20x32 A frame cabin Central KY

Started by EaglesSJ, July 23, 2010, 10:39:15 PM

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irishseany

Hey! This is my first post and i just wanna say how amazing it is to sit down and read through everything you have done. You truly are a great inspiration. Amazing work ethic, and great common sense, i wish the best for you and your family! On another note, i have a few questions about your home. I'm very interested in building my own A-Frame with my dad and brother, except on the grid. First off, is their anything you wish you would have done differently with the structure in the beginning? Such as have a full basement? or a larger main structure (20x40) maybe?  Another question is insulation and heating. What kind of insulation did you use in your walls and floors? R30? And does the one fireplace do the job of heating the house well in the cold winters? Sorry in advance for so many questions! Im very curious and eager to begin my own life in an A-Frame :P Again, amazing job with everything!

EaglesSJ

Ok so to answer a recent question about what I would change. I wouldn't change anything because everything worked out for us at the right time. If you read through you will see things I chanes along the way. The latest being a full basement. They say a picture is worth a thousand words so I won't talk much. Here is what I have been working on the past few weeks. All digging was done with a CAT skid steer. Basically knocked out one concrete pier and jacked up the house near where it was and then set a welded double I beam on a 6" concrete pad in its place. After all beams were in place I poured a 6" footer around them and then poured my floor. I blocked the wall on the outside of the beams and I am building a interior wall out of 2x6s or 2x8s and will drywall it. Adding a theatre, 2nd bathroom (10x10, time shower,etc) and a kitchen and bar area along with a nice Clayton wood furnace. We are not only digging under the main 20x32 portion of the house but also the 16x20 bedroom addition which will give us an additional 1000 sq ft of space bringing us up to almost 2500 sq ft. Quite a lot larger than the original 720 sq ft a frame we had. We are planning more children if it is in Gods plan for us. I can honestly say that despite a few minor trials since I have turned my life over to God that blessing after blessing has been poured upon us. Your mileage may vary but my feet are planted. Without further ado here are the pics. To anyone wondering this is not a project to be taken lightly. It is extremely expensive and time consuming to dig under an existing home. It can be done however.
























Patrick

Good for you and your family,Nothing like a dream coming true!I know you've been talking about doing that for a while awesome to see it come to life.I got a little experience with basements and they are a lot of work and worth every minute of it.

EaglesSJ

More progress pics. You can see the concrete patio area, fire pit, new wood shed, etc. Also found this little critter here roaming around. Southern flying squirrel. She was really sweet and actually fell asleep in my hand. The blue barrel was our temporary source of water while we worked on the basement until I got the 4 new food grade 275 gallon totes plumbed together. I will be building a insulated box around them in the next week or so with a hinged roof lid to keep them from freezing. I am hoping that by having one side touching the block wall of the house that enough heat will transfer through the wall to prevent freezing. Time will tell. If anyone has any questions feel free to ask. Will add interior pics as we finish out the basement.







ben2go

The place is looking awesome.Nice work on the basement and water collection system.


irishseany

What kind of insulation did you use in your walls and floors? Does it keep it warm enough in the winters?

EaglesSJ

R19 or R30 in all the walls. Nothing in the floor because we have the wood stove down in the basement. The new wood furnace keeps the house at 75 when its 15 outside. This is with it burning as low as it will go. (Damper in, no air knobs opened)

ChuckinVa

I really enjoy your build (s). I would be afraid of the PVC pipe freezing before the water storage tanks freezing. That is the point furthest away from the block wall. Maybe some self regulating heat tape or other freeze protection?
ChuckinVa
Authentic Appalachian American

EaglesSJ

I can happily say it got down into the single digits here this week for many days and never had any freeze problems and right now they just have insulation packed around them. No wooden box yet or a roof. Crazy to say the least.


EaglesSJ

 Hey Dennis. I got your PM but it wouldn't let me reply. Some sort of encoding error it said. Anyways hope you find the reply here. I used 2x8s and R19 in some spots and R30 insulation in others. If you have 2x6s only the R19 will fit but that will still put you being insulated exactly 50% better than most American homes since most use R13. And you are correct I just use plain ol fiberglass batts. 

autumnarcher

Just browsed through all 26 pages, mostly just looking at pics, reading here and there. I have to say you have done an amazing job.
I and my wife are planning on retiring to either KY or TN in another year or so, and doing something similar. Build a small retirement house, room for animals, garden etc. I got a lot of ideas from your build along. Im most interested in off grid electrical- cost to set up, etc. I'll be doing much more research on that. Seems to be you cover all of your electrical needs quite well, and it allows more flexibility in choosing property. Thank you for taking the time to share your journey. You've got a beautiful home and family. God bless!


Lakelife31

Quote from: EaglesSJ on July 31, 2010, 08:48:56 PM
good to hear from you Ed. We got the floor done today and started on the back deck. Im going to order the rafters tomorrow and we should have them up in a couple days after they come in. They have to be special ordered 2x8 26 foot long. Gonna have alot of fun sitting them in huh? Anyways here are some pics of what all we did today with the help of my uncle, his son, and a couple friends.




