Alaska Cabin Progress

[PlicketyCat]

yes we have substantial porkies up here... but our walls are almost 2 feet off the ground, just a smidge above their heads   but thanks for reminding me... I need to order the borate lumber treatment to deter the #$&% carpenter ants (this also should work for the porcupines, borates taste icky!)

[PlicketyCat]

Day 5: Shuttling tools and materials back in small loads on the ATV. Slow and painful progress!  Ever try to strap on some 16 ft 2x12s to an ATV and drive through the forest on a bumpy-a$$ trail??  Not pretty... we had to leave them     It really bites, because those are our joists... can't very well get too far framing without them  

We'll have to wait for the replacement brake line for the truck before we can get those and the sheet goods back to the build site. (unless we can beg a trailer from someone)  DH will ride the ATV the 30-ish miles into the village PO to see whether the parts really were "overnight" -- not holding my breath!

I'll probably get started laminating the sill and header beams while he's doing that, just to say I got something done. There's a whole bunch of 8' lumber we could haul back but it's not anything we need in the beginning and we don't want to trash the ATV while the truck is sick.   ACK!!! This summer has been nothing but one delay after another

[jander3]

Moving stuff through the woods is a total pain.  Log arch and a 4' x 4' trailer for my ATV has saved me many times. 

[Hilltop366]

In the past I have cut back a broken brake line on a old yard truck then with vice grips squish it flat and fold it over a few times and then clamp it tight with the vise grips and wire them or tie them to the truck so I don't lose them. You get one or two less brakes but got me by until I could get it fixed, just going slow around the yard.

[PlicketyCat]

Good tip on crimping off the broken line -- if the replacements don't show up soon, we'll definitely try that. Have to leave it in 4WD since it's the back brakes that are gone, but we aren't going fast in the woods and there aren't too many hills to worry about!!

We sooooo need a trailer -- it's on the list!

Days 6-9:  Game called on account of rain and flooding.  Still no truck brakes in the mail, but we did get the concrete anchors that DH wanted so we can attach the jacks as soon as the beam gets done.

Day 10: (today)    Almost half our 8' lumber is less than 8' and the rest are way over, none of the ends are square so we have to double 7 triple cut everything. And our "true" 2x12's are all less than advertised and all vary 1/4 - 3/8" -- should be real fun trying to laminate a beam with those!  We've also wounded the ATV -- all 4 boots are demolished since we had to make more loaded down trips than necessary just to find boards that were actually long enough to use in the beam. We did get two of the 16' joists down so we can square the floor frame once the beam is done though.

Oh well, at least we're getting closer to actually getting something done    With any luck, we'll have the beams (at least 3 of the 4) done tomorrow. Maybe even get the jacks mounted and sill beams set with the two end joists... something worth taking pics of at least.

[mtngun]

Almost half our 8' lumber is less than 8' and the rest are way over, none of the ends are square so we have to double 7 triple cut everything. And our "true" 2x12's are all less than advertised and all vary 1/4 - 3/8" -- should be real fun trying to laminate a beam with those! 

Is this store-bought lumber ?

Sorry to hear about your setbacks, but I do appreciate you sharing your adventure.

What kind of internet access do you have ?

[PlicketyCat]

It's rough lumber from the professional yard in the city because they mill their own, it's local wood and locally owned, and they do have great customer service (not so great delivery drivers or mill operators, apparently!). I'd've spent a fortune getting finished storebought lumber from a box store and having it delivered out here --yikes 

We're using HugesNet satellite for internet. Got the dish mounted to our tent platform .  This far north the satellite alignment is almost straight out on the horizon, so we had to cut a few trees down. It doesnt' suck up a lot of juice out of the battery bank, though. Once we got un-used to lightning-fast FiOS, we can appreciate how much faster satellite is from the dial-up speeds folks get in the village (we can't get dial-up since there aren't any phones out here -- thank goodness!).

Day Eleven:  We have our first sill beam built-up. T'was an adventure dealing with cups, warps and bows and still keeping the beam straight but we did manage to get it all flush to the top and straight. The bottom is a whole other story since none of the lumber is the same width... we'll have to let in a few places here and there to get the leveling jacks to seat flat across the 3 laminations and just deal with some of the gaps caused by cupping. 

We discovered a not-so minor faux-pas in the placement of our piers... the two on the ends were just a wee bit too far out because we forgot to account for the offset. ARG hate hate hate surveying, stupid crap like that always happens... mostly, I think, because me & DH have extremely different work styles and they conflict badly when it comes to the detail stuff.  Anyway, we got out our diggy-bar and levered the end piers in so the beam rests properly on the jacks and the load is carried straight down the center of the posts and jacks through the center of the piers.

