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Fin
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# Posted: 28 Oct 2010 07:31pm
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Well here's my first post so I'll try not to look too stupid. Pfft! ;-)
I've got 25 acres north of Maynooth, Ontario, not far from where our admin's cabin is, I think, and I'm stuck trying to decide whether to go with a simple 10x10 cabin to stay away from a building permit or to go bigger for the space.
The cabin will be for weekends away for myself, my wife and our two youg sons. We're only four kilometres from the inlaws cottage so we don't need water, electricity, etc. My issue isn't so much the size but the fact that I have tons of mature spruce on the lot that must come down. I also have access to a portable sawmill and I'd like to use the lumber to build the cabin to save on costs, etc. Does anyone here have experience with grading lumber? Should I just cut it down and haul it to a mill for handling and grading? Will an inspector go to a location once you've milled the lumber and grade it there? Is this expensive?
My thinking is that if I have to saw it, haul it, grade it, haul it back then finally build, it may negate the advantages of having a few extra square feet of space.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Cheers
Fin
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Jerry
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# Posted: 30 Oct 2010 10:11am
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Hey Fin, I thought someone should answer you even though I probably don't have some of the answers you're looking for. Besides, I like your name.
10x10 is mighty small for a cabin. Maybe a bunk house, but thats about it unless you can build it two stories? Grading spruce lumber - I'm curious why you'd have to grade it? Assuming it's going to be made into 2 by's it's usually just run of the mill, or am I missing something? Rules or regs in Canada for this? Anyway with 25 acres of spruce you have some value there on the stump and could either cut a bunch of nice construction lumber or sell the stumpage and buy what you need. I guess it's all up to your wishes and abilities. Personally if I had access to a bandmill I'd do my own and build it bigger.
Good luck and let us know how it plays out.
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Fin
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# Posted: 30 Oct 2010 01:54pm
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Hey Jerry
Yes up here I'd have to grade the lumber to use it for anything that needed a building permit, ie., anything over a 10x10. This being my first foray into this sort of thing I'm just not sure which way to go. I'd rather use the lumber off the lot, there are a lot of trees that need to be taken down and I sure as heck don't plan on wasting them.
The cabin I'm thinking about would be based on a MacKenzie II design, you can see something like it here: http://www.townandcountryplans.com/mkenzie2.html. The plan is to go taller and add a loft for our boys. Kitchen duties will be relegated to a dining tent for some time then possibly another cabin if codes permit more than one on the lot.
But that would only be if I have to stick to the 10x10 size. If grading the lumber isn't too costly or difficult then I'll probably go quite a bit bigger, something in the neighborhood of a 14x16 or thereabouts. It all comes down on what the process is for grading. I have no idea where to start.
Cheers
Fin
P.S. I've been Fin to my friends since I was four, so you could say the nick stuck. ;-)
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Gary O
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# Posted: 30 Oct 2010 03:04pm
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Two words;
Horse trading
Opens up a ton of options when 'you hold he gold' (timber in your case)
That Mackenzie design is somewhat the way I'm going (simple leanto) but building two (short one first) and putting them together.
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Scott_T
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# Posted: 30 Oct 2010 03:24pm
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Four km's from water, electricity, etc. is a long way from the essentials! I think the answer to your question depends on how you plan to use the property and cabin? If your plans are to be at your in-laws all the time maybe the 10X10 is all you need (bunk house only)? My wife and two kids are opposed to staying in anything less than about 400 s.f. so you may need to take their needs/wants into consideration in order to keep the peace and maintain happiness. Good luck.
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Fin
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# Posted: 30 Oct 2010 04:07pm
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I hear you loud and clear Scott_T. We plan on using the cabin for a weekend camping supplement. My wife and I ride motorcycles, hers with a sidecar for the boys and mine solo so we tend to travel light and tent it. To us small is a four-man dome tent with two adults and two kids in it. ;-) Nothing like waking up with your three-year-olds legs across your throat! The last two summers we've spent our vacations touring this way with the occasional night or two in motels or rented cabins.
To have a small cabin gives us the added space and flexibility to spend long weekends or even a week at a time up there. Having the essentials four km down the road isn't really that much of a problem for now. The property is on a rural four season road and our clearing, once we extend the drive next spring will put us about 300 feet into the bush. Not a problem to make a run down the road with the hack for water, shower, etc.
In ten or fifteen years we'd like to build a larger cottage, so the bunkie would become a storage building or the boys cabin. We'll be thinking about the hydro, well and septic a little later on.
