Building our Dream Home a.k.a. Delusions of Retirement

[EOTE]

Early on in our planning, when we decided to build the house from the trees we cut on our own land, we also made the decision to use shiplap for sheathing the house instead of OSB or plywood.  This was based in part on seeing old homes that were built using shiplap and how they have held up better in the long term than those built with OSB or plywood.  However, we needed a way to process all the raw 1" x 6" and 1" x 8" boards into shiplap.  So with my penchant for doing POC's first to ensure our ability to make the shiplap, we decided to do the roof of the sawmill house with shiplap.  This gave us a 1200 square foot roof to cover which meant processing approximately 250 - 1" x 6" x 12' boards into shiplap.

Our first run of boards were first sized with a compound miter saw set up between two skate wheel conveyors.  Next, the boards were thickness planed on both sides to 7/8" thickness.  Last, they were run through the table saw using a dado blade set to cut a 1/2" wide 7/16" deep lap joint.  We found that this part of the process literally wore us out manually pushing the boards through.  So we decided to invest in a power feed for the table saw.  We found we could feed the boards through at 108 feet per minute and cut all the boards needed for the sawmill house roof in about 2 hours.

Are we saving anything on using shiplap instead of plywood or OSB?  Probably not.  But we can say we did it, we built our home from scratch.  POC's also pay off when deciding feasibility or process.  






 

This is half of the "1 x 6" boards after sizing and ready for planing.



 

The shiplap after processing... 



 

Here it is being used to sheath the sawmill house roof.

[tule peak timber]

Shear, structural  engineering ? Will this pass your county ?Why did you not go full T&G ?

[EOTE]

Shear, structural  engineering ? Will this pass your county ?Why did you not go full T&G ?

In our part of Texas, we do not need county approval for building structures.  However, I always try to meet or exceed structural standards from the different building trades groups and professional associations because quite honestly, I don't want to have structural problems.  Although I spent my last 24 years in the IT industry, my schooling was in Mechanical Engineering.

Shiplap was very common for sheathing homes and other structures prior to the advent of plywood, OSB and other structured materials.  Many homes in this area are more than a hundred years old and have held up better than newer ones using modern structured materials.  

I chose not to go full T&G simply because of the extra work involved. 

[tule peak timber]

Well good luck, I look forward to following your thread.  Rob

[Don P]

Building at or above code minimums is also something to think about insurance wise.
Back down in the weeds a little bit;
Board sheathing, being longer bracing, performs better than 4x8 sheets in the mind of the couple of engineers I've talked to about it. That is if it is diagonal to the framing. I suspect that if all edges of sheet goods are blocked and all else is equal they are similar in performance. There is no edge treatment required on sheathing boards. This isn't a great blowup from yesterday but shows just planed rough edged subfloor sheathing.



 
The finish floor will be T&G running perpendicular to the framing. If you go to code minimum a floor can be just T&G with end matching nailed directly to the joists, no subfloor. I've lived in that house, don't go there. The walls here will get the same diagonal square edged sheathing under B&B siding. For that reference R602.10.4 method DWB, diagonal wood boards, 3/4" thick minimum with 2  nails per stud 2-1/2" x.113" diameter min. (aside, notice in the footnotes there, adhesive attachment is prohibited in seismic C and above, you actually want the wall to absorb some of that motion, damping, making the wall too stiff there overstresses other elements, think crack the whip). We'll use tyvek to do the wind blocking and tarpaper under the flooring. The roof will be done perpendicular to the framing like EOTE's above, the metal sheets will form that bracing. This is all getting inspected, I've been through this part of the code a lot.

[Armymann50]

two thumbs up keep us posted

[EOTE]

Some random notes on our progress...

Christmas holidays found me with a nasty cold that sidelined me from getting any work done for almost 2 weeks.  However, I am planning on laying out the home site this week and recording all the elevations etc. in anticipation of site prep.

