Re: head room for 1 1/2 storey

Started by Jared, January 06, 2006, 12:21:32 AM

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Micky

Pete,  We had about $25K into the foundation, framing, sheathing, siding, window, roofing and some of the elec and plumbing.  We did all of the work ourselves accept the foundation.  The power, water, and septic was already run when we bought the property.  

We streched the lenght to 32'.  I figured this worked better with material sizes and added a little to the bedroom and dining room.

cecilia

Hi Amanda

My post didn't give a very good description of priest's hole, did it!

In the time (around Henry VIII) all the catholic priests were being persecuted and many were hidden by local catholic families.

The priests hole was actually a narrow passage which was accessed by lifting the lid of the window seat, hopping onto a ladder and nipping down, lowering the wooden seat over your head as you went down.

Don't forget that in those old houses the walls were about three feet thick!

Ah - good memories of my village childhood.

cecilia



Jimmy_Cason

#53
QuoteJimmy, In the West we call these cabins,  so I think the term is Cabiny.  Cottages are too up-class.


That's very interesting, it make me wonder if my wife would have given the approval to build a cabin rather than a cottage.
I guess it is all in the terminology..


deertracks

Micky... Thanks for posting the inside photos. The place looks great and I'm sure your family is enjoying it. Are you planning to add any porches to enjoy those northern Idaho summer evenings?


williet

Micky,
Debbie and I are looking forward to more photos ... the house is great.

MB25ACRES

awesome job looks great? I am getting really inspired by everyone on this site. any updates. thanks Mike

curtb

Love your cabin.  We just bought a lot in the Adirondacks and I've been looking for plans to put a small cabin on it.  Your pictures have inspired me!!  Great Job!!!

rnelson

Micky,
Love your cabin.  Have actually seen it in person as my sister has one across the canal from you.  I just bought the plans from John and am planning on putting one up on the other side of the lake (pretty much in the town of Priest Lake).  Was wondering what the total square footage of yours is with the 12 footers being used to make more room in the loft?  I need 1000 sq. ft. to satisfy the covenants on my place.  All the pictures of your cabin have helped to motivate me (and convince my wife).  We are probably in for more than we know but I can't wait to start.  Thanks in advance.
Ron Nelson


glenn-k

Welcome to the forum, Ron.  It will be great to watch your progress.  John will now have a mini-planned community there.  We may have to lump him in with the big developers soon. :)

Micky

Hey Ron,

I tried to call the county to see what they considered usable square footage for a vaulted ceiling like this.  The person I talked with didn't know.

In a previous post John mentioned that anything over 5' height is counted towards usable square footage. http://www.countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1172769823.  The walls upstairs are about 3' high.  That leaves 15' of floorspace that is more than 5' tall.

So,
2nd floor (15'x 32'):    480 sq-ft
1st floor  (20'x 32'):    640 sq-ft
Bump-out (2'x 8'):       16 sq-ft
Total:                        1136 sq-ft

Hope that helps...

Feel free to stop by to take a look inside or to ask anymore questions.  We are there most weekends.



rnelson

Micky,
Thanks for the numbers, looks like I'll be okay with the covenants.  Didn't think to ask the county when I called today, I think I was a little punch drunk after finding out who and how much I have to pay before I ever drive onto the property.  I will swing by and look at your place if I get to that side of the Lake.  By the way, my sis has a crawl space, I believe you have a slab.  What made you go with this?  My dad (who built his own cabin in 1981 off grid) says I need a crawl space in case there are problems with plumbing, etc.  I don't know if this is prehistoric thinking or what.  I tend to think of him as the smartest man in the world when it comes to building anything.  It would be great to hear what you think and what you based your decision on.  What about price?  I suppose the mud has to come from Priest River right?  Sorry to ramble, my head is just spinning.  
Thanks again,
Ron Nelson  

Micky

#62
I also did the crawlspace.  I agree with your Dad that it makes the plumbing & electrical much easier to run.  I think the crawlspace also gives a little more buffer incase high ground water becomes an issue.

I paid Jim Holland $4130 for the foundation work (including materials).  I also paid Kevin Storro $935 for the site prep & backfilling.  It wasn't cheap getting the concrete all the way up there.  Jim also needed to use a pumper because the ground was too sandy for the trucks.

Good luck!

BuildItUrself

I hate to take you back in time Micky but is there any chance that you have any more photos of exactly how you installed your second story (loft) joist to the outer stud wall?  You mentioned in one of your first posts in this thread that you used a ledger and in one of your photos there is a far away shot.. but I wanted to see it a little more up close if this is possible.

ttfn
CV


Micky

We are finally to a point where I can post some more pictures.  Next we are on to the upstairs.














glenn-k

Looks great, Micky.  Thanks for updating it. :)

Sassy

Bet you all are really enjoying the cottage  :)  Looks great - you've done a really nice job  8-)

deertracks

Nice place.... you did a great job!!!
What type of flooring did you use?
What type of cabinets? Love that big sink!!
and.... what type countertops are they?

Micky

Thanks,

The flooring is solid "rustic maple".

The cabinets and sink are both from Ikea.  They were a great price and well engineered.  Ikea is fairly good quality for the money.

The countertops are concrete.  I used Buddy Rhodes product. //www.buddyrhodes.com  He charges a lot of money for ready-mix, but I think it was worth it for a beginner because it is all designed for the application.

peteh2833

#69
Micky, I have a couple quick ?'s for you. What size joists did you use for the 2nd floor and are they 24"OC? Also, do you place the 2nd floor joists on a let in ledger? It looks like you notched the studs out and set a ledger in there. What size was the ledger? By the way the place looks fantastic!!!!!!!!!!! I hope mine turns out as nice as yours. Thanks Pete


Micky

I used 4x12 douglas fir.  They are on 48" centers  You are correct with the let-in ledger.  This ledger was a 2x6.

All per John's plans.  I think there has been other posts with more details on this method.

peteh2833


Micky

#72
It has been a long while since I posted an update.  It also looks like some of the early posts of this thread were lost.  So I thought I would add pictures of the progress and give some background. 

We started building the 1-1/2 story in Spring of 2005.  We made a lot of progress the first couple of summers.  Our pace has relaxed the last couple of summers now that it is mostly done and livable.  The only two major projects left is the front porch and finish the stairs.

We have stuck mostly to the original 20x30 plans except for:
- 12' walls to give more livable space upstairs
- Increased length to 32' to give a little more room
- Add a bump-out to increase the living room space (saves room by not needing a big couch)

I would say John's plans are amazing.  We have done all the work ourselves starting out as very novice builders.  His plans are simple and very efficient.

The exposed wood ceiling looks great.  We found a local mill that supplied rough cut 4x12 DF.  This really set the character.  However, it did make adding the upstairs bathroom a little tricky by needing to hide the plumbing.  The stairs are also very steep, but this is a good tradeoff for not taking up much room.


The foudation was poored just before as winter came.  It is ready for Spring Build!



Started framing March 5, 2004



Wall raising part!  April 2, 2004





















Does it count as being "dried in" if we had to sleep in a tent?  June 20, 2005















































Micky

#73
Here are some pics of our work on the interior...





Kitchen from Ikea.  Great Bargin and fair quality.









Pouring the concrete couters.






Hardwood floor help.


























An attempt an a pamoramic picture of the living room...





glenn kangiser

Thanks for the update, Micky.  Unfortunately some of the posts got lost and that was why we had to switch forum software.  The old one just started losing stuff - couldn't keep up with our growth.

Progress looks good.
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

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