Of course moving a 24-foot 6x12 beam with two people and no power equipment is true excitement. DH got frustrated (with me), Mongo-ed it, and cracked his shin really badly when it flipped and slid on him.  He is not happy that I'm trying to keep everything within an inch tolerance... but, hey, if I could lift the darned thing myself, I would   Heck, I don't even weigh enough to push the darn thing, much less lift it by myself... but I can lift my end 

So, tomorrow we can set the jacks and the get the beam up there permanently. It shouldn't be as difficult to make the second sill beam since we got it worked out now. We'll have to move the other outer piers once we get squared up with the joists again, but it'll happen.  Now we just have to figure out how we're going to get the two header beams (same size) up 10' in the air onto the wall posts without power equipment and no stout trees.  Thinking we'll need to build it on the ground and then use leaning skids and the truck winch to slide them up onto the posts... stayed tuned for that adventure, I'm sure one of us will get a noteworthy injury 

[Rooster]

PC,

I have a thought... could you build up some cribbing to build your second sill on...positioning it next to the piers and tall enough that once it is fully laminated on it's side, you could then "roll" it over onto the jacks?  Eh?

Good luck,

Rooster

[PlicketyCat]

It's actually pretty easy to just build the sill beam on the pier using spare lumber as a temporary platform across them. We can slide the beam out and flip it up and over, and remove the other boards at the end just lifting it up an inch or two. It's also a good height for hammering in those fat spikes, too. 

We didn't really need to move the beam onto the ground to make the adjustments to the piers, we could have just tilted it up and braced it out of the way with an anchored dead-man and lowered it to check fit pretty easily... but DH didn't agree. I think I'm more used to doing construction projects solo, so I'm always looking for ways not to move heavy things very far, especially not unsupported, if I don't absolutely have to. I don't care if I have to take more time to do 8 extra little steps to accomplish a task properly and safely... whereas he gets frustrated and just wants to get it done and over with.  Conflict of work styles fer sure!

The scary things are going to be the header beams. Don't know if I trust building the headers up on the posts the same way we're building the sills on the piers, we'd have to be up on ladders or scaffolds with lots of bracing on the posts to do that even half-way safely. You might break something if a beam falls on you from 2' -- but a 10' drop with the beam landing on top would probably kill one of us... and you know I'm not the most coordinated person in the universe

I once saw an old timer lift his beams up the side of the house on angled skids with a gin pole and a horse team hitched over the span and pulling from the other side. I think using the truck and winch (since DH is allergic to horses ) like that would probably work best for our header beams. At least we'd be clear if the beam falls or the cable snaps, and the truck should be heavy enough to keep the beam from falling if it should slide off the posts a little while we're setting it. Might get a hand or leg trapped if something goes wrong, but at least I won't go squish!

[Hilltop366]

It must feel great to get started !

I must comment (though I probably shouldn't) about the irony of wating so long to get rid of the water only to haul water to mix concrete. (that's all I'll say about that)

About your 2nd floor beams if I understand your dilemma right, the great thing about "lam" beams is you don't have to lift them all at once, so I try to take advantage of that. Toe nail the bottom of the post then brace your post where they belong getting them plum in both directions ( this only requires two braces per post one 3 1/2" nail in each end). For the center post you can nail a piece of 2x to the floor making sure to hit 2 joist to have some thing to nail the brace to. Then for added safety run a piece of wood up the post extending out past the top of the post) on the outside to keep the lumber from sliding off the post (you can put one on the inside as well) . Then your ready to build your beam in place, a few toe nails will keep it secure when you remove the extra pieces of wood to add your strap if you are using them, because of the different width lumber you can either start with the wide one first and shim the rest to match, or start with the narrow one and notch. In my opinion this would be a safer way to build.

[PlicketyCat]

I'm really more concerned about working for long periods up high, especially on a joint project where one person could "accidentally" do something that knocks the other person off their ladder/scaffold.  If I were working alone, I'd be happy with either approach (build in place or skidding the beam up) and think I could do it safely either way. Working together?! Ummm... not so much   

If we clash and wound each other on the ground, I shudder to think what havoc could occur 10' in the air.    I have figured out how to keep him safely off the roof while I'm doing the sheathing and shingles... I'm not strong or heavy enough to anchor his belay line on the safety harness, so he has to stay on the ground and anchor me instead.  I'm a horrible klutz with atrocious balance, so him getting frustrated and yanking/jamming stuff around is a total recipe for disaster. I can work safely despite being uncoordinated because I'm slow and steady, and have adjusted my working style to compensate... sometimes DH completely forgets that I'm not as nimble or graceful as a feline (or even that I'm on the other end or directly in the path of whatever we're working on!!).

[beenthere]

I hope you are not giving us a pre-cursor of what is about to happen.  

If not hilltop's approach then.....
Cutting some tree tops up so you have several 4' lengths, that you can build a couple of cribbed columns (two at about 16' and between the posts) to raise the beam up a little - one end at a time, slowly and surely. Almost could do it that way alone. But two can do it without concern for having a beam wipe you out.
Raising those beams is not something to do on ladders, no matter how athletic or clumesy you or DH are.
Laid up and spending another winter in the tent are not going to be much fun, even for the most adventurous.

