Moving things along

Electrical plumbing and interior finishing has been time-consuming but the most rewarding.

Getting the furnace in and 2 working bathrooms ment the camper can fianally go! 

Fun Stuff and Misc. build photos

So far the builds been one of the best experiences of my life. It's pushed our family to test our physical and emotional limits. Some days it's exceptionally satisfying and enjoyable and others it makes you want to cry in frustration. It's challenged us to do things we never thought we could. Looking back, the decision to build ourselves was crazy in every way. We're far from done but the difficult parts are over and 2025 will be time for finishes. If you're considering even a small build or chasing a dream, I would encourage you to try! Make every day an effort to achieve your goal and continue on when you run into roadblocks. Our cabin is years in the making. Planning, saving, learning and dreaming was only the beginning of the journey. The memories already created with friends and family have been absolutely priceless. At this point were about 6 months behind but happily plugging along. Below are some additional pics of the build. I will update monthly on the continued process. Please post or share your questions and experiences as I'm happy to help with your builds plan..... Don't tell my wife but I'm already making a mental picture of the our next build on lake Superior!

Extras (spring 2025)

Just a few miscellaneous things to share. Our lots soil consists of mostly sand and glacial boulders. This makes digging a nightmare without heavy equipment. On the other hand, ALL of the boulders you see around the cabin are from the excavations of the basement and septic areas. This allowed us to use them for multiple retaining walls around the property. Picking boulders out of excavated dirt and sorted into piles is work to say the least. If you have a situation like this a rock bucket on a skid steer would make it a lot faster. This took us days and days of rock picking.

Plumbing, I decided on a pex manifold so I could easily add additional fixtures as we went. If you're not confident in how to properly size drain and vent your plumbing, you're going to want to hire a professional. My area has no plumbing inspections, so I paid a local plumber to review my work for peace of mind.

Insulation, we got lucky and hit a sale at the big box store and decided on rock wool for insulation. The product is water and fire proof, so far I've been impressed.

Interior framing

Interior framing and misc. Items moved along pretty slowly. Taking weeks instead of days. We took the time to make small changes to the design plan so we'd have exactly what we wanted. I should also note that with an A frame everting is an angle. It's rare you get 10 ft before you need to start fussing with details. I completed what I could for the main and lower levels and waited for a week of clear weather to cut a hole in the side of the cabin!

Our plan includes a large dormer area that caused me more than one sleepless night. I was never 100% on how I wanted to create the dormer area and support the upper floor/roof of the main structure at the same time. This is why I decided to plan for the opening with 3x trusses at the openings and come back later to frame it in. This also allowed me to get the structure dried in faster and sort the details later. Anyway, after talking to a few professional framers and calculating the loads I decided again to upsize my framing members and add an additional board to my header. The extra $100 in materials is defiantly worth it to me.

The upper floor is 2X10 framing. We ended up using 2x6 tongue and grove for subfloor for a nice effect on the ceiling from the main level. If i'd planned for this, I could have reduced my upper floor joist to 2x8.

Shingles, Windows, Doors, and End walls.

In the interest of getting the framing dried in we had a local contractor complete the shingle installation. We considered standing seam steel roofing but had problems finding a reliable contractor in the area and we got a 45-year warrantee with the shingles. We also have multiple solar power sky lights and flashing them with a metal roof can be difficult. The shingle manufacture said that my roof pitch is the maximum allowed without using additional fasteners. Alternatively, our contractor insisted additional nails and glue each shingle. He provided the extra work as long as I provided the nails and silicone. His crew of 6 completed the install in a day and the framing never saw a drop of water!

The end wall framing wasn't structural to the main roof/walls so we were able to go off plan and adjust the window openings as we went. This was especially helpful on the lake side so we could get the windows lined up exactly how we wanted. I worked for years at a lumber yard in high school and can't tell you how many odd shaped windows we had in the return bin. We waited to order our windows until the R.O.s had been framed. A good tip is that for typical window shapes you should download the manufactures standard sizes. These will typically be a lot cheaper, helping to balance the cost of an entire wall of custom shapes. Install again was a bit tricky with no telehandler, and realizing a new fear of heights meant the family and the lift was back for more!

Standing up the A's

Exciting and exhausting can sum up the process of standing up the main floor framework. We decided on using 2x12-26' Hem fir at 24" spacing for our main A-frames trusses. We could have gone down to 2x10 or even 2x8 but wanted the extra depth for additional air space and insulation. Personally, I'm not a fan of hot roofs or spray foam in roof trusses so the extra thickness allowed us to leave a 2" open airspace and still have an R36 wall/roof. I'm sure many will argue this but it's what's worked for me and what I prefer. In my experience you'll always have some moisture infiltration due to condensation. Even if the area is constructed and sealed perfectly you won't have a way to mitigate moisture if the area is filled with spray foam when a problem does occur. The continuous air space from soffit to peak allows the roof to breathe and reduces the roof temperature while extending the life of the shingles.   

Like the floor trusses we had to put the 26' boards on a trailer and haul each down the driveway due to the width. Our design uses 60-degree walls so we cut and preassembled the trusses using plywood gussets at the top. The first ones go up easy with 2 people but we used the help of some family members to get the main trusses up in a long day. If you're planning your own build, message me directly and I can provide details. The last trusses are a bit tricky, but we ended up using a winch on the tractor. We bounced around ideas on using a ridge beam, but DYI factor and equipment made us use this method. 

I'm actually a little surprised on how easy standing up the trusses was. Without using a ridge beam my fear was keeping a clean straight peek but it turned out spot on. We used a large bucket lift rental for 2 days to finish out the 24" overhangs and sheathing. I also used 2-2x10-26' trusses at the ends to allow for 2x roof sheathing at the overhangs. This created a studier/straighter overhang that shouldn't sag over time. I don't expect an overhang of under 2' to require the extra framing but it's just extra insurance.

Basement Framing and First floor Cap

Once the foundation, drainage and RO plumbing was completed it was on to the cap! We completed the basement walkout framing and sill plates in about a day. We decided on a dual operating French door opening so we could utilize the basement to store larger construction items. This came in handy for storing lawn tractors and larger equipment during the winter as we didn't have a garage for to secure items yet. If you're building, you might consider building a garage first. The family across the street from us used their garage for sleeping and storage during the duration of their build.

We decided on using floor trusses because we're able to run HVAC and plumbing in the ceiling and clear span the entire foundation without the need for bearing walls. I also appreciated the 3.5" nailing area when adding your subfloor. Our trusses needed to be driven one at a time down the driveway to get to the site. Our driveway is cleared 16' wide, and the trusses are 24' wide. The process of hauling and setting each truss took a full day but we got it done!

We decide on having our floor trusses engineered for 24" on center spacing. This would align them exactly with the upper floor's wall/roof trusses. If I had to do this again, I think I would go down to 19.5" or even 16" spacing. We used 3/4 waterproof 7 ply tongue and grove plywood, and I can feel slight deflection on the floor when I walk in some areas. Not a big deal at all but something to note. You could use thicker 1-1/8 subfloor or double it but reducing spacing would be preferred.