My timber frame build

[ljohnsaw]

I guess this is the official start of my timber frame build. First, here is what it is supposed to look like when finished:
 

  

The first step is to clear the land.  I spent about 4 hours today messing around and ended up with this:
 

 
The plot is level from left to right (pretty much) but there is a hollow between the front and the back, perhaps a foot or two.  The driveway (where I am taking the picture from) is about two feet above the garage floor so a little work will need to be done there.  There big green pile on the left is a burn pile - hopefully I will get a producing well and will have water so I can burn before a burn-ban is put into effect.   Very dry winter.  The tall stumps I left for the backhoe guy to knock out the roots when he comes on Wednesday for the septic mantle dig/test.  All the trees in the middle and the big ones you see in the back will be knocked down as well.

The big stuff on the right will be used for my timbers.  The well is marked to dig behind me and to the right, about 50 feet, almost inline with the right side of the cabin.  This is the top of my 10 acre parcel.  More pictures to come after Wednesday.

I'm next in line to have my engineer (Ben) review my plans for structural and then I can complete my drawings (details) for submission to the building department.  He's busy the beginning of this week with a timber frame bridge rehab.  It will will probably take me a couple of weeks to complete the drawings.

[beenthere]

Looks to be potential for a beautiful setting.
Now, how do you protect it from a forest or brush fire?

[ljohnsaw]

I will clear all brush from within 50' (I belive that is the code requirement) and all trees 75 to 100'.  All the trees have 50 years worth of dead limbs either attached or on the ground around them.  Lots of cleanup to do.  The area south and south west (up wind) was devistated by fire in 2001 - very little of anything left.  Some trees about 10' or so sparcely populate 1,000's of acres.   So I'm safe for a number of years right now.

[ljohnsaw]

Its been a couple of weeks and here is some progress so far:

Here was the cabin site in March 2013 as compared to the picture up top:
 
 

The septic leach field can NOT go up by the cabin - far too many rocks to be able to do something.  SO a site-hunting we went (county inspector and my engineer).  We found something down the hill that is working out.  Water table down 8+ feet and not a rock in sight (down that is):

 

A line will go out from where I'm standing and another parallel line to the left (looking north-northwest).  Now turn to the west and there is this old road snaking through the trees:
 
 

After a few hours, it looks like this:

 
Go all the way out to the end of my property, turn around looking east-northeast:
 

 

Not much to do with the cabin build but very rewarding just the same.  I found lots of cedar that had been down for quite some time (buried in tree litter) and solid as a rock.  I feel good about using this as sill material for my cabin.
 
Go back to the previous picture and turn to the south - this is the road back (UP) to the cabin site.  It will have a trench dug for the effluent pipe line from the septic tank to the leach field:

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, the trees you see in the sun are where the back of the cabin (north side) will be:

 

Quite a hill, 500' to the cabin site and probably 150' climb.  A blast on the ATV!

[WmFritz]

Nice looking property. Is it a large lot or acreage there?

[ljohnsaw]

I've got 10 acres. I'm building at the top because the freeway noise is minimized and I will have year-round access. This was not even the bottom. I've got another 300 feet north that drops probably 75' more!

[ljohnsaw]

Update:

I'm working both my septic and well at the same time.  The county lost a "promise to pay" form so they could not process my check for my septic plan.  Just sent them another one.  Of course they wanted another fee...

My well was another story:

First well (yep, more than one was drilled) started out in loose rock and soil.  So the standard $18.50/ft was $110.00/ft for concentric drilling - pulling casing (7") down behind the bit.  And I needed 95 feet of it! (do the math...) Came out in a volcanic layer (promising water...) but only picked up 1/2 GPM (needed 1 to get a building permit).  At 290' hit a clay later (what the heck?) for 80'.  Hit granite and went to 520'.  Then it got messy as the clay layer kept caving in.  Had to abandon.

Moved 50' and started over with a larger casing (10") so we could negotiate the clay layer later on.  Switched back to conventional drilling at 60'.  At 140', they called me to see what I wanted to do.  They had 60 GPM  coming out of the well.  The dilemma was we know that clay is down there and if we stop here, we cannot re-drill if this well dries up - I'll have to start over.  Had we not drilled the other well, we would just call this good.

My driller said, if this was mine, I'd call it good.  So I did!

