Our Tiny (10 x 12) Cabin

[mtman]

Your 10x12 looks great! The more I look at the model for your next build, the more I like it. I had ideas of something similar where I could do one side a story and half, and add the other side at a later date.
Do you plan on starting the new build soon? If so keep us updated!

[Gary O]

Thank you mtman

Starting 'soon' is around spring 2013
Got some stuff to do to the 10x12, so in the meantime I'm fishing for design, then make the final model.

But yes, one side first, the one story side, and I know marriage integrity is detrimental so some major post and beam considerations in that area. I'm not worried about stability as I over build, but overbuilding is expensive, and may consider building a few for others. This is (hopefully) where these pros on this site come in. Looking at the model, 24oc seems too close for the studs/beams, structurally and aesthetically, so comparing beam size for wider spacing. I know if I pm mountaindon he'll spew forth with my own kindel, so I feel pretty cozy in that regard.

I'll tell ya, creating something (anything really) is so rewarding, and I know building houses is for the pros, but a 200sf cabin is very forgiving, and I'm having a blast with it.

Thank you again, and let me know when/if you start one like it.

Cheers

[Gary O]

So, the ‘10 x 10 cabin in Ontario’ thread by grover (warm looking trapper cabin like place, love it) re-inspired me as to using what’s around the place…..

Planning a cabin kitchen door to the new add on, but not enough wall height for standard, so gonna make one outta the 2x2s I have lying around. They are only 4’, but I s/be able to use them for most of the door.
These were left from our last renter that decided to use his rent money for mental recreation instead of put a roof over his head, of which we sold our residence and moved into to renovate and save some shrinking investment dollars……now that they’re all gone, I don’t have to worry so about them shrinking so darn much.

Anyhoot, ‘tween trips to the cabin we did a little spackle/paint to the wobbly home.

Before:


After:


OK, more than spackle/paint, as I didn't realize that they, and I (no walk thrus for 4 yrs, and only quick drive bys) had let things get so far gone. Took a little more elbow grease to put new skins on the interior doors, all new screens and a window or two, and some siding pcs here and there...
…and the little window mount A/C unit just was not enough for them, since it was mounted on the ground for 3 or so years….yes, sarcasm…roses are so darned resiliant, whack/chop.....grow/blossom

But this is about the kitchen door to the cabin (temporary though):

Outer


interior side

[duncanshannon]

wow, thats a dramatic change! nicely done.

[Gary O]

wow, thats a dramatic change! nicely done.

Thank you Duncan
It’s quite amazing how some scrubbing, a pressure washer (those things can cut wood) and a bit of paint brings things back…and a better color selection….

Funny thing, the wife, with some help from the kids, did the bulk of the painting, as I pride myself on doing the trim (no masking).
I was carefully stroking away with my brush edge around the storm door, noting how perfectly the line of oil based black trim laid down, holding the quart in my left hand like an artist, when I took one too many steps along the porch, the edge of the top riser meeting the center of my arch.
Enrapt in my masterpiece, my weight was already past fulcrum, casting myself down the stairs.
Ever have one of those life-passing-before-your-eyes moments?
As the paint launched out of the can, I was able to catch the majority of it with my face, thus a vain attempt at blindly grabbing the handrail was less than successful.

I employed my now patented involuntary twirl reverse summersault drop and roll technique, ending up at the bottom of the stairs, hugging the rear tire of my Wrangler in somewhat of a fetal position.
Lying there for what could have been minutes was quite comforting really, as I mentally assessed body damage.
The only thing broken was my ego.
Wife came home an hour or so later.....I'll tell her one day I s'pose

[duncanshannon]

gary - you are a riot! 

[Gary O]

Well, the wife would probably disagree.
She keeps close tabs on my life insurance as I go on my house climbing excursions.
We had a three story 100 yr old house of a thousand projects (all at once), that beckoned hourly.
She kinda came unglued when she saw me on a low slung sand chair atop a homemade platform to compensate for the roof pitch. Hey, my knees had had it.

