504_185350.jpg)
Saturday the wife and step son came up and helped with the attic insulation and helped put the sheet of metal back on the roof. I can now see why the metal came off. Last year it was the last piece put on and it was the end of a long and hot day. We had missed all the screws on the top half. It wont come off now. I also framed in the attic access and framed up the last wall that was up stairs. This defiantly wasn't a standard wall framing.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120505_165439.jpg)
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120505_165540.jpg)
Sunday I finished the last third of the attic insulation and started the sheet rock on the out side in preparation for the siding. I had to cut the sheets in half to be able to manage them. 5/8 sheet rock is heavy.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120506_153514.jpg)
I am very sore today. Tomorrow after work I will go back up to get more sheet rock on. Hopefully next weekend I can get more help up there to finish.
Just curious what siding are you using? Wondering why sheetrocking then siding unless your doing a stuco finish or somethingg... can you clarify?
In utah I am building in what is called fire zone 1. Meaning every thing needs to have a 20 minute burn rating. Originally I was going to use hardie planking. But later decided I wanted a more log cabin look, so I decided on log siding. In order to do the log siding I need to have the 5/8 sheet rock between the osb and log siding. The short answer is that it is a code thing. Plus and extra $600 expence and an extra week of work. I think that I will like the look lots better so worth the work and expense.
Just to be clear, this is the exterior grade of gypsum sheathing like the product in this link (http://www.americangypsum.com/products/detail/?p_id=137)? Not your ordinary interior wallboard. I ask because the exterior panels I've seen around here all have Logos and brand names printed on them.
Wow, I've never heard of exterior sheet rock. You can't use that stuff as actual siding itself right?
another silly question AJ but why instead of a straight veritcal run through the roof, when they installed your stove pipe they adjusted the angle penetrating the roof? To MD's point make sure it is exterior grade gypsum board or a concrete board to withstand the oisture of being outside the vabour barrier in the moisture.
Quote from: ajbremer on May 08, 2012, 07:06:56 AM
Wow, I've never heard of exterior sheet rock. You can't use that stuff as actual siding itself right?
I guess that proves the point; why I mentioned or asked if this was exterior gypsum board. It is strictly a sheathing, must be covered by finish siding. The 5/8 is rated as fire resistant.
I believe there are brands that do not need covering with a weather resistant barrier. Those are made with a fiberglass in place of paper IIRC. Those are taped much like foam insulation sheets.
The reason for the jog at the top was to get the chimney closer to the peak of the roof. Two reasons first for the snow load above the chimney. If it sits to low on the roof when the snow slides the chimney can get ripped off. The other reason is the lower on the roof you are the taller the chimney needs to be outside the roof. Don has some nice comment on why this is.
I am not using exterior grade sheet rock. The cost is almost double or more. As I put up the sheet rock I am putting on another layer of house wrap. The the side will go on that.
I would be concerned with using interior drywall. No matter what you do it is bound to get damp or wet in the future and cause problems. Saving a little money now, may cause big problems latter. Just my 2 cents.
I hope I am wrong, but it seems to me you are building a mold farm.
Regular drywall is faced with paper. Mold feasts on cellulose. Paper is cellulose. Mold spores are everywhere. The spores only need the addition of moisture and a favorable temperature to begin to grow. Exterior gypsum board was not developed just to sell an expensive product and to make profits for the manufacturer. Exterior gypsum board is built to do a job. Mold has a job too; it is one of nature's recyclers.
Quote from: suburbancowboy on May 08, 2012, 12:39:54 PM
The reason for the jog at the top was to get the chimney closer to the peak of the roof. Two reasons first for the snow load above the chimney. If it sits to low on the roof when the snow slides the chimney can get ripped off. The other reason is the lower on the roof you are the taller the chimney needs to be outside the roof. Don has some nice comment on why this is.
I am not using exterior grade sheet rock. The cost is almost double or more. As I put up the sheet rock I am putting on another layer of house wrap. The the side will go on that.
I get that but the esthetics factor alone only save approx 12" on a 12 12 pitch based on the photo. Be careful as MD suggests as I have seen some nasty drywall in my parents basement with no moisture leaks just lack of air flow, add driving rains, potentially not a good recipe.
Well I have been thinking about the comments on using the exterior grade sheet rock and so today I went to the building supply store and asked about it. They hadn't heard about it so they had to call a place that they special order from. The price was exactly double, ouch but I ordered the rest that I needed to finish. So now only the south side, the dry side, will have the interior stuff. :-\ Not the first time comments here have made me change directions. ;)
Any way after work yesterday I went back up to the cabin and finished the south side and got the house wrap on. I ran out of the house wrap the last three feet so I put on some old house wrap that had blown off until I get some more up there. House wrap is a pain to put on your self in the wind. :o
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120508_194254.jpg)
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120508_202721.jpg)
I think using the right product is wise.
The other question that comes to my mind is "Is it a bad thing to have that gypsum board sandwiched in two layers of housewrap? Or does it not matter? I don't have the definitive answer, I'm just wondering. It is out of the ordinary and usual way of doing things. That always raises questions to me. Sometimes it is un-necessary worry. Sometimes not. And I don't have time at present to go researching.
Also watch the window and door flashing with the added/new layer. I'm not the best way to do that at this point? Should the walls be framed out with lumber around the windows to provide a solid nailable ring around them for the solid wood siding, or not? Again I'm not sure, maybe over thinking this... Changes in the middle of a project can affect other things in unexpected ways.
Went up with some of the kids and "Paid them" for some of their help. We got the first row of exterior grade sheet rock on and got the house wrap on. It was much heavier than the interior. Instead of paper on the outside it had sprayed on fiberglass. Man that stuff is itchy. Now to finish the upper half and start log siding.
Maybe I should call it the green turtle cabin.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120512_140719.jpg)
Will the added thickness cause you problems with trimming out your doors and windows?
The color grows on you.... ;D
Sorry fr the cause in directional shift on your cabin, but glad you chnaged directions none the less. I think in the long run you will be as well. that sheetrock looks fantastic and I think MD is right it grows on you.....
Just a quick update. I ended up taking yesterday off instead of friday due to an upcoming software release at out company. So I called the building inspector and had them schedule a mechanical and plumbing inspection. So the building inspector shows up at 11:30 and was gone by 11:45. He asks me a couple of questions on the plumbing. Hardly checked the pressure gauges on the plumbing. I told him who did the chimney and gas line. He then said you passed? [cool] I was glad it passed but not sure how I feel about how little time he took checking it out. Anyway I'm happy. I did ask him about my stairs and he said I need to change the treads from 2 -2X6 to 1-2X12. No biggy. I was going to do that anyway. Strange thing was he kept hitting me up about electrical. I keep saying that I don't want it. I have the place to get away from technology and try to reconnect. So when I get home late last night my wife tells me the building inspector called and says that he found out that I need to have some kind of minimum electrical in the cabin. We dont even get power to the Mountain!!!! How dumb is that??? Have any of you heard of a requirement of having some kind of minimum electrical?
Any way I will have to fight that. After the inspector left I finished framing around the windows in preparation to putting on the log siding. It was crazy windy and wan't much fun. This weekend I hope to have two sides mostly done, which means probably I will have the lower half of two sides done.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120515_183621.jpg)
Well I called the building inspector yesterday and he said his boss told him that I need to have minimal electrical in the cabin. I said, "what does that entail?". He then started to spout off all the eletrical in the cabin. Exact same stuff that he told me last year when I was thinking of putting it in. So I guess there is no minimum. I then said, "Is this a federal, state or county thing", his reply I don't know, my boss just says we are requiring all the cabins in the county to have eletrical. d* What a bunch of crap. There isn't even electrical run to any of the lots on the mountain. What do you guys think? Fight it or go with the flow? I have most of the stuff from when I was going to put it in last year, before I got tired of the BS, so only and extra 500 - 1000 in expenses.
