I always dreamed about building a cabin. So the year after we purchased the acreage, I decided to build a wood cabin.
Easier said then done, as I never built anything bigger than a shed before that; however, with a plan, plus watching many youtube tutorials on the various steps involved, the work got off the ground.
Although sometimes it felt as if my head was stuck in a hole…
OK, that is me checking the hole for one of the concrete pylons. Foundations are important, as we all know 🙂
My father-in-law and I worked every day on the cabin, often adjusting and correcting small errors. But we were happy and excited … building a cabin can be so much fun indeed.
Once we reached the ceiling, we decided to have an attic as the second level. This would be accessed with a built-in ladder because of space limitations.
Then came the roof which needed a lot of careful alignment and we kept remeasuring everything until satisfied.
Now things were taking shape and our enthusiasm grew proportionately.
Now we have a better view of the framing. Most of the plywood is in place and we can see the door with two windows in the front first level, another window for the back, plus one for the attic. The roof rafters secured with hurricane ties – I love those ties.
We decided to use vertical cedar siding because the vertical boards with battens covering the seams is easier to construct yet it looks very nice and it is waterproof.
Red metal roof makes everything stand out better from the distance, although green roof would have been nice as well.
The part that was trickier than we had imagined was the skylight which took us a long time to adjust properly and make sure no water leakage occurs with rain. The stainless steel chimney was secured to the top of the roof in a V formation and ready for operation.
The cabin exterior is almost finished, with the exception of some minor finishing details. Just in time as well because the rains of the autumn would start pouring down any day.
This cabin is 14 X 14 feet with approximately 200 square feet space on both levels for a total of 400 usable square feet. A small, yet very cozy and comfy cabin 🙂
Of course, this is just a fast summary of the 9 weeks of work it took us to finish up the structure and exterior. Nine weeks of working long hours (between 6 to 9 hours daily, except Sundays).
There will be another follow-up post about the interior work for the cabin.
If there is enough interest in this, more information will be given in subsequent posts.
Please feel free to leave your comments.
Looks great! Congratulations.