My Industrial Cabin Build

[WoodChuckDad]

My wife and I did our SIP house, except we had help on roof panels (our roof is SIP and we were only getting 1 panel up each night, so brothers and BIL came and we went from 13 panels to about 32 in one weekend). We were able to finish the last ones then and get going on the roofing. It is hard work, both from "I have never done this before" to "if we had a couple more guys" it would be easier. We were living onsite in a 1952 trailer and living the dream.. I was working full time and traveling some, wife really stepped up and took care of 3 young kids and kept things going.. she purchased most of the lumber and siding and roofing and windows..

Point being, you can do it. Stay safe.

Hawkeye, I read your post to my wife when I got home tonight. She said thank you. There have been a few points along the way where I felt like I was dragging her through her worst nightmare. The chaos is torturous for her. Now that the walls are starting to go up, that is changing. She can feel the space so she is already decorating them in her head and cruising Pinterest for ideas. For me, the best part is that she is pouring thru the plans and asking questions that make sense to me. I hate to say it but some of her questions before didn't make sense because they felt so out of order to the process. Now that she is part of the build, I think the natural linear nature of of the process is occupying her mind more. Or, maybe I have just pushed her over the edge and she has joined my insanity. Either way, the company is good.

I was on the build today with my step-son. he was a great help and we got four panels completed. I build two headers and installed one. I would have preferred to get more accomplished but I will take this as a win.

 

[airbiscuit]

How many SIS wall panels are left to install?

Then you get to do the Post and Beam which will be like learning a different language

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Headers take a surprisingly long time to nail together all the layers.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I saw 31 acres over in the valley for sale at a decent price, but very rocky. Less than a mile from the cemetery we are supposed to be buried in. Not the county I prefer.

 

[EddieWalker]

I admire your patience and dedication to perfection in getting those panels up.

 

[WoodChuckDad]

I saw 31 acres over in the valley for sale at a decent price, but very rocky. Less than a mile from the cemetery we are supposed to be buried in. Not the county I prefer.

I like the valley, beautiful views in almost any direction.

 

[WoodChuckDad]

I admire your patience and dedication to perfection in getting those panels up.

Eddie it wore me out. I know I can’t have it perfect but when I know it isn’t right, it drives me crazy. There will be little things about the house that I always look at to see how they are holding up. That’s just my nature.

 

[dstig1]

You are making good progress. As you know you are way understaffed in both manpower and experience to be able to do this quickly, so take the time you need and do it right and stay safe.

BUT...you will need to face the cold reality of living in your own work. There WILL BE FLAWS. Everywhere. I can walk through and point to the little ding in the hardwood floor from something the got dropped, the drip over there in the hardwood floor finish I missed, the corner that isn't quite 45 deg, the small finish flaws in doors and cabinets, on and on. They are EVERYWHERE and I am pretty careful and picky. That is the reality of all buildings, and more so for one you do yourself as you know where they all are. Heck I can walk into any new construction now and start pointing out flaws left and right - everything from design mistakes to finish errors, etc. The only difference is that builder won't be living there so he won't see them. Don't get yourself wound up over minor flaws. It isn't worth it.

But the part I am a bit concerned about for you coming up is the roof panels. How are you going to handle those? It really requires a crane and people who know how to handle a crane/rigging and work safely at heights.

-Dave

 

[EddieWalker]

Eddie it wore me out. I know I can’t have it perfect but when I know it isn’t right, it drives me crazy. There will be little things about the house that I always look at to see how they are holding up. That’s just my nature.

There are all sorts of different levels of perfect. I was told that the floor of a lazer eye surgery room had to be something like .0001 percent flat. In a residential house, you're lucky if the floor is quarter inch of flat with numerous depressions in the slab that can be that deep or deeper. As the builder, you set the standard of perfect that you have to live with, and once you realize that it will never be perfect, you can focus on having fun in what you are creating and how strong you can make it.

Are you going to set tile? If you are a perfectionist, tile will make you go crazy. No box of tile is the same, some are thicker by a hair, others are bigger by a hair. Cheaper tile is never flat, and long tile likes to bow up on you. Clips make a huge difference on flooring, but its more work, more money and worse of all, more time to get it right. Not perfect, the goal with tile is to have it flat, not look odd, and flow nicely.

If you are installing sheetrock on the walls, every single inside corner will not be square. It can't be because the tape and mud build up to create a wider angle. So if you install shelves, you have to cut the two inches of the inside corner different to fit tight. You'll really see this if you have a louse granite company that doesn't create a perfect template. They bad ones will either make the granite too small to deal with this and expect you to cover their gap with the backsplash, or they destroy the sheetrock to get the granite installed and then have me fix it when installing the backsplash.

I think you're doing a great job. It hurts seeing how slowly this is taking, but it's also how you create something that you will be proud of and happy to live there.

 

[hawkeye08]

When we needed to lift our roof panels up (each weighing around 500lbs, 20'x4'x10"), we built a boom on the back of our old truck. The main beam was 6x6 steel tube, with two pipe braces and some cables to ensure it was stable. We used an electric boat winch we had for our large boat. On each panel, we drilled two 1/2" holes spaced perhaps 5' from each end. We put long eyebolts thru the holes, used a tow strap connected to each eyebolt over a large hook at end of electric winch cable.

If you still have your excavator, you can use that to lift the panels.

Stay safe, prayers for those in need.