1 1/2 Story Cabin nearing completion in Alaska

[rwanders]

Finally figured out photobucket----After designing many versions all last winter, started construction in late June this year. Cabin is 24x24 1 1/2 story with 10x24 loft at rear and 14' catwalk to second floor 10x24 porch. Matching 10x24 porch on first floor. both completely covered by 11' overhang of roof. Roof is 12/12 with 5' eaves to shed snow away from walls. Siding is 1x8 cedar with Behr's redwood semitransparent stain. Walls are 12' so open area at front is 14x24 with 25' ceiling. Walls are 2x6, rafters 2x12 with 5x16x36' ridge beam. R21 fiberglass in walls and floor with R50 spray foam in rafters. Will finish ceiling in pine t&g, walls in sheetrock. Undecided on floor surfaces. Heat is TOYO stove burning fuel oil. Cabin is located 90 miles north of Anchorage on a 100' ridge overlooking Susitna River valley---unfortunately woods are too thick to allow good view of river. Starting sheetrock next  week and hope to reach livable stage by Christmas. 

[ScottA]

Looks good. Need more pics.

[FrankInWI]

Your place looks wonderful....really really great!  Yes, please.... more pictures. You did great work.

[Redoverfarm]

rwanders nice job.  Made pretty good time on the cabin thusfar.  If mine were as fast I would be satisfied.

[rwanders]

Don't have many other good pictures at this time----interior one shows catwalk from loft to top porch. Not much to see at this time other than insulation. Will post more as soon as I can. This started out to be just a weekend recreational cabin, but it has gotten seriously out of control. May end up as our full time summer home in Alaska with a winter place in Florida after the wife retires/ Right now I am "retired with working wife"-------I recommend that arrangement highly!!!!



Second interior shot is of double front door and 6060 front windows. Cabin is on electrical grid----heat is fuel oil, tankless water heater and cookstove will be propane.


ED: added image separators for viewing clarity - MD

[Redoverfarm]

Friend of mine who recently built a camp near my cabin built a similar design 28 X 36. Well he had a contractor friend of his from out of state.  Brought a 8 man crew and in 5-1/2 days they had it dried in , interior partitions, three decks and the catwalk like yours and were on their way home.  I think the labor was around $11,000.  Mine was cheaper.

[rwanders]

Sounds like he got a pretty good deal on that many manhours but, your method is an even better deal for your longterm financial health! I contracted a chunk of mine too to avoid leaving the cabin open to an Alaskan winter---really really hard on OSB and even plywood doesn't like it either. Logs withstand it pretty well but log construction is pretty expensive here. I have owned two log homes here in the past----beautiful, romantic and also hard to heat, hard to wire, hard to maintain and generally 'high maintenance" structures.

[Redoverfarm]

Yeah I agree with all the above. But I wanted to do one and so I am.  The cabin will not be a full time residence so I won't mind the heat part.  I am installing individual gas heaters to take the edge off then once the wood fireplace and cookstove get going it will probably be alright for early spring or late fall. With an open floor plan there will not be anything to restrict the heat distribution. The only partitions will be the bathrooms.

[apaknad]

very impressive. come build mine(only kidding).

[Sassy]

Looks really nice!  Great job 

[MountainDon]

Very nice rw. Glad to see you got photobucket figured out, too. 

[Redoverfarm]

rwanders just curious as to what your plans are for the balcony/deck ceiling and the overhangs.  Are you going to leave them open and just stain or cover them with something?

[rwanders]

I would like to cover them with something----undecided at this point. I have considered using 1x6 or 1x8 cedar also stained redwood. Other possibilities could include 4x8 fir panels or 4x8 beadboard panels. Any suggestions are welcome indeed. The height and size of the areas definitely make for some difficulties. I originally considered painting or staining those areas but the OSB sheathing might make a fairly poor appearance. Would also like to find something that would minimize maintenance over the years.

[akemt]

Mind if I ask what the structure cost?

