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Small Cabin Forum / Member's Projects and Photos / Northern Sierra 300 sq ft
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AK Seabee
Member
# Posted: 3 Jun 2016 21:52
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The cables on the rafters, are they tension cables? Do they go through the log and how are they attached? I am viewing the photos on a smart phone and my eyes are old.

Local code here calls for solid headers (no local code where I built so I went with Anchorage code). I used 4x12s as headers so couldnt get much insulation above the doors and windows.

Your cabin is coming along nicely!

bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 4 Jun 2016 13:45
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Thanks Julie and Seabee.

The rods tying the rafters together are just standard 5/8 rod, threaded and bolted on the ends. They pass through holes in the rafters and are bolted on the other side. I made angled spacers for the nuts to contact by cutting plain iron pipe.

Got an excellent contractor, making good progress. More pics to come.

bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 9 Jun 2016 21:27
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Vaulted ceiling and bolt connections for the tie rods
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Just
Member
# Posted: 9 Jun 2016 21:56
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I hunt out of a 65 year old cabin in Ontario of the same design .
Round pole rafters cut from the bush and metal rods for ceiling joists the exception is" no "ridge board not sure how they did that and got it to stand up there during construction !! Yours looks great hope it lasts as well as ours has .

bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 12 Jun 2016 11:32
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With the vaulted ceiling, the insulation is rigid on the top, so we built up around the eaves with 2x8s. We put 1x sleepers on top of the insulation before the final 1/2" plywood to allow ventilation above the insulation. Reflective foil face up on the insulation to reflect away the heat of the roof deck in summer.
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bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 12 Jun 2016 12:15
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Thanks Just. Yes, getting the ridge boards up there was a challenge. The contractor took 2x8s, cut U shaped notches on the ends, propped them up, and put the ridge boards up in the notches. Looked pretty precarious until they got a few rafters up.

Littlecooner
Member
# Posted: 12 Jun 2016 19:36
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Looking good high in the mountains. keep up posted. Love the design.

bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 13 Jun 2016 09:19
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Thanks Littlecooner. Not too high in the mountains, 3850 ft or so. Just high enough to be cooler in summer

Julie2Oregon
Member
# Posted: 13 Jun 2016 16:24
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3850 ft.? You're in a valley, pretty much!

Are you going to live there full-time, bldginsp?

Littlecooner
Member
# Posted: 13 Jun 2016 17:37 - Edited by: Littlecooner
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just as long as it is cooler. That is ok. I could be working on the cabin now, but am inside the residence and on the computer. It is 101 outside and weather app says it feels like 105. I am in my normal rant for this time of year and checking on one way plane tickets to Fairbanks AK with comment to family and friend that I will not be back for many months. Szeee, i wanted to work on the cabin but this is ridiculous. And it has not rained here in about 6 weeks to two months. Texas and Oklahoma gets flooded each week and we are in a dry heat wave. No wonder Julie wants to move to the high desert of the Pacific Northwest. I want to move to the arctic circle.

Julie2Oregon
Member
# Posted: 13 Jun 2016 20:12
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Littlecooner
Yep, it finally stopped raining and I've been hustling to get my bits of outside stuff done before it gets hotter than Hades later this week. I'll be finished painting the shed tonight. My son spruced up the porch trim yesterday. The last thing is putting DeckOver on the porch floor but that's not as pressing since the porch is covered. Still, I expect we'll be hitting triple digits from the looks of the forecast.

Well, the days of my burning my biscuits in Texas are coming to an end. That makes it more tolerable.

AK Seabee
Member
# Posted: 15 Jun 2016 00:42
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I like the look of the seasoned planks on the lid. thanks for the photo of the all thread hardware. I am assuming the hardware is custom and a clean job at that.

bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 15 Jun 2016 20:53
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The steel rods were ordered from a metal shop, it's just standard grade structural steel and they threaded the first 6 inches of each end. Then I painted them.

The ceiling boards are old redwood fence boards gotten from a fence contractor who sells what he takes down for $1 per stick. Turned out to be an inexpensive way to get a rustic looking ceiling.

rockies
Member
# Posted: 15 Jun 2016 21:33
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I like your metal rods for the roof. Makes everything very open and clean looking. Did you have an engineer design where they were to go and how to tension them?

One thing I've noticed is that very few people put a shed roof on their cabins (almost all gables). Most of the gables seem to be too low to make it a practical loft too. I would think having a single pitched roof sloping up to the north would be an excellent way of getting hot stale air out through a clerestory window at the ridge and be easier to frame too.

bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 15 Jun 2016 22:31 - Edited by: bldginsp
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Hi Rockies- the local building department was kind enough to allow me to submit my own structural calcs for the roof- including the log rafter spans. But for the rods I did a simple rafter thrust calc based on total roof load including a 66 lb snow load. The 5/8 rods spaced at 4 feet were way over calc'd loads in terms of their tensile strength. I even did a calc on the compressive strength of the wood under the rod nuts and washers at each end, and came up with a minimum necessary bearing area for the wood. With such a small building these calcs don't present much of a challenge. The Doug Fir rafters I cut from my property were all very high quality, being smaller trees struggling to get into the canopy next to the big boys. Tight grain, few knots, straight with little taper. Still, in my span calcs, I used the lowest grade strength value in the charts, and it came out to 5 inch diameter at 7 foot span and given loads. Just for fun I reran the calcs using a much higher grade strength value, and that came out that I could use 3-1/4" diameter rafters, which of course I didn't do.