So now, I've got 60 GPM sitting at 15' static level below ground - life is good (if not expensive!).  All totaled - I'm at just a bit over $20k invested (I expected to go about $14k).  I didn't take pictures but 60gpm down a hillside sure makes a big mess!

Next up - installing the septic and getting my structural engineering results back from the PE.

[thecfarm]

That mess is all behind you now. You're not the only one that has stories about a well. Just never know what will happen.
Looks like a very nice forest you have there.

[danreed76]

I didn't take pictures but 60gpm down a hillside sure makes a big mess!

I know that's right, especially if they used a surfactant to help keep the solids suspended as they were drilling.  It took weeks for me to get my driveway back into good shape after we drilled the well.

Glad to hear you got your well behind you.  Ours rang in at 50+ gpm and the driller stopped as he was afraid if he went deeper he'd hit a dry vein and lose it.

Are they making you put in a conventional septic system?

[Piston]

Wow, 60gpm!  That's pretty impressive. 

The site looks like it's gonna make a great spot!  It will be fun to follow your progress.   

[ljohnsaw]

Are they making you put in a conventional septic system?

I kept getting bad vibes from the county and the engineer that "engineered" systems were the norm in my area.  As it turns out, I'm going conventional because we found perfect conditions for the leach field, albeit 500' down the hill.  Now the only issue is digging a few holes up at the cabin site for a 1,000' gallon septic tank and a pair of 300 gallon tanks for water (one drinking the other fire suppression).

Later this week or starting next week I'll have the backhoe guy back to make my driveway, clear the building site of all stumps and rocks and dig the holes for the tanks.  The county has all my forms and fees now so I should have the the septic plan approved this week.  Now all I need to do is finish my detail plan work so I can submit for a building permit.

[danreed76]

I kept getting bad vibes from the county and the engineer that "engineered" systems were the norm in my area. 

  I guess I should have said allow you to put in a conventional system.

Looks like we'll be going the same way (using an alternative leach field product like e-z flow though, as washed gravel is approaching the price of gold).  I had started looking into separating the gray water (water from sink and shower drains) into a "holding tank" that could be pumped in for flushing toilets (use the water twice before it goes to septic) but the county folks started twitching pretty good when I started asking those kinds of questions.

[ljohnsaw]

I'm using the EZ Flow styrofoam product as well. 80 linear feet of 12"x36" is $666 (nice number), 1,000 gal tank @ $925 and 500' of SDR35 glue up @ $650

[ljohnsaw]

Update:

Next up - installing the septic and getting my structural engineering results back from the PE.

Got a note back from the structural engineer.  My timber sizes pass (a couple could be downsized) and I don't have to put in any shear walls    At least that is what he says - we'll see what the county has to say about that.  My open frame passed and he commented that adding the plain board walls will only make it better (stiffer).

Back to work on the SU and Layouts to submit to my engineer for review before sending in to the County.

Also, working on my mill.  This thing is turning out to be a tank!  Very heavy duty.  I'll start another thread on that once I get enough done to take some pictures.  I've designed it to handle 40" x 36' (I have the need for 32' beams).

[Piston]

Update:

Next up - installing the septic and getting my structural engineering results back from the PE.

Got a note back from the structural engineer.  My timber sizes pass (a couple could be downsized) and I don't have to put in any shear walls    At least that is what he says - we'll see what the county has to say about that.  My open frame passed and he commented that adding the plain board walls will only make it better (stiffer).

Back to work on the SU and Layouts to submit to my engineer for review before sending in to the County.

Also, working on my mill.  This thing is turning out to be a tank!  Very heavy duty.  I'll start another thread on that once I get enough done to take some pictures.  I've designed it to handle 40" x 36' (I have the need for 32' beams).

All good news!    Especially the part about showing us some pics of your mill build, that sounds impressive!   

[ljohnsaw]

Work is continuing but slow on my mill build.  I just fabricated some leveling legs to add and the first set of track will be done.  I need to get the other sections done and up to the property (running out of room at home).  I'll keep the 8' section here to use in the build of the head.  I picked up an old heavy duty boat trailer (the frame anyhow) to use to haul my mill and other stuff.  I will be upgrading the single axle to a 3,500# straight from the 1,500-2,000# drop.  Then I figure I can move some lumber with it as well.

