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Chinook92
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# Posted: 12 Aug 2021 11:23pm
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Alright so I’ve posted here a few times and have had some mixed opinions about my build ideas but am all ears to ideas.
I am currently up in Alaska working (commercial fishing)for the summer and have issues getting signal and am rethinking my design plans.
Criteria is 200 square feet or less, max 24†roof over hangs. Please do not suggest going thru the permit process as I am on a budget and don’t want to deal with the planning department in the big city and their bureaucracy and processes and the added expense, besides 200 square feet is where my budget lies so that’s that
Anyway original idea was just to build the A frame from Lamar Alexander’s simple solar homesteading, as it seems to fit the bill, 14x14 simple to build etc, but got thinking and am having issues finding actual plans for other cabins that aren’t a frames, and the loft is too small imho
Basically I want a loft big enough for a queen size bed, and a downstairs with enough room to navigate around a wood stove and be comfortable enough for 2+ dog
I am open to all designs but would love help finding plans links and general build info on basically the largest cabin I can make that fits the 200 square
Foot limit, as my access to internet is very limited here in Alaska.
Hoping to build this fall
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Chinook92
Member
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# Posted: 12 Aug 2021 11:24pm
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Forgot to say the size profile I am favoring is a 12x16 or 14x14
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darz5150
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# Posted: 13 Aug 2021 12:01am - Edited by: darz5150
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Here's an idea that popped into my head after reading your post.
Maybe you could make a funky modified rafter/wall like the one in the high tech drawing below.
It would give you more useable space, and a bit more headroom. Never seen it done. But I don't know why it couldn't be done. You may have to add a beam splitting the loft since you have a big snow load up there. Or even a steel bar across that would prevent the sides from pushing out. I'm sure ICC and a few others could figure out if it would work.
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Brettny
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# Posted: 13 Aug 2021 05:30am
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An A frame is prety poor use of space in any size. The area by the wall is almost useless or your forced to build cabinets there. I would start by useing an A frame calculator(rafter calculator and really figuring out how much room you will really be with.
What size and length rafters can you get?
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Irrigation Guy
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# Posted: 13 Aug 2021 07:30am
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My cabin is 14x36 with 12/12 gable roof. The side walls are 10’ and the loft floor is at about 8’6. This allows for a little “knee wall†that gives you some extra head room. There is about 6’ down the middle. You could do the same in a 14x14.
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gcrank1
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# Posted: 13 Aug 2021 10:06am
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Pre-'83 I considered much the same, and even visited a couple of small A-Frames. I agree with Brettny 100%. A friend even built a pyramid, that was 2x the squeeze of an A-Frame! We have friends that bought a 16x16 A-Frame last year, Russ says the livable move through space is about 6' wide before banging his head or shoulders on the 'walls'. Dont sand up to fast and straight if your chair is off toward the side.
The lofts are awkward and can become unbearable. Look at simple garden/utility shed plans and go from there with mods to suit you. It aint rocket science, mankind has been living in 'boxes' for millennia. Ive had a 10x10, a 10x12, 12x24 and currently 16x24 pretty much basic boxes, everyone was livable. Btw, my 12x24 also had a 12x12 loft that was much like an A-Frame, I was often banging into the rafters even after 30+ years. Ok, Im a klutz.....? Or normal.
For the simplest a shed roof works but if you have much snow load you need healthy sized rafters and/or more pitch.
Go a BOX!
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tichalet
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# Posted: 13 Aug 2021 09:07pm
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Chinook, somebody here once posted a link to a log cabin company in WA state that offers a couple of 12 x 16 models, and they each have 2 opposing dormers close to the front gable which gives great headroom & makes their lofts livable, I think, especially for 2 people in a longer term situation.
You mentioned being able to navigate around the stove was important & their "Cedar Ponds" model has it in a far corner from the entry which is centered on the 12' wall. It also puts the loft ladder immediately to the right of the door, so it's out of the traffic pattern as well. (that creates a handy place underneath to stow stuff that accumulates by the door, too).
They don't show it in the photos that I'll link to below, but a small galley/pullman kitchen could be installed to the left of the door. A dining counter or pop up/fold out table could be installed across, halfway between the stove & the ladder. (They show a freestanding gate-leg table there which works too) The daybed/sofa/lounging area is across from the fire.