I ran into that when I was asking questions at the building department. It kind of stumped them. To me it did not matter as I knew I was doing solar. I was just curious about if they would require the normal NEC wiring if there was no power used on site. Myself, I'd put in the circuits as usual as one never knows what the future needs or wants may be. If it was me I'd ask if I could run the wires, install the boxes and all, but leave the boxes empty, no receptacles no switches, because there's no power. Blank cover plates don't cost all that much. They might go for that as a compromise and you would save a little money. Then if you ever get to wanting power, either a generator or some alternative source you're all set. I'd do that rather than take on that fight; not worth it to me. As one who has spent time crawling in attics and under buildings to add circuits after the building was completed I can vouch that post installation is a lot of extra work and in some cases is less satisfactory appearance wise, than installing it during construction.
There's probably a tick list so that they can sign off on your building as finished.....one being electrical- I guess the electrical deparment has another 150 permit cost ...too
So fit a fuse box- 1 light bulb and a switch - with a socket below all to code
then get then to sign off on it !
The codebook is the minimum, he has to be able to show you something, chapter and verse, a code citation that he is enforcing if asked.
From another forum;
Quote
The only electrical device actually required by the IRC are the smoke detectors and they specifically can be battery powered if the house is not connected to the commercial power grid.
All other base IRC requirements heat light water hot water can be met without using electricity.
Windows for natural light. Candles, gas or kerosene lights at steps--only place artificial light is required in a house.
Solid fueled stove or fuel fired gravity heating system, hot air, steam or hot water. My grandparent's house in town had a coal fired steam boiler in the basement with pipes sloped for gravity distribution and return with a mechanical feed that you filled the hopper and wound the spring and adjusted the feed rate.
Solar hot water heaters were on the market within 2 years of the first electric ones and outnumbered electric ones in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Windmill to lift from well to gravity water tank, or from an uphill source.
The electrical section in the IRC can be argued to be the same as the fuel gas section--it only applies if and when you chose to put gas or electric in the house."
Quote"All interior and exterior stairways shall be provided with a means to illuminate the stairs. Interior stairs shall be provided with an artificial light source.... Exterior stairways shall be provided with an artificial light source.... R303.6.
There shall be a wall switch at each floor level. Illumination of exterior lighting shall be controlled from inside the dwelling unit. R303.6.1.
When the winter design temperature is below 60 degrees F, every dwelling unit shall be provided with heating capable of maintaining 68 degrees F at 3' above the floor and 2' from the exterior walls. R303.8.
Every dwelling unit shall be provided with a water closet, lavatory, and a bathtub or shower. R306.1.
Every dwelling unit shall be provided with a kitchen sink. R306.2.
All plumbing fixtures shall be connected to a sanitary sewer or to an approved private sewage disposal system. R306.3.
Kitchen sinks, lavatories, bathtubs, showers, bidets, laundry tubs, and washing machine outlets shall be provided with hot and cold water. R306.4.
Smoke detectors and alarms are required. R314.
Carbon Monoxide detectors and alarms are required in some circumstances. R315.
Most energy codes also require exhaust fans from toilet rooms, laundry rooms, kitchens, etc.
Some local codes do not permit the use of wood fired appliances in new construction.
Thank you Don_P. Once again it pays to be well acquainted with the IRC. :)
5/20/2012 update. This weekend we went up friday and saturday. We got some of the subfloor down under the cabnets so I can start to finish the plumbing. I also put in a new door to replace the one that was busted up during the break in I had this winter. I also had to put some finish on it. I was a light oak gel stain. First time I used a gel stain. I don't care for it much. Hard to get a smooth finish.
The major thing that we got started was the log siding. I am really liking how it is turning out. Be warn if any of you use the plan for 20% waste on your measurements. Split boards, broken boards, warped boards. I will have to order some more. I have a feeling that it will take 4 more weekends to get the rest of the exterior sheet rock and siding on. :-\ Tuesday I am meeting with the electrician to get a bid on the electrical. I would do it my self but it is worth paying somebody else to deal with the inspection processes.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/IMG029.jpg)
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/IMG027.jpg)
Yesterday evening I went up to the cabin to get a bid from an electrician for the wiring. He was a very chatty fellow. Hopefully the bid will come in under 1000. After he left, I spent a couple of hours working on the siding on the south side. It was so quite and peaceful. I didn't want to leave when the sun went down. Any way I have a question of you all. I have about 8 tubes of liquid nails left from building last year and was wondering what you all think of using it as caulking between the siding and the window trim? I would also use it to fill in a couple of knot holes in the siding where the knots have fallen out?
Anyway this is where I got to last night.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120522_204204.jpg)
Once I get the bid in I will let all you know to see if it sounds fair.
I can't help you w/the liquid nails questions but your cabin is looking really nice w/that siding!
I would not use the liquid nails as caulking. It is a glue and not made to flex like caulk. I think you will cause more problems done the road. I would use a good caulk that will remain flexible over time. Just my two cents.
As far as gluing in the knots I wouldn't use for that either.
Quote from: rdzone on May 23, 2012, 12:46:55 PM
I would not use the liquid nails as caulking. It is a glue and not made to flex like caulk. I think you will cause more problems done the road. I would use a good caulk that will remain flexible over time. Just my two cents.
As far as gluing in the knots I wouldn't use for that either.
x2, I was about to enter a similar response. On the knots it might be ok, but around trim will give you headaches...
Your log siding looks nice. How did you fasten it?
I'm planning on putting some similar siding on my shed later this summer. I need to install my gable windows and door first.
suburbancowboy not sure if you mentioned and I missed it but do you know whether the manufacturer has already treated your logs for insects? It doesn't take long for them to find a new home in your siding. You might check and if they didn't then I would treat it with some Timbor or other borate chemical before finishing.
To attach the siding I am using galvanized screws every 4 feet. As far as treating, I don't believe it is but the satin finish that I have is suppose to have some kind of protection in it.
I have been having some interesting times with electricians lately. First one I met at the cabin last week never sent me his bid. Called him and he says, " Haven't had time to right it up". So I accidentally called the second guy recommended by my building inspector, I was calling the first guy again to say what's up with the bid. Anyway after I fumble with my words, we agree to meet up there after work. After I talked to him, he called "Richard the building inspector", to find out what minimal electrical means. So when we get up there at least he was informed. We walk around and talk a bit in the cabin then he say he can do it Saturday and it will run 1200 dollars. I am supplying most of the materials as I already had them. Does 1200 sound fair to most of you?
$1200 sounding fair depends on the scope of the project. Around here most electrician's working for themselves are about $45/hr @ $1200 not accounting for local taxes would represent approx 26-27 hours (3+ solid days of wiring). If the cabin is completely open on the interior allowing free running of your cables, and you are going bare minimum requirements and your supplying the materials....hmm I would have to say based on the sq footage 20x36 (720 sq ft= $1.66/sq ft) seems fairly high. Before I had him start I would have it priced minimum of twice. It would give you a good sense of your local market pricing and wether or not his pricing is reasonable.
Most guys in a project like ours throw a high number at a small project hoping for the home owner to take it knowing they don't want to do the work but would if the project home owner wants to pay the bill they'll do. Ask him if he has a new BBQ he wants you to pay for....lol
Well I finally got the bid from the first electrician and he said 2500 dollars. But didn't know when he would have time to get to it. He also wanted to do a whole lot of extra electrical to meet code which wasn't part of the minimal that the building inspector wanted. I sent him an email saying thanks but no thanks. I guess the 1200 dollar bid from the first guy wasn't to bad after all. :-\
Well in comparison that's not that bad, but if you have time I would run it one more time. Appearently the $2500 guy used the second theory I mentioned. don't be afraid to try and get it for a $1000 cash no tax, some contractors like that too :)
as a former asphalt contractor i will confirm that green cash is good for at least 10% off. this only usually works for the small one or two guy operations not big companies
It sounds high to me. A few years ago I had my old house completely rewired. The house was 20' x 24', 2 storey. They ran everything new right from the entrance, and including them supplying a new panel, wired smoke detectors, electric baseboard heat, gfi's, etc. the whole thing came to $3500. This wasn't "minimum electrical" and I had no other out of pocket expenses. The job took them (2 guys) about 3 days.