I am planning on setting up my green laser on a permanent steel pole that will allow a standard site elevation reading from anywhere in the clearing where the house will be built.  This will be immensely valuable when trenching in all the utilities as well as the foundation work.  

I located two 24" diameter shortleaf pine trees on our lower 10 acres that are between 100' and 120' feet in height with no branches for at least 80' and are about as straight as a pool cue.  I am planning on dropping them for some needed 20' lengths of 2" x 4" and 2" x 6" s.  I've had to cut almost a 1000' access road through the undergrowth to get to them and also cut up a downed elm tree (blew over this spring) that should produce some nice boards.  Both have a pretty clear drop zone so hopefully I will have them bucked and to the sawmill site by next week.

Hopefully we will have the site prep done by February depending on how much rain we end up getting.  

[EOTE]

This last week we finally had a forecast for some rain which we haven't gotten enough of the last 4 months.  Usually we get between 3" and 5" per month so while looking forward to rain, it was also an "oh shoot" moment where I realized I had to get a couple of trees dropped before the rain came...

I have needed some 20' lengths of 2" x 6" to make trusses for the sunroom of our home and had my eye on a couple of beauties down in the bottom land.  However, if we got rain, I knew my window of opportunity would close and I would have to wait for the next dry spell before I could attempt to drop them.

I had a few obstacles in my way including not having a road to those trees which was roughly 800' away from the nearest road and at the bottom of the hill.  So I walked the area and found what looked like an old logging road that had grown over with lots of undergrowth but the slope was pretty gentle.  It took a couple of days of work to clear the road to the bottom land.  Next, there was a 15" elm tree that had fallen across the dry creek right where the road reaches the bottom land.  I was able to limb it and actually reclaim 6 - 8' logs.  I spent the next day clearing the drop zone for the first tree.  I cleared an area exactly opposite of where I originally intended to drop the first tree because the undergrowth was lighter and there was minimal contact with other trees in the area.  On the right of the drop zone is a 30" diameter shortleaf pine with a pretty gnarly top and on the left of the drop zone was numerous young pines that stood 70' to 80' high as well as a mix of young hardwood trees.

I dropped the tree and it measured 110' in height, 24" in diameter, had 58 rings and was literally straight as an arrow.  I cut out 1 - 20' log and 5 - 12' logs.  Now the fun started, as the 20' log and the next 12' log were too heavy for the 12 Mexicans to lift with the grapple.  (besides, my roads are only wide enough to allow me to carry 12' long logs back to the mill.) 



 

I initially tried pulling the 20' log using some small wheels and my log tongs but backing up the hill became a balancing act.  Half way up the hill I gave up and tried dragging it with back blade.  Unfortunately, the blade couldn't lift the log high enough to get one end off the ground.  By then it was dark so I gave up until the next day.





In the morning I decided to upgrade the Taco box mount with a grab hook so I could lift the log off the ground.



 

The net result was successful lifting of the front of the log.



 

Next, I grabbed one of the 12' logs with the grapple to provide counter weight for the tractor and was able to make the 1/2 mile trip back to the mill without any tipping or instability.

After moving the rest of the logs to a high ground staging area, I cleared the drop zone for the second tree and successfully dropped it.  It was a stunning 120' tall, 26" in diameter, only 48 rings, and yielded one 20' log and 6 - 12' logs for a total of 92' of usable wood!



 

4 days of work to get 2 trees down and hauled to the mill, just in time for the rains to hit.  Now we have a week of rain in the forecast so I am waiting for it to clear so I can saw up the logs.  I estimated the two trees will net almost 5,000 board feet of lumber.

[thecfarm]

Nice pile of logs there. Nice piece of land there too. I have some level ground, but what some I have, the rocks stick up in it.

