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Small Cabin Forum / Cabin Construction / 16 x 20 cabin with shed roof and loft
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scotia1
Member
# Posted: 22 Sep 2016 22:22
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Hi all,
new to the form, and have a few question about a 12x20' cabin I'm in the process of building, would greatly appreciate some input

links to pictures of the unfinished cabin and a rough sketch of the next phase of building are below. Specifically what I'm wonder is:

1) I'm planning to build a loft hanging out over the front porch. Would a 3 x 9-1/4" LVL beam sandwich spanning the front distance between 2 6x6 post be adequate to support the loft (the front wall of the loft will be 7' with 2 4x4' windows, the floor 4x12' of 2x6 joists, and i'm in an area with significant snow fall in the winter (nova scotia))

2) the rafters for the shed roof will be a 13 foot length and a 9 foot length meeting (butted end to end) on a beam across the center of the cabin. Would a 3 x 7-1/4 LVL sandwich be adequate for this beam, and would 2x8's be sufficient for the rafters or 2x10's preferable?

thanks, all opinions welcomed!

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8EF0oiLTsUYNk1OOGFtWmVPV3c
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8EF0oiLTsUYLWRJdmxEMlZiajA

creeky
Member
# Posted: 23 Sep 2016 11:05
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dunno. but it looks like a fun build. look forward to seeing more.

btw. 3/12 slope is pretty shallow. I'm guessing not much snow load? or tin roof for easy sliding?

scotia1
Member
# Posted: 23 Sep 2016 17:29
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ooh, good point about the slope. Thanks for the input Creeky!

bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 23 Sep 2016 20:42
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If you have a serious snow load in your area, you'll need calcs done to be sure of support. There used to be folk on the forum willing to do that for people, maybe they will chime in.

Your roof slope will not cause snow to slide off the roof readily, so the cabin will be holding the snow load for months, perhaps. Wood doesn't like to sustain loads like that for extended periods of time, and it can gradually bend or sag as a result. Best thing is to design with at least an 8/12 pitch so snow will slide off. But, at the same time, your building is so small that if you build it to minimum code requirements structurally (the calcs) I think you'll probably be fine.

scotia1
Member
# Posted: 24 Sep 2016 09:10
Reply 


ok, great, thanks for the info bldginsp. Here's a sketch of the detail for how the 2x10 rafters will meet at the midway support beam (assuming i did use a 4/12 pitch tin roof):

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8EF0oiLTsUYT0JZaGRMS2ZpWFU

bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 24 Sep 2016 10:04
Reply 


Rafters need a minimum of bearing on a top plate or other support, what you show accomplishes that. You could also set the rafters next to each other and run them long, which is what is usually done in this kind of situation. I don't know, but if your rafters are going to be exposed, perhaps you don't want that. If you use the butt detail, put straps on top of the rafters across the two to hold them together.

scotia1
Member
# Posted: 1 Oct 2016 17:09
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Thanks again for input bldginsp. Yeah the butt detail is for aesthetics as, like you said, the rafters will be exposed. The other thing I was wondering was about the lack of ceiling joists. Anyone have advice on whether, for a single pitch roof of this size, I can get away with no additional supports like ceiling joists for outward spread of my front and rear walls?

thanks

Keith G
Member
# Posted: 2 Oct 2016 10:36
Reply 


Hi there. We are in the process of a somewhat similar build. Ours is 16 x 28, shed roof with a 8 x 16 sleeping/storage loft on each end. We have no snow load (we're in the Texas woods), so didn't have that to deal with. Anyway, your title piqued my interest and thought I would share ours in case it provides you any ideas/info. I learned a ton looking at other peoples builds, and would like to give back if possible. Here's the blog post that is most specific to your topic/question.

http://gofarmtexas.com/blog/a-roof-over-our-heads-and-other-tall-tales

scotia1
Member
# Posted: 2 Oct 2016 17:00
Reply 


Looks like a fun build Keith, thanks for the link! I'm going to be building the next stage of mine in a few weeks so i'll be sure to post some more pics

sparky30_06
Member
# Posted: 3 Oct 2016 15:26
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Keith G
Nice looking build man. Isn't it wonderful working on a cabin in the Texas heat??

Keith G
Member
# Posted: 3 Oct 2016 16:31
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Haha, yes, the Texas heat can be cruel. Luckily our land is pretty heavily wooded so that if we end up in the sun, we just move to a different spot on the cabin for a bit. It started to cool off nicely last week though (for Texas anyway.)

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