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Alaska Cabin Progress

Started by PlicketyCat, August 22, 2010, 04:02:03 PM

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PlicketyCat

Day Zero: As promised, I'm posting progress on our post-framed cabin we're building in the Alaska Bush. We were significantly delayed because of abnormal rain this summer which turned everything into a soupy muddy bog. But, we've finally got all the groundwork done and are ready to pour concrete for our foundation.

Here's a teaser pic of our gravel footings (remember, we can't dig or grade because of the permafrost, so these are going to be entirely surface piers!):



Check out our blog for more photos :)  YouTube is taking forever to upload, but there will be video soon!
Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live. --- Oscar Wilde

Follow our adventures at Off-Grid in Alaska blog.

asy

Hey NEAT Thanks! I'll look forward to watching the progress!!!

What's the plan for the cabin? Will it be a camping cabin? Will you live there permanently? If so, how many people are going to live there? Can you show us a floor plan?

Keep the photos coming please! I know how difficult it is to get them uploaded sometimes (sorry guys, holiday photos still coming from me) but they're always appreciated.

asy :D
Never interrupt your opponent while he's making a mistake.
There cannot be a crisis next week. ~My schedule is already full..

Stephen1

It always nice to finnally start, especially if you've been waiting for a while.
What saw did you end up purchasing?
IDRY Vacum Kiln, LT40HDWide, BMS250 sharpener/setter 742b Bobcat, TCM forklift, Sthil 026,038, 461. 1952 TEA Fergusan Tractor

D Hagens


Are you sticking to your original plans and design that you were talking about months back?
Also how far do you think you will get as in do you think you will get to lock up before it gets too cold?

pasbuild

I though you changed your mind on the build, good to see your getting a start on it and look forward to the progress pics.
If it can't be nailed or glued then screw it

PlicketyCat

My husband and I (and our furry children) will be living in this cabin year round for several years while we get "the big house" built ;)  The cabin is 16x24, with a gambrel roof which lets us have nearly 85% usable floorspace in the loft. We're building to the April 2010 plans -- first floor has 8x8 pantry, kitchen/great room, and tiny 1/2 bath under the stairs; second floor is bedroom, office, electrical system (off-grid, lots of batteries), and our 200 gallon water tank so we have a little bit of pressure and can have proper sinks again.

This cabin is post-framed with purchased dimensional lumber and strong-tie connectors -- I know, a sin, but I'll mill my own and do (more) proper joinery on the big house ;)

We've got 3-4 weeks before our usual first snow, and we usually get about 3-4 weeks of warm-enough weather after that.  We should at least be able to get the two floors and the walls framed up in a couple weeks... the gambrel roof may take longer than we have since we're not the world's most experienced carpenters. If it looks like we won't make it before winter, the tentative plan is to move our wall tent up on the second floor and tarp everything in (maybe sheath the downstairs).  It won't be any warmer than last winter but it will twice the space!  But we are hoping to get her dried in completely before the weather really turns... we can always insulate (blown cellulose), vapor barrier and drywall the interior during the winter.

We had to put off buying the mill temporarily so we could buy the chipper and get rid of the fire hazard brush piles everywhere :)  But a friend has lent us their Alaskan CSM and it ROCKS!  We ripped down a couple of smaller beams to keep our current building materials off the ground and they look pretty decent. We'll definitely get the Big Bertha Husqvarna chain saw and higher quality ripping chain once we're milling for the big house.
Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live. --- Oscar Wilde

Follow our adventures at Off-Grid in Alaska blog.

Stephen1

My guess is you still have a lot of day lite left, so with any luck you should get it closed in before real winter arrives..
here is hoping you will have good building weather...
IDRY Vacum Kiln, LT40HDWide, BMS250 sharpener/setter 742b Bobcat, TCM forklift, Sthil 026,038, 461. 1952 TEA Fergusan Tractor

PlicketyCat

Day One:  we got 7 pads and 6 piers (of eight) poured before we started running out of daylight... and concrete.

Our first two pads:


End of the day:


We're level:


So, they may not be beautifully finished, but all our concrete work is plumb and level and that's all that matters. No one will ever see them under the house but me since I'm the only one small and limber enough to fit easily in the crawlspace  :D
Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live. --- Oscar Wilde

Follow our adventures at Off-Grid in Alaska blog.

