Day 14 7/24/11

Saturday brought a completely new look to our tiny cabin with tyvek and installation of the most of the windows.  My dad came over and helped me finish up the sophet and the we worked together on the tyvek.  Proof that two people make it easy than one.

We purchased our windows from the Millwork Outlet who is window and millwork supplier.  They have most of the standard stock sizes, but they also have a bone yard load with odd ball sizes or windows that were returned by contractors for a lesser price.  The five windows which were installed in the back end of the cabin, actually came off a new house construction site that contained a 38 window package.  All five windows are the same and were brand new.

The window below will be the window which will be centered over the kitchen sink.  It also came from the bone yard at the Millwork Outlet.  It was a little different as it did not have a normal window flange.  I needed to add the trim and then install the window on top of that.   This helped to give a little more reveal on the inside as well as creating a boundary for the siding to butt up to.



The only windows that did not get installed were the two dormer windows and the gable end window.  The were custom sizes and will be in next week.  There is still plenty to do on the inside, but I am wanting to get the door installed. 

It was a great day and once I get the rest of the roofing paper on the roof, I should be dried in.  I will cover the open window holes with plastic until the come in.  We put in 9 hours today (91 total man hours to date).

day 13 7/22/11

I finished the plywood on the roof today and I am one step closer to being  dried in. 

I framed in the gable end on front of the trailer. 

Plywood made the end wall look quite a bit taller.  I still need to finish the framing and plywood on the other gable end.

before the tyvek goes on, the window framing  gets a sill tape.

Since the facia is going to attach directly on top of the plywood, the tyvek was stapled on before the facia was installed.  I am hoping to have the entire cabin covered with tyvek by the end of tomorrow.  Also on the schedule tomorrow is to have the roofing paper on the roof as well and measure for roofing.  I worked 6 hours today. (total: 82 man hours)

Day 12 7/20/11

Our little cabin took on a whole new look today.  with the completion of the second and remaining dormer, the front side of our cabin is starting to take shape.

I ordered the windows for the dormers and the one going above the bathroom (in the loft) today.  Because they are custom windows, they will take 7-10 business days before I will see them.  I should have ordered them sooner as I am hoping to have the door and all other windows installed by the end of the weekend.  Of course I still have to sheet the other side of the roof and finish framing in the end walls.

Installing the trim has helped to transform the look.  Since the trim above dormers attaches right to the plywood, I will probably pull them off and get the tyvek under it.  All the trim is tacked on only for now.

I am still hopeful for a completion by the end of August, but I can see there is still so much to do.  I put in 7 more hours today.  (76 total man hours)

Day 11 7/19/11

I did do a little yesterday, but it was not a productive day and not enough to blog about for sure.  It was mostly spent racking my brain on the dormers that are giving my brain a workout on angles.  I think I made several cuts, but only screwed a few boards on.  too many mistakes!

Somebody decided to turn the light on today as the first dormer came together.  I did spend some non-working time this morning pricing windows that are still needed for the dormers and the one end wall.  My trip to lowes was also time consuming.  Their window department did not do much for me.  I did get the facia material that I will need to finish the roof today.  I picked out the OSB facia instead of the cedar because it is easy to work with and very uniform.

We decided to go with a 14" x 14" window in each dormer.  I couldn't size up the window until after the dormer was framed up, because I wasn't sure about the remaining space available.  I probably could have squeezed in a few more inches, but it looked good when it was done.

Once I got the window up and the plywood on the window area, I decided to put on the facia before I moved the scaffolding to the other end.  It took a lot of effort and probably too much time, but I am very happy with how the first dormer turned out.  The second will look just like the first of course only it will be on the other end.  I will have it completed tomorrow.  I worked 5 hours today plus 2 hours yesterday (total man hours 69 hours.)

 I am hoping to have all the plywood on the roof tomorrow with roofing paper down to dry everything up.  Am I too optimistic?

Day 10 7/16/11

My Dad came over today and provide some extra man power as we started the rafter section today.  I started with a temporary board up the outside of the end wall to hold up the 2 x 6 peak which also breaks on the center post. 

Once I had a few rafters in place, I was able to remove the temporary board that once held the 2 x 6 peak.  The rafters went quite well and I was surprised that I was able to find a few very straight 2x6 for the peak.  I ended up going with a 7 ½ / 12 pitch.  This will keep me under the 13’6” total height I was trying to stay under. 

I will definitely be a crawling loft with the peak height at about  35” and 10” on the sides. 

The Dormers were and still are a bit challenging and not done, because I ran out of time.  I laid them out and decided to steepen the pitch to a 9 / 12 pitch so the won’t be quite so wide.  I will still need to measure and see what size windows they will hold.  I think I will end up customizing the window sizes as most places don’t have standard sizes that are that small.

The side without the dormers was a piece of cake.  Whose idea was it to put those things in!  All in all, we put in 11 man ours today and I am looking forward to have the plywood on and drying everything in!  (62 total man hours)

Day 9 7/12/11

Today I spent the day working on the loft joist and laying out where the access hole will go.  We decided to leave the end of the loft open to let in a little more light.  From below, it might give the appearance of more room on the end where the loft does not go all the way to the end. 

For structure, I added a second 2x6 and a spacer block to make a beam to go under the 4x4 center post in the loft area.  I secured this beam with 3-4”lag bolts on each end.   The 4x4 (not installed yet) will provide the needed structure to hold up the roof ridge 2x6.

I put in a temporary ladder through the access hole a put up a few sheets of plywood.  This will give me a good working platform for when I start the truss work.  I am still planning on a 8/12 pitch however I will redo the math and make adjustments where needed so I don't go over our goal height of 13'6".
I only put in 5 hours today bringing my total constuction time up to: (51 total hours)

I had an unexpected visitor today. 

Day 8 7/10/11

The sun has decided to come out one more time.  Today I finished the sheeting on the final side.  The sheeting goes all the way to the top plate on the side walls.  Since there will be more sheeting required on the gable ends, I did not rip a small piece to go up to the top plate.  It will add to the strength by using larger pieces of plywood. 

With all the plywood sheeting on, you can now really get the feel of the available space on the inside.  I image that when the loft joist are installed, it might a feel a little tighter on the inside. 

 I finished the day by using a can of “the great stuff” to fill in the areas around the wheel wells from the inside.  It should provide good insulation in the small gaps as well as a good sealer.  I will also use silicone around the outside of the wheel wells for extra protection from moister. 

The inside is really starting to take shape.  Here you can see the end where the main living area will be.

On the far end is the where the bathroom will be.  The shower on the left and toilet on the right.  It will be enclosed with a wall and 24" pocket sliding door.  Up next for our next day of work will be to put in out 2x6 loft joist.  Today I worked 4 hours ( 46 hour total).