Wife wants...

Mike Davis

Mike
Corporate Member
a glass "guest house" in the woods.

I'm thinking 20 x 20 with 2 foot wrap around porch to make washing windows easier.
My shop at the farm was 16x16 and i always thought that would make a nice size cabin.
A 3x3 privy room in one corner with composting toilet. Water is there in the form of a farm freeze proof spigot.
Off grid, solar power with batteries and solar panels for lights only. Wood stove for winter heat.
Sliding door panels for walls set into post and beam construction.

Question:
Set 4x6 treated posts in ground at corners and midway on 4 walls?
Then 2x12 floor joists or would you go with steel joists and rafters?

Something else?
 

PeteM

Pete
Corporate Member
Sounds like a great project!
I didn't realize this was such a thing. Google came up with lots of info.
These architectural drawings are pretty detailed.
 

Oka

Casey
Corporate Member
Concrete pier block then 4x6 on top. Could do it in steel but I think it would be more costly.

Also, segregate the composting outhouse from the living quarters. Access via a 2-4' hallway making the bathroom adjacent to the building proper. Also, to be code legal with a composting outhouse the box needs to be made out of concrete and cleanable.
 
Last edited:

SteveHall

Steve
Corporate Member
Sounds like a great project!
I didn't realize this was such a thing. Google came up with lots of info.
These architectural drawings are pretty detailed.

Thanks for sharing this, I had no idea these drawings existed. Philip Johnson's Glass House is one of the most famous architectural residential examples in the world. He based it on the even more famous Farnsworth House by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ("Mies"). I'm pretty sure both contributed to the famous stone-throwing phrase.
 

tvrgeek

Scott
Corporate Member
If you pull it off, it could be two purpose, also kind of like a Gazebo retreat for entertaining. I might make at least one porch deeper.
 

Oka

Casey
Corporate Member
There are different levels of pressure treated lumber. For foundation or plate I always get the black one. The impregnation is similar to a concrete tie.

@Mike Davis nice toilets. I still would separate via a hallway the composting toilet/bath. Don't care what they promise/assert they are not as odor free as advertised......... talking from experience.



Pressure treated lumber in the ground does not last like it used to. I think the concrete pier idea is much better.
 

tvrgeek

Scott
Corporate Member
Yea, most people don't read the little tag that says "above ground" or "in ground" ratings for PT. Very few do correct end treatment when boards are cut and fewer proper drainage below a post. Like everything, dry is key.

Actual in ground, for the part in ground, seems to hold up. It is the section just above ground that fails. Usually. Not sure the older stuff was much better as I just replaced my deck that was less than 30 years old. Not only planking, but tops of the beams were going. My pole barn is sunk in PT. Only about 10 years old. I had bugs in one post. Saved by modern chemistry and my luck in finding it as the home inspector and termite service did not.
 

tvrgeek

Scott
Corporate Member
I have used Ondura for several sheds with great success over the long term. Might look into it.
 

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