The Great Cabin Erection!

As above. Looks great, well done

Eldorion wrote:Very cool to see the frame coming together like that. Will there be a 9-foot ceiling covering the whole cabin with just a ladder leading up into the loft space, or will it be at least partially open to below?

I shall build a "cathedral" ceiling, so that the ceiling will be a little over 15 feet up in the middle of the floor!
The floor is 20 x 12 and the loft is only going to be 8 x 12 with a steep ladder, so that much space overhead will be open. (I'm a bit concerned about the acoustics now that I think about it.  )

David H wrote:Cool! It's starting to take shape! 
I'm looking forward to seeing a few rafters (and joists?) go up to get an idea of what you've got in mind for the roof. (A hint from experience: a steeper roof gives you more loft space, but ain't much fun to work on..... Everything comes down to trade-offs.)

I think because the whole building is small enough I'll be able to skip over rafters. Some collar ties further up I think, but otherwise I'll be fine leaving it open. I'll definitely take some more pictures once the rake walls are framed up and the floor of the loft is in.

Interesting thought about the loft interfering with acoustics. I get this intuitive sense of things being muffled because of the loft. I think if you drop half a wall down from the loft you'll get back some of the echo you're otherwise trapping under the loft. Or maybe you were worried about too much echo?

Still amazes me that our intuition can deal with something as complex as acoustics. Of course, our intuition may be wrong, but the very fact that I immediately understood what you were talking about (even though it had never occurred to me before) makes me think it's right.

Yeah it's pretty nifty how much of our nitty-gritty day-to-day sensual (ahem, in the proper sense) experiences are shared with most other people. But then we do live on the same planet in the same basic type of body. 

It was actually too much echo that I was worried about. A big open ceiling is a lot of bare-wall for sound to bounce off of.

It's the time delay that makes it noticeable. You'd get the same reflected energy with a low ceiling, but would hit absorbing surfaces more quickly. With a room your size I doubt it would be a problem, in fact I think it would make it sound pleasantly alive compared to a lower ceiling. I was more worried about killing that live feeling rather than having too much of it.

Ah, nice. Well we [I] shall see [hear]!

I'm guessing you won't have any echo problems Forest, but if you do find you want to tinker with the acoustics they're pretty easy to fix on this small scale with a little strategic use of insulation and draperies. Which brings up another question. You did a really nice job insulating the floor. What are your plans (if any) for insulating the walls and/or roof?

chris63 wrote:As above. Looks great, well done

Thanks!

David H wrote:I'm guessing you won't have any echo problems Forest, but if you do find you want to tinker with the acoustics they're pretty easy to fix on this small scale with a little strategic use of insulation and draperies.  Which brings up another question. You did a really nice job insulating the floor. What are your plans (if any) for insulating the walls and/or roof?

I went with 2x4 walls, so I'll just use R13 fiberglass batts in the walls. The ceiling will be, I think, 2x8s, so I can fit R19 in the ceiling with enough space above for air ventilation. It's a cathedral-type ceiling, so I'm going to have vents in the soffit under the eaves and a roof-long vent in the roof-cap. 

I figure R19 will be enough, but I might go with something thicker if I increase the rafter board size.

I haven't done much insulation work. This is what I've done in the past so I'll go with this method. I mean, I know that spray-foam insulation is good because it serves as a really solid vapor barrier; meaning, I believe, that you don't need to vent the roof at all in that case. But I can't imagine renting such a device or hiring insulation guys in for such a small roof!

My hat goes off to you on this Forest. I admire your determination  I bet the 'plans' for the outcome on this are pretty much in your head, tho Id like to see a drafted plan ? I'm getting excited myself to see this finalized  
I like the look of this ? tho obviously you don't need to include spot lights.

Makes me wonder - it you insulate the roof you lose the view of wood. Do you put in boards below the insulation as a false roof that still looks like a cabin?

halfwise wrote: Do you put in boards below the insulation as a false roof that still looks like a cabin?