 Too many stories to list, but the most ludicrous 'event' I can recall was when I was on a ladder (an extension ladder), but only four-five rungs up. Too lazy to move the ladder a bit, I did the one leg out and stretch the arm in the opposite direction, ballet move, to reach a stubborn trouble spot. When pulling my leg back and venturing down the ladder, I misjudged the location of the rung. In spasmodically over correcting the precarious situation, I ended up doing a full pirouette, clinging quite affectionately to my now twirling ladder. I magically stopped in mid-air, frozen, for what seemed like a three count, staring down at the top of the ol’ garage, then jerked the ladder back and forth two, three, maybe four times to balance (?), twirled back, now facing the house again, and proceeded (one-two-three o’clock) down the hill, backwards.
On the way down I recalled my first puppy, my best childhood (22 Marlin) Christmas, and Marissa Morehead’s cleavage…….
 Aluminum ladders are light, so the marks were minimal......

[duncanshannon]

do you have to think about these things and make an effort to be hilarious or does it just come natrually??

another nice paint job!

[Gary O]

unfortunately I don't have to think much about it
seems to go along with the paint
welcome to the far side of my frontal lobe, duncan

[Gary O]

do you have to think about these things and make an effort to be hilarious or does it just come natrually??

Y’know, duncan, your comment piqued my mind a bit.
It truly does come quite easy for me to lay down (hopefully) comedic prose.
A key is that people, everyone, will laugh at what they are afraid of. Dire, life threatening, or just something as inane as a flatulent circumstance, presented in creative, descriptive form, will sometimes bring a chuckle. So, I apply this form to my life experiences.
My first recollection of this was when I was around 4 or 5, and my grandfather fell off (yes) a ladder, quite a ways really, in getting down from a large cherry tree.
The struggle, flailing limbs, missed attempts at salvation, grabbing a branch that snapped, and ungainly attempt to land gracefully, doubled me over for several minutes. I just could not stop. And when he looked at me, it started all over again.
Asking if he was OK during choking laughter didn’t seem to help his demeanor.

Unfortunately, my work associates have to be around me for 8-12 hrs daily, but they’ve managed a high tolerance, even though they still try to be in very serious conversation with me….and they are my subordinates!!
Izzis a great country or what?

Had a close buddy, slight build, kinda pretty, but tougher’n a crow bar.
He’d laugh at everything (which was kinda annoying after awhile), but what I found fascinating is he’d laugh, uncontrollably, when in a bar fight, or a dangerous situation. I never asked him about it, even though once in a quiet moment, around last call, I felt the urge….one learns to not confront insanity face to face.

But yes, Duncan, humor is a tool I use, in all facets of life.
I can be dead serious when a situation presents itself, but I prefer the lighter side most times.
I hate intimidation, on either side, and when serious, folks tend to think I'm angry, and I can miss out on their true feeling about something, guess it's my mug.

Cheers

[Gary O]

 duncan

I can’t leave it alone.
Went to bed thinking about what motivates a person, what gets the blood going, what ‘does it’ for them?
And in my introspectating mode (2 yrs and counting now), why does humor seem to remain at the top of my to do list?

It seems to be a given that whatever one dwells on becomes what makes up one’s character, or at the very least, one’s personality.
There’s a biblical passage, ‘by beholding we become changed’.
I think the context can be maintained whether a good or bad trait is nourished.
Read somewhere that our minds actually make little thought roads, and the more we visit them, the more rutted they become, ultimately getting harder to use the road less traveled. Makes sense to me.
I think the degenerate mind tends to speed down these lanes.

Actually, I’ve been quite successful in dealing with my OCDs without mind bending medication.
I no longer count steps, do things a certain way….in repetition..…nor need things placed or folded a certain way. Even a tiled floor is no longer a challenge to traverse.
The trick is in what one dwells on, initially.
Nut case physicians find great fascination with my babblings, but then they have their own problems.
But that’s another story………

So why is Gary so enrapt with funny?
The alternative is just so mundane and frustratingly counter productive.

Frowny, mean people, people carrying self driven agendas around in their mental satchels, business people with wry twisted senses of humor, wrapped in sarcastic ridicule, nursing their megalomaniacle egos, pressing me into their service, have saturated a good portion of my waking life. So I feel the need to combat these weapons of angst with my can of humor kryptonite. It keeps me from becoming one of them.
Attorneys, CEOs, CFOs, low people in high places, all have left the conference room shaking their heads after enduring one of my little sessions.
…And I love it so.
 Now I must turn a couple of today’s scheduled funeral dirge meetings into a laugh track, of which I so look forward.

Wheeeee!

