Cabin redesign

[Flyin6]

I'll likely cover the actual construction of this cabin over at my "Hide-Site" thread, part 6, but will talk about the design of it here

So I am starting with a 16x32x9 structure with a 12/12 roof with a second floor level at the 8 foot mark. spanning all of the "upstairs"

I'd like to start with an open forum discussion to get me some ideas, as mine are not so great at this point. Some fresh thinking (except from people with names like "Dave") will no doubt contribute.

I have an aggressive plan to actually move into it within two years. We plan to build it, move into it at the farm, then ready our current castle for sale. We will sell this big house and use the profits to fund the building of our final modest 3BR home that will also be built on the farm. I should have $250K-$350K to fund the building of the final home, something like a 2000 sq/ft cape cod on a full foundation with attached garage.

My end goal is to be in heaven. But just before that point, I want to be living in my final home, with one of you knuckleheads visiting and staying in the cabin and have everything...EVERYTHING completely debt free. The pre-rangers who hopefully will be senior rangers with nine combat tours by then will inherit the whole thing and only owe annual taxes. I think I am even going to put in a Hardhead, err, I mean a Harward grave yard there too.

So, I am working on Sketchup at the moment. Did I say working? Correction: Struggling on sketch-up doing all the wrong things. I have added one 8X12 box onto the barn door side to be a future mud room. I will raise that old mechanicals room up to floor level and out of it make at least, a mechanical room, pantry, closet, and something else.

I have sketched a ten foot extension onto the south side to serve as a small bedroom, bathroom, and ????

I still want to add a loft office space to write my drivel and insult all of you(ses) and spend time with my God. Hmmm, seems inappropriate to include God time with insulting boneheads, but, what the hey, that's me!

I want to tear out part of the upper floor to add volume and reduce the cramped feel. I think I will keep the kitchen all in one place against the far wall opposite the mud room, and I will place a mucher preddierier wood stove in a corner beneath the opened up top floor. That will contribute to the spreading of the heat all over to warm my aging tootsies.

I will still need to add on a master bath and bedroom somewhere

[Flyin6]

Today's musings:

[Flyin6]

^^^^^^^^No where near complete yet.

Kitchen will go in main area left side

Loft will grow out some

Need an engineering space along with a laundry space and more closet space

[TexasRedNeck]

Don, my guest house is 16x24 with 12/12 and a loft under the peak.  I have a bath down and kitchenette down.  8 feet would allow for 4 more feet in the bathroom and kitchen and would make a big difference.

Couple of points.  First, good luck with sketch up.  I hated it and just got a big sheet of graph paper and drew it up the old fashioned way.

Second.  I have 12ft walls with the second floor at 9ft, giving me about a 28 inch pony wall upstairs above the floor/ceiling joists.  The reason that is important is that code requires the wall height to be a minimum average across the room, which in my case mean 5ft at the lowest part of the wall.  That gave me 10ft room width. If you don’t have that height of pony wall above the floor your room width will be much narrower.  This also allowed for full length of the building storage between the 5 ft wall height and the outside pony wall which is invaluable in a smaller structure.  You can also place some mechanicals there if needed.  I was originally going to put the water heater there but went tankless on the exterior of the house.  That storage is nice, its about 28 inches deep about 3 ft or so tall and runs the length of the structure on both sides.

Now as you consider stairwell in a smaller structure the traditional stick framed staircase will eat up way too much space.  I had a spiral staircase made of metal and it was a real space saver.  It’s mounted center of the length against one side and allows me to have a small shed dormer over the top to have the appropriate 6’8” minimum clearance above steps.

I used gluelam  for the floor structure and engineered I beam floor/ceiling joists for the second floor which allowed me to keep the floor thickness to a minimum which maximized by ceiling heights on both floors.  9ft down and 10ft at the peak upstairs.

Happy to share pics or point to where the pics are in the hide thread.


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[stlaser]

Don, just wanted to point out your doing it all wrong. No specifics really, just that it’s wrong. I’m sure a Ken or Dave will be here shortly with exact issues so don’t fret.

Tex, he lives in the state that doesn’t enforce having working trailer lights on trailers. I don’t think codes are an issue or inspections for that matter.

[dave945]

Plus it’s farm exempt from just about everything.   

But I’d have to agree, that just looks wrong. There’s no way you could fit in a house as small as those drawings are.


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[Atkinsmatt]

Instead of a dog leg in the wall at the bedroom, why don't you run that exterior wall straight. Same amount of material and more SF. 

[Bigdave_185]

Instead of a dog leg in the wall at the bedroom, why don't you run that exterior wall straight. Same amount of material and more SF.

I know I’m not supposed to speak but…. The best sq footage use is still a square. The out buildings kill material.   If you square the building your only additional is floor, ceiling, roof material.  The walls are equal no mater what configuration.

Square the building. Or just do what ya want


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[Flyin6]

Good comments gentlemen

So, takeaway: It just looks wrong

Which makes me sad

Because

I probably spent the best of two days using that terrible sketchup program to come up with what I have so far!

I think I'll go find a dark room, sulk and go to sleep until tomorrow...

Sincerely,

So Sad... :-(

[Flyin6]

OK, cup O' Joe later and I'm OK! ;-)

Let me address a couple of things

First of all there are no building codes that I will be subject to

I don't have to get it inspected at any point from start to finish

This is not a fresh build, I will be "remodeling the existing 16 X 32 X 9 X 12/12 roof shed

I cannot go straight down the downhill side wall, I have an existing structure in the way, that's why the master bedroom is deeper than the rest

I have not redesigned the roof yet, because I don't know if any of the add-on structure will have a second floor yet

I already have a staircase built in the existing structure. To minimize the amount of work I will have to do, I planned to just keep it. It is pictured in the updated pics following below

This is just a cabin. We will inhabit it under duress, for about 1-2 years while we build a proper home beside this one. At that point, this cabin becomes a guest house for when any of you(ses) come to visit.

[Flyin6]

I've added in the staircase/kitchen/some furniture to look at how the thing might "live in"

There will only be two adults in there plus an occasional pre-ranger or possibly a real Ranger plus a pre-ranger

[Flyin6]

So. I scrapped that first design

I just couldn't make it fit on the land, nor work aesthetically.

Finally, it did not flow well and lastly, did not give us the space we will need for a couple good years of living

And working with Sketch-up is just painful, so I dumped that too

I am now using "Sweet Home 3D

[Flyin6]

I have redrawn it with two levels. The second level has two foot walls, as I cannot draw a roofline with this simpler program

Here is the first level

[Flyin6]

And the second level.

There is a lot open to below which will open it up a bunch, and the loft over the master suite will step up a foot to give me eight foot ceilings inside the bedroom

It also has a 6 foot wrap around part of the cabin deck that is not showing up

[Flyin6]

Tex will appreciate that I have switched to a spiral staircase instead of the space hogging standard one

[TexasRedNeck]

Don’t order a kit.  get one already fully assembled and welded.  Much sturdier


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[Flyin6]

Don’t order a kit.  get one already fully assembled and welded.  Much sturdier


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Well...Was thinking of milling it myself. Not my first...
and not all that difficult really. Just the handrail. That is a bear!