So, ya I'd shop around a bit more. The first guy definitely is not really interested in the job, he just threw you a high number. If it's a one day job and you're supplying the materials, a 10 hour day @ $75 an hour is still only $750.
Quote from: hhbartlett on June 03, 2012, 09:43:16 AM
It sounds high to me.
So, ya I'd shop around a bit more.
Agreed. My brothers are electricians, dad's retired. Housing starts are down, economy stinks. Too many electricians, too little work. Guys around here are lowballing just to keep their workers busy. You should get a few more estimates.
Where is your electrician having to come from? If it is a major commute I can see him jacking it up. To my ranch we are looking at a hour and 30 from Boise or Mountain Home. They seem to love to play that game. Well that is three hours right there plus milage I have been told!!
Just a quick update from this last weekend.
Gas guy came up and finished running the gas line from the tank and he hooked up all the gas appliances. Gas heater, stove and hot water heater. They all work great.
Eletrician came up and got the whole cabin wired. Monday the inspector came up, walked around for 3 minutes and said you pass and gave me the paper work. I guess that happens when you use his guy. :P
Later in the after noon the electrician came back up hooked up the power to that now I can run 240 off of the generator. That is nice but I really wanted to run 120 from my solar panels. He said that best thing to do would be to get and inverter that outputs 240V and has a four way plug like the generator. Or he can wire some kind of transfer switch up.
Have any of you seen such a set up on an inverter?
I also got all the siding on up to eight feet on the walls.
Cleaned off more brick on the fireplace.
Put in the bathroom door.
Put down some sub floor.
Verified that the septic runs water good.
Hooked up the septic line
Move some of the T&G upstairs
Hung the tankless water heater
Plumbed in some lines to drain the water from the system into the shower.
Put some walls up in the bathroom.
Replace some of the stair treads to meet code. Can't use 2 2X6 have to use 1 2X12. Isn't that the same thing???
Next thing is to finish the bathroom so that I can get the girls up there for more than 6 hours.
Man I'm beat.
6/18/12 update. The last couple of weeks I have been focusing on getting the bathroom complete. Nice to be able to focus on it now that the rough plumbing is complete. Last week I worked on getting the insulation in and some of the fittings.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120608_095226.jpg)
It was a pain getting the insulation behind the pex. I also got some of the wall and water connections done. Then this last friday and saturday my wife and I went up to finish the bathroom and she worked on the insulation. I got all the bathroom complete except hooking the sink to the waste line. I was missing one 90 degree elbow. d* Also when we did the water test the shower had a leak. Just need chalk around the waste pipe. Also I have an issue where the abs main waste line connects to the septic pipe. the abs is 5 inch and the sewer line is 4 1/2 inch. I had bought a rubber boot to connect the two but the clamp doesn't get tight enough and there is a small leak. The sewer line is the green pipe. Any ideas on how to connect the two?
So end of day Saturday the bathroom was mostly done.
Corner shower
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120616_182815.jpg)
Sink and light
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120616_182732.jpg)
Toilet(Girls most favorite)
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120616_182511.jpg)
In the bedroom I am going with some yellow pine paneling.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120616_182400.jpg)
I also got a lot of the T&G board put in the kitchen area. Hopefully I won't need to move the cabinets around any more.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120616_182321.jpg)
I also learned when you get tired you should stop. I kept working and the last hour I made lots of mistakes cutting out space for the light switches and power outlets. Also some of the T&G was giving me problems. Warped and twisted on some.
"I also learned when you get tired you should stop." Yep...cutting mistakes on wood can be a bummer, but even worse is cutting oneself....humble as this makes me, your statement is an absolute rule at my place.
I've always noticed that it's the "last thing of the day" that gets us into trouble. I've been cut, smashed, and fallen usually when I'm tired and about to call it quits. The pine looks fantastic, by the way. As for the "girls favorite"... I've always been partial to a good reading room myself.
Cheers,
Doc
Those walls look great! Beautiful!
Note for the next time, or the next person doing facing the same task.....
Re: "It was a pain getting the insulation behind the PEX. "
Batt type insulation should be installed after the plumbing is in. Then the batts are carefully sliced at the right point, to permit the batt to envelop the PEX. That way the insulation is not compressed, decreasing its effectiveness. Ditto on the process for electrical wiring.
Folks please be careful out there with fire.
There is a huge fire just on the other side of the valley where my cabin is. The town in the valley was evacuated yesterday. Currently it is about 5 miles to the west of my cabin. About 40 cabins on the west side have burned and one man died trying to protect his place. Currently it is at 50,000 + acres. We saw the start of it last Saturday when we was leaving the cabin. It was maybe 10 acres then.
Here is a link to what is going on. http://www.ksl.com/?sid=21002481&nid=148&title=one-dead-in-wood-hollow-fire-fairview-evacuated&s_cid=featured-3
There is also another fire 20 miles east of my cabin. Last report it was at just 4000 acres. This is the driest June in Utah in twenty years. My wife is on the verge of tears every time she sees the news. I am thinking of getting insurance on the place even before its complete. Plan was to get it the end of august when I'm done. What do you think???
I'm relatively close to you - today I contacted some friends to swap phone numbers in case of the same issue to go move my trailer
if it was me - I'd be insuring now- just in case
I just got off the phone with the insurance agent and he said that the whole county is on restriction so he can't put me on insurance until the restriction is lifted. So I guess for now all I can do is hope and pray. I have also been looking at some of the photos of the burned cabins. Most had the area around the cabins cleared of brush by 20 feet or more. That wasn't enough. Funny thing is that you would have two cabins burned and one in the middle that would still be left standing. Makes you go :-\
I also found out that the person that died was a local from the area and was probably trying to save his place. I feel for them. Most of them have built their own places just like everybody on this site. If you don't have insurance yet go get it now!!!!!
I just read a article on KSL on people returning to property that was burned. Im praying for the best for you and the family.
National Interagency in Boise is showing this morning Wood Hollow at a 2% increase from yesterday. Clay Springs on the other hand is sort of a run away right now. I am aware of your area but not. I lived in SLC for a couple years and took lots of long drives. :D
Here is a link to an active fire map
http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/#
However the morning report shows fairly good news if possible - Wood Hollow, Central Area, Utah DOF. IMT 2 (Whalen). One mile south of Fountain Green, UT. Pinyon pine,
juniper and brush. Creeping and smoldering.
From another report Whalen is claiming 25% contained. They usually do not hedge their figures much as they use to.
Quote from: suburbancowboy on June 27, 2012, 09:32:53 AM
snip..................................
I am thinking of getting insurance on the place even before its complete. Plan was to get it the end of august when I'm done. What do you think???
I think you insure when you can not take the loss out of pocket. So if that is $5,000 or $50,000 or $100,000 only you know what that magic figure might be. As you know now $5,000 is not a lot of building materials, not to mention your time. Fire or loss can come from any direction. From a druggy setting fire to your property - to a lighting strike. Or to someone falling down over a board and claiming you were negligent in not picking it up and suing the hell out of you. Loss can come from anywhere.
Myself I would not even break ground without insurance. I even carry liability on bare ground. [waiting] Okay I'm paranoid, but I'm covered. ;)
Good news this morning Whalen is showing Wood Hollow 100% contained. :) Bad new they are showing 160 structures lost...... :(
Wood Hollow UT - 47,387 Acres - Zero change in size - 100% contained - 538 people working the fire - 14 crews - 29 engines - 4 helos - 160 structures were lost - so far 5.4 million dollars involved.
Well looked at the Interagency Fire Report today and Wood Hollow Fire is taken off the named fires. Clay Springs is still growing and running but show more containment. The Sealy Fire is sort of in the same area show zero containment. Neither show any structure loss. (Clay Springs might have shown one.)
Sure hope everything is okay there. Cowboy
rlr
I was down at the cabin the last six days. I will be posting more pics later today but here is one that I wanted to share. The wood hollow fire is mostly out. This is the one closest to my place. I wasn't to worried because is was on the other side of the major road there.
Here is a picture I took from the front porch. It is the seeley fire. about 15 miles east of me. Here you can just see the smoke come over the ridge line.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120703_150500.jpg)
As of yesterday it was only 10% contained. We are suppose to get a little rain here today. Hasn't rained in some spots here for 81 days.
