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Small Cabin Forum / Cabin Construction / Wall height(s) on 10x12 single-slope roof cabin?
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Steeny
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# Posted: 22 Aug 2015 12:52am - Edited by: Steeny
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Greetings, all! Just joined today. Wish I'd seen this place weeks ago.

I'm in the process of building a 10x12 writing cabin on my property, behind my house. It needs to be sturdy and warm to get me through cold, snowy, Canadian (central British Columbia) winters - not to mention it must let in sufficient light to make it not be too depressing.

I've never built anything before. Seriously, just learned how to use a miter saw a few weeks ago. My husband has done some construction, but not for many years. He's been helping a lot, but he doesn't know all there is to know. So I've been seeking answers via books, friends, online searching, and asking anyone who seems to have a learned opinion in building supply stores.

What we've got so far is the cabin's floor frame - 3x7 fir joists (yes, 3x7 - a friend milled them) spaced 24" OC, with R22 Roxul insulation held in by 3/8" plywood dropped onto 1x2 rails we screwed into the bottom sides of each joist. (The building is too close to the ground to crawl under and put plywood upward - it's on cement pier blocks.) And 3/4" T&G is now screwed down over poly.

So... my question at last...

Tomorrow, we plan on starting the wall framing. We need to buy our 2x6's at the nearby building supply store. The front wall has to be higher than the back wall, for snow to slide off the roof. Is 10' high 2x6s long enough for the front, and then put up 8' ones on the back wall, with the side wall studs being graduated heights? Or do we make the whole thing 8' high, and do something in the roof construction (a pony wall?) to give it the needed slope?

I still do not understand "pitch" and how to calculate it, though I've googled a bit on it. I'm hoping 10' in the front and 8' in the back is going to be enough of a slope, but I'm not sure how to find out.

AK Seabee
Member
# Posted: 22 Aug 2015 02:47am
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I would not create an unnecessary hinge point using the pony wall. You have far to many options without it.

If you prefer at least a 4 / 12 slope you can use 12' studs instead of the 10' studs on the tall wall or you could use 6' studs instead of the 8'studs on the back wall.

If you are not set on a shed roof there are even more options.

Good luck!

Steeny
Member
# Posted: 22 Aug 2015 02:53am
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Thanks for your reply!

I just want to do it the quickest and cheapest way, so I figured a single slope roof was the way to go.

Don_P
Member
# Posted: 22 Aug 2015 09:25am
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Pitch is given as inches of vertical rise per foot of horizontal run. Many conventional roofing materials call for a pitch of 3/12 or greater, so I would call that a minimum slope. In 10' of run that would equate to 30" of rise. If the back wall is 7' tall, 84", the front wall would need to be at least 114"... I'd shoot for about 7' rear and 10' front.

Attached is one way. By sloping the upper wall top plate the rafter can pass over that wall without having to notch it where you don't want a notch.
monoslope.jpg
monoslope.jpg


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