[woodroe]

Nice looking logs, ambitious project, good luck with it.
Was there almost 30 years ago doing the same thing except I hired a bandsaw 
to come on the property to saw the logs. Also because of the need to get a building
up quick after the land purchase we bought the framing lumber and sheathing 
from the local lumber yard.
However all the interior lumber for trim, some walls and ceilings, cabinets
and most of the flooring both hard and softwood came from wood i cut off the property milled and planed here. 
The garage which came years later was all built from wood off the property .
In retrospect, the garage should have been built first had I not been in a hurry to
get the house up.
I had some big pine logs that I could lift by the butt, some 30 " using 2 chains. One chain wrapped around the butt and 
cinched tight with a grab hook, the other chain with 2 grab hooks, each grab hook hooked to the butt chain 
down low on both sides of the log. 
Saved a ton of money doing things this way and as long as one has the energy, time and patience it 
is a satisfying and money saving way to go. No regrets here.

[WDH]

Your pine sure looks like lobloLLy and not shortleaf .  Still, very nice logs.  

[EOTE]

Nice pile of logs there. Nice piece of land there too. I have some level ground, but what some I have, the rocks stick up in it.

I am very fortunate on this piece of land to have deep soil (thanks to my uphill neighbors ;D).  We have some rocks but most of them I've imported from my uphill neighbors to act as water breaks to prevent my soil from washing down to the down hill neighbors. Soil is mixed, usually a deep sandy loam with a red dirt under base.  Rocks are iron ore. I have a creek on the south end of the property that has cut almost 20 feet deep in some areas.





Fortunately the soil is very stable for building purposes.

Oh, and here is what the bottom land looks like when it rains...that's the pine tree I took down.



 

[EOTE]

Your pine sure looks like lobloLLy and not shortleaf .  Still, very nice logs.

Hi WDH, just wondering about your assessment of the log species...I don't claim to be an expert, actually the opposite, I believe I am a novice and am learning every day about the flora and fauna of my little piece of earth.  I was just wondering what are your identification criteria because I am no expert but I want to be knowledgeable.   Your input is really appreciated as it helps me to grow in my knowledge.  

Early on I learned to go to sources for help in identifying new discoveries as I have to plead ignorance when it comes to plant identification as well as a plethora of other topics so that is why am part of the Forestry Forum and why I am responding to your input.

For the trees on my land, I submitted some photos a couple of years ago to Stephen F. Austin University for identification.  They responded and also pointed me to a guide they published online for determining species.  

Below are links to SFASU's identification guide for Loblolly and Shortleaf pine.

Shortleaf pine - SFASU - Shortleaf Pine Identification

Loblolly pine - SFASU - Loblolly Pine Identification

These are pictures I submitted to them for identification:

Loblolly Pine




Loblolly Pine


 



Shortleaf Pine


 

Shortleaf Pine


 


Here is a closeup of the pine logs I brought to my sawmill last week:




So you have me second guessing what I am cutting and looking at.  Any Thoughts?

[WDH]

Yes sir.  LobloLLy pine cones are about the size of your closed fist, maybe a bit bigger.  Shortleaf cones are much smaller, about the size of a lemon or half the size of your fist.  LobLLoly needles are 6" to 8" long, and are in bundles of three.  Shortleaf needles are 3" to 5" long and are in bundles of mostly two's, sometimes threes, and they can be mixed on the same branch.  Also, the bark of shortleaf pine has pitch pockets, lobLLoly bark does not.  Pitch pockets look like little mini-craters, like the ones on the moon.  They are small, about the diameter of a grain of rice.  Check out the pic of shortleaf bark in this link and you will see some of the distinctive little crater-like pitch pockets.




The reason that I suspected your tree in the pic was lobLLoly was that the needles looked a bit too long to be shortleaf, but, the crown was a long way away in the pic, and I could be mistaken.  Go look at the needles and see how long they are.  LobLLoly needles are always in threes's, never two's.  You will have mostly two's on shortleaf as well as some three's.  Cone size is a dead give-away as lobLLoly cones are three times the size of shortleaf cones. 

