Cabin Design - Seeking your ideas

[AdironRider]

That last one didnt happen to come from countryplans.com no?

Looks exactly like their "little house" plans. They claim it can be built for 1500 bones. I was intrigued.

[bad dancer]

Thanks guys ! Pretty stoked.

No its not from countryplans. Just off the back of a starbucks napkin.
Trying to keep it pretty simple. I'm kind of building on the fly with no real plans.
It's 11x14 no plumbing or electric.
The concept was to build something with natural light through the structure.
We have floor to ceiling windows on each corner so you can actually "see through" the cabin.
This will be the guest cabin slash sleeping place while we build the big palace.
We are going full solar and rainwater. Composting toilet.
Going as sustainable a possible. We cut down a 45 metre fir tree and had the post and beams milled on site. Bought the siding from a local mill in town. Its just fence siding reverse. Using recycled denim for insulation.
All the wood trim and facia boards are fromrough cut lumber on site.
Bought some 6" fir flooring of craiglsist for 1$ a square.

The most expensive thing so far was the windows at about $1500. Custom sizing isn't cheap.
The roof and flashing was about $900
Bought my fir glass door at the used building stor for $125. bargain.

Her are are couple more.

[dominici]

Incredible. You are a hero... to me at least. This kind of thing is hopefully my future. If you don't mind me asking, what plans do you have for waste water from washing up and showers for example? Do you reckon you will have enough solar power for some very basic appliances?

[BigDaddy]

That's some great work bad dancer. I admire your resourcefulness and "natural" design abilities. The glass corners really make it interesting, and it has great proportions. Can't wait to see the main "palace" some day.


And you're right, $125 for a glass fir door is a bargain!

PS- Have you looked at SunMar for toilets? (They have been great for me, but I'm not sure if they have any that don't use water.)

[bad dancer]

There is a "one pint flush" toilet by Sun mar I think. For me, the outhouse works just fine and probably always will. Its in the bush, how cool is that ? Most everyone else will use the toilet. We will have full plumbing with a propane hot water on demand system. Grey water will be plumbed to a septic field of sorts. Basically a pile of rocks underground about 200 feet away. Low voltage lighting will be used to keep things simple and low use of power.

As for Solar, yeah should have all appliances hooked up. Fridge etc. I've never really been a fan of carpet so a vacuum is not in my plan. There is actually no power on the island so you kind of have to have a generator for large projects like building etc.. I have a 2000 w quiet honda knock off that seems to work well.

Will keep you posted as things progress. Always looking for new and better ideas as well.

[Danno]

I love this stuff. I don't have any skills and will never build my own, but I still dream of buying a plot somewhere and having a very simple/cool cabin.

[bad dancer]

I love this stuff. I don't have any skills and will never build my own, but I still dream of buying a plot somewhere and having a very simple/cool cabin.

Danno,

You have me confused with someone with skill. I am literally building this thing on the fly and by complete trial and error. No previous experience required.
If your not afraid of swinging a hammer, its pretty basic stuff. My 12 year old son helped me with the forms and floor and we had the basic post and beam structure up in a couple of days.

Its taken me about two years to get to this stage. Building on an Island has its own challenges. Not for everyone !! I have dragged 15 sheets of plywood across 200' of low tide from my boat to my truck. If this was on the mainland, it would have been done in a couple of weeks.

Buy some cheap property somewhere and start having fun. I'm kicking myself for having waited so long to start.

[hop]

Which island?

[Danno]

Danno,

You have me confused with someone with skill. I am literally building this thing on the fly and by complete trial and error. No previous experience required.
If your not afraid of swinging a hammer, its pretty basic stuff. My 12 year old son helped me with the forms and floor and we had the basic post and beam structure up in a couple of days.

I'm kind of afraid of swinging a hammer.

[Dantheman]

I'm a serious nancy boy

NTTAWWT

[bad dancer]

Which island?

Savary Island
British Columbia

[noparking]

Thanks guys ! Pretty stoked.

No its not from countryplans. Just off the back of a starbucks napkin.
Trying to keep it pretty simple. I'm kind of building on the fly with no real plans.
It's 11x14 no plumbing or electric.
The concept was to build something with natural light through the structure.
We have floor to ceiling windows on each corner so you can actually "see through" the cabin.
This will be the guest cabin slash sleeping place while we build the big palace.
We are going full solar and rainwater. Composting toilet.
Going as sustainable a possible. We cut down a 45 metre fir tree and had the post and beams milled on site. Bought the siding from a local mill in town. Its just fence siding reverse. Using recycled denim for insulation.
All the wood trim and facia boards are fromrough cut lumber on site.
Bought some 6" fir flooring of craiglsist for 1$ a square.

The most expensive thing so far was the windows at about $1500. Custom sizing isn't cheap.
The roof and flashing was about $900
Bought my fir glass door at the used building stor for $125. bargain.

Her are are couple more.

could you post some bigger pics? it looks really cool

[bad dancer]

Thats better. not sure why they were smaller.

Will try and get some shots from the inside next month.

[bad dancer]

We did piers as could do it ourselves. Could have gone slab like down the road but don't like wood being so close to ground. I'm not sure if a conventional basement would have worked at our place as water table is very high some years. I'm sure it was about 6' from grade one year. Thinking about it I don't know of any place that has a basement other than hill sides that have walk outs, which is weird for Canada. Ok one place but their first floor is higher than ours so about 6 1/2' so basement floor not that far below grade.


In Canada slab on grade is weird in all parts of country other than BC ( lower mainland) have full basements as you have to go down far enough to get below the frost. Cottages maybe not as much as cost to get concrete out in boonies is $. We could have not gone below the frost as ground is supper well drained so frost heave would not have been an issue.

