16 x 28 in Athens, VT

[cabinfever]

Yeah - both pics were taken toward the gable ends. The windows are all 3' wide and are spanned by dual 2x6s.

[cabinfever]

Hi all,

Since the last post I've gone up a couple of times for a day to do all of the 'sweep up' work in preparation for the big push the next two weekends to get the roof framing and gable ends in place. Now that the windows and doors are cut out, it's starting to feel like a real cabin, especially with the two lofts providing a roof of sorts.

I think I've decided on hiring a roofer to lay down the shingles and maybe to put the sheathing on. I just can't get comfortable with the idea of working on a 45 pitch. Still thinking, though; I hate to spend the money.

Not so much rain up here lately, and the weather has been perfect - hope it holds up a little longer.

The future living space...



The bath and kitchen...



The exterior back. Hanging the upper row of sheathing wasn't fun.

[cabinfever]

Up to the cabin again last weekend to finish the roof with help from my sister and brother-in-law. It took us about 14 hours total to put the roof framing up, but it wasn't that hard, really.



The pic is pretty washed out as the sun was going down by the time we took it. We're back up this weekend with my father and his wife to frame and sheath the gables, put up the Tyvek, and take care of a bunch of 'punch list' things. We've also got to get a couple of big tarps over the roof - I'm left with standing water on the floor sheathing after each rain - which seems to be daily. It may be another month before the roof is on (I'm subcontracting - too steep for comfort), and I don't want everything soaking for that long.

[Bishopknight]

Wow , looks great! 16 ft wide was a good choice. Very easy to build 2nd floor with 16' joists too.

[cabinfever]

Thanks, Bishop. I'm glad I went 16 x 28...it already looks small, and I think 14 x 24 would cross the line into impractical for me, my wife and my son. I've got 2 x 12 joists under the floor and 2 x 10s for the lofts, and everything feels solid. Lots of work, though - it will be nice when I can finally spend a weekend at home!

[Mike 870]

16 by 28 is the size I am thinking of for my future cabin too.  I think it strikes a nice balance between too small and too big.  I was thinking I'd go with 10 ft walls for extra head room in the loft, but I'm wondering if it will look awkward for that size footprint.   

[cabinfever]

Mike - to my eye, 10' would look OK from the wide side of the house, but it would be too much from the narrow side unless the roof were 45 degrees. I thought about 10' walls, but decided against them in an attempt to simplify the construction.

[cabinfever]

Hey all!

My father and his fiance joined us this weekend in their ginormous motorhome, and we managed to frame and sheath the gable ends, finish a bunch of punch list items, and get tarps on the roof. After a lot of thought, I've contracted the roof work including the sheathing, and I understand that they should be working on it starting next week. I'm going with architectural shingles rather than metal - the costs were roughly similar, but I don't have the woodstove or the plumbing in yet, and the chimney and vent stack will be much easier to install later if I don't do metal. Interestingly, the warranty on both materials is the same - 30 years. A 'standing seam' metal roof would have been better, but the cost is almost 2 1/2 times that of a 'screw down' metal roof.

This weekend I order the windows, complete a few more punch list items, and then take a break. Once the roof is on, I've got windows & doors, siding, and the moving of the temporary power to the house. Then I'm out of money for this year, unfortunately.

[cabinfever]

Hey All!

After the last pic, my father and my bro-in-law got up at 5 am the following Saturday to meet me in Athens for one last work day before the roofer arrived. Most of the work was blocking and sheathing between the rafters and putting up the Tyvek, but there were a bunch of little jobs we were trying to knock off as well. One that took a lot longer than expected was painting the trim boards for the gable ends - my 'one coat' paint actually turned out to need 3 coats. We finally closed up shop at 7 PM; they got home at midnight and I pulled in about 10:30. Long Day.

The roofer got the sheathing, felt and ice dam on the following week, and the shingles go on this week. The windows should be in tomorrow, and I'm picking up the doors at Lowe's tonight. The Wife and I are heading back up labor day weekend to put them in, and then I'll be officially out of money. Trim and cedar shingle siding will go up as money allows until the first snow, and then we're shutting down for the year.

[MountainDon]

Just about all wrapped up for the winter weather. Is your place accessible after the snowfalls get serious?

[cabinfever]

Yes - the roads on both sides of the property are dirt, but both seem to be well maintained by the town in the winter. The cabin is only about 50' from one of them, so access shouldn't be an issue. I plan to go up at least once a month through the winter just to make sure everything's ok.

