716 sq. ft. Cuyamaca Cottage

[flyingvan]

   It certainly isn't constant, and I kept telling myself what a necessary part of the food chain they are---one of the reasons our trout are well fed.  I bought two of those hanging fly traps.  They filled up with flies and gnats very fast, but I think they attract more bugs from elsewhere and smell bad to boot---other than the satisfaction of seeing them drown they are a waste of $$
   Oh and I suppose this is worth a mention--it calculated out to 6AWG wire (single strand since it's in conduit).  $0.89 per foot.  500 foot spool, same store, $200.  So just taped the ends.  As for grounding, NEC gave me two options--- 1) ground at the subpanel or 2) run a ground wire all the way back to the main panel.  I had already tied all the rebar together and had a 4" stub where the sub panel goes, so I went with option 1.  Yes, there is some strong string run through the conduit if I ever need to pull something else through.  It was quite a long run so the wires just got laid out in the trench and the PVC conduit and bends fed on one piece at a time. 
    Faux Pas -N- Fix......... When I cast the concrete I set 1" PVC conduit through the concrete then decided I wanted 3/4" conduit for the run, so bought reducers for each end.  The reducers only fit the widened flange, so I would have needed a coupler, another flange, and a reducer.  Seems wasteful as did the 2 hour round trip.  Turns out if you sand down the 3/4" a little with the scraps of emery cloth lying around from the sweat solder job, then soften things up with PVC cement, it'll squeeze in to 1" conduit.  It does make a tough spot to push the wires past though.  Tough, not impossible.

[flyingvan]

Work on this slowed down for a bit---we had a rescue where we pulled ten people out of a flashflood back in August right upstream from a 35' waterfall... we got medals for our efforts but also got beat up pretty good so took a break from swinging the hammer

Anyway---AnnaMarie's instructions were to build this outbuilding to match the cabin.  It has to be no more than 12' above grade and she wanted a loft.  Other than that it was up to me.  The laundry room is hidden below grade....
My old Skilsaw gave up the ghost.  It made it through two house builds so hard to complain.  I didn't realize how sloppy it was until I started using the new one.  Paid the extra for the magnesium version---you really appreciate it after a full day of cutting





  So the rafters are curved like the cabin's roof, a 'caternary arch' as Don pointed out---formed by hanging a string until it sagged to my liking.  The difference this time is, on one slope the curve goes out instead of in.  (In would have cut into the already small loft space, and left too little material in the rafters)
  It's like building an upside down boat

 

 Each rafter has three different pieces, and each version has three varieties---the fascia is a little different, and the ones over the walls have the cutouts for the bachelor studs.


   

  My son helped a bit.  So far he's not too interested in building stuff


   

  The longer set of rafters off to the right are very well supported at the midpoint which also forms the edge of the loft, and the angle follows the ground slope nicely to keep it within the 12' height limit.  This is about as radical a curve I can get away with that the OSB deck will conform to---if it's sharper curve (like the cabin) I'd use T&G instead

[flyingvan]

   Gable framing, especially with a window, sure means lots of trips up and down the ladder...Work today but should have all day tomorrow to get the roof decking and at least the felt up before Monday's rain












 















 The Cedar Fire was exactly 12 years ago.  Devastating at the time but every Fall since has been more spectacular than the past.  Turkey population has exploded too



   This is our house, looking one way---then turn and AnnaMarie's Cottage is the other

[MountainDon]

It's a cool looking roof.     Thanks for posting

[flyingvan]

I think I mentioned before. this is about as radical a bend I'd want to do with 1/2" OSB.  It's nailed 4" on center, both edges and field.



   You can just barely see the radiant barrier face on the underside of the OSB.   The edge flashing is underneath the felt only at the lowest ends, then goes over the felt on the gables. 





  The flashing on the curves required a bunch of cuts every 8 inches or so on the vertical face or it wouldn't bend.  On the house, the flashing is doubled up with no cuts overlapping, but this is just an outbuilding so I didn't really worry about it too much.  It starting really pouring and blowing hard so the edge flashing will hold down the edges until I can get the shingles on when I'm off work again in a week




    What looks like missing flashing is really just where a topcap layer of felt is overlapping.  Not really sure how the raingutter will go on the lower edge, there's not much fascia to work with and it's already pretty low over the entrance

[Don_P]

Diverter up on the roof? Looking very cool.

[MountainDon]

I  like!!   

[flyingvan]

Is there a way to use a diverter and still channel the water far away?  Since there is a 'basement', I'd really like to move all the runoff away from the uphill side.  The eave on the downhill  side is 24" (it just looked best that way) and guttering that will be easy.  Another option might be to pour a concrete sidewalk that slopes away and around and just let that side spill----but a diverter over the doorway is probably a great idea

[flyingvan]

Some of the older pics of the basement style foundation seem to have corrupted.  This one got loaded on Photobucket so maybe it'll last longer.  How dare they let me store tons of data for free and let it degrade like that





 

[flyingvan]

Roof's done.  Our weather has been very erratic but was blessed with a hot sunny day that 'set' the roof.....My fear was another windstorm that would whiffle up the shingles and get dust on the tar tabs before it set.  It's happened before and had to get back in there with a bunch of caulk style tubes of Henry's...

