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The Cabin

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    • Cabin basics:



      Not really that rustic. Has indoor plumbing, electric & a propane heater. Wish it had a wood stove since its on 10 acres in Acworth, NH. Rough dimensions are 16’ x 32’. The first floor originally had an 8” screened in porch on the eastward side. It was built as an architects thesis project. My father & I have come to call it furring strip framing/construction. It has 4” x 4” posts every 8’ on center & double 2” x 8” beams between them. Then a layer of 1” planking nailed vertically on that. After a layer of foil wrap they put ¾” furring strip horizontally. Another layer of foil wrap & more furring strip vertically where the seams for the siding hit, more 1” ruff saw planking.

      The second floor was accessible by what reminded me of a submarine ladder type staircase. Originally it was open in the middle with a 4’ walkway between the two ends. I wish I had more pics of when we started.

      By the time I got there this fall my father had ripped down most of the ceiling. Being only used occasionally mice had infested the place. What started as jst tearing out what was needed to redo the staircase became more & more as the damage the mice had done became apparent. Wiring was chewed so bad that he decided to pull it all down & redo it.

      The original plan was for me to help him install some walls on the second floor. When I arrived for vacation the staircase was a ladder & a pile of lumber. I always hated building staircases & have never did one with a turn in it. By the time the weekend was over we had a step done!

      Yeah a whole one before we realized we didn’t have what we needed & it was back to lumber yard. Although I was supposed to go hiking I couldn’t resist the challenge & spent the week cutting & gluing & building the steps. It wouldn’t have been so hard if I didn’t have to build them as free standing to slide into place once the wall was insulated & finished. But I got the hard part done by the time he returned



      & when I got frustrated I would just go out & spread some wood chips on the path to my brother’s house.

      Next step was enclosing the screened in porch. We installed two sliders on the southeast side.

      Took the old entry door out & replaced it with a window. The new entry door was installed on the end where the driveway is. While sealing off where a window was on the north side the framing system frustrated us. We decided to rip off all the furring strip & replaced it with 2´x 4” on the flat with foam in between before tyveck & siding. Come spring rest of the cabin will be retrofitted the same way.
    • Since then we have made the upstairs into two bedrooms. I have most of it rewired including internet. I have been islating the inside walls with foam board & then sheetrocking. Lately on sunny days when the porch heat up I have been cutting & prying up the plywood floor there. When I went to insulate it I found that since it was open to weather they sloped it 1 1/2 " over the 8" Hopefully this weekent I will get the rest of it up so we can level it & tear out the wall. I had hoped to have it done but the knee started acting up.

      More pics soon
    • I did the plumbing in a house that was 960 square feet once. Neat little house it was, spiral stairs as well, with a loft over looking everything else. Talk about efficiency and easy to keep clean, I could have lived there, and don't require much room...the wife on the other hand.
    • As lazarus said they don't meet code since they are too narrow at the radius. I was trying to lay it out to meet code & my father said he's 75, there ar no inspectors in this town & all he wanted was a set of stairs he could climb. I don't think the neighbors will report us since it's wood lots on two sides, brother to the east, & neighbors to the north a really quiet.



      You can just make out the cabin windows in the red circle.

      Dad & step mom are up this weekend. She has a lot of before & in progress pics & will sent me the file when they go home. I will post them when I get them. What picture I could post don't show how much it has changed. Other than I lost my beedroom. I'm not complaining. The futon is a lot better than sleeping under sawhorses like I had to when we remodeled my beedroom growing up! Each night I would roll up the plastic protecting my bed & crawl underneath our workbench to sleep.

      This weekends project. Leveling the porch floor. Then I can tear down the wall & be ready to sheetrock the ceiling. I don't know how I let my brother talk me into 12' pieces of sheetrock. 8' I could get on the lift myself & install. He said less seams. I was figuring it out & it's 3 less seams 52.gif He's type of guy, if you don't do it his way you are doing it all wrong.
    • Mountain-Mike wrote:

      As lazarus said they don't meet code since they are too narrow at the radius. I was trying to lay it out to meet code & my father said he's 75, there ar no inspectors in this town & all he wanted was a set of stairs he could climb. I don't think the neighbors will report us since it's wood lots on two sides, brother to the east, & neighbors to the north a really quiet.



      You can just make out the cabin windows in the red circle.

      Dad & step mom are up this weekend. She has a lot of before & in progress pics & will sent me the file when they go home. I will post them when I get them. What picture I could post don't show how much it has changed. Other than I lost my beedroom. I'm not complaining. The futon is a lot better than sleeping under sawhorses like I had to when we remodeled my beedroom growing up! Each night I would roll up the plastic protecting my bed & crawl underneath our workbench to sleep.

