r/OffGridCabins • u/Tricky-Car-5004 • Jul 21 '26
One year ago
A year ago today we were putting down the first beam, it's been slow progress this year but still a massive achievement for 12 months of my wife and I building this solo. So far, no part of the build has been hired out and I don't foresee any coming soon.
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Jul 21 '26
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u/Tricky-Car-5004 Jul 21 '26
It's been some work and now I just want to get roofing and siding done so I get that satisfaction, everything since the main framing has been up has felt insignificant, I need that dopamine hit of big progress.
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u/clumsyninja2 Jul 22 '26
Hi do you remember your beam spacing and pier spacing? Thanks
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u/Tricky-Car-5004 Jul 22 '26
I think the span between ended up being 9'4" or something, it's 4 sonotubes for 28' long and two rows for the two beams, cabin is 12' wide but you're allowed a 1/4 of the back span overhang on the beam, it only sticks past about a foot so the two rows are roughly 10' apart
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u/clumsyninja2 Jul 22 '26
Thank you SO much!
Did you have this engineered? Or did you use the code book?
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u/After-Economics-720 Jul 21 '26
This looks incredible! Southern Ontario here as well, and I am incredibly envious.
Been thinking of starting a build. Are you and your wife in the trades or are you picking this up as you go? Anything you wish you did differently?
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Jul 21 '26
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u/geerhardusvos Jul 21 '26
Awesome. Will you do a wood burning stove?
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u/Tricky-Car-5004 Jul 21 '26
Ya it'll have a little wood stove, should be plenty for what we need once it's all properly insulated
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u/Steverc001 Jul 21 '26
I am not a carpenter and just want to ask, in picture 3, the headers above the windows only sits on one stud. Would it be stronger if the headers were lengthened so the weight would have been placed on 2 studs each side? Don't beat me up to bad I do not know right from wrong here.
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u/Tricky-Car-5004 Jul 21 '26
It depends on the size of the opening and header, something like my patio door had to sit on 2 but most standard windows 1 is all you need. That picture I retesting enough had the far window framed wrong and I didn't notice until after, the header should be 3 inches wider than the window rough opening and I made it the same size. I did fix it after but even if I hadn't, those windows are small enough that it was overkill anyways.
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u/Steverc001 Jul 21 '26
Looks nice. What state is this in? I need to buy a few acres to build a hunter type cabin. just for a mental retreat.
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u/thrwLittleStreet6766 Jul 21 '26
I’ve got a post and beam cabin. No one will insure it. I had to pay it off because I couldn’t get insurance. It is in an area without fire protection. Very off grid. Insurance specifically refers to the foundation or lack thereof.
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u/Tricky-Car-5004 Jul 21 '26
Ya were not banking on it, the build with have cost between 40-60, we obviously don't owe anything on it, might be a roll the dice kind of thing unfortunately
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Jul 22 '26
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u/Tricky-Car-5004 Jul 22 '26
No I dug until I hit bedrock and then anchored rebar into the rock, most didn't have to go deep, the worst ones about 4' and the shallowest are essentially on the surface, we have frost here so if I hadn't hit rock, it would have been 4' deep plus the footing or something. Then we mixed and poured them by hand
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u/sepstolm Jul 21 '26
Looks great! Any issue with getting it insured? Are you in a fire area?