Was looking at the Seely Fire.
Here is the posting for today
http://www.utahfireinfo.gov/fire_information/mantiLaSal/SeeleyFire7_4.pdf
Well a little good news about the fires. It is raining lightly in all the fire zones around my cabin. So hopefully by tomorrow all fire in northern utah should be contained. I had a meeting in SLC this morning so on my drive up north there was a grass fire on the side of the road bringing traffic to a crawl. Rain hadn't started yet. There was also a fire 4 mile north east of my house we have been watching for a couple of days. We was at the cabin when we heard about that one. My step son says, "maybe we should just stay here".
On better news I was at the cabin working for five days leading up to the fourth. Mostly what I got done was the T&G in the upstairs bed room. What a pain. The tongues was a bit to large to fit into the grove on one batch that I got so I had to cut off the back side to get them to work. This ended up being about 20+ hours of work.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120703_191344.jpg)
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120703_191321.jpg)
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120703_191354.jpg)
The water barrel is where I am storing my water for now. The black pipe is my waste pipe. Long story why it isn't in the wall. I also picked up a twin log bed and mattress for a 100 dollars. I have one daughter that thinks she is a princess and can't sleep on a foam pad.
A couple of other major things with the bathroom. We used the toilet for the first time. Wife did a little happy dance. My favorite was being able to take a shower. There is no water pressure yet but a bucket works just as good. ;D
We also put the floor put in the master bedroom. I went with a teak color but it is a lot darker than what I wanted. I was going to put a rug in there anyway.
We also got half of the rest of the drywall and house wrap on the out side. Not fun in 90 degree heat. Next step is to put on more log siding and more T&G on the inside. I figure I have 9 more days of work to do before my daughter comes from washington for a visit. I hope the inside is done by then.
We was going to work on the 4th but I was beat after being up there for 5 days, so I learned from my previous visit and mistakes and we went home a day early.
Hope every bodies fourth was great. :)
It appears that the rains yesterday did it. Seeley fire is contained from the news report. Just mop up and babysitting now. Hopefully I can get the insurance today. Yesterday the agent said the restriction for the county was still in place.
Quote from: suburbancowboy on July 06, 2012, 09:22:43 AM
It appears that the rains yesterday did it. Seeley fire is contained from the news report. Just mop up and babysitting now. Hopefully I can get the insurance today. Yesterday the agent said the restriction for the county was still in place.
PRAISE be unto our God Jehovah, for the rain!
Glad to see you got rain. Rained here in Wyoming too and from what I've heard, the fires in Colorado that blocked our way up to pikes peak are almost out. Strange to think I'd want rain during my vacation, but I was real glad to see it coming down.
Just a little update for the last three days. I went up friday around noon. To many chores in the morning. I spent a little time working on the logged siding on the front before it started raining.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120715_171721.jpg)
You will notice the ledger board above the door. This will be where I attach the trusses for the deck. I couldn't go any further because the ladder doesn't go an higher. :-\ I guess it will have to get the scaffolding out.
We also had a lot of rain so I worked most of the time on the inside on the T&G. Man it is a pain. The stuff I bought two years ago goes together easially but the new blue stain board is way to tight. It also has a different look as you can tell in this picture. The upper part is the blue stain. The way this was lighted really brings out the difference. The place where I bought the first batch isn't in business any more. So the bottom half will be in the plain pine and the top half will be the blue stain.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120715_171356.jpg)
Bottom half 85% done. I would have finished but I need to run a little more electrical then I can finish.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120715_171547.jpg)
Here is the east end upstairs.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120715_171458.jpg)
I learned some lessons from last time. When I got tired I took a break. Watched the rain, turkeys, deer and my neighbor gray squirrel. I also read a book my daughter wrote. It's on amazon. Proud papa.
7/25/2012 update
Here in utah july 24 is a state holliday. So I took monday off and headed back to the cabin. First day it rain quite a bit so I worked on the inside some. Later in the day it cleared up and I worked on the south side log siding. Around 9pm I finished. ;D
Here is the pic of the south side complete.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120724_175549.jpg)
The next day I got the last two outlets wired into the main line. I am really getting to old to crawl around in the crawl space doing this kind of stuff. At least it is all done now. I then focused on then getting the rest of the bottom half T&G completed. The bottom is now 95 done.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120724_175338.jpg)
Most of it went together really easy. This weekend my wife is coming up to start the finish work. Sanding out some stamps out of the wood and sanding out some of the imperfections.
Question that I have for all of you is would you fill in the nail holes with putty and then sand them or just leave them and put the semi gloss on over the holes???
I will also finish the T&G on the rest of the upper level. It won't be fun working on the sections where the cat walk is. With the cost and time I am begining to wish I had went with dry wall. I would have been done by now. Oh well I will love it after it is complete.
Just a quick update for the work for the last two week. I have been busting my butt to get the most of the insides complete. I have 20 people coming up in two weeks and I won't be able work on it this next weekend. I have spent most of my time working on the T&G.
Here is a fan that I got installed in the open celling. Bad thing is the next day I hit it with a board and broke the globe to piece. d* Now I need to buy another one just for the globe. It is a small one but only uses 5 watts on low. ;D
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120731_200641.jpg)
Here is an image of the temp scaffolding that I put up so I could work on the ceiling in the open area. Nothing like working up 14 feet in the air.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120804_122001.jpg)
Here is a shot of the completed T&G with the start of the railing. Not all of it has had the poly put on yet but I can work on that later.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120806_130016.jpg)
I have to get the railing complete before the grand kids come up in a couple of weeks. I have to say I hate T&G as much as I hate roof work. Expensive, warped boards, bad fitting boards, To small of grooves, and most of all it takes so long to complete. It sure looks nice though. :)
Next is a picture of the bed room up stairs. I have been buying log beds off of the classifieds. Most have been around 50-75 dollars. I love the blanket set from walmart also. There is also a queen log bed in the room. Looks the same as the others
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120806_125957.jpg)
Have the underwriters started issuing policies again?
Seems as if things are really coming together nicely.
Nice progress! I agree that T & G can be a real pain, but it makes such a world of difference inside. I'd love to hear about your daughter's book. Got a lnk to it? One of my daughter's just graduated as an illustration major. If she ever gets around to publishing something, I'll be happy to shamelessly promote it. ;-)
They are issuing policies now but the underwriter said my cabin is to far along to for a construction policy so I have to now wait till I get the CO permit. What a pain. By the end of September I should have that. Just a couple of more weeks on the cabin then cleaning up on the outside for the fire marshal.
As far as my daughters books, go to amazon and look up Keary Taylor. She has 5 I think, Branded set, Eden and What I didn't say.
I'm not much of a reader always seems to be something else to do but I couldn't help when I went through your thread go to amazon which took me to her website. You/she should be proud. I have mentioned the book to my wife to add to her reading lists if shes interested. Well done to her I can't imagine being that accomplished at 24. [cool]
Nice work! I found this forum as I searched for log siding for a cabin near to this project, in Scofield. Where did you get your siding and what has been your experience? I am having a hard time finding suppliers for it. Which size and style is it?
I got it from a place called my wood project. They advertise on ksl alot. Just click on lumber. It is 2X8 no reveal. It go on really easy in < 8 foot lengths. Long the boards are very warped. I tried doing 16 foot lengths but after fighting them so much I ended up cutting them in half. Went up much faster. If you build like mine you will have to put the exterior grade dry wall on first. Doubles the cost. Looks great. I was going to go with hardie siding at first but decided that you only live once so when with what I wanted in my heart.
Also as a quick update. This weekend my daughter was here from Washington state. Orcas Island. Also my sister and here family was here from texas. Over the weekend we had 16 people there. It was great. I wish it could be like that every other weekend. Here is a picture of when we got back from 4 wheeling. The grand son 2 fell asleep on the ride.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120818_124955.jpg)
Only a kid could sleep like this
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120818_125035.jpg)
Thanks for the info! I am on the site now. Fun pics, I had my own kids do that same thing, the rocking seems to tucker them right out.