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Fin
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# Posted: 30 Oct 2010 04:12pm - Edited by: Fin
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Gary O
We do have the gold alright. Just need to sort out how to handle the grading of the lumber. If we go that route and end up building something larger your model may well be the ticket. A mental note has been made. :-)
Cheers
Fin
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Gary O
Member
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# Posted: 30 Oct 2010 04:55pm
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BTW
Welcome to the site, and thanks for this and your other post activities.
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 31 Oct 2010 07:54pm
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I would ask the guy at the mill about grading. Maybe he is qualified, maybe he knows someone who is.
Perhaps ask him if he'd come and look at the trees and buy timber for cash. That way you could buy kiln dried lumber and start the build without having to wait for the milled trees to dry.
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Fin
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# Posted: 31 Oct 2010 08:42pm
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Quoting: MtnDon I would ask the guy at the mill about grading. Maybe he is qualified, maybe he knows someone who is. Perhaps ask him if he'd come and look at the trees and buy timber for cash. That way you could buy kiln dried lumber and start the build without having to wait for the milled trees to dry.
Thanks MtnDon, that's a pretty good thought.
Cheers
Fin
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 1 Nov 2010 09:15am
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Fin, I got my plans from them also. Did the "Whitehorse". They are over engineered to comply with any area. I could of made lots more changes with whiteout, but I kept it ultra heavy duty. In fact, my cabin is on their website. Nice plans, good prices too. Have fun, I know I am. More so now that I'm in the finish/trim stages.
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MikeOnBike
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# Posted: 1 Nov 2010 03:44pm
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If allowed you could build several 10x10 structures and stay under the code requirements. The only drawback I can see is that it could be hard to heat several separate structures. Advantages are that you don't have to permit and you can easily add living space without having to get one large structure dried-in in one season.
Swamp Thing
A 10x10 is a bit small but with a loft up top and a futon couch down below you would still have room for a small kitchen spot and a little storage.
We just finished a 10x12 and it works quite well.
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 2 Nov 2010 09:17am
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In my state and most counties in my state, a 10X12 as long as it doesnt have a permanent foundation (concrete slab/footing-stemwall) can be built without a permit. So find out the max you can go and go that route.
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Fin
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# Posted: 2 Nov 2010 07:41pm
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Quoting: toyota_mdt_tech Fin, I got my plans from them also. Did the "Whitehorse". They are over engineered to comply with any area. I could of made lots more changes with whiteout, but I kept it ultra heavy duty. In fact, my cabin is on their website. Nice plans, good prices too. Have fun, I know I am. More so now that I'm in the finish/trim stages.
That's a nice cabin you have there. I could live in that easy. ;-)
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Fin
Member
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# Posted: 2 Nov 2010 07:46pm
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Quoting: MikeOnBike If allowed you could build several 10x10 structures and stay under the code requirements. The only drawback I can see is that it could be hard to heat several separate structures. Advantages are that you don't have to permit and you can easily add living space without having to get one large structure dried-in in one season. Swamp Thing A 10x10 is a bit small but with a loft up top and a futon couch down below you would still have room for a small kitchen spot and a little storage.
It was swamp thing that gave me the idea of multiples. It's nicely done with the decking linking it all together. Maybe one as a sleeping space and another as a kitchen with a deck linking them together. I'll have to check my local codes because I think I heard that you couldn't go more than one cabin without a permit. CabinBuilder may know, he's in the same neck of the woods as me.
Hey CabinBuilder, your thoughts?
Cheers
Fin
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CabinBuilder
Admin
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# Posted: 3 Nov 2010 10:02am
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I couldn't get a clear reply form the land officer in my municipality. Nothing about one cabin limit either (although it doesn't make sense to me).
These requirements change from one municipality/township to another, so you need to check your local codes.
Good luck with your project.
Keep us posted.
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Anonymous
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# Posted: 3 Nov 2010 11:47am
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Quoting: CabinBuilder I couldn't get a clear reply form the land officer in my municipality. Nothing about one cabin limit either (although it doesn't make sense to me). These requirements change from one municipality/township to another, so you need to check your local codes.
Ah I thought we were in the same municipality, sorry. I just received this email from my local planning secretary.
"You can build a "hunt camp" without water, electric or sewage hookup, any size you want. Any building over 100 square feet requires a building permit. You cannot build an "accessory" building before you build a primary building. A hunt camp would be considered a primary building. If you want to build a cottage later down the road, you could convert the hunt camp to a storage building and that way you would not need a minor variance."
I think I'll build a larger "hunt camp" using my own lumber and call it a day.
Saweet!
Cheers
Fin
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Fin
Member
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# Posted: 3 Nov 2010 11:48am
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Anonymous!!! Doh!
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