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Redline
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# Posted: 5 Jan 2012 21:31
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I am thinking of having a Gambrel type shed built on my property. The plan is for it to be 12X16 in order to stay under the 200 square foot requirement. I have a couple of questions regarding this type of design.
What are the down falls?
According to the builder I will not need any type of foundation other than a limestone base. The base of the cabin is set on 4 treated 4x4s running length ways with 3/4" treated plywood on top of the 4x4s then a 2x4 or 2x6 (my choice)frame with insulation then a final layer of 3/4"toung and grove plywood as the base of the floor. I have seen this done before and it appears that it works well; I really do not want to pour footings as I am no where near civilization, water or electricity.
I can have the whole place built with a 14 foot peak, a loft, a steel entry door, treated walls, a tin roof, a front porch with an overhang on a limestone pad for right at $5000. This seams hardly worth the effort in building one myself at that price. This is just the shell and a door, once the shell is up then I will be able to finish the inside/outside as I see fit.
Ok so please bounce a few things off me to see if im missing anything.
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turkeyhunter
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# Posted: 6 Jan 2012 07:24
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if you have the time , build it yourself and save 50% ...........on my build.....i have about the same price in my cabin as i got a quote for a small shed. Amazing what a few weekends worth of work, with a friend who knows how to build you can get done.
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PA_Bound
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# Posted: 6 Jan 2012 08:05 - Edited by: PA_Bound
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Redline- There are several of us on this forum that have done, or are doing, this same thing. I purchased my shed/cabin (14'x40') this past November, and my family (wife, daughter and me) have begun finishing it out as we have time (wife and daughter have never swung a hammer in their lives, by the way).
Buying a cabin this way certainly does have the benefit of starting with a dry and secure cabin. So for us that are time constrained or possibly limited in skills, it's great to not have to shoulder the pressure to get to that point. I can take the rest of my life to finish the inside if I need to. But there are tradeoffs. IMHO there are benefits to having a better foundation, and not just a stone pad. Certain aspects of building (like plumbing, esp. toilets) require some "mountain engineering" since you can't easily access the underside where that stuff often goes. But I haven't hit anything yet that I haven't been able to work-around.
So for my needs and use case, it was the perfect solution. But, as in life, there are plus's/minus's to everything.
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bobrok
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# Posted: 6 Jan 2012 09:29
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I agree with PA_Bound in that if time is of the essence in getting the building erected and enclosed you have a choice to purchase it. If you are handy but need a place to start (I did this with a smaller barn 25 years ago) purchase one of the framing members and use it as a pattern from which you yourself can build the rest at half the cost. Of couse I'm paying no mind to where you will build these and, if necessary, transport them to your site, but the main idea I am conveying is the cost savings.
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trollbridge
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# Posted: 6 Jan 2012 09:37
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Quoting: PA_Bound wife and daughter have never swung a hammer in their lives, by the way
and I bet they really enjoy it!
Such a good feeling of accomplishment! I love working on our place but than again I always enjoyed working next to my dad when I was a young girl too. I remember as a teen expanding the deck on our house-me and my dad,while my brothers were nowhere to be found! Lol! Working hard makes for great memories!!!!
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cabinbiscuits
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# Posted: 6 Jan 2012 21:30
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Redline- I like your plan. Are your first floor and loft interior heights both going to be 7' so as to equal up to the 14' peak height, or is the first floor going to be 8' with the loft being 6'?
We have a garden shed similar to the size of the building that you are talking about, and it sits on a raised gravel base. I've had to do a little work to re-level the shed a couple of times over the years, but then again the stone it is sitting on is only un-compacted 2b gravel which I put there in a hurry when I moved the shed a number of years back. I had the shed built by a shed builder and delivered because by the time I priced out the materials, it was hardly worth my time to do it myself. I did add to half lofts to it myself though because as an up-sell they wanted too much to add them to their shed package.
I saw that the walls on your cabin are going to be treated, make sure that your trim and so on is treated or the plastic wood type as well, or it will rot out. We had that problem with the trim on our shed. I replaced all the trim on the shed when I had to replace the front T-111 on the shed. The T-111 was supposed to be impregnated on the outside with some kind of resin and was supposed to not rot as easy as the older T-111.
I replaced it with the better stuff from Lowes. The snow tends to drift up against the front of the shed and can be there for weeks sometimes, so that is why the the T-111 was rotting out mostly at the bottom as I remember. That might be something for you to consider as well if you have snow where your cabin will be.
We plan on building a 16' x 20' building with a gable roof on our land, although we will be doing the work ourselves, trying to bring the shell in as far under $5000 as I can.
Good luck with it and I'll keep watching for your progress.
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Redline
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# Posted: 7 Jan 2012 12:26
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Thanks for the replies guys and gals,
Um ya there is defiantly some time restraints in place here although to be honest the real reason for having the shell built is that I want it to be built right. I am not a builder and really just want it to be right from the get go, the interior isn't a concern as you can pretty much cover any mistakes with trim or cabinets but this way every thing starts out square and open and closes the way it should. I will go up one weekend to show the builder what I want and then 3 weeks later when I show up it will be complete ready to sleep in, I agree there is probably a lot to be said about building one yourself, I'm just concerned the lack of skill and procrastination will drag out the basic build all summer. There is going to be plenty of opportunities to do more building with the boys as we are also going to do some lite remodeling the existing trailer that is on the property now and turn it into a 2 bedroom bunk house plus once the cabin is in place there is going to be a out door shower installed between the cabin and the garage. The "garage" is going to be an old U-Haul box that is proximally 8X10 with a roll up door. So we have lots of things to do over the next couple of years.
Cabinbiscuits thanks for the heads up I will surely look into the base boards. Here is the current cabin we have been using for the last 8 years or so.
Cabinpic.
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turkeyhunter
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# Posted: 7 Jan 2012 15:59 - Edited by: turkeyhunter
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neat old cabin trailer ---
looks like you have a few ---conc test cylinders'///- :- )) they do make great retaining walls.. :-)
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Redline
Member
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# Posted: 7 Jan 2012 18:16
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Thanks, test cylinder you say? Please explain we were wondering what those were used for.
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turkeyhunter
Member
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# Posted: 7 Jan 2012 19:06
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when you work on a gumberment :-)) --federal construction job, you are required to make a test cylinder ever so many yards of concrete. They let in set for 30 days and do a test /break on it. A load PSI test on each one.They weigh 33 1.3 pounds each +/-.......but make a great retaining wall.
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Redline
Member
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# Posted: 7 Jan 2012 19:37
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excellent! thank you.
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