Update 8/27/2012
This last weekend we got to about 95% complete on the inside.
A few of the major things we got done was:
1. Got most of the light, switches, and outlets in. (Thanks father - in - law)
2. Got all the rest of the sanding complete.
3. Got poly on all the hand rails and stair.
4. Got the hand rails done and all the stiles put in.
5. Got the final cleanup done and 2/3 of the flooring put in
Hand rails on the stairs
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120826_154221.jpg)
Family area
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120826_162005.jpg)
Just for fun the colors are starting to change.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20120826_163817.jpg)
Hope you don't mind but I am going to take inspiration in that phot of your stairs and landing. I think that is well done and looks awesome!
Very nice progress! I can see a potential issue in that light right behind the entrance door as the door will hit it and possibly break it; do you have a big door stop or the hinge mounted door stops to protect it? Otherwise, looks very nice! The brush must be getting really dry to be turning colors already; that seems a little early.
I agree, the colors are changing a coulpe of weeks early this year due to the dry conditions. My father in law also pointed out the door and the light issue. I need to get some of the hinge door stops to keep from getting hit. Hopefully I can pick them up today. After work I am heading down to the cabin to work on the out side. Have a good day all.
Well I'm out of money, out of time and finally ready for the final inspection. I went over by about a month when I thought I would get the inspection done. I'm meeting with the building inspector tomorrow at 2pm. Wish me luck. I still have a handful of things to finish but not needed for the inspection. Here is a photo of the completed outside.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20121021_120944.jpg)
I ran out of satin on the outside so that is why the color is so lite on the top left side. Maybe complete in the AM hours.
Well I had the inspection done Tuesday. I had five failures.
1. Landing on the front step wasn't big enough. Needs 3feetX3feet.
2. No anti tip bracket on stove.
3. Electrical panel wasn't all the way labeled
4. Landing on the stairs inside was 1 inch to low.
5. Didn't like the way the vent on the tankless water heater went outside.
Come on only number 5 is of any concern. d*
I am headed up to the cabin in a hour to meet with the gas guys to fix the pipe. I will fix the rest tomorrow. At least he said I could send him the pictures of the fixes and then he will mail the occupancy certificate to me. Then it is mine!!!!!
awsome !
Just in time for the snow too !
[cool]
Quote from: suburbancowboy on October 26, 2012, 02:58:45 PM
At least he said I could send him the pictures of the fixes and then he will mail the occupancy certificate to me.
He didn't want to drive the distance. ;)
The main reason that he said I would email him the pictures is because his truck is just two wheel drive and it snowed up here this last week. So he would have to come up on my snowmobile. He said he is to old for that.
So I headed up friday after work to meet with the plumbing guys to fix the exhaust vent on the water heater. He was in a two wheel drive van. After the snow thrusday, I lost him in the last snowy streatch. I have a 4 wheel drive truck so I had to go back and get him. For those of you needing to put in a vent pipe this is what you should use and what it should look like.
Double wall pipe
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20121026_161158.jpg)
Plate on the wall
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20121026_182154.jpg)
Here are some other failed items I had to fix
Anti tip bracket on stove. It is in the bottom right on the photo
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20121023_152706.jpg)
New front porch and stairs. Landing has to be 3X3 with three stairs, any more and you need hand rails
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20121027_144521.jpg)
Back stairs they are not as picky on
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20121027_144633.jpg)
On the landing on these stairs the rise has to be the same. On the upper set I was 1 inch to high, on the lower I was 1 inch to low, so he said to add another layer of boards to make them even. I think it looks dorky.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20121023_152007.jpg)
Also make sure your panel is labeled.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20121027_085840.jpg)
On the fun side here is the first fire in the fireplace. Boy have I used it a lot. Saturday it got down to 25.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20121005_184012.jpg)
This weekend I used the stove for the first time. Nothing better than potatoes and onion with cheese and a big rib eye stake.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20121026_185124.jpg)
Here are some of my neighbors, these turkeys come up my driveway every morning and then go back down every night. Their water source is down the mountain from me.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20121023_153526.jpg)
I have a question for my forum friends. The main bedroom is just on the other side of the wall from the fireplace. Problem is not much of the heat gets from the fireplace into the bedroom. This makes for a very cold room when temps < 40 outside. I am wondering if anybody has some ideas of what to do to get heat in?
My ideas that I have thought of includes.
Portable propane heater - Don't like the smell
Cut hole in wall for barn style window next to fireplace which can be closed. - Don't want big hole in the wall
Swap the upstairs bedroom for the down stairs room. - I like the room downstairs better
Get some kind of battery powered fan to put in the wall to try and draw some warmer air in. - I think this would have to be a large fan?
Please note I won't have power on to the cabin 99% of the time.
Wow I can't wait for next srping until I am whipping up my breakfast's just like that! As for the heating issue, that's a good one requires some more thought... hmm!
If you have power try a room to room fan, used with wood stoves to transfer heat from a warm room to a cold one. Here is an example at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Room---Room-Fan-Circulate-Cold/dp/B0015RZW0K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351640179&sr=8-1&keywords=room+to+room+fans
If you want 12 volt, try a marina. Boats use a 12 volt exhaust fan to clear an engine compartment of gas fumes prior to starting an engine to prevent explosion. such as this: http://www.amazon.com/Rule-240-Marine-Blower-4-Inch/dp/B000O8D0IC
No electrical power makes that difficult. Natural convection circulation requires some large openings.
If you were to have a small PV installation you might be able to use some high efficiency PC cooling fans such as this. This one (http://www.quietpcusa.com/Zalman-ZM-F1-PLUS-80mm-Quiet-PC-Cooling-Fan-P570C66.aspx) is particularly quiet too. Three speed model (http://www.quietpcusa.com/AcoustiFan-DustPROOF-Premium-Quality-Ultra-Quiet-Computer-Fan-80mm-AFDP-8025B-P64.aspx) Several of the three speed models draw about 1 watt at 12 VDC. Pretty good.
This guy (http://www.heatstick.com/_Heat%20Stk03.htm) uses these in a thing he calls a Heatstick to move air.
It would have to run for long periods but at 1 watt per fan that should be easy to power. Might need more than one. I've been meaning to build one to try it out.
Otherwise some squirrel cage fans with some real squirrels might work. ;)
consider a pair of these: http://www.ecofriend.com/works-heat-activated-fan.html
with an opening behind stove they will push enough air to warm things up. I have two and they work quite well to move air through out camp. Not a big breeze but enough. Great conversation piece too
Well I think the story has come to an end. Yesterday I got buy off by the SanPete County firemarshall that my land looks good, my fire tank looks good. So I am done with him. Last week I got the occupancy permit from the SanPete county building inspector. So now the cabin is mine and the county government is out of my hair!! Freedommmmmmm!!! :) Well I still have property tax. :( Here are a few parting photo's
This is a new picture I just hung.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20121108_135312.jpg)
Every cabin needs a dead animal.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20121007_142136.jpg)
I am also fixing up a couple of old snowmobiles for the winter. Maybe I will post some pics during the winter.
Good luck everybody and don't give up the dream.
Not sure what brand snowmobiles you are working on, but if they are Arctic Cats, there is a great support forum called arcticchat
http://www.arcticchat.com/forum/snowmobiles/
The deer makes for a very nice touch!
Just to give a couple of updates and learnings on my cabin and winter living. I have been up there 4 times since the snow got deep.
Not all snowmobiles are good in the powder. Two of the four times I got my machine stuck in the powder. Takes a long time to get unstuck by yourself.
It takes a very long time to heat up the cabin. About 2 degrees per hour. It doesn't seem to get much above 60 degrees no matter how much wood I burn. Yesterday when I woke up at 7 it was 16 out side and 59 inside. I added one log in the middle of the night. I guess I can live with it.
I think that crawl spaces are less conducive to heating than if I can built this on a slab. Also my water freezing issue would have been easier to deal with.
Shoveling 3 feet to snow isn't fun. Note to self next year by a heavy duty snow blower for the cabin. I had 4 paths to shovel. To wood shed, to bunk house, to power trailer, to snowmobile parking. d* 4 hours of shoveling. Man am I sore today.
