Quote from: cabinfever on December 18, 2009, 07:14:47 PM
I suppose I'm going to have to get the snow off the roof before it builds up too much more.

Unless you took some shortcuts you don't want to tell us about your roof should be fine. We had a lot more snow than that build up on our similarly pitched shingle roof back in Canada and I never shoveled any of it.

Your roof sounds real solid. You should be good to 7' of snow.

how did you solve the problem of trim thickness with the shiplap?  I was thinking that you could've put a band molding around the window and door trim, and used 1/4" plywood furring behind the rest.  You already got past that though.  Looks good!

The vertical shiplap looks good.

Are you going to be doing something different on the gable?

Here's hoping you don't have to go with a mound type septic; I don't like them.    Even my county health department doesn't like them, but they have to live with the state rules.

John and Don: Now that I think about it, we never shoveled the snow off the roof in Maine where I grew up, either. Wonder where I got the idea I had to? Maybe I'll look for signs of stress once a month when we're up checking and not worry about it otherwise.

Poppy: Yes, the gables are going to be shingled, just to add some visual interest.

Jens: I should have used 5/4 for the trim, that would have made it 1/4" proud of the siding and added some shadow lines. I didn't, though, so the shiplap is currently flush with the trim. I'm considering a band molding, too, but haven't decided yet. Given the contrast in colors and textures, there is not problem with appearance; I'd just like to do something to cover the butt joints.

Hi everyone!

I realized today I haven't been here in a while. I post only slightly more frequently on www.newenglandcabin.blogspot.com; there are a few recent pics there.

I got to work in early April, and managed to get most of the siding up on the South and West sides before I ran out. Tried to order more a few weeks ago, but the supply company that delivers was out, so I turned my attention inside. I framed in a closet just inside the front door,  built a bridge between the front and back lofts, and enclosed an 8 x 12' space in the crawlspace for the plumbing and water tank. As the south side of the foundation is exposed, and as it is vented, I'm thinking that I'm insulating and heating the framed-in space so that I don't have to worry about freezing while we're there in the winter.

The groundwater monitoring went well this spring, and the engineer is drawing up revised plans for an in-ground system. That should save me about $5,000 over the mound system we were approved for last year. Plans were sent to the state of VT on Friday, so I should have estimates before the month is out. I'm hoping to get septic in this summer.

The well goes in at the end of July. The driller did the two properties next to me and expects that we'll hit water at about 250', and the total cost is expected to come in at about $4,500, including the excavating, pump, tank and hookup.

I've drawn up the electrical plans that include what seems like way too many circuits for a 16 x 28 building. I've got a general recepticle circuit (15 Amp), a rear lighting circuit (15 Amp), a front lighting circuit (15 Amp), a bath GFI circuit (20 Amp), 2 kitchen GFI circuits (20 Amp), a well circuit (240 v, 20 Amp), a basement/exterior circuit (20 Amp), a microwave circuit, an electric range circuit (50 Amp), and 3 separate electric baseboard heat circuits. The electrician is going to get me from pole to panel, inspect my interior work, and hook the circuits into the panel. We'll have that work done before the well is in.

Best part of the work this spring so far: Beautiful mid-70s days and the sight of deer, chipmunks, hawks and foxes on the property.
Worst part: Pulling into the driveway with the wife and boy and realizing we left the keys in Connecticut last weekend. Sux big time.

I was just going through the work for 2010, and thought I'd post some updates here.

2010 Accomplishments: The short version
* Trim and shiplap up on 3 sides (+/- a few boards)
* Shingle up on 1/3 (hoping to finish before the snow this year)
* Electric service to the house, and 90% of the electrical run in the cabin
* 20 gpm flow found at 300'; well installed and tied to the cabin
* Septic evaluation and redesign completed; 'conventional' system installed and tied into the cabin
* Front porch build and roofed
* Interior bathroom walls complete, front closet framing done, bridge between lofts completed, and loft walls finished
* Topsoil and seeding in place - grass growing already
In short, the exterior is 95% finished, and next year we turn to the interior. Slow going, but we're getting there. I'll detail the work here in the next few weeks.



I should note that I'm not sure I would have gotten this far without the knowledge I've found on this site - this place is better than any book out there.

     I like the porch and porch roof.

It looks like a monsterous chicken coop with the little ramp leading up to the porch...

The link to your blog above is broken FYI - I follow your progress there also.  Thanks for sharing.

Don - the hipped roof was a bit of a nightmare and I almost threw in the towel and went with a pergola half-way through. Glad I didn't though - what's a cabin without a front porch?

Brandon - Yeah - I really need to get some steps built. I just clicked on the link from the post and got there no problem. Wonder what's up? www.newenglandcabin.blogspot.com

I tried your blog link and it worked fine.  Making great progress.  You are right, what is a cabin such as this with out a porch.  Getting to where it just begs for a couple rockers and a side table.