I'm guessing that's what's happening in Az's photo. A "cathedral ceiling" like that is great in hot country because the heat rises and radiates out from the roof leaving the room below cool, especially if you've got a concrete floor with a lot of cool thermal mass. But I think Forest wants a nice cozy loft on cold nights, and that's going to work much better with insulation. Then the insulation would typically be covered with a layer of drywall for fire resistance (a REALLY good idea, especially if you're planning on heating with wood!!! So what are your heating and cooling plans Forest? The nice thing about a little cabin like this is you can keep tinkering around until you get it exactly how you want it! )

My cabin will be much smaller than that room Az! (That picture does look pretty darn good.)
But we'll see on what material I use for the ceiling. Probably sheetrock (drywall), it's cheap and easy, but we'll see.

As for heating and cooling, David, the cooling bit will be left up to my windows at least one of which will be high up in the loft. For heating, I'm tempted to buy a small woodstove: used, if possible. Propane heating is tempting as well though because of how compact those little buggers are. The self-venting type stick right into your wall and take up a very small amount of space indeed. 
But I'm a simple man, and enjoy stoking wood-stoves.   
If I do go for the wood-stove, my brother suggested I add a little built-into-the-wall "fire-wood drawer": the sort that allows you to open it from the outside of the house kind of like the drawers on those public mailboxes, drop in your wood, and then close again. Probably silly considering how little wood I would need, but it's fun to consider these things anyway. A small house can have quite a lot of utility with some imagination and know-how.

Would you put the stove under the loft so the chimney can add extra heat there? But having the stove under there may mess up the circulation, not sure. Mebbe put it right under the edge of the loft, radiating both under it and into the bigger room. Fun things to think about, envious you have the chance to apply your thoughts.

Shouldn't need to worry about adding extra heat to the loft. When there's a fire in the stove the heat around the stove will form an updraft and the heat will collect in the upper half. Low ceilings were invented specifically to keep the heat down where you can enjoy it during the day. Sleeping lofts were invented so you could sleep in the warmest corner of the attic when the fire was banked for the night.

Fans can be a big help. Ceiling fans are OK, but it's better to distribute the heat before it rises. A box fan pointed to angle downward on the stove and aimed toward the farthest corner works pretty well. There are also little thermocouple fans that are pretty cool and work well, especially if you're off-grid. http://www.caframolifestylesolutions.com/ecofan/

Wood heat is the best! I love my stove, and I've named my fire Calcifer.

Wood heat is the best! I love my stove, and I've named my fire Calcifer....David.
Awh, that's so sweet  
Actually all this talk of beautiful fireplaces makes me think of Beorn & his great hall

I had to look that reference up. 

My mom has that exact same fan on her woodstove. It's a nifty little thing. The first time my cousin saw it (he's big on engineering) he was quite taken with the concept.

Hey-o, I've been busy getting the cottage ready for a farm helper, so I haven't been able to work on my cabin much. Even so, I got the walls up last month, and my boss helped me with the ridge-board and the first four rafters. 




And from the loft looking down:




I had work off today so I got several more rafters up by myself this afternoon. Here's how it looks from down in the orchard:

Looking like a reality!

looking very cute with that pitched roof.   it will be a lovely place to dream.

Nice, Forest! I've been wondering how your project was coming along.
It's looking plenty stout, even for a heavy snow load, and it looks like you've figured out where pretty much everything goes now. Just a dozen more rafters and you'll be getting ready to start hanging plywood!!! That's when you'll really know what you've built.

Looks great ! Very impressive so far. Will be a lovely feeling of achievement when its finally done. Its like climbing a staircase & you look behind & see how far you've come.

That looks really good, Forest! It's been cool to see how its progressed through each step of the way.

I can't wait until I get the plywood on the roof, the windows in, and the siding on: heck, I'll probably start sleeping in there right away.  

I should have included a view from the roof: it's gorgeous. I almost want to just leave the roof off so I don't lose the view, but I suppose that's what the dormer is going to be for.

Will a big triangular window out the back of the loft provide a good view? (are triangular windows even possible in a home project?)