[EOTE]

I finally have gotten all the obstacles (i.e. prerequisite projects) out of the way so next week I will start site prep for the new home.  I have approximately 400 cubic yards of soil to move for leveling and site contouring.  After which I will trench for all the utilities (water, septic, and power) and then install the plumbing and electrical feed.

When I originally built my barn, I installed a large enough feed and electrical boxes so I can branch from the barn to the house with a 200 amp feed that is separate from the barn's electrical service.

Also since we use rainwater collection, we have 15K gallon reserve tanks and a water purification system so potable water will be plumbed from the barn to the house.

Here is our rainwater storage system.


 

The septic system was put in when we built the barn in anticipation of both the house and the barn being hooked to the system.

We originally cleared a 100' fire break around the home site but since we changed the location slightly, I will have to extend the firebreak around the perimeter another 30' on 2 sides which means a lot more land clearing and trees coming down.  Hopefully this will go without too many difficulties.

[Ljohnsaw]

Also since we use rainwater collection, we have 15K gallon reserve tanks and a water purification system so potable water will be plumbed from the barn to the house.

Can you tell us more about this?  How much maintenance is required?  My well produces super iron rich water so not great for drinking.  I could do rain (snow) collection and have a separate potable water system from the shower/toilet system.

[scsmith42]

Great project! Thank you for bringing us along for the ride.

A couple of thoughts.  First, a 3 or 5 hp shaper with a power feeder will give you the flexibility for make T&G. Even better would be to purchase a moulder and then resell it when you are done. I recall that a Baker M412 was advertised here not too long ago and it included a lot of tooling.

If you ever want to utilize the upstairs, think about incorporating an elevator into your plans.

For some reason your master bedroom struck me as a little small. If you have dressers, etc around the perimeter, a king size bed, and room for a walker to easily maneuver around you might want to consider something larger.

[EOTE]

Also since we use rainwater collection, we have 15K gallon reserve tanks and a water purification system so potable water will be plumbed from the barn to the house.

Can you tell us more about this?  How much maintenance is required?  My well produces super iron rich water so not great for drinking.  I could do rain (snow) collection and have a separate potable water system from the shower/toilet system.

Hi Ljohnsaw,
First, on rainwater collection, check your local and state laws.  I understand some places outlaw rainwater collection.  Here it Texas they actually promote it.

When we started looking at water options on our land, we found two abandoned wells which the people before us actually damaged by having the land cleared with a bulldozer.  The dozer operator didn't know the wells existed and so he crushed the stand pipes on the wells.  Cost of remediation on unknown wells or drilling a new one was a minimum of 12K.  

When we calculated how much water we could generate from the roof area of our barn design using the historical rainfall data, we calculated that our barn would capture as much as 84K gallons of water per year.  When we calculated our historical usage at our home in central Texas including irrigation, we averaged about 3300 gallons per month.  Based on that data we wanted to have a reserve of at least 5 months or 15K gallons.  

The system is pretty simple and straight forward...the barn roof has gutters on both sides and under the downspouts (5 each on either side) we fitted a pre-screen water collector plumbed into 4" diameter pvc pipe.  The water flows down the pipe to a U-shaped pipe that acts as a first flush to catch roughly the first 20 to 50 gallons and dump it off and not into the tanks.  Although we have 3 tanks, we only plumbed the water flow to the outer two tanks.  The two outer tanks have basket strainers between the pipes and the water in the tank.  All three tanks are plumbed together so the outer tanks actually fill the inner tank.

All three tanks have overflow plumbing so when the tanks are full, the water will flow out of the overflow pipe.

Yes, your tanks will have dissolved bird poop, ash, dust, pollen, etc. flow into them from the gutters.  However, it is the water purification system that is the workhorse.  The water flow from the tanks into the barn passes through a back-flow preventer and a water meter to a shallow well pump.  The pump has a 100 gallon pressure tank attached and maintains between 30 and 50 psi.  The water from the pump flows through a purification system manufactured by Aquasana.  It sports a 35 micron pre-filter, a carbon filter, a 10 micron post filter, and an ultraviolet irradiation module.  
Water tests for over 180 contaminants has shown the water to be near distilled quality with no minerals, salts, pesticides, or other potentially harmful materials.  We "slam" the tanks quarterly using 1 gallon of bleach per tank and the pre and post filters are also changed quarterly.  Shut off valves allow me to isolate any part of the system for maintenance.