What sells it to me besides what I think is efficient space management, good flow & the 3/4 wrap-around porches & deck is the airy loft, though. It's half length & full width (so 12 x 8) so it ought to fit a queen mattress. Just gimme a LaPeyre/alternating tread style stair up there & I could see being happy to sleep there & best of all, changing the sheets there would not be the nightmare it usually is in typical lofts with punishing roof angles. 
Plus, if you orient the cabin right, you could install solar panels on the side with a porch roof below the dormer and you could just reach out & sweep off the snow from inside!
Here are photos of the build. Unfortunately, there isn't a floor plan that I can see anywhere on the website, but it seems simple enough & it could be built with any materials, you're certainly not limited to logs:
http://www.creaseyloghomes.com/photo-gallery/cabins/cedar-ponds.html
This is the other 12 x 16 model which is basically the same envelope except the entry is placed on the 16' wall which I think loses the efficiency & flow, but you may think it might work better for you:
http://www.creaseyloghomes.com/photo-gallery/cabins/rusty-hinge.html
Hope you have a strong enough signal that those links work for you & I will try to jog my memory of some more 12 x 16s or 14x14s.
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Chinook92
Member
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# Posted: 14 Aug 2021 02:13am
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OMFG
that Creasey cedar ponds is amazing
Those guys are right down the road from my property too……… like same highway, only an hour or so away
That just very well might be my cabin
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Brettny
Member
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# Posted: 14 Aug 2021 08:17am
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They do look very nice!I would expect the price to reflect that though. I'm thinking some where around 30k for a basic version.
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Chinook92
Member
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# Posted: 15 Aug 2021 06:42pm
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Yeah well price is the deciding factor…… for sure
I saw some outfit back East doing something similar and were offering it for around 8500 which has me hopeful.
I will call Monday and see
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tichalet
Member
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# Posted: 16 Aug 2021 08:43pm
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Amazing coincidence, I hadn't even realized you were in WA. I hope you take some snaps of the model if they have one you can view. I'd be curious if it really can accommodate a queen mattress and what you think about the possibility of squeezing some storage up there (a line of half cabinets/shelves instead of the loft railing maybe?)
Even if it's too pricey to get the whole thing from them, it would still be worth checking out just to see what works & what doesn't for your own build. Take a tape measure!
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Chinook92
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# Posted: 18 Aug 2021 01:55am
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Yea the creasey 12x16 base kit “log only†package is 23,500$ and the “turn key†kit is 80,000$
Soooooo
That’s out of the plans 100%
That’s outrageous
I can buy a new basic sawmill and get a log truck deliver me a load of logs for an eighth of that price
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Brettny
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# Posted: 18 Aug 2021 07:25am
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So 30k wasn't that far off. Lol
Quoting: Chinook92 I can buy a new basic sawmill and get a log truck deliver me a load of logs for an eighth of that price
Those type of kits are for people who would never think of buying there own sawmill and the raw logs.
I built my own mill about 6yrs ago and back then I could find a large pine log someone took down and didnt have a saw big enough to cut the thing. Not so much any more. Now it seams like they all want to cut the logs into "firewood" chunks basicly making it useless because we have far better wood to burn here.
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tichalet
Member
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# Posted: 19 Dec 2021 11:04pm
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Hey Chinook92, I don't know if you are still looking for a 200 sq ft design half a year later, but I just remembered this guy, also in Washington, who built a 12 x 14 (or what I've deduced to be 12x14) plus a 4' x 8' bump-out to max out the 200 sq ft limit you have up there.
He & a couple of friends built their place dirt cheap with scavenged & donated materials back in 2010 and, though he's not updated his blog solarburrito.com in years, he uploaded a 3D video update to YouTube in 2016 which gives a good idea of the cabin layout during his walk-through:
URL
The main floor seems pretty spacious with that box bay window (a great place for a banquette & table) as does the loft which extends the full length of the cabin with generous headspace (8'?) & leaves only the bump-out open to below.
Anyway, this configuration might be an option you or someone else who lands on this 200 sq ft thread someday might find more appealing or more suitable space-wise than the usual 14x14 or 12x16 with half-loft.
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