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CaptCanuck
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# Posted: 26 Jul 2014 10:06 - Edited by: CaptCanuck
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I've been a member here for a while and have read many of your stories with interest...and now I have something to share as well.
We have a nice 12 acre property in Ontario, which is currently water access only. We have tried unsuccessfully (so far) to negotiate access to a nearby road, so we decided that the best thing to do at the present time would be to build a no-permit shed - under 108 sq ft as required by the township.
So after some planning, we started working on it last September.
The location (October 2013):
(To be continued...)
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CaptCanuck
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# Posted: 26 Jul 2014 10:51 - Edited by: CaptCanuck
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My wife and I are in our 40s with a young son, and had no prior building experience going into this.
Even though it was just a small building, it was a daunting prospect because all building materials had to be transported over to our property by water, in a small jon boat.
Very fortunate for us, I have a very spry 75 year old uncle in the area who has worked as a handyman for the better part of 30 years, and he agreed to help us do this project right.
So he and I, and my dad (also 75 yrs old), got to work on it in Sept 2013, and here is a photo of the beginnings - with my father and uncle standing beside our handiwork.
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Just
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# Posted: 26 Jul 2014 11:12
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AW the 8 x 12 my favorite .We have just applied to build one on our permitted cottage sight in southern Ont. I have built three or 4 over the years and have enjoyed the challenge . you can go 8 x 13 as the bylaw in ont. says 10 sq M. , cost a bit more but every in. counts in a very small building. Good luck .very nice pic
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CaptCanuck
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# Posted: 26 Jul 2014 11:22
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Thanks Just. Good point about the dimensions, but my uncle made that call as he likes to be efficient when building and thought 8x12 would mean the least amount of waste.
What we lack in footprint, we made up for in height, as you will see. 
Here we are a little farther along:
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Just
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# Posted: 26 Jul 2014 12:01
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so i suppose you call it a raised ranch we are also planing a loft with two signal beds .
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CaptCanuck
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# Posted: 26 Jul 2014 13:09
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Ha, yeah my nickname for it is "the condo".
Here we are a little farther along with (1) the walls up, (2) putting the rafters up, (3) the view from the top, and (4) feeling pretty good about a job well done!
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neb
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# Posted: 26 Jul 2014 13:54
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I'm very happy for you and have fun with the build. Looks very nice and please keep us posted.
I want to do a storage shed and just not sure where. I do want to get the poles planted before winter and be able to work on it this coming winter.
Are you going to live there?
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CaptCanuck
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# Posted: 26 Jul 2014 20:24
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Thanks Neb, good luck with your project.
No plans to live up there unless we can get a road in a some point. The winters here can be extremely cold with heavy snow, and we would need viable 4 season heating, sanitation and power to make it work for us. Perhaps one day, in retirement.
Fortunately the property is only about an hour from where we live in a city, so it is easy for us to go up - even for the day.
Here we are (1) transporting a used window over to our property I found through online classifieds, (2) the roof on, and (3) (4) working on the soffit.
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neb
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# Posted: 26 Jul 2014 20:33
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Looks very nice! Yep I close also and is a great place to spend a night or two. When it's close you can visit often like I do. Keep us posted on your build and after build.
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Gary O
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# Posted: 26 Jul 2014 21:27
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sweet
What a setting!
Please keep us posted, Captn
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CaptCanuck
Member
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# Posted: 27 Jul 2014 08:53
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Thanks guys!
I should mention that since we don't have power at our property, prior to starting our build I found a small but mighty used generator (1) in local online classifieds.
It may be small, but it took everything we dished out and came back for more...and was very very fuel efficient. Highly recommended.
We also got lucky with finding other materials cheaply...some of the windows were "used" - fitted then removed and sold at a deep discount. I picked up a few at Home Depot, but they were on sale too and I needed specific sizes to fit the openings we had.
Here we are with some of our windows and working on preparing the openings (2) and (3) the openings cut and the door installed.
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leonk
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# Posted: 27 Jul 2014 09:34
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very nice place
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Wilbour
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# Posted: 27 Jul 2014 13:16
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I was contemplating buying my windows this week from homers and low and behold they are 15% off. Normally Im all over used but the price of windows at Habitat is not a lot less than new ones at homers. We get a fair amount of people riding by on bikes and want the shed to look uniform so I want all the same look. I am so use to doing everything on the cheap but I want this place to last so I have to balance that as well.
As for furniture and gear im all over used.
Bought this online last night
http://www.hammockuniverse.com/collections/fabric-hammock-chairs/products/non-adjusta ble-hanging-hammock-chair-with-foot-rest
$40 taxes and shipping included!
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CaptCanuck
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# Posted: 27 Jul 2014 20:58 - Edited by: CaptCanuck
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Wilbour, funny you should mention Habitat for Humanity, because one of our windows came from there. It was a great find.
So by this stage in our build it was getting into late October and early November, and we were concerned about the weather turning cold, wet, and possibly even snowy before we got all the windows in. As it turned out though, the late fall weather in 2013 was beautiful and most days we made it up there to work on the cabin we had ideal conditions. Mother Nature was on our side!
(1) transporting more materials on a rare grey day, this time towing another little aluminum boat, (2) putting some windows in, (3) & (4) windows in! Check out my uncle's leather tool belt in photo 4...he's been using the same one for 30 years!