The county FINALLY returned my approved permit for my septic - so now we can continue (legally) with my septic install.  Naturally, we found a large bolder where we planned to place the tank.  My backhoe guy is attempting to split with a Bentonite compound (drill holes, pour in and it swells to split the rock).

I got my markups back from my structural engineer (FTET) and modified my drawings (slightly).  Waiting for final so I can submit my plans to the county.  My FasWall ICF block should be arriving somewhere between 7/20 and 7/22.  I'll post some picture of those when they get here.

[Jim_Rogers]

Thanks for the update.

Jim Rogers

[ljohnsaw]

Time for an update.

My structural engineer has stamped my drawing    Now I'm working on getting a set of pages prepared for the mandatory fire suppression (sprinkler system) that is required in California since 2010.  Once that is done, I will go for permit.

Prerequisites for a permit? Water and sewer.  I have the producing well and the Heath Department signed off on my septic a couple weeks ago.  I spend a number of days returning my road to service.  We dug it up to place the effluent pipeline down to the leach field.  I tried to upload a 9meg video here, but was too big   So, I uploaded it to YouTube:
 

I start at the bottom (sorry for the quality - I used my flip phone) and you see the leach field.  I head north on the west line, turn right to the east line and head south to the D-box.  There are some pink markers for the ends of the two runs as well as the green covers for the view ports.  I could not see what my phone was recording due to glare so it didn't come out so well.  Next, I pass by the D-box where the pipe splits for the two runs.  As I travel up the hill to the septic tank, I look at some hose bibs for watering the road (nasty dust) and places that still need some fill.  The big rocks on the sides of the road all came out of the 12" trench.  The trench got pretty big in places.  I put as much rock back in the trench as I could - so I'm still short some dirt.  The bottom half of the road is actually much smoother than it was before the trenching.

I stop at the top by the septic tank (that needs to be buried, still) and then the north end of the building site.  I get a shot of the SkyTrac and a portion of the FastWall blocks (you can see about 1/3 of them).

Next, I will be laying out where the footings will be poured in hopes of a fast County approval of my plans.  I would like to get the footing done this year if at all possible.

The overall look of the cabin is still what is shown on the top post.

[ljohnsaw]

Update:

Already had snow twice (and melted) at the site but did manage to do some clearing (and covering my septic tank).  This is looking north from my driveway (runs east-west).  The septic tank is to the left of the big rock in the sun on the left side.
 

 

The six orange stakes mark the ends of three 12' foundation walls that will support the deck sitting in front of the cabin.  This will be 12' high but back-filled 2 feet.

I attached a little skid-steer bucket (44" wide) to my Skytrak and moved a lot of dirt in the background (pile of dirt on the right by the pine that will be coming down).  Did so quickly but making a new 72" bucket that is heavier duty to work faster and later, to back-fill easier.  I mangled the skid steer bucket a few times,.so I'm getting much better at welding    7018 is a bit tricky to work with, but sure is pretty.

And this is some of what I pulled out of the ground (tip of the iceberg thing...).
 

 

 

 

This big one (6 foot across) I could not lift, only slide with my Skytrak that has a 9,000 lift rating.  I looked up the weight of granite and this calcs out to 18,000+ pounds

I finally got my sprinkler plans back (about 12 weeks  ) and I'm in contact with Cal Fire to see if I can be exempted.  The engineer calls for 33 sprinkler heads, 600 gallons of storage and a 5 HP pump , all to be done off-grid    I looked up Honda pumps and they have a unit that will do 61 gpm @ 51 psi but my engineer is calling for 65 @ 65!  I figure I will need an auto start gas model, if I can get one big enough or get the engineer to back off a little.

We are getting three days of rain this week with a little snow up the hill so my construction may be at a standstill for the winter 

Back to the mill build.

[firecord]

I doubt seriously he'll back off!  I spent 17years at an auto manufacturing plant as the fire protection.cooridinator.  (firecord). Pressure. and volume put fires out.  Room size dictates need, there are more factors that are figured in but it comes back to how much per room.  600 gallons wont go far even if only 1 head opens.  If it were me, i would shoot for 1000 gallon tank and a much biger pump.  this way if something were to go wrong (ie. broke pipe) some water would reach the head in need.  also inquire about a dry pipe system cause year old sprinkler water stinks.