I agree with your assessment of shed versus gable from a functional standpoint, but aesthetically gables will win every time. The image of a small gabled cottage is engrained in our upbringing, I think.

Julie- I do intend to live in it when I retire, or at least in the summers. Might start to feel a bit cooped up in winter. That's why they have flights to Maui...

bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 16 Jun 2016 19:56 - Edited by: bldginsp
Reply 


Installing water and ice protection on the porch valleys (the black stuff). As well, I put a fire resistive slip sheet under the underlayment as an additional precaution (the white stuff). It's a product that is used in certain fire rated assemblies to achieve a certain rating, but in this case it is entirely voluntary. It's just a fiberglass mesh impregnated with borate. If heat hits the plywood it sits on, the borate inhibits combustion.
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bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 19 Jun 2016 16:20
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As far as we got in three weeks
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bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 19 Jun 2016 16:26
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Got a start on a woodshed
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Julie2Oregon
Member
# Posted: 19 Jun 2016 18:31
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Wow, everything's going up quickly now!!! Well done, and looking good!

bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 20 Jun 2016 00:33
Reply 


Thnx Julie

Zukowski
Member
# Posted: 24 Aug 2016 02:13
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Quoting: bldginsp

Up on site and framing it up. Hope the photo comes thru.

My contractor said that he flunked math in high school but it doesn't matter anymore since they switched to metric....

Framing it up


How did they get that ridge beam up?

bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 24 Aug 2016 18:15
Reply 


There are two beams, but they actually don't function as true ridge beams, they are ridge boards. All that means is that they don't take the roof weight, the rafters and metal rods do. So anyway since there are two it was not to hard. They cut notches in the end of 13 foot 2x8s and set them upright, then lifted one end at a time on ladders. Buster is 65 years old and still lifting beams. Quite impressive.

bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 7 Sep 2016 22:52 - Edited by: bldginsp
Reply 


Progress report- got it tight to the weather for winter. Hardi siding and trim because I'm in fire country. There have been some failures with Hardi plank in the past, where the stuff just crumbles if moisture gets behind it. It's a cement product with fiber in it to strengthen it. I guess, but don't know, that the fiber is organic and can rot, leaving unsupported cement. So we caulked the daylights out of it before painting.

I decided to use standing seam metal roofing instead of R-panel because standing seam hides the screws. Exposed screws loosen with time as the metal expands and contracts, and leaks result. The hidden screws on standing seam are set in slots in the metal which allows the metal to expand and contract with no leaks. Hired a rather eccentric roofer who did an excellent job.
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Julie2Oregon
Member
# Posted: 7 Sep 2016 23:24
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Oh, what a great-looking cabin!!!! And with all of the care you've taken in her construction, she's got great bones and joints, too. Excellent job! How exciting it must be for you to have the exterior done and trimmed out!

upndown
Member
# Posted: 8 Sep 2016 02:33
Reply 


You've created a beautiful looking cabin, can't wait to see what you do with the inside! Love the color combination, every time I go to look at colors I seem to go colorblind. Would you care to share what you used? Thanks!!

bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 8 Sep 2016 10:58
Reply 


Thanks Julie and upndown

The colors I used are Kelly Moore 'vintage pottery' and 'deep sea shadow'. I think Kelly Moore is only west coast. If you want the KM product numbers I'll dig them out. I chose the tan color to try to match the color of the soil here, and for the green I wanted 'forest green' so to speak. So as much as possible to blend in with surroundings. The roof is 'rustic red' which is a standard color offered by most if not all metal roofing manufacturers.

abby
Member
# Posted: 8 Sep 2016 11:39
Reply 


it looks so wonderful! I also love the colors. what a perfect little cabin! it always feels so good to get outside done before cold weather.

ColdFlame
Member
# Posted: 8 Sep 2016 13:45
Reply 


@bldginsp - Beautiful cabin! I love everything about it... Can I ask what gauge of metal you went with for the standing seam metal roof?

bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 8 Sep 2016 14:10
Reply 


Thanks Abby and Coldflame

I don't know the gauge of the standing seam, discussed it with the roofer but I forget now. I trusted his judgement. You planning such a roof?

bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 23 Nov 2016 22:48
Reply 


Update- been working on the woodstove surround, here's as far as I got this November trip. I can't believe how long it took me to do the brick. You're looking at four days worth. Not full days, but still... I guess I just have to sweat every brick. Hope there's no masons out there laughing at me.
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