Hauling supplies in by snowmobile isn't fun. Tieing boards to the snowmobile can be a challenge. I guess I should finish the pull behind trailer I have had all winter. :P
Melting snow to run the toilet can take a long time. Seems like I had to melt three pots of snow per flush. Good thing I am a guy and don't need to flush more than once a day.
Best of all it is so beautiful in the mountains in the winter.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20130310_152910_zps759d99af.jpg)
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20130310_152924_zpsf8c51776.jpg)
Here is one project that I finished. It is a small in the corner entertainment center.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20130310_152807_zpsa52824c7.jpg)
I also started to do the finish work around the windows. I should have more pictures of that next time.
"I think that crawl spaces are less conducive to heating than if I can built this on a slab. Also my water freezing issue would have been easier to deal with."
Did you insulate the crawl space ? between the crawl space and the house ?
below a slab things would still freeze- only worse---no access
The temperature slow change is due to your thermal mass, ie when you get there everything wood -insulation furniture etc etc is all frozen solid- temperature wise
So you basicly have to heat up the whole interior before its comfy- in our trailer its the second day before all the interior is fully heated
Its a BTU's V's area math thing- as you got there all your heat was just being sucked into the inaminate objects- once they gained room temperature things should have been heating up faster.
South facing windows help too - my trailer sits at 22oc in the afternoon with just the sun through the large windows
5 mins after sun down the furnace is on and double bubble on the windows !
That does seem like a very long warm up. ??? What is the BTU rating of the stove?
I figure that our cabin is roughly 45-47% the size of yours calculating by cu ft estimated. We have two heaters; wood stove rated at 18K BTU and propane heater rated at 18K BTU. (BTU ratings downgraded for altitude works out to about 13.5K apiece.) We get a 20 degree an hour rise averaged over two hours; often its around 25 inside when we arrive and 2 hours later 65 - 68. I have trouble resolving that low rise you have ??? Each of our heaters do have exterior fresh air intakes and I do believe that helps a lot.
Yes, most snowmobiles suck in virgin powder. I used my snowshoes as a shovel.
I hauled a cool new toy up to the cabin this weekend. It is an eco temp fan. You just put in on the fireplace and wamo you have a working fan. I was surprised at how much air it moved around. I might buy another one to put on the other side.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20130414_152936_zpse1057619.jpg) (https://s716.photobucket.com/user/bret7763/media/20130414_152936_zpse1057619.jpg.html)
Well spring is coming but look at what I woke up to this morning.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20130414_070450_zpsc4777bbd.jpg) (https://s716.photobucket.com/user/bret7763/media/20130414_070450_zpsc4777bbd.jpg.html)
Just a quick update on what I have been working on the last couple of months. While there was still snow on the roads I have been working on trimming the windows. Last time I was up I finished all but the bedroom. I was hauling up supplies about three miles away by either snowmobile or 4 wheeler. I used pine on the inside and cedar for the trim. They all look like this.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20130505_153058_zps87346882.jpg) (https://s716.photobucket.com/user/bret7763/media/20130505_153058_zps87346882.jpg.html)
This is on the north side so I haven't taken off the board outside that protects the window from snow.
I also completed the bar on the back of the cabnet. It will only be used by the grandkids to do activities like coloring on or a light lunch.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20130505_153025_zpsa2b20655.jpg) (https://s716.photobucket.com/user/bret7763/media/20130505_153025_zpsa2b20655.jpg.html)
I also finished the trim around the floor joists on the east end.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20130505_153047_zpsdb34f04c.jpg) (https://s716.photobucket.com/user/bret7763/media/20130505_153047_zpsdb34f04c.jpg.html)
The roads where melted all the way to the cabin so the truck made it. Even better the wife made it. First time in 7 1/2 months.
Just a quick update on what I have been working on this summer. I have found that my little solar trailer doesn't supply enough juice for my families needs if they want to watch a movie and run the lights half the night. During the winter I picked up three 250Watt panels. The measure 3X6 feet. Very large. 24V. This should provide enough power for our short term needs. Problem was I have no place for the new panels inverter, charge control, batteries etc. I have designed the whole thing to expand so when we live there full time in the next few years I don't have to start over. So I decided to build a solar shed to house everything. Most of the wood I am using is left over from the cabin build. Under othe overhang I will story fire wood.
Here it is during the framing phase.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20130630_110649_zpsb6eb83a8.jpg) (https://s716.photobucket.com/user/bret7763/media/20130630_110649_zpsb6eb83a8.jpg.html)
Here it is with the roof on. The old solar setup is to the right. Also the steps are new. They are a life saver.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20130714_080150_zpse207ca28.jpg) (https://s716.photobucket.com/user/bret7763/media/20130714_080150_zpse207ca28.jpg.html)
I should be complete after one more long weekend.
Well I did some more work on the power shed this weekend. I got the metal roofing on, house wrap, Corner boards, diagonal supports for the lower roof, and the south side siding on. Next weekend I am up there I will finish the osb on the top and put the door on. Does anybody have any good designs on a shed door? 4' X 7' I need it wide so I can get a four wheeler in there. Not sure on bracing and placement of the hinges. For the hinges I am using the old rod iron gate style.
In three weeks I will be having 30 people for a family reunion up there. Yuck. My little piece of heaven will be interrupted for a weekend and become the other place.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20130728_111906_zps21eb924f.jpg) (https://s716.photobucket.com/user/bret7763/media/20130728_111906_zps21eb924f.jpg.html)
I love it! Great idea and you can run 120v cable to the cabin from there without worrying too much about the distance. heck, I might have to consider this!
Shed update. All of the log siding is now on except a small area around the windows on the back side in the loft area. I would have finished but all 7 of my batteries ran out of juice.
I was wondering how I was going to do the door a couple of weeks ago and couldn't come up with anything that I liked. So one saturday while I was taking a nap it came to me how I wanted to do it. Here it is:
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20130825_142743_zpsdd00ff2f.jpg) (https://s716.photobucket.com/user/bret7763/media/20130825_142743_zpsdd00ff2f.jpg.html)
Here it is as it stands today.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20130825_142718_zps72aa82a5.jpg) (https://s716.photobucket.com/user/bret7763/media/20130825_142718_zps72aa82a5.jpg.html)
I used my last left over 2X4 on the door and my last sheet of OSB for the sofets. Notice that the leaves are starting to change color. I was up there last week with 30 of my family and they hadn't changed yet.
All that is left is to do is some chaulking, put on some sealer and block the trusses. Then I can put the panels on and add the battery box.
Love the door !
thats a well cute shed- I presume you'll be filling the overhang with firewood
Good solution to the door. I often do some of my best planning when I go to bed. I stuggle (in thought)most of the day for a solution and then most of the time it comes to me at night. Often times I think it is just best to temporiarly walk away and clear your head and most of the time it gives you a new prospective and generally a solution.
Great idea and design! [cool]
Thanks for the replies. The over hang will have fire wood in it. I have some wood storage next to the cabin but I am the type that likes to have a years supply of stuff.
Part of my problem with the door was that I knew that it would be very heavy. So I had to go with heavy duty hinges. The original plan was to go with 2 but after it was build half way I noticed how heavy it was going to be. It ended up being over 100 pounds. So I ended up going with 4 hinges. If somebody wants to break in and get to the solar equipment they will need extra large bolt cutters or an ax.
Can't wait to start installing the panels. Hopefully by the end of September most of it will be done. We will see how far the money goes. I have one more 1000 dollar hay bill this year for the horses.
Love the power house! I've been playing around with a similar idea that would include solar water heating and a bathhouse.
