Small house/ cabin plans

[Magicman]

so that I could try to tackle it myself.

I built mine myself. Hired no labor.  Drove every nail.  It took me from Jan. '95, until April '96.  I was retired, and at that time, had nothing better to do.  We did take off a month and traveled up the East coast to Nova Scotia, across to Newfoundland, etc.  Ate a lot of lobsters.....

I didn't have the sawmill, so I used "store bought" lumber, plus what I salvaged from my granddad's old house.  Total cost including the appliances was a bit less than $10,000.

[Traditional Toolworks]

Whaddaya mean....8'......just how much room do you need   Just think how much easier it would be to sweep off.....

Easier to build also! Less to procrastinate over...

Seriously, it does take a lot less sq. ft. for just the two of us.  Plus, the grands have a ball upstairs.  Basements don't work for us here.  They would just fill up with water. 

I've come to realize that most of us don't need as much room as we have, I live in an area where many people live in way more space than is really essential. It's a way we live also...don't get me wrong, I want more buildings at some point, like a shop, garage, maybe even tackle a carriage house...first thing I need to get this one going though...and I want to leave it to the kids.

I built mine myself. Hired no labor.  Drove every nail.  It took me from Jan. '95, until April '96.  I was retired, and at that time, had nothing better to do.

My hat is off to you, for you and folks like you are my inspiration!

Nice looking kitchen cabinets, although I favor a simple rail/stile with a flat panel, raised panels seem to be popular these days. Is that oak? Looks open grain over on the left under the stair, reminds me of oak. Those raised panel grain is tasty!

I didn't have the sawmill, so I used "store bought" lumber, plus what I salvaged from my granddad's old house.  Total cost including the appliances was a bit less than $10,000.

Too bad you couldn't have cut it now that you have a mill, but still you have the home, and you built it yourself! It don't get much better than that...

I'm looking to get a mill so that I don't have to buy all of it from the store. I have a bit of hard maple, but it's all narrows and shorts, but it's good stuff. I've been using it for woodworking projects, but I need some wider material for cabinets. I've been planning to do some board 'n batten on the inside walls, I've seen rooms like that which look nice.

There was a chunk of walnut that blew down recently which some friends were trying to figure out how to cut it up, a 22' section of 36" diameter black walnut. That is what drove me to start looking for a mill. I would have liked to use it as the post between my main and beam joist, and beam joist to ridge beam. I have 6x6 spec'd in the plans for that, but was thinking, would it be cool to use a tree trunk? I have some live oaks I need to remove, I'd like to slab them up, even though I have heard they tend to crack a lot, might try to just drawknife a trunk and incorporate it into the home or porch somehow.

I have a friend that is burning walnut in his wood stove as I type, he got it from a guy that does tree service...

I hate to hear about folks burning good hardwoods like that...that's quality building material...I want a small mill so I can save some of that wood!

[Traditional Toolworks]

Here's mine. 18 x 20..kitchen, pantry and bedroom downstairs. Loft upstairs.

What's with this drive-by? That's all your gonna tell us about your cabin? Come on!

Great looking cabin! How old is it? Did you build it yourself?

The logs don't look in too bad a shape, chinking in decent shape, I like it. It looks real down to earth.

Is that butt 'n pass? Hard to tell if those logs are scribed or not, but it looks like a solid cabin.

Don't be shy, tell a bit more about it, it's a cutie!

[Meadows Miller]

Gday

Magic I like your place Top Job I like your style Mate    Mum and dads first two homes where both build out of pocket for about the $10 grand mark as well Just goes to show there are still plenty of us who understand the concept of sweety equity and that we dont need to be bogged down in dept 

Did you Know that Australians have the Largest Average home size in the World Now 3200 sq ft living area  Dont worry theres Still plenty of idiots out there who think Biggers Better but they usually sacifice the quality to get it   

 Mines going to be about 1200 sq ft and dont worry theres gona be a thred started once i finally get started on it  Thats all maost ppl need Jezz i grew up in homes that where 1000 to 1500 sq ft and that was plenty for a family of five pluss my great grand mother lived with us also for about 6 years as well 

Tradditional toolworks I love the quote under the bottom of your posts dad was in Price george for 3 months at His Shool of log building back in 88  I was planning to go when i turned 18 but but never got around to it  id already learnt from the Best and the only Full time log builder  i australia  Dad  by then   

Heres a pic of the second home he built  



Regards Chris

[Magicman]

Quote:  "Nice looking kitchen cabinets, although I favor a simple rail/stile with a flat panel, raised panels seem to be popular these days. Is that oak? Looks open grain over on the left under the stair, reminds me of oak. Those raised panel grain is tasty! "



No oak.  All of the wood inside, including the cabinets is "recovered" heart pine.

I just cut all of those raised panels on the table saw.  Nothing special.

The cabinets have one coat of sanding sealer.  The walls have nothing.  Just the bare wood.

[Planman1954]

Hi all:

I have a book buried somewhere in my stacks from many years ago of government designs of small cabins. I did a quick google search and came up with something that resembles it, though I'm not sure it's the book that I have. Here's the link:

http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/rp/rp_fpl173.pdf

I think the third floor plan about midway down is 24'x24'.  Good luck.

Planman

[Hilltop366]

Seems to me I recall seeing a 1 1/2 story plan around 18x32' in a timberframe book, I always remember that it looked like a nice plan, if I recall it was the book Ted Benson building a timberframe home. The design was a english cottage look which might not intrest you but I though thr floor plan was nice. I guess the disadvantage to a taller house would be in the building and maintaining it at the extra height as opposed to a single story with a lower pitch roof.

[Traditional Toolworks]

Tradditional toolworks I love the quote under the bottom of your posts dad was in Price george for 3 months at His Shool of log building back in 88  I was planning to go when i turned 18 but but never got around to it  id already learnt from the Best and the only Full time log builder  i australia  Dad  by then   

Yeah, Mackie had a huge influence on many folks, and if there ever was a single person to revive log homes in general, it was him.

Nice looking home your Dad built!

I'm gonna leave mine to my kids, after I get it built...;-)

[moonhill]

Hilltop, could that book have been, Build a Classic Timber Framed House, by Jack Sobon.  If so, it is very different than what Benson puts out.  The design is 18'x36' and 2 full floors.

As for adze work, refer to the book I just quoted.  Very little adze work is found in traditional work of shaping logs to timber.  I am curious how the logs in the link had the majority of the wood removed before they were adzed?  Could they have been sawn on a mill and then finished?

Tim

[Hilltop366]

Tim,
I'm not sure and can't check now (I borrowed the Benson book and returned it, owned the Sobon book but lent it out). I do remember it was called a "english cottage", when I built I used info and methods from both books, this was about 10 years ago so it could have been one or the other of those books or may have been a different book.

[moonhill]

I don't think Sobon referred to his example as an "english cottage" so it could have been the Benson book.  I only have one Benson book, it is for the coffee table. 

Tim