   Here's the starter course.  I really like the self stick kind, especially on a real steep roof.





Downhill view.  The window there isn't yet cut out all the way, it'll be a 3-0  4-0






I'm trying out the radiant barrier OSB on the south facing wall that always will be in the sun to see how much impact it makes on keeping the place cool in the Summer



  Next up is pouring the epoxy floor in the basement area.  First I'll get the housewrap up.  I don't want it to get rained on right after it's poured.  I bought enough for a garage and it's just 6 X 8 so I'm hoping it'll help level the floor some too

[Redoverfarm]

Good job on the roof.  Shoot I have enough trouble with a conventional one.

[flyingvan]

Sheer panel isn't the most fun job, especially when you get up to the eave.  Also when that eave is curved.... I held onto the cutoffs of the curved rafters and used them as a template to get the curve right, then just measured where to cut out for the 2x4's (bachelor studs, though I've heard different names.  Seems regional)





I pushed the limit on the curve for the OSB.  It started to fail, and made plenty of audible complaints while being bent into submission on the concave side.  The convex side was even sharper so I took my time---one side was well secured, the other had the clamp and every hour or so I'd just tighten it down a little more.




Trimmed the ridge.  Always feel like sharp edges anywhere on the roof decking will tear through roofing when it gets stepped on, and it WILL get stepped on



For the step flashing the metal shingles got turned the long way otherwise they wouldn't really fit into the curve and lifted the shingles more than I was comfortable with.  It meant using a lot more pieces but this is the side that takes the weather so cheap insurance



 The fascia board and its twin up against the structure are cut from a 2x12



Next was housewrap, windows and door.  The door to the laundry room down below the eyebrow hasn't been completely cut out yet because I poured an epoxy floor and I wanted to protect it until it cured






Next up---stone veneer all around the base, at the level of the bottom of the door.  I'm considering renting a big wet saw and cutting up the native stones---other option is the fake stuff.  This will make the place look more in proportion and hide the laundry room below.   I have to soffit in the eaves with cementitious panels.  Maybe if they take a good soaking and I set them down on the roof above for a few days they'll take the necessary curve for installation.

[flyingvan]

OK.  The house at the beach is no longer gonna get 'El Nino'd' into the sea.  Back to Cuyamaca to finish the laundry room...  But first work needed us to start training up some new rescue medics on the copter.  I tried taking pictures through the NVG's---it's harder than you'd think.


  Siding is easy once you get all the trim and soffit work done.  The soffit up under the eyebrow eave over the entrance to the laundry room is a pretty radical curve.  I cut the material to size and slowly clamped it down to the top over the roofing to pre-shape it.  After a few hours when I took it off it held the shape well and nailed right in place.

[flyingvan]

The weather was warm enough long enough to pour the subterranean floor.  It's a clear two part epoxy designed for a two car garage.  It filled the low spots well.



  The part of the doorway that's above the concrete, the OSB was left in place to keep the weather out while I was getting the floor done.  I'll cut it out and install a door soon.

   

    I really didn't want any sort of bracing holding up this little eyebrow eave but standing on it to do the trim, it wiggled enough to be a concern.  Cheap insurance.

   

  With the floor curing, it was time to get some siding up.

 

[flyingvan]

  My tenant was rooting through the waste pile.... He wanted to build an owl box.  The Western Screech owls have been hunting for nesting sites.
  They are great tenants and he is very talented, but there is no way he could build an owl box without hurting my tools, himself, and the owls.

   So I did a little research.  Screech owls like a north facing entrance, 10'-16' off the ground, in open woods.  I didn't like how the wall facing the cabin was going to be lap siding all the way up into the peak of the eave and that corner met all the owls' requirements so decided to incorporate it into the structure.
    I happened to have a spare toilet flange lying around---exactly the 4" they like for their front door.   There's a slot cut into it to form a sort of perch at the entrance.

   

    Here's an owl's view of their home, taken before the (removable for cleaning) bottom went on.  The beam up top is the ridge pole.