[Gary O]

 We’re headin’ down to the cabin this weekend.
Made the door. Actually it turned in to half doors.
Turns out skinny little 2x2 spf is quite heavy when glued and screwed together.
Just gotta put on a coat or two more of stain/sealer and screw ‘em onto the stud.
We’re kinda getting’ pumped about the trip down, even though we have colds and sound like a couple lungers.
Come to think about it, maybe we’re not as pumped as I’d imagined. Maybe it’s just the wheezing.

 Here's my homemade door, first coat


Then we'll prep the slash piles.
Last year my bride kept an eye on me when tending piles.




Can’t imagine all the fuss. I’m just as careful without all the baby sittin’

[TheWire]

LOL 

[Sassy]

 

Nice door BTW

[Gary O]

Nice door BTW

Practice, for the next cabin.............

That ones gotta be bigger though. Tween me and the wife, if we continue chowing down like we're doin', we'll need to make three trips with a wheel barrow just to haul my gut and her butt around.
Funny, we made a pit stop last trip, smallish bathrooms, her rear end kept settin' off the hand dryer sensor while she was waiting for the laughing lady in the stall.
My kina woman. Still sets off my sensor too.

[Gary O]

We just got back from a great trip to the cabin.
Installed the homemade half doors.
Went better than I’d imagined.
We did a bunch of other stuff, but I can’t get over my happy at the outcome of my door saga.
I know, I know, I’m on the wrong sight…so many professionals…so many great, spectacular builds.
But this ol’ wood butcher is havin’ fun.
And I replaced the cobbled leg support for the stove and counter I’d put on when in an over tired state….something I keep having to learn….
Here’s some pix.
Note; I bought a cheap fisheye lens, and when bringing pix up tight creates a shadow, thought it was my head, but it’s not so round……Did I say cheap? $15 on ebay…I overpaid….
And, well, it may not be just the lens……………..















abba abda abda that's all folks

[Sassy]

Great looking door!  Will be versatile being able to open only half the door if you want a nice view or breeze.  Amazing how big the place looks...  also like the wooden handles on the outside 

[Gary O]

Thanx Sassy.
Believe me, that place ain't that big. Needed to use the fisheye to keep perspective of where everything is.
I'm going to put a screendoor on for summer. Skeeters are killer there.

[MikeOnBike]

Hey Gary,

Love your kitchen extension.  Are you going to leave the french doors between the two sections?  That's a great door.  Where do you find the time for all of your projects?

Most of my work next year will be finishing the interiors of our two sheds.  I've got to remember to put a bookshelf in both of them and keep the bookshelf lower down, right at nose level for the grandkids.

I'm sorry we haven't connected with you on one of our trips to Portland or the coast.  I would really like to see your place.

[Gary O]

Thanks Mike.
Can’t wait to rise outta bed one Dec morn and stroll over to make coffee….or rather watch the wife rise and stroll.
Beats steppin' outside and chippin' the coffee pot off the tree, after chippin' the stove open.

 Yeah, keepin’ the French doors where they are. Too  hard to put ‘em in (correctly). However, one day, who knows? I tend to get bored with things if they stay put too long……………..

Hey, you got nuthin’ to say. You been kickin’ butt, and got ‘er covered before the weather. That’s big. Actually that's huge.

Hookin’ up would be great.
Give us a shout next time you ponder a trip thru.
Keep a fire, Mike

[Barry Broome]

I love this cabin build. I look forward to all of your funny photo presentations... Your cabin, though small, is a really cute cabin. I just came back yesterday from the Smoky Mountains. I stayed at Gatlinburg and love the "Alpine" style cabins. I think I might build one myself.

BB

[Gary O]

  Thank you BB.
Hey, if yer serious, they are actually quite easy to build…mostly wall.
Let me (us) know when you get closer to the deed………

Keep a fire

[Barry Broome]

Will do! Thanks!

[Gary O]

Did I just say 'mostly wall'?
Musta been quite a Monday
Mostly roof....or slanted wall...depending how you look at it....inside or out

[cabingal3]

Hey mister! thats one cute little cabin ya got there.
love my kitchen.sure beats putting on all my gear to go out to the frozen out of doors and chop the ice off of everything just to try to make a pot of coffee and it sure beats having to get water that is frozen solid out of a 5 gallon jug.
cabingal3