anyone build cabins?

75slant6 said
I’m probably the closest you’ll get to having an Amish on this board lol (grew up Mennonite, mom was Amish til she was 16). I never built a finished out cabin but did work in a mini barn shop for a few years. I mostly like the design you’ve come up with. Main thing I’d change is I’d go 16’ wide instead of 12’ to give more room in both the bedroom and bathroom.

i would have to check local ordinances
the way the it sits is as follows:

the orange lines are the property lines (just roughed in)
the red outline is where i want to put the cabin

as yo can tell, if i expand out to the North, it may obstruct my path around the pond, and if i expand out to the South, i may be too close to the property line
of course, if water and sewer will not work in that location, i might put it on the green sqaure, where i can make changes regarding the foot print a lot easier

but i surely appreciate your input, having never build in, it can be tricky to know when a room is big enough or not, specially once you take framing and wall covering into consideration

jimmer said
I started late last summer.
Weather changed and it will sit for a couple of months.
then I should finish .
I still have a place on the coast.
Eventually will have 2 floors and wings like a monitor style, as time and money allows.

View attachment 1716040071

that is awesome, do you have a build thread on it, with some more information?
floor plans and such

Phreakish said
I've done some looking into a very similar plan. What I've found may or may not apply in your area.

Accessory living units can typically be built as a second home on an existing property for part time use, or use for family members who need care. Details vary depending on location. Here, they have a max size OR not to exceed a percentage of the main home's floor plan.

Tying another living unit to a septic is often not possible. Depends on the size of the tank and local regs, so ymmv. Here, the health dept permits septic and its sized based on number of bedrooms. Similar for wells and power. My power is a single 400A service feeding 3 panels and I wish I had more power for the shop.

Our plan changed to basically build out a reasonably size house so that should it come to pass, we could divide the properties and sell two homes in acreage. The cost different once we pay the labor for another elec service and septic narrows quite a bit vs am accessory building.

As far as building a building. Its as much about the work flow and process as it is the actual steps and result. People who have never picked up a hammer can absolutely build a house, but it can cost lots of mistakes and redos when they don't know the details or even how to setup a site so they don't have to rearrange everything for each new wall or step. 12x24 should be a very reasonable size for a 2-3 man build.

For a fullsize house, the excavation and foundation can dominate costs (until the elec-chickens show up), but for under 300sq ft you could probably get away with post and beam on deep footings. Good underfloor insulation would be cheaper for that small a space vs a real foundation.

With a small size, the amount of surface area of the outside will be large compared to the volume inside and so getting it well insulated would be my goal. Reason is, the large surface area (relative the interior space) means it will radiate more heat per cubit foot of interior space and heat up and cool off more quickly than a larger space. I would shoot for something like double your code minimums for the area. I would also avoid banking too heavily on radiant barriers. They defitely help, but they work best in areas where UV exposure actually makes radiant gains and losses a concern. You would also easily get away with 24" stud spacing if
using staggered studs or 2x8 framing, which can keep the lumber costs pretty nominal and support lots more insulation and less bridging. The cost difference once finished will be small but heating and cooling should be stupidly easy (cheap), and make for a great little getaway if your current house ever experiences temperature extremes.

The improved insulation isn't just about heating and cooling efficiency either. Part time buildings can suffer moisture damage from condensation, and better insulation usually also comes with a tighter building envelope which can prevent bug and rodent damage.

My office is about half the size you're looking at and it's one of two rooms heated by a Mitsubishi hyper heat minisplit. Works great down to 10F, but then it quits.

That layout looks decent. I might suggest thinking about what you'd do if it could be 2-3 larger and see if there's a layout that would support future additions. May not be worth the consideration, but it doesn't hurt.

I like the loft idea, but being 6'3", I'd highly recommend making it as tall as possible. Add knee walls or something to help with vertical height. With a loft, the ceiling will be vaulted and roof insulation becomes more involved than blow-in cellulose. But spray foam or foam panels can work exceedingly well. Keeping the exterior wall a stock size (8,10,12 ft) is a very smart idea. Same inside to make finishing easier, but it's even better to have a few more tape joints and an extra foot of insulation IMO though.

I know I'm hammering on the insulation a lot, but after doing an interior remodel last year on a 900sq ft property in our family, it's become very clear how valuable it is. The place I've been working on isn't real fancy, but the additions where they skimped on insulation are real obvious when the temps are below freezing.

Hopefully some of this is helpful. Otherwise you can ignore my rant ;)

thanks Preakish, there is a lot there, so let me hit the high lights
i guess the first hurdle is a big one...the septic system

when we bought the house about 6 years ago the inspector pointed out the septic system is not up to code
apparently what happened was, back when the home was first build (in '73 i believe) they put in the septic system and it was perfectly up to code
as beaurocrats like to do, sometime between then and now, they moved the goalposts, changed the code and so now what was perfectly fine at first is no longer up to code

it got grandfathered in so i didnt need to put in a new system, but my guess is tying into it will be a no-no

for the foundation i was hoping to stay with post and beam with a added ledger board running on the inside of the posts, like this

the staggered studs, or 2.8 framing, would that be mostly to keep the cost down by keeping the studs at 24 inches, instead of 16 or is it also to be able to double up on the insulation?

im not sure if i would want to give up that much interior room, so i will have to give that some thought
(i did think it might have been a good idea to stagger studs un the section where the loft will be, and have the "second" wall in essence carry the loft)

ACME SS said
My wife and I stayed in a log cabin very similar to your plan, with a loft. It was very nice and worked great. Where is the door or are they using the patio door as the main door?

honestly, some of our best times are had in log cabins (or cabins in general)
there is a waterpark about an hours drive from our home that we visit usually a few times a year

if it is just our family we stay in a small cabin on the grounds, but more then once we've gone with friends and all piled up in a larger one

what i really like about the larger ones is the loft layout, where they fit 4 bed up there in a semi private setting, perfect for the kids

(of course, what i intend to build will not be anywhere near this size)

if i stick with this rough outline i will have to make some changes to the entry way

the entire south side of the property is pretty mushy, and where you can see a little bit of tree line it gets a little firmer (several years ago my nieghbours to the south added a bunch of soil to their yeard and now i get some run off from them in that area)

this is the way the cabin would face, the red part being the deck/porch and the front door would be right in the middle of it, giving entry into the living area/ kitchen