The Log house Project begins........

[bindian]

Dex, I plan on adding a second perimeter drain and backfilling the whole thing with gravel. There will be an 8' porch, so not much water will be able to get down next to that wall anyway, but I ain't taking any chances.

Rick,
Wow, you are working fast. Will Y'all have exposed ceiling beams in the kitchen and/or living area?
hugs, Brandi

 

[MotorSeven]

Rick,
Wow, you are working fast. Will Y'all have exposed ceiling beams in the kitchen and/or living area?
hugs, Brandi

It's a great room design. Kitchen in one corner, French doors w/20" full length windows on either side, Fireplace in next corner, then another french door w/windows. The master bedroom a walk-in closet and bathroom(6' clawfoot tub) are all under the loft space. The master bedroom will have a sliding barnwood wall that can open up to the great room and another french door. The loft will have a half bath & basment unfinished except fo a bathroom w/shower.
The 12/12 pitch will put the cathedral up around 25', all open beam and decked with sawmill lumber. There will be 3 tie poles(12"x 30' or so trees) running across the living room. One will be a support for the loft. Tie pole are essential since log walls don't have much lateral stability...a rafter beamed roof would just push the walls out without the poles.

Kinda sorta something like this, but with hardwood flooring, not nasty carpet

The Log Home Shoppe

 

[bindian]

It's a great room design. Kitchen in one corner, French doors w/20" full length windows on either side, Fireplace in next corner, then another french door w/windows. The master bedroom a walk-in closet and bathroom(6' clawfoot tub) are all under the loft space. The master bedroom will have a sliding barnwood wall that can open up to the great room and another french door. The loft will have a half bath & basment unfinished except fo a bathroom w/shower.
The 12/12 pitch will put the cathedral up around 25', all open beam and decked with sawmill lumber. There will be 3 tie poles(12"x 30' or so trees) running across the living room. One will be a support for the loft. Tie pole are essential since log walls don't have much lateral stability...a rafter beamed roof would just push the walls out without the poles.

Kinda sort something like this, but with hardwood flooring, not nasty carpet

The Log Home Shoppe

Rick,
Sounds awesome. Keep the photos coming.
hugs, Brandi

 

[MotorSeven]

So the floor is done. My wife and I were sitting on the creekside of the floor looking down 75' to the creek. I was pondering how to cantilever the deck out over this very steep ridge. Since I only have one row of logs down so far, the truss ends are still exposed. I am not an engineer so I thought I would throw this out to TBNland:

What if I took 2x12x20 PT boards and shoved them under the floor and attached them to every other truss leaving 10' sticking out, then put a double 2x12 beam the length of those joists halfway(5') out, and added a 45 degree brace back to the wall under the "deck"? House logs could then be cut to fit between those joists and the wall could continue up as normal.

I don't have a pic of the creekside, but the front of the house is identical and I drew in the joists & beam in red, the cantilever braces in blue:

This deck will be the length of the house (36') and 10' wide. So my question is can I tie into the trusses in this manner without weakening them? I have had in my mind a cantilever design from the get go, but am just now working out the design. These joists could easly be replaced in 20 or so years by removing the decking, going into the basement and un-screwing them, then sliding them out and sliding in new ones.

 

[bindian]

So the floor is done. My wife and I were sitting on the creekside of the floor looking down 75' to the creek. I was pondering how to cantiliever the deck out over this very steep ridge. Since I only have one row of logs down so far, the truss ends are still exposed. I am not an engineer so I thought I would throw this out to TBNland:

What if I took 2x12x20 PT boards and shoved them under the floor and attached them to every other truss leaving 10' sticking out, then put a double 2x12 beam the length of those joists halfway(5') out, and added a 45 degree brace back to the wall under the "deck"? House logs could then be cut to fit between those joists and the wall could continue up as normal.

I don't have a pic of the creekside, but the front of the house is identical and I drew in the joists & beam in red, the canteliever braces in blue:

This deck will be the length of the house (36') and 10' wide. So my question is can I tie into the trusses in ths manner without weakening them? I have had in my mind a canteliver design from the get go, but am just now working out the design. These joists could easly be replaced in 20 or so years by removing the decking, going into the basement and un-screwing them, then sliding them out and sliding in new ones.

Rick,
That might and might not work. I would consult the engineer that designed your trusses. One might also consider extra forces on your foundation wall.
Keep up the good work.:thumbsup:
hugs, Brandi

 

[tnmike]

The cantilever design your are proposing will put a tremendous amount of tension on your floor trusses and foundation. In my opinion the foundation would have to be reinforced prior to doing this. You get ten people on the deck one evening and well you know the result. Its going to be bouncy at best.

I cannot remember the slope but why not use sonitube piers and wood or steel columns for the deck support.? Ive seen a lot of decks in the mountains built this way. Twenty foot columns are not unusual around here. Steel pipe is pretty cheap at the scrapyard.

I believe (from memory) that unsupported cantilver balcony designs use a 1 to 3 ratio on the support beams.

 

[MotorSeven]

I am headed over to Copperidge Trusses today to return their 28' goosneck. I am going to run it by the engineer and no, I don't need any more "tension" on the foundation....or me.

 

[tnmike]

I didnt ask but is this going to be a covered or uncovered deck? If its uncovered youve got to think about snow load. You could easily get a foot of wet snow one early April morning.

Ask the engineer at the truss company about engineered beams that go across the width of the house, attach to both sill plates and free hang the ten feet you want. You are going to need more than attachment to your floor trusses inside the wall a couple of feet. You would probably need to reinforce the foundation to do the beam idea. Concrete block really doesnt like tensile or lateral loads as you have seen first hand.

I still vote for concrete pier foundations and steel pipe on the outside edge of the deck. That keeps all the load in the vertical plane tied directly to solid earth.

I am an electrical engineer but I did take one course in statics and dynamics my sophmore year.:laughing:

 

[MotorSeven]

It will eventually be covered, but open at least until spring/summer. The truss engineer said that he has seen this done and it wil not hurt the trusses and actually make them stronger provided that they can't pivot. I was planning on a 20' 2x12 with 10' of it attached inside the basement to the trusses..not 4'. I do think you are right about the wall attachment, so I have a better idea. When they pour the basement floor, I am adding a 4' sidewalk on the creek side and a 6' skirt in front of the garage door. I will dig post holes every 6 or 8' along the creekside edge of the sidewalk, drop rebar into the holes and tie it all to rebar in the sidewalk. My supports off the deck beam will then tie in on top of those poured holes. This way I do not touch the walls at all and I won't be banging my head on all those 45 degree supports. I think I am going to scale back the deck to 8' instead of 10 so I will only have about 4' of cantilever which is really the max for a 2x12.

I'll shoot some pic's of the location and Photo Paint in the planned supports. If you get a chance swing by some time and take a look at the site.

I am off to go cut firewood since I don't have a stick yet and there was that cool 'tinge" in the air last night. Then I have to fluff 20ac of hay, so no work on the house today.

 

[tnmike]

Ill drop by sometime towards the end of the week and check it out. I've got two 6 ply 600x16 inch ag tires on order for the mechanical mule at the co op and they should be in thursday.


Its looking good. I think you are wise to stay off the wall.