[vtplntldy]

I was browsing on the web and I found this site. I am not in the process of building a home (the last one was 23 yrs ago) but I am from Athens. And I would like to welcome you to our town. I have been a resident for 30 yrs and have moved up the social ladder from flatlander to newcomer. I will never be a Vermonter by some standards other than my own.
Upon reading all the entries I see you are getting some good info. My husband owned his own building business for a number of years and built both our homes in Athens.
I am also a lister and Town Health Officer here. You will eventually see me at some point because of either job. One note I would like to put out to you is if you post your land you must register with the town clerk. It is a small fee but it backs up your posting legally. I know, but this is VT and we do things a bit differently. All signs must also have your name and a date on it. As for gate, unless you are willing to fence in your entire property, a gate might be a bit foolish. Like all places, if someone is not home (as your neighbor or yourself) you are open to robbery. Fortunately, in the years I have lived here that is a very rare occurrence. Don't worry about the townspeople. I have found for the most part, we are friendly. It takes awhile, but we are friendly. Like all towns there are some idiots but there are not a lot of them.
Oh, and by the way, yes there are a lot of people in town that are not from VT. I understand by way of rumor, you have to be at least the 6th generation to be born and die in this state to be a Vermonter. So don't worry, after 30 yrs. you'll be a newcomer too!
I hope we get to meet in the future.
Sandi

[cabinfever]

Sandi - thanks for the post! I've actually met 5 people in Athens so far - 3 are flatlanders and 2 are long-time residents; all have been welcoming. Even though I'm from Maine (and consider myself to be of respectible New England stock), I expect to be considered 'from away' pretty much until I'm dead. We've always thought Vermont was beautiful, and I consider myself to be lucky to be able to build something like this in a place I love while my son is still young enough to be influenced by it. I doubt I will put up a gate - seems like it would only invite trouble. As my cabin is less than 50' from the road, better to trust that my neighbors will report trouble if they see it. I don't know yet if we'll post our property (I assume you mean 'no trespassing') - we've got a pretty small parcel between two roads - but I appreciate the information. I expect we'll spend a weekend per month here and a couple of weeks each year; ultimately I have fantasies of moving here if the wife and the boy like it - and if I can find a local job!

We look forward to meeting you!

[vtplntldy]

I know what you mean about being 'good New England' stock. I can trace my forefathers to the 1700s in MA. Which is where my husband and myself are from.
I do hope you enjoy your time in Athens. It took me a couple of years to fall in love with the place but I would rather be here than anywhere else.
As for the gate issue, you are right. Seems like putting a gate up around here invites trouble rather than deterring it. And yes, by post, I did mean 'no trespassing' signs. Again, another item that riles people up. You are close enough to the roads and other houses not to really worry about hunters. People up here just like to think they can take walks where they like and for the most part you can. The people that post their properties usually have many acres and want to discourage hunters rather than people out for a walk. It is small town living.
Looking forward to meeting you and the family in the future.
Sandi

[cabinfever]

Hi all,

My wife and I packed up the boy this weekend and headed back up to VT. My goal was to get the place lockable and weather-tight. 9 double-glazed windows were being delivered on Saturday morning, and I had 2 insulated fiberglass doors and a homemade crawlspace door in the truck with me. Some notes:

1)   The place looked great with a roof on it. The roofer did a good job, but his attention to detail was off a little; the Tyvek I asked him to complete on the rear gable was forgotten, and he didn't put spacers under my 1 x 8 gable trim to get it to stand proud of the shingle siding I'm going to put on. Lesson learned: If you have to hire something out, be on site while the work is happening.
2)   The windows were lighter than I expected, and I was able to put them all in myself. The doors were another story. The surprise of the weekend was discovering that I had purchased 2 different door sizes – 36" wide and 32" wide. Both were supposed to be 36"; not sure how I didn't see this. There's supposed to be a closet on the left wall when you enter, though, so I put the smaller one on the front, figuring it would give me a little more space in the entry.
3)   I measured the crawlspace door no less than 3 times, and still got it wrong. I had to trim an inch off the height and 2 inches off the width.
4)   Drilling into concrete for the crawlspace door jam is a world easier with an impact – as opposed to a regular – drill.
5)   When all of the work was done, I was just a little disappointed – the interior of the cabin is darker than I thought it would be, though my wife thought the drywall might brighten it up some.

