Planning a tiny home cabin, looking for input

[PsoasHunter]

We bought some undeveloped property last summer on a river on the Olympic Penninsula, in Grays Harbor County.  The 10 year plan is to get power, a well, and a cabin built on septic. 

In the short term, we've enjoyed camping, but I would like a more permanent structure for the next few years until we build, as it would be more comfortable staying out there with our young kids (3 and 10 months old) in the winter months.  I'm thinking of building a 10x20 foot shed-style building that we can camp out of in the short term, and use as a storage building down the road.  The building will not be plumbed.

For the framers out there, I'm thinking of full 8' studs for an 8'4.5" back wall, w/ an additional 4' 3" wall on the front, single-sloped roof, and putting a loft in the far end about 6'6" off the ground. This should give a loft height of about 5'6" or so at it's highest point. I'm not drywalling the interior, so I'm not worried about the walls being taller than 8'. The whole thing will sit on 4x8 beams I already have on pierblocks.

I'm curious on input on windows, airflow, water-proofing, heating options, conveniences found in small spaces for space utilization, ect.

So for those of you with small cabin experience, what do you like and dislike?  What would you do differently?

[bearpaw]

When we were young my wife and I bought and lived in a small 8x40 old trailer home for a couple years to get ahead until we could afford something better. We put in a small wood stove that handled the job very well and we saved on not using the electric heating much. I had thought about doing an addon but opted to save the funds for a better home, afterward I'm glad we saved the funds for the better home, but that cheap little trailer sure helped us get ahead.

Some friends of ours built a shop that they lived in until they could afford to build the log home they really wanted, they also used wood heat to save on expenses while saving for the new home, they stayed in the "shouse for about 20 years or a little more. About 10 years ago they built their dream log home and converted the original "shouse" to being a shop.

Here's a thought: If I was going to build a temporary shed home, I think I would use 16' studs on the front so you have good ceiling height in the upper floor and maybe 14' studs on the back side, then put beds along the lower wall. Depending on how wide the shed will be and if you will get snow in that area, you might want a little more pitch for snow to slide off so a little shorter studs might be needed on the back wall.

Right now lumber is cheap again, it's a good time to frame a building. Someday when you get your permanent home built, you could even add another side to the shed and have a good sized shop for storage, maybe even a car garage if you build the first half wide enough.

Good luck however you decide to do it.

[Cougartail]

When you frame small cabins ALWAYS frame in doors on numerous sides that you just cover until needed. Stay on layout with studs through the doorways. If needed they can be easily be knocked out.

It makes expansion so much easier having the door already in place. Plans change and your cabin should be built for changes.

My biggest regret on my first cabin build.

[baldopepper]

We built a 12x20.cabin on our place and used it for several years until we put in a permanent home. Went ahead and plumbed and wired it simply because it was easier to do while building it. Kind of set it up like the wiring and plumbing in a travel trailer so we could use a generator for power and a 40 gal water tank for water. Put a small bathroom in and used a portable toilet in there and set up made the wife much more willing to stay for a while. I would suggest you get a septic system as soon as possible as some counties are getting very restrictive on them.  You have to think ahead on what the county might be doing on building restrictions if you plan to eventually build a permanent structure. We were able to get things done 10 years ago.that would be much more restrictive now.

[trophyhunt]

First thing I thought of for heat, those diesel heaters, sounds perfect for a 10x20 room. 

[actionshooter]

 This is our off grid 12x20... we have propane heat and didn't put a wood stove in because of the lack of space... On the coast, I would probably go for a small wood stove because of the added moisture.... make sure to insulate the floors along with everything else, its made a huge difference. Screen the bottom of the floor joist... (damn chipmunks)

 Build it as tight as you can and fill every void with the Rodent Spray Foam, screen the gable vents... we have been very lucky and only get flys coming in through the vinyl windows, other than that... no pests to speak of.

 Building a garage to live in, then converting later is a good idea, just didn't work for us at the time or we would have done that.

 After getting this set up, pitching a tent has gotten kind of tough. 

[PsoasHunter]

Really good input and ideas so far, thank you!

To clarify, this is planned to be a hunting and vacation property, we don't plan on moving out there anytime in the next 30 years. Plans for a future build would be a bigger hunting cabin to sleep family. This smaller building is just to get us a place to sleep for clam digs in the winter and hunting and fishing trips in the fall. It needs to be cheaper and simpler to put up.

[brew]

Ever think about 40' conex shipping containers ?  No permits required and waterproof.  Check out eveoncontainers.com.  looks to be about 3k for one delivered to Gray's harbor area

[birdshooter1189]

I built a 12x16' well shed with a large storage loft similar to what you are describing.  Mine is sitting on pressure treated lumber on the dirt.  My biggest regret with that shed is that I didn't pour a concrete floor.  If I seal off the foundation to retain ground heat I struggle with moisture rotting out my floor.  If I open up the foundation so that it can breath, I worry about it getting too cold and freezing my pipes. 

In my opinion, I'd prefer even a dry-pour floor with bags of quickcrete instead of the lumber-only foundation/floor that I built.

[92xj]

If you put one of these on a gravel base, what size gravel would you use?   Could rodents move that gravel to get under?    Stapled 1/4” hardware cloth around the entire bottom perimeter, then cover the cloth with a few inches of gravel.   Thoughts?

[LDennis24]

Go with a connex container, it will far outlast a wooden shed and is pretty much rodent proof for storage as well

[2MANY]

This thread is a great advertisement for building permits and codes.

Unfortunatly.

[PsoasHunter]

This thread is a great advertisement for building permits and codes.

Unfortunatly.

Not quite sure what you mean, do you mind clarifying? I intend to permit anything legally requiring a permit, if that's what you're getting at. 

[PsoasHunter]

For the shipping containers, anyone ever add windows? I don't think I could sleep in an enclosed metal box, let alone convince my wife too. Seems uncomfortable on many Leventhal, but don't know if I'm just being paranoid.

[PsoasHunter]

Good input on foundation types. I'm thinking beams on pier blocks. I'm not too worried about floor insulation as it's near the coast so never too cold, and a small woodstove will probably over heat the space. I like the tips on rodent preventing, Iwasn't t thinking of that. Thank you.