Note:  We just checked for sediment in the tanks and there is so little we have no need of cleaning the bottom of the tanks at this point (3 years after installation).



 


This photo shows the details of the water collection plumbing.


 

Here is a view (although a poor one) of the water purification system.  We originally had only a 20 gallon pressure tank but the pump cycled too often so we added a 100 gallon pressure tank to the system.
 



This is the screen I used to keep critters from getting into the overflow pipe.
 

 


During our first winter we found that we had to insulate the pipes and valves.  We used regular pipe insulation overlaid with aluminized bubblewrap (R-5) to prevent the pipes from freezing.  I have in the plans a temperature controlled recirculation system that will kick in at 30 degrees.



 

Total cost of tanks, plumbing, and water purification system was about $7,500.

[EOTE]

Great project! Thank you for bringing us along for the ride.

A couple of thoughts.  First, a 3 or 5 hp shaper with a power feeder will give you the flexibility for make T&G. Even better would be to purchase a moulder and then resell it when you are done. I recall that a Baker M412 was advertised here not too long ago and it included a lot of tooling.

If you ever want to utilize the upstairs, think about incorporating an elevator into your plans.

For some reason your master bedroom struck me as a little small. If you have dressers, etc around the perimeter, a king size bed, and room for a walker to easily maneuver around you might want to consider something larger.

SCSmith42, those are good thoughts and ideas. Thank you.

We are still exploring options for the T&G at this point.  My original POC was using my Triton router (mounted on my table saw router table extension) and using the Powermatic power feed to push the boards through the router in two passes.  The router is a 3 1/4 hp Triton and the power feed can push the boards through at 38 fpm with no overloading on the router.  I am not sure how many board feet of T&G the router can withstand but I am expecting to process somewhere around 1500 board feet.  We also could use the table saw to create the tongue but it would require an additional pass and flipping the board.  

We are currently using the table saw to process shiplap and it handles it with ease.  I can feed the boards at 108 fpm with no problems.  I just changed the style of dado blades I am using as the chips coming off of the old dado set were interlocking and clogging the vacuum port.

The Master bedroom is actually larger that what we have now so I am expecting our existing furniture to fit quite easily with plenty of walking room around the bed even with the existing dressers.  We did measure for accessibility as that was raised early on in this thread so we've had to rethink some of the accessibility issues in the house plans.

[Ljohnsaw]

The water flows down the pipe to a U-shaped pipe that acts as a first flush to catch roughly the first 20 to 50 gallons and dump it off and not into the tanks.

Thanks for the details.  I spent $22k on my well and, while safe to drink, doesn't taste so good.

I'm guessing that is a manual thing?  You keep it drained and when it starts to rain, it fills up to be drained after the rain stops?  Pretty simple.

[Magicman]

We drank roof runoff water from a cistern, no filters nor purification and guess what?  All of my ancestors, parents, and everyone else during that era lived.  Maybe bird poop and frog pee is good for you.  :

[WDH]

MM,

If you can eat that pickled bolagna, then that water should be just fine . 

[Magicman]

I would talk.....


 
Fact is, I think that Jeff was trying to kill us all off. 

[EOTE]

I'm guessing that is a manual thing?  You keep it drained and when it starts to rain, it fills up to be drained after the rain stops?  Pretty simple.

Its a semi-manual process.  I just leave the caps on loose and they will drain out after the storm from slow leakage.

[EOTE]

MM,

If you can eat that pickled bolagna, then that water should be just fine .

That's a new one to me...pickled bologna.  I like the garlic bologna from Boars Head.