Setback #1: Spring Flood

Meetup: Spring Builds 2015

At our latest Meetup I had a great discussion about my plans with John Hattie from Atlantic Home Designs.

His drawings are so clear and his understanding of construction details has been so helpful to me.

This drawing is showing the "hot roof", which will allow me to have all kinds of insulation (in the form of rigid EPS "TrueFoam") while still leaving the rafters exposed.  We discussed the details of how to insulate and air seal properly at the connection of the wall and roof.  It will be built so that the option to spray foam the rafters on the inside is still possible without causing any moisture issues.

Next Step:  Windows!  Once I buy windows I can finalize the wall framing plans.

My Walden

Interior Finishes

Starting to play around with interior finishes in Photoshop... wasn't sure about white windows, but they are much easier to find. Also wasn't sure about having all wood walls - thought it might be too much.  But so far I'm liking the look of this.

Roof Angle Change

After seeing another tiny home, and rethinking the site, I've decided to change the slope of the roof for the following reasons:

• it gives more useable space in the loft, with more headroom along the head of the bed, and allows for bigger windows facing the lake. 
• bigger windows upstairs allow safe egress from the loft to the porch roof, in case of fire.
• the slope now faces south if I ever want to add solar panels.
• if I ever haul it on the highway, it will be more aerodynamic.
• the short ends are now load bearing, freeing up the side walls to have more openings and bigger windows towards the lake without having to add thermal bridges in the form of double headers.
• I find it looks smaller when approaching it because we're now seeing an 8 foot wall instead of a 13 foot wall, which I find less intrusive on the site. 

I've also decided to have flush beams for the floor and use joist hangers, in order to facilitate rigid insulation wrapping the exterior from the walls to the floor with the fewest thermal bridges.

And I've made it a foot longer to allow room in the bathroom for a prefab shower stall.

Design is still evolving, but will have to be finalized soon... spring is almost here!

3D Model

Design Evolving

The design is evolving.  I've moved the cabin door to the side, so you now enter the cabin through the screened in porch.. so the door you see below is entering the porch.  Window size and shape is still being decided. 

I've also raised the roof a bit to allow for a better slope on the porch, and room for clerestory windows.