Hey there!
Just curious, when all was said and done. What was the measurement on the rafters once they were all cut? From the roof ridge to the base. I know the rafters were 26 ft when you started. Also, I have been dissuaded from using a 26ft rafter out of fear of bending and twerking once it settles. Was this a concern for you at all? I had planned on splicing  14' and 10' 2x8s together. Thanks, your project has been a huge inspiration.

black_edelweiss

I'm also curious about this. Your project inspired me to build an A-frame, with a few twerks. The Roof Rafter details are a big question for me. I'll be using 2x10's because of a 150lb roof snow load, which will be too heavy to put up in one whole piece, so i'll have to splice them.

Colorado Eric

EaglesSJ - Thank you so much for posting and staying on top of updates with all you have done here, it is so inspiring! To see what you and you're family have done is incredible to say the least, you really are a talented and hardworking guy, holy cow! Puts me to shame! I read every page and followed every post with great interest and to see what it has all turned into - wow! Keep those updates coming, can't wait to see what you guys do next.

Eric


Rys

I have thourohly enjoyed reading your thread. You are an inspiration to those of us just getting started!

Aquamechanic

Like so many have said before me, I am thoroughly impressed with your progress, determination and drive. Thanks very much for the positive attitude and documenting of all the trials, errors and forward moving construction. Honestly, I'm surprised if you haven't been contacted to start a reality show!

Anyway, just bought 4 acres of hardwood/ softwood forest lakeside at the south end of the Canadian shield last month with plans on beginning our dream project next spring. We will be attempting many of the projects you have worked through although, no farm animals allowed in this zone  :(
I dream of achieving the success that you have enjoyed. I am inspired.

Congratulations,

Following along from the Minden Highlands, Ontario

ben2go

Quote from: Aquamechanic on November 05, 2016, 09:22:11 AM
Like so many have said before me, I am thoroughly impressed with your progress, determination and drive. Thanks very much for the positive attitude and documenting of all the trials, errors and forward moving construction. Honestly, I'm surprised if you haven't been contacted to start a reality show!

Anyway, just bought 4 acres of hardwood/ softwood forest lakeside at the south end of the Canadian shield last month with plans on beginning our dream project next spring. We will be attempting many of the projects you have worked through although, no farm animals allowed in this zone  :(
I dream of achieving the success that you have enjoyed. I am inspired.

Congratulations,

Following along from the Minden Highlands, Ontario

w*

No farm animals? Are you close to a city or is there another reason for not allowing farm animals?

Travelore

I just wanted to say thank you for sharing this incredible story these last few years. I've spent bit by bit working through this entire feed, and I'm in awe. I hop you and the family are doing well, and that you have been blessed since your last post. I think I can speak for all of us when I say I hope you post an update soon!

EaglesSJ

Thanks to each and everyone of you who has taken the time to comment on the thread. I am very thankful to have such a great group of people. For the questions about the rafters I don't remember the finished measurement. It was around a foot shorter than the original starting length once we cut the tails off. It has been a very busy year for me at work but I did manage to get a couple projects done here at the cabin. One of which was to install our very own home theatre. Screen is 8ft wide. Standard 5.1 Dolby digital surround sound.  We have really enjoyed it so far. It's quickly become the new favorite hang out area. Once I build us a big farm table we will be changing what used to be our living room upstairs into a dining room so we can actually start having meals around a table together for once. I will try to continue to update as I can. Thanks again guys and gals for your support.


EaglesSJ

Finished up the new farm table and bench. Built both for around $130 total. After a couple hours with the orbital sander I stained it all with minwax special walnut and sealed it off by hand rubbing a mix of olive oil and beeswax into the wood.



KyLawMan

EaglesSJ,

Congrats on your abode. I have plans for an A-frame very similar to yours. Looking for land in Barren, Allen counties in KY. I do have some questions though. Did you have any issues with building permits, Health Dept. on your septic and gray water systems, is your house fully 12 volt or propane system (off-grid), and did you do your own plumbing? I was looking at building my own and doing all of the work but started finding code and regs about septic, perc tests, licensed electric work, etc.  Just want to build my own if possible. I saw where you mentioned building it like the Amish which allowed you to do all work w/o permits....I'm hoping that I can do the same. I work for KSP and don't want to screw anything up that will mess that up.  Thanks for posting all of your work here. It is definitely what I was looking for!

EaglesSJ

Hello KyLawMan,

We're 100% off grid on a 120v setup using all outback power equipment. Since we were using no public utilities we weren't required to have any permits. When we dug our basement we also replaced the septic system you see in the photos on here. As for the plumbing I done all of that myself with pex. Plumbing and wiring are both easy. Just do a bit of reading first. Thanks for your comments and hope everything goes great with your build.

KyLawMan

EaglesSJ,

Thanks for the response. I am also planning on using a Pex system since it is a simple system and I'm familiar with it from RV experience. I plan on using a 12 volt system and compost toilet with gray water filter for shower. Will be a camp/vacation home. Hoping I have same success as you with recent KY building permit changes that went into effect 2014......hoping since I'm not connected to their utilities that I will be good. What county you live in?

EaglesSJ

I hadn't rather not share that info on a public message board. Finding me would be a bit to easy at that point.

azgreg

I'm not a big A frame guy but I really like how yours is turning out. Plus I love that farm table. Good work man.