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CaptCanuck
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# Posted: 2 Aug 2014 09:30 - Edited by: CaptCanuck
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Next came insulating and vapor-wrapping the interior of the cabin, and putting the floorboards up in the loft.
As you can see we used the pink fibreglass insulation in the walls, and in the ceiling (no photos unfortunately) we used foam sheeting with foil on each side. There is a 3" gap between the insulation in the ceiling and the roof, which is intended to draw the heat up and out the vent at the top in the hot summer.
That was about as far as we got last Fall before it turned cold and we decided to pack things up for the winter. We were all really please with the progress we'd made and looking forward to getting started again in the spring of 2014.
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creeky
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# Posted: 3 Aug 2014 15:15
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Hey capt. Great build.
Is it time to build a hovercraft for year round access?
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CaptCanuck
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# Posted: 3 Aug 2014 17:51
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Thanks creeky, I like the way you think!
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LoonWhisperer
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# Posted: 21 Aug 2014 17:39
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Looking good Cap! That location looks perfect and your cabin is coming along nicely. Nice score on the genny too! Honda's are awesome.
We are in Ont. as well and just bought an 11 acre property in the Spring. Our cabin looks very similar but I sure wish they built it higher like yours.
Best of luck!
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Ontario lakeside
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# Posted: 22 Aug 2014 10:58
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We started in a bunkie like that, your looks great!
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sweet75
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# Posted: 7 Oct 2014 12:19
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Great job!
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Wilbour
Member
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# Posted: 7 Oct 2014 12:36
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Quoting: CaptCanuck in the ceiling (no photos unfortunately) we used foam sheeting with foil on each side
So you attached these to the underside of the rafters? Did you vapour barrier inside of that? What foam sheeting did you use?
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CaptCanuck
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# Posted: 7 Oct 2014 15:30
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Thanks LoonWhisperer, Ontario lakeside and sweet75! I'm going to post some more photos and details as soon as I can get organized.
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CaptCanuck
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# Posted: 7 Oct 2014 15:32
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@Wilbour, the product we used was something like this:
http://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/index.htm/Building-Supplies/Building-Materials/Insu lation-Acc/Rigid/Poly-Foam/2-x-4-x-8-R12-ISO-Foam-Insulation/_/N-2pqfZ67l/Ne-67n/Ntk- All_EN/R-I2719421?Ntt=4%27+x+8%27+Insulation&list=1
We put it between the rafters, and no additional vapour barrier. There is a ridge vent on the structure, and we used pink fiberglass insulation in the walls, and then vapour barrier over that.
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redlandfd
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# Posted: 7 Oct 2014 22:22
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Great looking place...I like the access by boat only
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Wilbour
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# Posted: 8 Oct 2014 07:36
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I am back to thinking I will use similar foam sheeting face nailed to the rafters and vapour barrier on that. Cutting the foam to size and fitting it in-between the rafters would mean attaching blocking in each cavity so the foam does not bounce around inside the opening when the wind blows (lots of wind here).
How did you insert the foam while maintaining an airspace?
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CaptCanuck
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# Posted: 8 Oct 2014 11:29
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@Wilbour, we cut the foam to size and wedged it nice and tight between the rafters.
It is flush with the inside edge of the rafters to maintain the airspace between the ceiling and the roof, and then we also taped all the edges/seams between the rafters and sheet insulation with sheathing/housewrap tape like this:
http://www.homedepot.ca/product/red-sheathing-housewrap-tape-60-millimetres-wide-and- 50-metres-long/951143
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CaptCanuck
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# Posted: 8 Oct 2014 12:20 - Edited by: CaptCanuck
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Thanks redland, we've come around to enjoying the access by boat for a lot of reasons.
The downside though is that we are dependent on another landowner for our water access right of way and though the current owner is friendly (family), we don't know what the future could bring...and we'd like road access so that we are fully in control of our property and access.
From a pure "getaway" standpoint though, water access is ideal. No one driving in, more privacy and solitude, less chance of theft, all that stuff...
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CaptCanuck
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# Posted: 9 Oct 2014 12:37 - Edited by: CaptCanuck
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As promised, back to the photos and progress report.
After taking a break for the winter, we got back to work on the cabin in June, and with a lot of the hard stuff done we got down to the finishing work and it progressed quickly.
The walls are tongue and groove cedar and pine, purchased very inexpensively from a small local sawmill that is shutting its doors.
Main level, with pine floor to come next:
Loft:
And of course, what makes it all worthwhile.
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duster
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# Posted: 14 Nov 2014 12:33
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I'm in n. Ont., near the Quebec border and my township also permits 108 sq. ft. I'm planning a 14 x 7 cabin and I'm curious about what you used for your foundation. Did you pour concrete? Use deck blocks? Or some other way of supporting the frame?
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CaptCanuck
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# Posted: 18 Nov 2014 09:16
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We used cinder blocks on patio slabs - at each corner and one in the middle on each of the long sides.
The ground was quite level and very solid , so my uncle felt that that would do just fine for this build. If it settles a little we can always jack it up and shim.
If I had a road in I would have likely done things a bit differently, but with water access only, there are bound to be some compromises.
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