My wife spent a lot of her time painting the trim boards, which I'll begin to put up starting next weekend. Still have to put up the self-adhering flashing around the windows and the Tyvek on the back gable. After the trim is up, the most I'm likely to be able to do before the cold sets in is get shingles on the non-gable ends – there ain't that many working weekends left, and I've just about depleted the money for this year!





The neighbor up the hill stopped by on his 4-wheeler and introduced himself. I asked him what he knew about the property – I thought it was too small and hilly to have been crop or grazing land, and yet the stone wall and some remaining strands of barbed wire hints that it was used for something. He said that it had been an apple orchard in the 30s and 40s when he was growing up in the cabin across the street, and that you could see all the way down the hill and across the neighbor's fields. A lot has changed – most of the land is forested now.

[poppy]

Looking good. Nice photos, especially those with the rock wall. 

So what kind of siding are you going to install?

[TexstarJim]

You'll be amazed at the difference in lighting once the drywall is up.  If you paint with a light colored paint, the lighting will be sufficient.  The darker you paint, the more artificial light will be needed.  You've got adequate windows and once the interior is able to reflect that light, it will almost as though you had switched on a light switch.

Place looks really sharp....... excellent area and I hope someday you invest the time to dig for more history on your land.  I think you will be impressed to learn more about it.

[cabinfever]

Poppy - I keep going back and forth between vertical white pine shiplap and cedar shingle. Or maybe shingle in the gables and the shiplap everywhere else. The problem I've got is that I ordered all primed WindsorOne 1 x 6 for the trimwork, rather than going with something 5/4 thick. This means that if I use the shiplap, the trim will be flush with the siding, and I'm not sure if that will look strange. Doing the whole thing in shingles would provide more contrast, and only cost about $200 more.

Jim - My wife said the same thing about the drywall. Even so, I'm thinking of adding one more window on the downhill (south) side before I put the siding up. And I'm a history buff, so I'll be pumping the neighbors for as much info on the area as they're willing to give!

[Arizona Highlander]

Nice job so far. I like that 12/12 roof too.
Not sure if you mentioned it here already but how much snow might you expect over the Winter up there?

[cabinfever]

NorAz - the snow load map I got from my insurance company divides the state into three categories - 40, 50 and 60 lbs/sq ft. Athens in in the middle. My rafters are SPF 2 x 12 @ 24" with 3/4" T&G Sheathing. In addition to the nails, the rafters are all connected to the loft joists with 1/2" galvanized carriage bolts. Unless I calculated something wrong, that should be adequate.

[Arizona Highlander]

Good info. Thanks. Great job on the whole project. 

[davidj]

NorAz - the snow load map I got from my insurance company divides the state into three categories - 40, 50 and 60 lbs/sq ft. Athens in in the middle. My rafters are SPF 2 x 12 @ 24" with 3/4" T&G Sheathing. In addition to the nails, the rafters are all connected to the loft joists with 1/2" galvanized carriage bolts. Unless I calculated something wrong, that should be adequate.

For 100lbs/sq ft and 20ft wide, I've got 2x12 #1 @ 24" with 5/8" plywood and clips, so it sounds like yours is really solid.

[upa]

looks like a great cozy setting,  I like your selection of architectural shingles

[cabinfever]

Davidj - I'm hoping so - wouldn't be funny to watch it collapse under the snow after all this work!

Upa - I want something I don't have to paint. Scraping and repainting every few years is the worst, but staining or water-sealing ain't no big deal. I've always liked the look of shingle, so here's my opportunity.

[cabinfever]

Hi all,

No posts lately - I've gone into hibernation mode for the winter. Lots of progress in '09, but it was exhausting and I need a break. Since the last post, I've put up all of the trim and gotten at least 1 coat of paint on it. I also got siding done on the North side, and managed to stain all of the white pine shiplap for the rest of the siding. Once the spring comes, I'll get the front and back porches built, and put the rest of the siding up. The big question next year is whether or not the additional groundwater monitoring will allow us to ditch the mound septic plans in favor of the much less expensive conventional system. The engineer thinks we'll find we can. If all goes well, I'll be able to finish the entire project next year, but a lot rides of some funding sources I'm counting on. In the meantime, I'm researching plumbing and electrical...



This pic is from our overnight trip in December. I suppose I'm going to have to get the snow off the roof before it builds up too much more.