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RIjake
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# Posted: 6 Oct 2010 16:31
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I need some help from forum members.........
It has been my intention to build a 1.5 story cabin on our land, some thing in the range of 20x30 or so. The thought was to have a bedroom downstairs and a loft up. Well, a couple weeks ago we were up north and stopped into a local building supply store that also has a real nice line of log cabin home packages. They had a model out by the road that had a very similar layout to what we were thinking of building so we went in to get a "feel" for it. I loved it but my wife brought up a point I hadn't thought of.
She thinks that where the loft is open to the downstairs, sound will travel up and if her ans I are downstairs at night talking or playing cards in the living space our voices will travel upstairs and keep the kids up. Or if we have another couple over and they're staying up there they won't have much privacy.
So what's the concensus? Does the sound travel much up to the loft? Is it a big problem?
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islandguy
Member
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# Posted: 6 Oct 2010 21:38
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sound will travel to an open loft, but you could close it in if desired. My reason for not putting in the loft was to use the attic space for a storage area, and because the lofts i have used in the past were so hot during warmer weather, they were virtually unusable. They certainly have their proponents though.
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Gary O
Member
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# Posted: 7 Oct 2010 19:06
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Quoting: islandguy so hot during warmer weather
Hm, hadn't considered that aspect much, as I'm in the middle of designing a 12 x 16 cabin with a sleeping loft. We will have windows up there, and maybe a door to a proposed deck of some sort, but may reconsider, and make it just storage.
Noise?
Snoring and deep REM stage flatulence would be the only evening noise for us, but I sleep on my good ear anyway, and I'd hate to mention it to the little woman after all these years.........
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project_north
Member
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# Posted: 8 Oct 2010 14:08
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Hey Gary,
As your design is just like mine I can assure you if you put a window up top it will vent the hot air nicely for your loft. I've been sleeping in mine all summer and haven't been to hot. I have a little window out the back of the loft as well so get a good cross breeze.
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Gary O
Member
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# Posted: 8 Oct 2010 19:23
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Yeah, a cross breeze is the key. Our elevation is around 4600' and it seems there is always a breeze, and the evening cools to the 30s sometimes.
Thanks project_north
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pheasantplucker
Member
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# Posted: 12 Nov 2010 22:54
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I have a 24 x 28 cabin (with a loft). The upstairs has a dormer and it runs across the entire back of the cabin. A little more than half the upstairs is an open loft and the remainder is a good sized enclosed bedroom. Noise hasn't been an issue with us, as most everyone retires at the same time, and even if not, those remaining awake are on the quiet side. Sometimes the loft does get rather warm if we're burning the wood stove, so we do have to sometimes crack the upstairs windows, and turn on the ceiling fans to get the air to circulate back down. I'd definitely opt for a loft.
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cabingal3
Member
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# Posted: 14 Dec 2010 23:04
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we need a loft in our small cabin.i just want the space to store things.but our new place will have a loft as Garyo showed above in his build model.we will sleep there.we do not have to worry about sounds so i am looking so forward to this.if i had kids i would enclose it.
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PlicketyCat
Member
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# Posted: 17 Dec 2010 00:32 - Edited by: PlicketyCat
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We toyed with the idea of putting a loft in our 16x24 cabin. We ended up making a full story with a very steep gambrel roof... figured if we were going to enclose some sort of living space we might as well get as much usable floor space as possible instead of wasting half of it with a cathedral opening (unless you're doing a split-level roof that is).
Here are a few issues that have come up with the typical 1.5 cabins with sleeping lofts that I've encountered:
1. The downstairs is always cold in the winter since all the heat goes up the cathedral side and hovers at the ceiling... which then makes it entirely too hot to sleep up there if you can even get it marginally comfortable downstairs.
2. The loft space it completely unusable except for crawling onto a sleeping platform unless you make a ridiculously steep gable to raise the ridge height and you lose a lot of valuable floor and storage space on the eave sides.
3. It gets hot up there in the summer unless you have really good ventilation and lots of insulation.
4. Noise travels up and down... people sleeping are awakened by folks in the kitchen/living room and folks in the living room can hear things you're doing in the bedroom (think about that for a second!). But if you close it off so sound doesn't travel, you risk totally messing up ventilation and heating/cooling.
5. You either end up with a ship's ladder which gets to be a real PITA over time, especially if you're getting older and have bad knees or are trying to carry a laundry basket. Or you waste a whole bunch of your downstairs floorspace with a staircase, as well as wasting half (or more) of the upstairs to the staircase landing and the cathedral... in which case, you can actually end up with less usable floor space in your cabin than if you had just built a single story with an attic. And, no, you cannot take a queen-sized bed or a 6 drawer dresser up a spiral staircase -- trust me!
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elkdiebymybow
Member
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# Posted: 17 Jan 2011 17:23
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We have a loft in 1/2 of our 24 x 14 log cabin. If you have a small cabin like this then the folks hanging with you are good friends and family most likely. You kind of expect close quarters with a small cabin.
We access ours via an old ladder from a law library. It works well The only time we spend in the "loft" is when we are getting dressed/undressed or sleeping, so it really isn't a high traffic area. Our roof has a 12:12 pitch and I'm just under 6' 3" tall and don't have any issues using the space. We place our gear bags closer to the outside edges where the roof pitch creates a tight space and have our bed situated to the other side with our feet towards the lower roof line and our heads situated towards the middle of the room. We have a few tables, trunks and chairs up there and the space works really well. We put nearly new carpeting salvaged from a friends home with a carpet pad over the OSB floor.
In the winter with the wood stove cranked we end up sleeping sans clothes and covers with the window open- then cover up and/or close the window in the middle of the night once things cool down.
We put a smaller loft towards the front of the cabin (about 4' wide) which we use as storage and overflow sleeping area.
Overall, I love the loft spaces and keeping the middle portion of the front room open to the ceiling really creates a nice space.
front loft
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rear loft
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rear loft w/insulation installed
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hilltop
Member
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# Posted: 18 Jan 2011 19:41
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I have a loft in my 16+20 and enjoy having the extra room and that's the sleeping area.
Noise is not an issue as it's only two of us.
With windows at both ends and windows or a door open downstairs I get a good flow of air in the summer and it is fine in the winter.
I debated a ladder or stairs and went stairs , I lost some space but it sure makes it easy going up and down with these older legs.
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elkdiebymybow
Member
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# Posted: 19 Jan 2011 00:00
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Hill top-
Sweet place! My ladder does make me nervous, at 6' 3 and 225 lbs I have concern that one day my little whimpy ladder might fail. I'm sure a stair upgrade is in my future! Your place looks great. I'm thinking a nice gin and tonic and that rocking chair could really be relaxing. Thanks for sharing some pictures.
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