Rick - a couple of rockers is definitely in the plan.

Just realized I had a pic with some of the singles and the grass coming in...

What are you using for the green trim around your windows?

The trim is 'Windsor One' - primed, finger-jointed pine 1x6 that I've painted. If I had it to do again, I'd use 5/4 instead; as it is the trimwork is flush with the pine shiplap I've used everywhere but the front.

What color did you use on your siding? Is it paint or stain? 

The trimwork is painted, but everything else is stained with Flood CWF-UV5 (Cedar-tone). In the front porch pic, I haven't done the staining yet on the shingles.

A few more photos from this year. The cabin is only 16 x 28, so it's fairly small inside. We've taken one end and segmented it into a 6 x 10 bath and a 10 x 10 kitchen. To the left of the bath door, there will be a 3.5' diameter spiral stair going to the loft. It's a bit on the expensive side, but my father thought my son would love it, so he decided to make it a 'housewarming gift'.



I did all of the wiring myself and had an electrician inspect the work and connect me to the pole. Originally, the upstairs was going to be a single loft, but it seemed a shame to waste the space, and so it became two 10' deep lofts. Then the wife got to imagining a fire in which our young son is trapped in one of the lofts, and before you know it there was a bridge between the two of them.





Each loft will have 2.5' walls with multiple finished alcoves for baskets to provide some storage for clothing. Right now I'm thinking all of the walls are drywall and all of the ceilings are t&g pine. I've never done drywall before, though, so I'm a little intimidated. (Though I've never done framing or wiring before, and I seemed to have gotten through that ok...)

Had to get away from the Corporate Grind yesterday, so I high-tailed it for the cabin and continued the shingle work. Got all the way to the porch roof and then took a break to install the 2x6 facia boards for the porch. The sides weren't too bad, but trying to test fit the 15' front section was a trial; thank god for clamps - they are the MVP of tools for anyone working alone. The day was typical for New England - freezing and partly cloudy in the morning, ominously overcast and windy at noon, clear skies and warm by 2, and partly cloudy when I left. I took lots of exterior pics - the grass already needs to be mowed.

You are doing an outstanding job! keep up the good work

Looks great.  What beautiful land.

Do you have a floor plan you can share?

Gypsy - here's something really crude (No scanner, so I'm limited to MS Paint). There is a 10x10 loft above the kitchen and bath, and another above the living room. I've got a 2.5x8 bridge between the two, with a spiral staircase. The box by the front door is a closet, and the alcove between it and the front door will have a bench seat below and coat pegs above.

CF if you don't have the degree setting for the gable end I usually go the old fashion way.  Level the shingle on the gable wall as close as you can to the roof line.  Then using a 2X place it against the slope of the roof line gable side and against the shingle.  Mark the line on the scrap or shingle and thats the angle.  Same goes for the porch intersection.  Might take a scrap of plywood to use as a guide to set your angle instead of a shingle.  I know they are pricey to pratice on.

Thanks, John. The Roof is 45 degrees, so I'm good there. Good suggestion for the porch, though. The other problem I've got is that the trim is nailed directly to the sheathing, and there is no space to tuck the shingles under it. I figure I'll be butting them against the trim and nailing the top course with 2" galvanized finish nails.

The cedar shingles are expensive, but I found that grade 'c' were about 1/3 the price of clear. They have knots, but not many, and they're mostly very small, so the money saved was well worth it.

Next trip up should be this week to finish the siding and secure and insulate the room in the back corner of the crawlspace in which I've got my well pressure tank (and eventually most of my plumbing).

Cabinfever, thanks for the sketch.  It helps me visualize a lot better.  Spiral stairs explains it - I was trying to figure out where you were going to fit in a stair case.  I've considered spiral stairs but not sure I can make it work.  I'm also planning to build John's Builder's Cottage but 18 x 28 plus porch.  My kitchen will be a flattened 7 with the door exiting to the west.  My bathroom door will be set away from the east wall 2'3" because I'm putting an armoire/closet just outside the bathroom door like in the the original BC floorplan.  I was thinking about putting a gas wall heater right there on the wall between the kitchen and bath since all the plumbing will be in that common wall.  Tankless water heater will go in the corner space of the kitchen 7 on the north wall right there at that common plumbing wall.

I'm living vicariously through your progress.

Gypsy - you may have to post a sketch - I can't quite envision it.

A steep stair would have worked in the space I have available, but a [non-code-compliant] 3.5' diameter spiral stair is more functional. A lot of people have them, and they seem to run about $800. I could have had more space for the stair by opening the bath into the kitchen and using the entire 6' wall of the bath for a turn-around staircase, but it was more important for us to have a lot of kitchen space. And besides, my 4-year-old will think the spiral stair is really cool. (Hell, I'll think the spiral stair is really cool, for that matter!)

The real problem with my plan is where to put the wood stove...