PlicketyCat

Day Two:  No pics today since we're not doing any construction. Just going to haul more water up from the creek and run the metal shed kit and a few loads of materials back to the site (if our bodies hold out).  Then we'll run into the village and have a long soak in the hot spring tubs since both of us are seriously hurting from yesterday -- 1860 lbs of concrete will do that to you! 

One of our neighbors went into the city today and offered to get us a few more bags of concrete (country neighbors are awesome!).  So we'll be able to finish tomorrow and didn't need to waste a day making the trip ourselves.  8)  Since the city is 4 hours away, any trips made leave the other person home working alone all day, so we didn't want to make a run until we'd gotten to a point where it was simpler framing work a person could by themselves.

Then we've got to move all our lumber and stuff back to site, assemble our shed, and construct the laminated sill beams (6x12 x 24 ft)... that should keep us busy this week while the concrete cures.  So, hopefully we'll be framing next week.
Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live. --- Oscar Wilde

Follow our adventures at Off-Grid in Alaska blog.

Roxie

It's fascinating to watch this come together.  Thank you for keeping us posted.   :)
Say when

Stephen1

I've discovered over the years, no one ever notices my mistakes except for me.
IDRY Vacum Kiln, LT40HDWide, BMS250 sharpener/setter 742b Bobcat, TCM forklift, Sthil 026,038, 461. 1952 TEA Fergusan Tractor

fishpharmer

Quote from: PlicketyCat on August 23, 2010, 02:29:04 PM
Day One:  we got 7 pads and 6 piers (of eight) poured before we started running out of daylight... and concrete.

That's not the same as being a few bricks shy a load, is it?   ;) :D ;D

My apologies, I couldn't resist saying that. :)

The piers are looking good, no doubt a lot of hard work.
Built my own band mill with the help of Forestry Forum. 
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Deere 5065E mfwd w/553 loader

The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work. --Tom A. Edison

Magicman

Congratulations on a job well done so far.  You are right, things will start coming together once you get that foundation done.   :)
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Thehardway

Plickety,

I assume you are able to take advantage of the extended daylight hours?  You are on a pretty tight schedule to be weathered in in 3-4 weeks with a two person crew.  I know the routine, work, grab a snack and drink while working and crash for a few hours then work again. Not much time to enjoy the scenery.  There have been times when I have felt like just sitting down and crying or giving up and I'm not a super emotional person. Lack of sleep, nutrition, and every muscle in your body aching does take its toll.  Hang in there, its worth it. You are to be admired for your persistence and positive attitude.

It's looking good.  That extra time on getting everything plumb and level will pay off as you go up. 

I may have the opportunity to get to Kenai, Alaska in July next year.  It is a life long dream of mine to see Alaska so I am excited.
Norwood LM2000 24HP w/28' bed, Hudson Oscar 18" 32' bed, Woodmaster 718 planer,  Kubota L185D, Stihl 029, Husqvarna 550XP

submarinesailor

Quote from: Thehardway on August 24, 2010, 09:53:46 AMI may have the opportunity to get to Kenai, Alaska in July next year.  It is a life long dream of mine to see Alaska so I am excited.

Do you need someone to carry your baggage????????

Bruce

jdtuttle

Great start on your project. Just curious about something. Building on the permafrost do you have trouble with footing movement in the spring thaw? Looks like you'll be comfortable with that floorplan too.
jim
Have a great day

PlicketyCat

I sure am a few brick shy of a load LOL  If I wasn't, I would have stayed in my mini-McMansion in the Seattle 'burbs with grid power and hot running water ;)

We've got about 16 hours of daylight right now, but neither of us can work that long no matter how much caffiene we pump into our systems.  But we usually work a few hours in the morning, take a siesta, work a few more hours in the afternoon... on and on it goes.