How big is your footprint and how high are your piers ? I'm trying to decide what to do whith my next project. It will be a 6 foot drop over 36' in one corner. not sure if i want to go that high with tubes. i'm considering a concrete pony wall in that corner and build up off of it.

[hop]

Savary Island
British Columbia

Aha. I have fond memories of a girl from Savary.

[runethechamp]

I guess this thread veered off from one cabin to another, but I have to ask if this last one ever considered any wind loads for its design. Or snow loads for that matter since the roof looks to be 50% larger than the cabin itself. Not looking to criticize, this is a really cool project, but it just looks like it could catch a lot of wind and snow.

[bad dancer]

I guess this thread veered off from one cabin to another, but I have to ask if this last one ever considered any wind loads for its design. Or snow loads for that matter since the roof looks to be 50% larger than the cabin itself. Not looking to criticize, this is a really cool project, but it just looks like it could catch a lot of wind and snow.

In the winter it can get pretty windy for sure. I have been up there when it has been blowing 40 knots plus. No problem with the cabin itself. I am more worried about trees falling on top than anything else. Its pretty sheltered in the woods. As for snow, we typically only get snow once per year or so. couple of cm's on average however last year we had a "freak year" with about 2 feet of wet snow fall followed by a few days of rain. I was very worried as I only had the roof up without any plywood for shear stability. I had someone drive by and check it out and was pleasantly surprised to find it still standing. With all walls up she is ready for the worst.

[wendigo]

Tacked siding up a few weeks back.

Had a big pile of dimensional 1x10 from local trees, worked up at a neighbor's small mill. Putting up board and batten.


My brother built the large cabin, completely by himself.
I built the little one....

Started on the back


One side done



Working on the front


North side going up


Done

[iceman]

Why is Jorma Kaukonen breaking into this man's house?

Wendigo, cool shit. Inside pics?

[splat]

He's trying to find some hot tuna.

Ben - lookin' good!

[Snowcat77]

Good work man, I live in a shed converted into a cabin/shack in the Berkshires....hope to have one as nice as yours in a better place to ski someday. Although I can't complain too much about the Beast! (not killington)

[wendigo]

Thought I would dredge this one up as we are doing it again....
Sold the last place - fuck SEABA - if you don't understand, that's alright.
Here it is in all its glory - nice folks bought it so we are stoked!
Scroll back a few pages for a feel of how much snow that is.


Notes from experience:
1. cabin building was rad
2. I now own a ridiculous number of tools that I rarely use
3. clear a bit larger pad than you think you want (currently trying to convince dr. wendigo of this - however, I met with the excavator and staked out the pad - so win )
4. build a septic and drill a well before starting - this can be a challenge because it isn't exciting - but waaaaay easier in the long run.
5. (basic) electrical is pretty fun and not really that hard - just label the shit out of everything, particularly when you only show up to work every few months.
6. There was concern stated a few pages back about our cabin window/roof alignment (a) it has never been an issue the overhang was enough to keep any moisture off of the area, plus my brother did an incredible flashing job on it that I should have taken a photo of, (b)we sold it - so I don't care now.

Anyway, building again - south facing, ocean/mountain/glacier/waterfall views going to use this place as a "cabin" for the next 15-20 yrs then as a proper garage/workshop.

Currently looks like this


Requirements: Handle a proper snow load, reasonably compact, plenty of windows - but not too many it's a "garage", heat, "bedroom", bathroom, kitchen

Here is where we are going:






A 30x30 contemporary design. Metal for the first 3' on the exterior then shiplap or t&g wood. The small box inside will house a shower, toilet, and mechanical, the small space to its right is the "bedroom".
Planning on a full kitchen, sliding barndoor harware for the bathroom, infloor radiant (yes sacrilege that we won't have a wood stove!).
Burly roof with 3' overhang all around and no roof penetrations - to deal with snow load and extended periods of nobody home. Probably not install the tall garage door for the time being.

In short - I don't care about your design opinions, I know what I want.
I do have questions on appropriate heating systems as I've never installed infloor heat (well, on my own place)

I'm leaning toward an indirect system that uses a heat exchanger to separate the floor heating from the domestic hot water. Anyone have pros or cons/advice on such systems? All ears.
Otherwise the electric will be fairly straightforward, with a 200 amp 120/240 system - plenty of lights - electric rang, electric dryer.
The plumbing will also be fairly compact and simple,: toilet, shower, washer, sink

[::: :::]

We have a Navien boiler that does both heating and domestic water. I'm no good with the tech side of it. Here's some photos to see piping layout

[Game Over]

Very cool that this thread came back up. We hope to use our bandsaw sawmill to cut enough ice storm fallen trees (we have over 100mbf down) to build a USFS compatible recreation residence lease cabin up on Santiam Pass.

I know a guy who can stamp the lumber but id like to go timber frame. Electricity is in, currently we have a very small cabin with compost toilet, outhouse and no well.

Guy 1/2 mile away got water at 100' but why not go the cistern/catchment system? This spot gets 120" of water equivalent a year...

Also I assume if we go there we are looking at a above ground septic.

[Game Over]

Sorry I got selfish and only posted our project...

I would not want in floor heat anywhere the temperature fluctuates. My in laws just built a place with radiant heat (is that in floor? Apologies if not I'm not good with the terms)

Anyhow if it gets warm and the system or you shut off the floor heat it's still gonna be warm and cooling very slow making it that much harder to stay comfy.

It's like killing a fire in a huge brick fireplace. The fire may be out but the bricks are still heating as they are super hot.