Cabin Build - Timeline with lots of pics.

[buckbull]

We have a small piece of property that we deer hunt on. We moved this mobile home into place in 1991 and it served us well for many years. Eventually the roof started to leak bad enough that patching and roof coatings were not cutting it anymore. So in 2014 I framed a roof, had it sheeted and had half the shingles on. In the summer my sister and bro-in-law went up early to mow the grass. Because of the large amount of due on the ground they decided to go in and watch TV to give the sun time to dry things out. They turned the TV on and sat down on the couch. A few moments later, a large rattlesnake came slithering out from under the TV. My sister and bro-in-law sprung up and out the door they went. Bro-in-law is a wuss when it comes to snakes so my sister grabbed a shovel out of the shed and went back in. The snake was coiled up in the middle of the floor shaking its rattles. My sister wisely decided to lock the door and leave the snake alone. If any of you ever dealt with a mobile home, there are all kinds of nooks and crannies that animals can get into. We also had a bad mouse problem and no matter how much poison and traps we set it was never enough. So the mobile home became infested with rattlesnacks and I was almost done putting a whole new roof on. I thought about what to do for 3 months and decided i could never sleep with one eye open so that winter we tore the mobile home down, burned what we could and scrapped the wiring and sheeting.

 

[buckbull]

I planned to start on a cabin build in 2015 but I ended up getting a divorce instead. So with what little money I had left after that ordeal I bought a travel trailer that we could use until I financial recovered.

 

[buckbull]

The camper is better than nothing but it is only a 3 season camper. Of course, the camper gets the most use in the winter. We had a few days we couldn't keep the temperature of the camper above 50 degress (around zero at night). With 3 people, all our gear, 1 bed, etc it has made for very tight quarters. So we started making plans to build a cabin in the spring of 2019.

 

[buckbull]

As I mentioned earlier, my bro-in-law is scared of snakes so he was looking for buildings that would provide a defense against mice and the snakes that want to eat them. We settled on a Quanset hut that would be 30x35 with a concrete floor. Once up, we would frame 2 bedrooms, bathroom and utility room. So first thing we need to do is pour a concrete pad. We rented a small excavator and went to work on the footings.

 

[buckbull]

Footings poured. The laser level is a gift from god. We cut some rebar 18 inches and drove them down to the right depth so we knew how much concrete to pour and keeping the footing somewhat level. Keeping it level will make forming the 2x12 alot easier since that has too be level. After we set the 2x12 forms we drilled holes in the footing on the outside of the form and drove stakes in to keep the form from bowing out due to how much concrete we had to pour.

 

[buckbull]

We roughed in the plumbing. The concrete pad needs a key way for the hut edges to sit in on the long sides. We built a cantilever system so that when we pour the forms are already set.

 

[buckbull]

We laid down plastic for a moisture barrier and set the rebar.

 

[buckbull]

We got a bunch of buddies together to do a single pour. Took 36 yards of concrete. We rented a power screed and power trowel. Should have rented 2 power trowels. I plan on acid staining the concrete.

 

[buckbull]

Now we can start assembling the quanset hut. Interesting to say the least. Glad we could gather up all the help, we needed it. These buildings are not the easiest to assembly. Lots of swearing and beer required.

 

[buckbull]

1.85 million bolts later the quanset hut is up. The hut is bolted down by 10 inch concrete wedge anchors. We will have to backfill the chanel where the hut edges are with mortar.

 

[buckbull]

We decided to build our own end walls.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Looking good!

 

[buckbull]

We have most of the framing done on the inside and have all the rough electric and plumbing complete. We have a few more odds and ends to wrap up and then we are having the building spray foamed. Once spray foamed we will put loft areas over the bedrooms, bathroom, and utility room. Everything else will be open to the ceiling. We plan on painting the sprayfoam, not covering it up on the ceiling. Have a neighbor that did it that way and it acutally turned out nice.

 

[ScottR]

Wow, this is turning out very cool! Keep us up to date as I'm sure a few of us are dreaming about what we would be building!

 

[Bonecollector]

WOW. Nice work!

 

[mallardsx2]

Love it! I love these threads

 

[Montana]

Love it! I love these threads

Yeah me too... super cool stuff.

 

[Montana]

Nice work buckbull...

 

[RICMIC]

Nice project. I built a guest cabin that we spray foamed, and after 7 years it is still 100% mouse proof. Those little buggers can chew their way through most things, but they don't like that foam. My guess is that if there isn't a hole to slither through, then you shouldn't have snakes either.

 

[dirtclod Az.]

Nice project. I built a guest cabin that we spray foamed, and after 7 years it is still 100% mouse proof. Those little buggers can chew their way through most things, but they don't like that foam. My guess is that if there isn't a hole to slither through, then you shouldn't have snakes either.

You never know with snakes,they will hitch a ride on your back and have babies when they hit the ground..Ha!.Ha!