      This weekends project. Leveling the porch floor. Then I can tear down the wall & be ready to sheetrock the ceiling. I don't know how I let my brother talk me into 12' pieces of sheetrock. 8' I could get on the lift myself & install. He said less seams. I was figuring it out & it's 3 less seams 52.gif He's type of guy, if you don't do it his way you are doing it all wrong.


      see what i'm sayin
    • The wall is gone! gif.013 gif.014 49.gif . Last weekend we leveled the floor on the porch. It was sloping outwards 1 1/2" over the almost 8" We pulled the plywood up. Sistered the floor joinsts level & cut in sleepers, put in what leftover foam insulation we had leftover , & before we put the plywood back down. By the time my father arrived I had just finished sanding the mice urine stains off the floor joists from 2n'd floor & cleaning up. We chatted for a few minutes, but with the respirator off I ripe! Wasn't long before I jumped in the shower. The smell when the water hit me was overpowering. (If any of you mice that shelter smell I guess I can PIF & send you some of the sawdust. Just add some water & viola!)

      This morning while I was finishing up some wiring dad put some primer sealer on the joists just in case. With the sun shining through the sliders. it was soon in the high 80's. We decided it was time to rip out the partition.

      Before

      After


      Even though it only got into low forties today, when the sun was getting low, without running the heat all day it was still 74 in the cabin!
      With a little more work making it rodent resistant we will be hanging sheetrock on the ceiling tomorrrow.
    • Mountain-Mike wrote:

      The wall is gone! gif.013 gif.014 49.gif . Last weekend we leveled the floor on the porch. It was sloping outwards 1 1/2" over the almost 8" We pulled the plywood up. Sistered the floor joinsts level & cut in sleepers, put in what leftover foam insulation we had leftover , & before we put the plywood back down. By the time my father arrived I had just finished sanding the mice urine stains off the floor joists from 2n'd floor & cleaning up. We chatted for a few minutes, but with the respirator off I ripe! Wasn't long before I jumped in the shower. The smell when the water hit me was overpowering. (If any of you mice that shelter smell I guess I can PIF & send you some of the sawdust. Just add some water & viola!)

      This morning while I was finishing up some wiring dad put some primer sealer on the joists just in case. With the sun shining through the sliders. it was soon in the high 80's. We decided it was time to rip out the partition.

      Before

      After


      Even though it only got into low forties today, when the sun was getting low, without running the heat all day it was still 74 in the cabin!
      With a little more work making it rodent resistant we will be hanging sheetrock on the ceiling tomorrrow.
      oh yeah, that's a lot more living space you got there now, nice job! In my area if I were to heat my porch it would be considered taxable square footage. So ours remains enclosed but not permanently heated off the house, just space heaters....but we don't do that to often, it's more a seasonal hang out.
    • Mountain-Mike wrote:

      OzJacko wrote:

      Mountain-Mike wrote:

      OzJacko wrote:

      Annie and I have a few projects needing doing Mike.
      Work for stay!!!!
      :P


      As long as you pick up the plane ticket! gif.002

      That could almost be considered given the amount we have.....
      :S


      Does work for stay include the bourbon tab? :evil:

      Wait a minute I thought you were retired now???

      Not quite retired unfortunately.
      Actually looking for more work at the moment.
      I think my fulltime full year employment days may be behind me, but I have a need to earn some dollars and Annie can't retire just yet so I need to work at least some of the time until she can.

      Don't think we could manage airfare AND bourbon.... :S
      Resident Australian, proving being a grumpy old man is not just an American trait.
    • Re:Re: The Cabin

      Rasty wrote:

      OzJacko wrote:

      Mentioned my comments with Mike about work for stay to Annie and her first question was "is his passport current?".
      Is it Mike?
      :whistle:


      You Australians take your immigration policy serious. :sly:

      We don't take our politicians seriously though.
      Passport query was to know if he could come. Immigration would only be an issue if he wanted to stay.
      You're no better with immigration, or else IM would be over there working.
      Our advantage on immigration is we have no land borders people can walk across. Boat refugees get a lot of press attention here but we have no real problem. Most illegal immigrants fly in on tourist visas and don't leave.
      Most of the ones we have get brought in from Southeast Asia and work for pittance wages (usually for legal immigrants from Southeast Asia).
      Resident Australian, proving being a grumpy old man is not just an American trait.