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Southeast Manitoba
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# Posted: 5 Sep 2012 23:41
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Hi all, I'm going to try and design a small cabin over the winter to replace our old camper that is parked in the woods of southeast manitoba. I'm a sheet metal draftsman and think I can do this with the ideas found on this site, and your input. We usually head out to our spot most every weekend starting early in the spring till very late in the fall, and wish we had a full sized bed to get a proper nights sleep, so i thought i would build a small cabin just large enough to hold a queen sized bed, 2 chairs, and a table to play scrabble on. So far i'm thinking of a 8' x 12' foundation built on pre formed concrete deck blocks with pressure treated 2x6 joists spaced 16" o.c. covered in pressure treated plywood. Am I already asking for trouble, or will this plan work so far?
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 6 Sep 2012 00:34
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Depends. Is the ground (soil) wet, moist or dry in fall? You have serious winters, deep freezes. I used to live there. Frozen soil expands and moves things that sit on the ground. So the cabin may move and cabin movement may means door stick and need adjustment. Windows too. And maybe not. Depends on your luck to some degree.
I suggest thinking through what you really want, need and can live with as far as the floor space goes. We started out with very compact ideas. They morphed over a years worth of planning time. We did build larger than originally planned and are happy we did as we use it a lot even snowsoeing into the place in winter. We also lived in an RV for a couple of years.
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Southeast Manitoba
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# Posted: 6 Sep 2012 07:05
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The ground is dry year round in this location, so hopefully that will be a good thing as far as cabin movement? And yes we are trying to think this out for as to what we really want...
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OwenChristensen
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# Posted: 6 Sep 2012 07:37
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MtDon is right. A little cabin built on top the ground will move. Dryer soil is a big plus. You should use a couple 4x4's or 5x6'' treated skids under you floor joists. If you have air space under the cabin you don't need treated floor joists. Treated wood doesn't have any stifness and is not needed unless in close or ground contact. If you build under 10' wide, and set those skids in a foot from the side, 2x4 joists are fine. You can set them at 12'' centers if you want 5/8'' plywood floor or 16'' with 3/4''. Don't use OSB for the floor. Have fun.
Oh yeah, Like Don said, movement might cause a door to bind someday. A small shim under one corner or the other will fix it.
Owen
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Anonymous
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# Posted: 6 Sep 2012 07:57
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Thanks Owen, I like the sound of this plan. I will revise my plans and rethink...
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project_north
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# Posted: 6 Sep 2012 09:24
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Use sonotubes filled with concrete to below the frost line (probably 4 feet for you). Are you in Sandilands? It's not that big of an effort and the bags of concrete are only 6 dollars. There is no such thing as dry soil and it definitely rains in MB. Do it right then you don't have to worry about movement due to frost heaving.
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Southeast Manitoba
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# Posted: 6 Sep 2012 10:17
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I'm out near Sundown, the soil is very sandy-ish and drains well. Our spot is in a treed area beside a small dried up lake bed.
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