So I finally make it back up to the cabin yesterday. I have been getting worried about an early winter on the mountain. Here is what I saw when I was up there a couple of weeks ago.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20130927_192530_zps9b106af3.jpg)[/URL]
I needed to get my solar panels up to the cabin before it got snowed in. It has been warm here for a few days, so I took the day off yesterday and hauled the panels up and got them installed on the roof. It was an interesting challenge doing this by myself. I put a board on the bottom of the roof to keep the panels from sliding off. I then put the panel on the roof resting on the board. Next I tied a rope around the panel and threw it over the roof to the other side. I then climbed down the ladder and ran around the other side of the shed. Climbed up another ladder. Grabbed the rope, pulled the panel to the top with the rope. Then holding the rope I climbed down the ladder and tied off the rope. Ran back to the front side. Moved the ladder to under the panel hanging by the rope. Climbed back up, positioned the panel to where I wanted it. I then put in 6 screws in the bottom Z brackets holding the panels up off the roof. Back down the ladder again run to the back side, up the ladder. Pull out the + and - cables, lift up the panel, attached the grounding wire to each panel. Next I put the screws in the top Z brackets. One panel done. I had to do this three time. First one took about 90 minutes to figure out. Second two took 45 minutes. Worst of all I sized the roof for the three panel but didn't count on the z brackets hitting the ridges on the metal roof. So I had to extend the roof width by 3 inches.
I also got all the wiring to the inside. I have designed the system to add three more panels next year in anticipation of living there full time in the summers in the next 3-5 years. Here are some photos of what I got done.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20131008_180400_zps64c6c899.jpg) (https://s716.photobucket.com/user/bret7763/media/20131008_180400_zps64c6c899.jpg.html)
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20131008_173926_zps17fb7db0.jpg) (https://s716.photobucket.com/user/bret7763/media/20131008_173926_zps17fb7db0.jpg.html)
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20131008_173939_zps97bafd91.jpg) (https://s716.photobucket.com/user/bret7763/media/20131008_173939_zps97bafd91.jpg.html)
I will post pics as progress continues. Please comment if you see something that I have done wrong or that might be an issue later on. I am patterning this after what Don did with his system.
The only thing that sits uneasy with me is the cable running past the sharp edge of the metal roofing unprotected. This might not be an issue but it doesn't sit well with me. Other than that they look great, especially knowing you did it alone.
Great point pmi. I will put something there next time I am up. That could be a very bad place to have a short.
Quote from: suburbancowboy on October 10, 2013, 09:31:03 AM
Great point pmi. I will put something there next time I am up. That could be a very bad place to have a short.
Wouldn't take much more than a small section of insulated pipe wrap. Slit one side and shove it on.
a piece of hose cut in half too can be used on the edge, beat it over and down - add a trim piece over the cut edge
it is a failure point and certainly needs sorting !
We are up at ours in Gran Mesa close 'ish to you, we had a foot of snow last week and last night / today its sleet and snow
Winter has officially started on the western slope !
The weather was so crap last night the six racoons raiding my bin spent 4 hours rumaging and playing under the trailer last night from 2am till 6ish
this morning !
Hopefully we don't get a repeat performance tonight with them chatterring and rumaging arround- they even got into the gas locker and opened it from the inside !
When modules are installed on roofs, and metal roofs in particular, I believe they is a need for a GFP device (ground fault protection) according to NEC. Just wondering if you have one. I do not claim to be up to speed on latest NEC requirements but there is something bouncing around in my brain about this; something to do about fire danger. Small critters sometimes like to nest under panels in cool weather as the panels provide warmth. Small critters have been known to chew on wires....
There is also something about a danger of electrical shock if wiring was damaged and came in contact with the metal roof. This can be very dangerous with panels in series that may produce voltages higher than 48 VDC. DC higher than 48 volts can be lethal.
Sorry I don't have all the details.
So yesterday I had day two of very long boring training meetings, so I decided to go up to the cabin and work more on the solar for the cabin. We had some snow up the previous few days but it wasn't to bad, just made thing very muddy.
So I took several peoples advice and put some protection on the wiring around where the wires comes off the edge of the roof. I also bent down the metal some to make it more difficult to rub on anythings. I will also put some protection where the wires run under panels. Thanks don. That will be for this weekend.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20131016_125224_zps1970cacf.jpg) (https://s716.photobucket.com/user/bret7763/media/20131016_125224_zps1970cacf.jpg.html)
I also completed the venting for the battery box. It is a 2" pvc pipe with a cap glued on and tiny holes drilled into it to keep the critters out. I have one on one end of the box down low and one on the other end up high. I then put silicone chaulking around the pipe to seal it. My question is, with the tiny holes in the cap will this be enough to vent the gases?
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20131016_125146_zpsdc969b39.jpg) (https://s716.photobucket.com/user/bret7763/media/20131016_125146_zpsdc969b39.jpg.html)
Next I got the batteries wired together 2 sets of 4 6 volt GC batteries for a 24 volt system. The cable are #2 copper. I haven't put in the cable to connect the two end string + to + and - to -. This will be a four foot cable.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20131016_125126_zps79a0024b.jpg) (https://s716.photobucket.com/user/bret7763/media/20131016_125126_zps79a0024b.jpg.html)
The last thing I worked on was the combiner box and the charge controller. A couple of words of advice to anybody building similar. Don't use the midnight solar MN3 combiner box. It is very small space and hard to move the wires around. Also if you use #2 wiring be prepared to have to clip some of the wiring. It is to large to fit into the bus bar holes.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20131016_143537_zpsf3188c48.jpg) (https://s716.photobucket.com/user/bret7763/media/20131016_143537_zpsf3188c48.jpg.html)
Last question for the day. I was thinking of connection the charge controller to one end of the battery string and connecting the inverter to the other end of the battery string. Is this a good idea? Or should the charge controller and inverter be connected at the same place?
Just for fun what do you think this paw print comes from? It was at the end of my drive way as I was leaving yesterday morning. It was a little larger than my hand.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20131016_153429_zps947f17e2.jpg) (https://s716.photobucket.com/user/bret7763/media/20131016_153429_zps947f17e2.jpg.html)
Now that looks better protected- now add a cable clip or two to keep them all from moving and your done..
Holes look fine to me- above you usual snow depth ? or add a snorkle !
print---bear it has 5 toes...
Major success!!! I finally got the solar shed done and the electrical connected to the cabin. :)
So Saturday I went to the cabin to meet with the electrician that wired my cabin. After a couple of hours, and some non typical wiring we got the electrical connected to the cabin. I had him double check my work before we started turning on the components and he said I did a great job setting it up. As we turned on each piece it preformed without any issues. Only problem was that by the time we was done the sun was setting so I couldn't see what the panels were producing.
So yesterday I couldn't stand it and took a half day off and went to the cabin. The panels where working great. The batteries were fully charged. I couldn't wait for dark to check out the lights. I didn't have to wait long as it gets dark here around 5:30. So six hit and I walk around to all the light switches and the ceiling fan switch and they all worked great. Now I kind of feel civilized. So that night I watched two dvd's and left the lights on. The next morning the "midnite solar" battery meter show me a green light at 80 percent.
Here is a picture of most of the components all working with the meter showing 100% battery charge.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20131112_133905_zps08387677.jpg) (https://s716.photobucket.com/user/bret7763/media/20131112_133905_zps08387677.jpg.html)
Here is another pic of the shed and some of the wood storage.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20131112_133953_zpsf9131648.jpg) (https://s716.photobucket.com/user/bret7763/media/20131112_133953_zpsf9131648.jpg.html)
On the way out this morning at 7 I ran into about 40 of these at the bottom of the mountain. In the summer they hang around my land.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20131113_070527_zpsa1649a07.jpg) (https://s716.photobucket.com/user/bret7763/media/20131113_070527_zpsa1649a07.jpg.html)
Turning out very nicely, well done!
So I finally made it back up to the cabin this year this last weekend. The peace and quiet are priceless. I was really wanting to see how the solar fared after sitting for four months. When I got up there it was at 100% as expected. During the day I worked on my laptop, watch a two hour dvd, ran lights and fan, watched a little basket ball. End of the day I was still at 100%. I have to say I love this system. I might not need to expand my panels for a long time.
We still have 6 to 24 inches of snow in most places. I made it up on the 4 wheeler in the morning with no problems. When I left in the after noon yesterday it was quite slushy. Had to keep moving to keep from getting stuck.