We've got almost 8 weeks until we absolutely must be dried in... I think we can manage that if we hustle. I designed her to be super simple to put up. Really, it's only getting 2 sill beams laminated (3 ea 2x12), installing the floor joists and planking, put up the 8 posts, duplicate the lamination process to create the header beams, then joists and planking again. We could stop right there for the winter and just stick the tent on the second floor and tarp everything if we had to. But we do hope to get the rafters up and the roof on even if we don't get the shingles down. The wall infill frames aren't technically necessary on the first floor since the posts are 8' oc and the sheathing with span it; then we could tip the wall frames in from the inside if necessary since they aren't load bearing. We don't need the porches by winter either, so we can eliminate those if it comes to it.  Seriously, I designed her like a Lego house on a 2/4/8 grid so we could slap the frame and shell together with minimal cuts and fussing, and delay a few modules if the weather turned on us.

We will have some amount of normal frost heave in the spring and fall with those surface piers. That's the big reason that we have permanent leveling jacks installed between the piers and beams -- they give us 3" of play in either direction on each pier.  As long as we keep the permafrost frozen, it really shouldn't cause too much movement. That's the reason didn't clear the insulating vegetation layer, didn't dig in the posts (they'd melt the ground and "drill" themselves in), have at least 18" of crawlspace to let the cold air flow, and have 12" of insulation in the floor (about R-40) to keep the house from heating up the ground. Don't think we'll get too much lateral movement on the footers, the house should be heavy enough to keep them in place and we're going to have cross-tension wires and earth anchors to keep the piers from skewing and collapsing (um.... like our tent platform did.. woohoo our own personal earthquake!!)
Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live. --- Oscar Wilde

Follow our adventures at Off-Grid in Alaska blog.

PlicketyCat

Day 3:   Trapper got back from Fairbanks with our concrete, so we got the last pad and 2 piers poured. removed the frames from the rest and they're looking good. Some of the piers settled down 1/16" or so when they cured, but whatever... that's what the jacks are for, right?! Everything is still plumb, level and square and that's all that counts!

We hauled another load of gravel back to build up a base on the mulch to erect our metal shed. Unfortunately, the forest ate our rear brakeline on the trip down, so the truck is out of commission until our "express" delivery replacements show up... no UPS or FedEx out here, and "express" through USPS in the bush is touch-n-go since the mail plane only comes 3-4 times a week and big packages sometimes end up stuck in the Fairbanks depot until there's room.  That puts a slight damper on us getting our building materials back to the site, but we'll manage with the ATV somehow in the meantime.  We really need to get a proper trailer for it one of these days!

But in any case, we now have a foundation!! Once we get the jacks installed we can start framing  8)

No pics or vid today because a big storm rolled in while I was cleaning up and I had to double-time it back to the tent to avoid being drenched.   So much for our "less than 16 inches of annual rainfall"... we've already gotten well over that in just the last 3 months!! Freaky weather, man!
Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live. --- Oscar Wilde

Follow our adventures at Off-Grid in Alaska blog.

PlicketyCat

Day 4: We're having some sort of wildlife visitation that's freaking out the dog. Not sure what it is, but we decided to stick close to the tent today just in case. I'd hate to be back at the cabin site and have our tent ransacked and our kitty become something's tasty snack  :o  I'm not feeling so great today anyway, so taking this opportunity to get our tools in order and lumber loads sorted out to start moving down to the site.  It's progress, just not active progress :(

On a positive note, talked to the lumberyard and they will be delivering our last load of materials on the 10th. It's mostly the drywall and t-111, so that gives us a little time to get some good dry storage set up.  If Heaven smiles on us, we may even be framed up by then and can store it under a real roof... doubtful unless the replacement brakeline gets here, but maybe.
Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live. --- Oscar Wilde

Follow our adventures at Off-Grid in Alaska blog.

Shotgun

Plickety,

Not certain if you have porcupines  there, or not, but T-111 is porcupine dessert. Just thought I'd mention it.

Norm
Joined The Forestry Forum 5 days before 9/11.

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!)
Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live. --- Oscar Wilde

Follow our adventures at Off-Grid in Alaska blog.

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   :-\ :o   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 :(
Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live. --- Oscar Wilde

Follow our adventures at Off-Grid in Alaska blog.

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)  smiley_furious  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.
Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live. --- Oscar Wilde

Follow our adventures at Off-Grid in Alaska blog.

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