Hello from a fellow Alaskan --and great cabin you got there.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Love your cabin and hope you'll keep posting pictures as you finish it.

[rwanders]

Two more pictures of interior---one of stairs which land on the catwalk going from loft to upper porch. Second is loft with bedroom area underneath loft and bathroom, closet, closet for stacked w/d and small pantry. Only partitions are at bathroom and closets. Pocket door at bathroom. Sheetrock is now hung but no pictures yet.

[sdextereo]

 :)Hello ,I am another admiring Alaskan.
Your place looks very clean and neat, a very nice job.
I am building a place in caswell lakes but I have not posted pics since May.
I will be insulating soon. I noticed the spray-foam in the roof. Did that cost an arm and a leg?

[lonelytree]

Alaskans are coming out of the woodwork!!!!

rwanders,
   You are going to cost me some money. I love a couple ideas that you utilized! Please keep posting pics. One of these days, I would like to see it.

Thanks,
Mike

[rwanders]

Sdextero:  Spray foam is definitely more expensive than fiberglass----however, it does solve the problem of trying to cram enough fiberglass into a 2x12 rafter cavity along with enough ventilation space. If you use spray foam you can achieve R50=55 and you don't have to provide ventilation to avoid condensation problems. My roof area was 24x17 times 2 (816 sq ft). It was further complicated by being 24' off the floor in the 14x24 open area which required a lot of scaffolding.  Bottom line was $3500 for the foam. I am hoping it is worth it in the long term.

[lonelytree]

Where did you get your rough cut wood? Popperts or someone more reasonable?

Mike

P.S. On thursdays, if you see a Dodge with a deere in the tailgate, it is me.

[rwanders]

Almost all the wood supplied by SBS, either at Big Lake or their Wasilla stores. Sometimes the big boxes (HD & Lowes) are a little cheaper but their quality is often a little lower also. I do buy smaller items and paint and stains at HD ( I like Behrs products). 

[rwanders]

Cabin is now sheetrocked and rock is painted. I am currently applying Minwax Polycrylic (clear/satin) to the pine t&g for the ceiling. Slow going because I have limited inside space to let the boards dry before I can stack them---I was planning two coats but, after doing a test piece with two, I can't see any real difference from the first coat so may go with one only----no wear to worry about. Any advice?

Been thinking hard about how to build railings for the loft, walkway and stairs----total of about 55 ft of railings. Initially thought of a cable setup but the cost appears to be a little high for me. I am now considering a combination of 4x4 newals with a wooden hand rail and horizontal "balusters". total length is approximately 9x55 or 505 ft of material if I adhere to the usual 4" spacing. I am considering using some kind of small diameter piping for this---perhaps 1/2 or 3/4 OD-----has anyone ever done something like this----any suggestions. Would be open to paintable metal or even heavywall HDPE or similar.

[harry51]

Rwanders, I'm planning on using horizontal cables 4" apart for "balusters" on my deck railing, and the idea was approved by the building dept here. However, there is a school of thought that horizontal setups of this kind are potentially dangerous in that children can climb them like a ladder to the handrail and fall over.

Galvanized steel cable 1/8" dia. is available for .18/ft from MSC
  http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/GSDRVSM?PACACHE=000000076374343
plus the cost of eyes, turnbuckles, etc.

[MountainDon]

I'm surprised that the horizontal placement of the cables was approved. I used to design and build playground equipment and can vouch for the fact that children can and will climb on anything easy like horizontal bars, ropes, cables, etc. Heck, a bunch of them will try climbing anything. I would not have anything horizontal except for the top and bottom rails myself.


About the two coars; it may vary from wood to wood I guess, but I could see a difference between 1 and 2 coats, but not any additional coats. I like 2 coats better, but maybe that's just me.    I do appreciate the idea that one coat wuld have saved me a bunch of time, though.

[rwanders]

I have no small children in my immediate family but after thinking about it, I will abandon horizontal balusters to protect potential visiting little ones. Thanks for the good advice!