Probably 4 more weeks before I can get up there in the truck. Then the deck starts. Anybody know if you need a permit to build a deck? I know if I call the county they will say yes probably, they are money hungry. It is going to be 8X20 feet, so I was wondering if there is some kind of square footage requirement like there is on buildings. Here it is 200 sqft.
Here are a couple of photos that I took.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20140323_125929_zpsc062bc2a.jpg) (https://s716.photobucket.com/user/bret7763/media/20140323_125929_zpsc062bc2a.jpg.html)
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20140322_112031_zps1bbfd564.jpg) (https://s716.photobucket.com/user/bret7763/media/20140322_112031_zps1bbfd564.jpg.html)
I have spent the past couple of weekend on my next project at the cabin. My goal for this year is to get the deck build. A couple of months ago, home depot was having a clearence sale on decking matterial. I purchased enough for a 8X20 foot deck. Here is where I left off end of day Sunday.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20140518_175206_zpsc2b27511.jpg) (https://s716.photobucket.com/user/bret7763/media/20140518_175206_zpsc2b27511.jpg.html)
So Saturday I was sitting on my deck in the evening enjoy the view after dinner and this guy wanders into my camp. I offered him a piece of leftover steak. He then crawled onto my lap and sat for a spell. After it started to get dark I went in to watch a movie. He followed. I left the door open a bit in case he wanted to leave. He ended up spending the night. In the morning we had breakfast and then went out to work. After wandering around for thirty minutes he went into the trees and I didn't see him again. He was very skinny. I was going to take him home. Oh well have a good life friend.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20140517_194515_zps6844ebb8.jpg) (https://s716.photobucket.com/user/bret7763/media/20140517_194515_zps6844ebb8.jpg.html)
He is a German Shorthair Pointer (GSP), I have three of them ;) If he returns and you don't have a place for him let me know and I will in contact with a member in Utah from our GSP club and have someone come by and find him a home. I hate to see a GSP left to wonder. I would hope he is micro chipped. Or hold on to him and I will post him at our site http://www.autumnoakskennel.net/ (http://www.autumnoakskennel.net/) as a potential rescue/adoption.
Love the deck but more concerned over the dog !
He looks lovely, and yep a GSP a close cousin to our weimies
if he stayed over, he's homeless or lost
Probably pretty recently, as he's not gone feral yet and is still trusting of humans
Your in mountain lion and coyote country and he wont't last long without assistance.
The change from family pet to untrusting feral dog is swift and heartbreaking, see here about these two lost boxers and the owners struggle to get them home, almost worthy of a disney film, and luckily with a happy outcome
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/92334-Lost-my-adventure-buddy-s-Both-are-home-safe!?highlight=lost+boxers
That might be my next dog. He was so sweet. Wife said she would have been ok if I bought him home. We are headed back up there this weekend. So if I see him again. He will be coming home with us.
I have had nothing but Shorthairs for 30 years my kids grew up with two of them their whole life. They make great family and hunting companions for those of us that love the great outdoors. Good Luck I hope you find him I agree with UK4x4 he is a young one and with him staying over night he is either lost or was abandoned.
Quote from: GSPDOG on May 23, 2014, 08:17:42 AM
I have had nothing but Shorthairs for 30 years my kids grew up with two of them their whole life. They make great family and hunting companions for those of us that love the great outdoors. Good Luck I hope you find him I agree with UK4x4 he is a young one and with him staying over night he is either lost or was abandoned.
When I hunted birds a lot I loved hunting behind German Shorthairs. The good ones - the tough ones would go anywhere you sent them and they would just adjust their hunting style like magic to you. They just sensed what you were thinking and wanting and without a lot of yelling and screaming and whistling. But then there were the... [waiting] Hey Mister your dog is so out of control over here. Nice dog! (NOT) Why don't you get your nice dog and go to the next like.........county.....
The good ones you just loved and bad ones and I now feel were most likely ill trained you just wanted to kill. Now that I am older and retired I think I would like to try and train a couple but I am so not in shape for Chucker and Hungarian Partridge the main bird hunting up here. But might be a good excuse to see if a 60 year old can get back into that kind of shape. Chase the covey up the mountain - down the mountain - then around the mountain - then up the mountain then down the...... :D
Quote from: rick91351 on May 23, 2014, 09:24:12 AM
When I hunted birds a lot I loved hunting behind German Shorthairs. The good ones - the tough ones would go anywhere you sent them and they would just adjust their hunting style like magic to you. They just sensed what you were thinking and wanting and without a lot of yelling and screaming and whistling. But then there were the... [waiting] Hey Mister your dog is so out of control over here. Nice dog! (NOT) Why don't you get your nice dog and go to the next like.........county.....
The good ones you just loved and bad ones and I now feel were most likely ill trained you just wanted to kill. Now that I am older and retired I think I would like to try and train a couple but I am so not in shape for Chucker and Hungarian Partridge the main bird hunting up here. But might be a good excuse to see if a 60 year old can get back into that kind of shape. Chase the covey up the mountain - down the mountain - then around the mountain - then up the mountain then down the...... :D
Been there but they are just fun to be around and I have a definite comfort level with Shorthairs, different dogs and different training styles most folks think you can train all dogs one way and you really have to understand the breed. Some things are the same but you don't train retrievers the same way you would train a pointer.
Though a good day out with the dog on the mountain would be good either way.:)
Well I didn't see the dog this weekend. Must have found a new home.
Here is a new pic on the progress on the deck.
I love how the deck makes the cabin feel much larger.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20140608_182547_zpsdcb060d5.jpg)[/URL]
Nice deck are there rail height restrictions?
I believe so. The stiles are 4 feet. Height on the deck comes to around 3 1/2 feet. This is what I remember from when I did the railing in the cabin a couple of years ago. I also used a 2X4 on the stile spacing, which is 3 1/2 inches. Code says 4 inches. I mainly designed it to keep the grand kids from falling off the edge of the deck. In the next week or two I will put on the metal roofing and flashing.
Curious? What size rafters on the porch? Looks like 2x6 but maybe 2x8. Also what pitch? I'm pretty sure I'm going to need as much pitch as I can get and 2x6 is likely too thin unless I put them on 12" centers maybe.
I'll have a fair amount oof snow that can slough onto the roof of the deck of the main cabin roof so I'm trying to figure that in.
The deck really does add another dimension to the cabin, I love the entire look of your cabin. The railings do look high from this vantage point, probably because the spindles extend over the deck joists.
I watched an episode of "This Old House" and they were measuring the spindles using an long elastic with markings measured at every 2 inches. He would tack in one end and stretch to the other end, leaving the approximate 4" space between each spindle location but because of the elastic it did all of the adjustments so he just had to approximate and transfer the markings to the deck. Pretty cool idea... not sure where he found that elastic though.
The rafters are 2X8's and about 9 1/2 feet long and are 16 inches oc. The pitch is a little over 4/12. I went back forth on it for quite a while but in the end to have an 8 foot walkway on the enterance that is what I needed. I also didn't want to block the view of the mountains when inside the cabin. I will be adding metal on the roof in the next week or two. In the mornings until early afternoon the sun hits that side and it gets very warm even in winter. When I have been up there in the winter the last two years there hasn't been more than a couple of inches of snow on the porch. I think the worst problem I will have will be the snow sliding off and making it hard to get up the steps.
Best thing is if I don't like it or the snow doesn't slide enough I can always drop the whole thing six or eight inches. d*
This last weekend I competed the deck. Only thing left is to put a piece of flashing where the roof connects to the cabin. I also got some patio furniture for the deck. Now I spend more time outside on the deck than inside. I love it.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20140705_100948_zps0017ee4a.jpg)
Here is a friend that came by to say hello. I think him and his brother were born in one of my wood piles. I haven't seen the mom in a month or so. They are only about 6 inches long and not very afraid of people.
(https://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww170/bret7763/20140704_184234_zps44ae8086.jpg)
Cute critter and very handsome cabin. Love the big porch and the million $ view. :D :D
Wow what a awesome cabin. Could you post up close pictures of your porch posts? I like how they form a "w" near the porch roof
I havent been on a in a long time. we are just getting ready to add our garage this summer, so Ill look up this place for our siding.
Your build turned out very nicely, congrats!