[flyingvan]

     Up in the eaves---since it's a compound curve, matching the siding cuts has to be scribed for each board.  So the board gets rough-cut and screwed with one screw up in the part that will be hidden by the overlap....The scribe is a pencil taped to a board---minus the part that overlaps, minus half the pencil width

   

     Finished the north side.  The owl box is up in the eave.  If needed down the road, the bottom unscrews for cleaning.... According to the literature owls keep pretty neat houses, but I'm not certain who's going to take up residence up there

         

[flyingvan]

   Siding is all done.  The palm nailer was invaluable up under the eave.   The wiring is about half done, then I can cut out the rest of the doorway for the laundry room below.  I'll hit up Habitat Restore to find a door to cut to size (the doorway is 38" wide and 74" high)

[flyingvan]

    As this project (finally) gets wrapped up, there are a few remaining cans I've been kicking down the road.  One is the door to the below grade laundry---it needs to be 73" by 32", and she wants a window....I found something I can trim down from Habitat Restore (sort of a building materials thrift store Habitat for Humanity runs---one of the few things to like about Jimmy Carter, though he also gets props for 70 years of marriage)
     The plumbing....I had tied into the water main to the house and slip formed the concrete around a plastic pipe then ran the 3/4" copper through right in the corner.  It came out a funny angle, 'to be dealt with later'.  It's later now.
     Plumbing is one of those things that I have no idea how I'm going to do it, then when it's done, it looks so simple, I wonder what the fuss was about.  The angle needed to be straightened.  It needed a union in case things had to be re-done.  The water heater needed feeds, as did washer valves and angle stops for the sink.



    Here's the back side



    When I made the concrete walls, I set carriage bolts so I could mount the water heater out of the way in the corner.  The mount had holes in it to mount some plywood.  The outlet box was cut into this, so there was a starting point and an ending point.  All the 'Cold' side was done first, then the 'Hot'.  Then the whole mess was temporarily bolted into place while the pipe coming out of the wall was matched up, along with a union.
     This will all get painted white

[flyingvan]

     Kinda thinking this is something 99.99% of builders already know, so for that .5% of a guy out there who didn't, you're welcome.
     Trim work is hard, tedious, and expensive.  I like to buy clear 4x4's and take them to the table saw to make what I need, but my wife's impatience with completing this job led to buying prepainted plastic stuff.
      Options for corners---you can put in plinth blocks and butt the trim up to them.  Nice, clean.  You can cut the material to 45 degree angles and fit them to each other.  They never fit perfectly for me though.
       I like this option best----cut the trim on a 45 degree angle, then follow the edge with a knife or coping saw, cut at a 90.  Make sense? didn't think so.



    Here is the trim cut at a 45.



     Here, the trim is getting cut at a 90 degree angle following exactly where the outer surface of the material was cut.  This will butt up perfectly to matching trim in a corner.

[flyingvan]

OK, last post on the outbuilding project.   This is at the first place I built---as a weekender.  It has very little storage, just a little under the counter fridge, and no laundry.  Now that our weekend guests have been renting for 6 years, they needed an upgrade.   This 8x12 outbuilding was built to meet all the needs.  First, here's the house it's designed to complement---


  The laundry is below grade so the pipes won't freeze.  I'm thinking the water heater and fridge will provide plenty warmth down there.







Here's the interior of the main part





The loft, with enough room for a full sized mattress



....And the laundry room down below



    The slip formed walls are painted in UGL, all the way down to overlap with the epoxy coating on the floor.  I just branched the water main and split it to feed a cold and a hot water line.   Tenants requested a deep sink, which I though was a good suggestion.  That funny thing on the wall by the water heater (12 gallon, BTW, enough for an HE front loader) is a dryer vent, mounted backwards into the room.  The other side is in the vented crawl space.  This is necessary to allow return air for the dryer---all the air venting outside through vent hooked up to the dryer has to come from somewhere, especially in such a little, tight space.

[Don_P]

     Kinda thinking this is something 99.99% of builders already know, so for that .5% of a guy out there who didn't, you're welcome.
     Trim work is hard, tedious, and expensive.  I like to buy clear 4x4's and take them to the table saw to make what I need, but my wife's impatience with completing this job led to buying prepainted plastic stuff.
      Options for corners---you can put in plinth blocks and butt the trim up to them.  Nice, clean.  You can cut the material to 45 degree angles and fit them to each other.  They never fit perfectly for me though.
       I like this option best----cut the trim on a 45 degree angle, then follow the edge with a knife or coping saw, cut at a 90.  Make sense? didn't think so.



    Here is the trim cut at a 45.



     Here, the trim is getting cut at a 90 degree angle following exactly where the outer surface of the material was cut.  This will butt up perfectly to matching trim in a corner.

It's looking very nice. What you've described is "coping"...
 "What are you doing Bubba?" "Trying to cope" 
One of my teenage jobs was running base for Dad. He had a nice metal hand miter box and a coping saw, we thought it was high tech, which it was at the time.
Usually a trim carpenter will miter outside corners where the fasteners will tighten the joint. A miter on an inside corner will open as you try to fasten it so a cope is usually a better method. Coping wide crown into an out of square corner can lead to some serious French lessons.

[flyingvan]

This was cool....I was trying to find the proper term for curved rafters on the 'architectural terms' site.  http://www.stockandassociates.com/projects/architectural-terms Turns out they are called 'compass rafters'.  The cool part---their example was a picture from my first build!  I had posted it here, and on my blog years ago.  Not sure where they took it from

[jpsconsulting]

Thanks for the information.