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bldginsp
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# Posted: 21 Jul 2013 11:39am - Edited by: bldginsp
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This thread is for people to show how they came up with their cabin design, and to show the design itself if they want to.
Many simple box design cabins don't even need a design on paper. All you need is the floor dimensions to set the piers, and once you have a rectangle, the roof design is easy to figure out on site. But anything a bit more complicated will be easier with some sort of paper design. How did you do it?
Here's a link to an inexpensive and very effective CAD program called CadStandard by an independent software designer. I've used it for years and it's great. I have no economic connection to this product. The 'full' version now costs $38 and it's worth it:
http://www.cadstd.com/advanced.html
Attached are PDFs of my cabin design which I put together with that CAD program.
How did you design your cabin? Back of a napkin? Scan the napkin and show us!
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Malamute
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# Posted: 21 Jul 2013 01:06pm - Edited by: Malamute
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I just had a line drawing picture in a book (Cache Lake Country) as a concept, then dove in. Built several cabins from the basic idea.
I've built several houses with no plans on paper, just the concept in my head. They worked out well. When the excavation guys came, we drove some stakes in the ground after using the long tape to get the basic dimensions, when concrete guys showed up, they asked "what do you want?" I said "what do you have to write on" and made a simple dimensional sketch for them to work from. Probably not a good idea for most folks, but worked for me.
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Martian
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# Posted: 21 Jul 2013 02:18pm
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I used graph paper, and a pencil....with an eraser!
I think the key to designing your own cabin is to know how you plan an using each area, and how you want to "live" in that space, before you start building. There were things I knew I wanted and where I wanted them in relation to the other things. Then, it was just a matter of making the structure, and my desires, fit one another.... not as easy as it sounds. I know my cabin had to grow a bit from my initial plans to fit what I required. Its a balancing act.
I enjoyed having it drawn to scale, and bringing that drawing to life. Now, I am amazed at how well it works for me!
Tom
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neb
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# Posted: 21 Jul 2013 02:21pm
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Malamute
That is how I biuld also. I have biult my home and many things and like you said hand drawn on a piece of and get started. It works for me also Biulding plans can be to cmplex and some of it is not needed.
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Steve961
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# Posted: 21 Jul 2013 08:46pm
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I used Google (now Trimble) SketchUp. It's relatively easy to use, is free, and there are thousands of prebuilt cabins, homes, and building components available on their warehouse site.
Sketchup
3D Warehouse
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MJW
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# Posted: 23 Jul 2013 11:59am
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Sketched mine out on a yellow legal pad.
I still have all of the sketches from the foundation on up.
I have it packed up in a box somewhere here...have to dig it out sometime and scan it. 
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Rossman
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# Posted: 23 Jul 2013 05:06pm
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Photoshop...
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rockies
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# Posted: 5 Sep 2013 08:46pm
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I used a free trial download of "chief architect". http://www.chiefarchitect.com/products/trial.html They set it up so that you can't "save" your drawings in the program, but if you use a simple "screen shot" program (my computer came with one) you can make copies of all the drawings. If you want to make changes to the design later and you've already closed the program, though, you have to start over and design the entire thing from scratch. Still, it calculates building materials, lets you customize things, and they have an online library of web videos to explain how to do things. A simple cabin can be done in about 30 minutes.
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northparknewbie
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# Posted: 5 Sep 2013 09:49pm
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I spent a couple of hundred dollars on the internet ordering what was promised a complete set of plans, what I received would have been plenty for me to build with, but when I took them to the building department I was pretty much laughed out of the building. I quickly learned that even though I was building in the middle of nowhere if I wanted permits I needed to get professional drawings with an engineers stamp. I considered doing it without permits but all of the research I read said that was a very bad idea. I ended up taking the so called complete drawings to a designer/engineer and for another couple of thousand dollars I will be able to draw permits. this is in central Colorado so maybe other places are easier.
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TheCabinCalls
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# Posted: 6 Sep 2013 04:20pm
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I checked out two cad programs from the library. They had plug in things for stairs, windows, doors, furniture, etc. This made it really easy to visualize and send out for bids and permits.
I looked at buying something, but this ended up being a great option. FREE too.
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rayyy
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# Posted: 7 Sep 2013 06:57pm
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I had the chance to ponder my cabin design while living in an apartment in town for a year.I have a stack of drawings of every imaginable layout possible.This was one of my favorites.Although the cabin I built never did turn out at all like this interior.
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rockies
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# Posted: 7 Sep 2013 07:49pm
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The one thing I've found over the years is that most designs don't allow enough circulation space around furniture, or enough room to move around kitchens or bathrooms without banging into something. The best thing is to use as many built in pieces of furniture as possible. A standard 3 seat sofa is about 7 feet long, but most people hate sitting 3 abreast, so why not use a shorter built in window seat? Then you at least get storage drawers underneath. Also, bedrooms on the main level eat up a ton of square footage that really ends up being used only at night. Leave the closets on the main level and put only the mattress in a loft so you're not carrying things like clothes up and down a ladder. Despite being small there's no reason to live in a cramped cabin. Mine is going to be 468 sq' and has a lot of room, full sized appliances, large living/dining room, mudroom, office, bedroom loft, storage spaces and a huge add-on screen porch. Challenging your assumptions about what you need is the first step to designing a great cabin but don't forget to check minimum room sizes as per the building codes. Most residential buildings need one space of 120 sq' or more, and enclosed bedrooms need to be a minimum of 70 sq' or more.
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TheWildMan
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# Posted: 8 Sep 2013 08:46am
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Winter is how i designed mine
I was living in a delapidated camper after a forclosure (went to forclosure then moved to a swamp i owned). it was not able to be heated so i saved up all summer and when the snow fell i built the best i could with cash in hand. after the insulated walls and a stove were in place i designed everything else to fit in the limited room
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 9 Sep 2013 08:02am
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My original design showed a very simple, minimal concrete spread footing design. But when we dug the trenches, the sloping land to one end caused us to deepen the footing a lot. Also, we dug out a huge stump, and the resulting hole had to be dug way down to hit solid earth. End result- a 9 yard pour became a 16 yard pour. Just to point out, 'design' and 'reality' are often two different things.
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Canuck Mom
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# Posted: 16 Sep 2013 08:40pm
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I drew mine on a piece of graph paper. Once the frame and walls were up, it changed a couple of times. Not much you can do to mess up the floor space of a 12X16! My needs were simple. Things change.
Flexibility is key.
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 17 Sep 2013 02:50pm
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I cheated bldg insp, I just bought mine online. 
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