[PlicketyCat]

Too true -- we're cramped enough in the tent as it is -- neither one of us could hobble around well enough on crutches and definitely no room for a wheelchair!!

We're going to run into a real dilemma here soon since we need to start stocking up for winter... which one of us stays home and continues building and which one makes the multi-day restocking trips into the city?  I'm the better combat-shopper, but I'm also the cabin "architect" and detail person.  Chances are good that either scenario will result in things being forgotten or needing to be done over... unless we both go into the city, which means we lose a few building days and have to do the 4-hour road trip with the cat and the dog in a single cab pickup. JOY -- not!   The weather has certainly put a major crimp in the fluid execution of our plans this year!!

Day Twelve: No progress on account of more rain and a wounded linebacker

[jander3]

When you only have one or two individuals to deal with beams, ridges, etc. a little rigging goes a long way. In my opinion, working with heavy stuff from ladders can end poorly.  And, if you don't want to rent a crane or can't get the crane to the site, a  gin pole works well, but I've found a lifting shear is even easier to set up and operate with one person.  Plan the lift, check things twice, and proceed slow and careful.   I've found that rigging is much safer than man (or woman) handling larger logs or beams.

Here is a lifting shear used to rig the ridge pole  
http://peelinglogs.blogspot.com/2009/09/rigging-ridge-pole.html

Here is a little portable gin pole (set up with a single guy line), that one person can move around.  
http://peelinglogs.blogspot.com/2009/04/gin-pole-set-up.html

http://peelinglogs.blogspot.com/2008/10/parts-is-parts.html

[PlicketyCat]

Thanks for the links jander!  I was trying to explain the whole set up to my hubby and not doing a good job of it... your photos helped clarify things a lot. 

I've got block & tackle and the gin pole mounts set aside for me at Alaska Industrial Hardware for the next time I make the trip up.  The best I'd be able to manage getting larger equipment back here would be maybe my neighbor's tracotr with FEL. One of our neighbors does have a log boom for his skid steer that could work, but he's got it up on his mining claim until winter which is too late for us.  No way to get or rent other big equipment out here unless we get it air dropped or road freighted from the city $$$$$. Just have to do it the ingenious way with what we got available and can rig together with parts and prayers  

I am so glad that we opted for the 5 1/2-ton winch with the heavy duty cable on the truck. The winch remote sure comes in handy when you don't want to be anywhere near the cable or the load!!  Should make short work of slowly raising the beams once we get the rigging sorted.

[PlicketyCat]

Day 13:  Second sill beam is built. Yay 

Started raining again so we had to stop for the day.  Soggy cardboard tubes = construction adhesive explosion.

End piers 2.5" too far out N-S, entire wall 6" too far out E-W.  Always make sure you remember whether you're supposed to be aligned in the center or to the edge of our lines!!       No worries, we can scooch them all over with our trusty diggy-bar so we're back at 16' to the outer edge of the beams.    We'll fix that right up tomorrow if we're not experiencing rain of Bibical proportions.

No brake lines today either. No-fly advisory of some sort has grounded our mail plane... maybe Tuesday  . Ah, the joys of country living!

[Bill Gaiche]

PlicketyCat, I have to admire the both of you for what you are doing. This is something that few people would ever try, especially in these times when most things are done the easy way and in better conditions. Have patients and trust in each other and you will complete this project. The two of you are a team and you rely on each other to make all the ends come together. Hope you all the best. Keep us informed. bg
 
p.s. the vice grips on the brake line does work.

[PlicketyCat]

Day 14 & 15:  Drilling the concrete piers and drilling out the beam for the jack screw.  Took way longer than we'd planned since it's raining and we kept having to run under cover when it went from drizzle to downpour.  Drilling 1/2" x 8" holes in concrete for those rawl anchor bolts totally sucked -- highly recommend that anyone considering a similar foundation go with my original plan and set your bolts in the concrete when it's wet!!  Boring out a 2" x 6" hole in that beam with a spade bit and chisel sucked pretty much as well... definitely find a 1 3/4" or 2" ship's auger if you can.

We got the jacks mounted on the piers after a few issues, and then got the beam up on the jacks with a lot of issues. Most of the issue was our own fault for attaching the top plate onto the beam and then trying to get that to line up and thread onto the screw... bad plan since the beam is really heavy and kept wanting to tip over which made threading the screw a total nightmare. We'll rest the 2nd on the assembled jacks and then attach the plates from underneath... much better plan!

Voila - me and the beam

[Roxie]

The picture made me smile.     Feels real good getting something like that accomphlised.  I'm lovin this thread. 

[Thehardway]

I have found rollers to be extremely handy for handling large and heavy objects with minimal effort.  They need to be nothing more than a short piece of pipe or dowel.  This was my primary method of moving all of may large timbers by myself or with the aid of one person.  Another handy item is a small hydraulic floor jack or some farm jacks. the floor jack can make very small adjustments in height a simple affair.