20x30 Western Maine

[astidham]

Love the siding, im wanting to put simular siding on my addition.

[RIjake]

   It's been quite a while (years actually)since I've posted here.  Life has taken some unexpected turns that have recently landed me here as my full time residence.
   Here's a bit of an update to my house for anyone who may be interested in building a camp/house/cottage like this. Quite a lot has been done since my last post but it's not 100% yet.  Obviously, this is based on the 20x30 house plans.  The house sits on a concrete foundation with about 5' of headroom.  Now let me just get this out of the way right off the bat.  The decision to not put an 8' deep basement is one that will haunt me for the rest of my life life.  To anyone contemplating their foundation choices, just do it.  Spend the money for the full basement.  You'll never regret it.
   The framing is 2x6, fully insulated.  I went with 10' walls with 8' first floor ceilings.  This gives additional headroom and usable floor space on the second floor.  The roof is a 12 pitch with metal roofing. The house is wired for grid power but is not currently connected, at the moment my power comes from a small off grid solar system with a generator.  More on the electrical later in this post  It has a 250' drilled well, conventional plumbing and a rock and pipe septic system.
   I made some changes to the interior layout shown on the Country plans.  I went with an open layout with 2 bedrooms on the second floor.  As I add some interior pictures in the future you'll be able to see that.
   Here's what it looks like right now.

   
    The list of items will be completed soon
   -Bring in grid power.  I'm about 900' from the closest pole.  After speaking to a utility contractor, I think I'm going to go above ground with poles
    down my driveway until about 150' from the house, then I'll go under ground.  I own a Case 580 backhoe, so I can do the digging.  This will
    save a lot of money.
   -Finish floor on first level.  Well, since I'm in Maine, wood would seem appropriate.  Probably old school wide pine, face nailed with forged cut nails. 
     I love that look.
   -Some sort of permanent heating.  My wood stove has been serving me well and will continue to do so into the future, however my work schedule
     has me away from home 3 days out of every 8.  For those three days I need to keep the house at about 50 degrees.  Since I already have propane
     in the house for stove and water heater, I'm considering a blue flame heater in the basement.  Again, I want to do this inexpensively and am
    looking to just keep the house above freezing while I'm away.
   -Upgrade my battery to a LiPo battery.  This will give me backup with out running the generator when the grid goes down.
   -A kitchen island with dishwasher.
   -Miscellaneous finish trim.

[jsahara24]

Looks and sounds good!  Anxious to see some more pictures of your progress. 

Thanks!

[pocono_couple]

Looks very comfortable!   I love the idea of wide pine floors with forged or cut nails.   Last year we were back in PA , visiting my father in law , and I was snooping around what they refer to as the shanty  which is actually the one room cabin that the ancestors lived in while they built the homestead in 1856.   The second floor has a layer of dust half an inch thick.. I might have been the only one up there in the last 20 or 30 years..  The point of the story is that I found nearly a full  wooden keg of cut nails which i promptly loaded in my van!   I am actually putting a southern yellow pine floor in our current project in mid-coast Maine, but , someday, I will lay a wide pine floor with those nails  

[RIjake]

Awesome, nice find!

Quick update.
The propane heater is working great.  The basement hasn't dropped below 48°.
The LifePo4 battery is also performing flawlessly.   

[pocono_couple]

My wife has been antsy and wants to do a day trip.  about half and hour ago, I proposed that we drive to Temple  tomorrow.. not realizing that this is where your house is!   in fact, we are curious about Temple because  we just both finished the book Upcountry by Robert Kimber  who happens to live in town.. maybe he is your neighbor!    I just logged on there and saw the first page of your thread where you reported that you also live in Temple... very cool    jt

[RIjake]

There's not much going on here!

[pocono_couple]

nope.. not much going on, but   it seems like a nice quiet, friendly place where everyone waved to us      and, on the way over we found a wonderful bakery in  Belgrade Lakes.. so  it was a nice trip    

[RIjake]

I know just where you mean