Flooring from Green wood.

[LowKey]

Folks-
I'm thinking about a "temporary" cabin on my land.
The shell for the home I want to build there will take longer than the 30 days I'll have on site each year (I work overseas), but a smaller structure would work well as both a safe place to stay on-site (bears a re areal issue there) and a place to store tools and hardware.
As it's VERY expensive to haul stuff out there, if I put up a simple small one room cabin to serve as housing while onsite and storage while I'm gone, what about the floors?
I'm not worried about insulating this place. I am thinking about critters coming in through gaps created as logs and green lumber dry out.
Think lumber cut with an alaskan type mill.


Also, and as silly as this might sound, how to avoid stickiness from sap on fresh cut floorboards from spruce and hemlock....... I don't relish everything having that conifer tackiness as my wife may complain just a wee bit.

[Timberwolf]

Off the top. I would look for some kind of hardwood (aspen, oak, etc) to use as flooring. Lay down a layer of green boards, but cut twice as much as you need and stack it under cover to dry. Once the in place floor dries and the gaps open up, nail the second (now dry) layer of boards down in the opposite direction.

[Mosseyme]

Good idea but I don't know about western hemlock but eastern hemlock has a watery sap that dries smooth and not sticky . One of the things I love about it

[LowKey]

Thanks to both of you for responding.

Timberwolf- no oak up here. Spruce, hemlock, maybe red cedar, and definitely some alder.

Mossy- I'll have to find out about wester vs eastern hemlock. Would be nice if it's sap wasn't tacky!


Once problem....as the boards dry and shrink I wont be there to seal the gaps, and I'd really rather not have to argue with marten each spring fro ownership of the cabin. Not to mention cleaning out the debris they might leave over the winter.


To clarify for anyone reading: the site is in Southeastern Alaska. Averages about 10 degrees colder on any given day than Seattle. LOTS of rain. No road access to the land, just by boat.

[rocklock]

I have hemlock, red cedar and alder. If you have Doug fir or any type of fir I would use that first. Hemlock second and never Alder. Alder exposed to elements is asking for trouble.

I personally would build just big enough to house the biggest thing that needs to be stored plus a large overhang for a work place out of the rain. I would make it two stories and stick a bed up stairs with an outside entrance, because stairs are a pain in small places. Just a note, the muffin store, COS**, has beds in a box that will expand and are great to sleep on...

Check out pictures on my photobucket site - well shed. My son and I built this very quickly with all hand labor. Peel all your logs before you start building... Nothing is a bigger pain to wait while one is peeling the next log.

Critters will get in... Just do the best you can. Floors... If you use green boards I would use screws like KREG Screws that can be backed out and the boards reset to close the gap. I used green boards that air dried for 3 years and had a measured moister content of 8 Percent. After the first year of heating they opened up about 3/8th of an inch. The second year they opened up some more. I would go back and re screw them but I glued them as well as screwed...

Get a plan and build at least two models before even sharpening your chain saw.

[panderson03]

balmy then. at least compared to MN! :)

[rreidnauer]

Mothball the heck under the cabin before leaving.

[loghousenut]

I say mill twice as much of whatever you can find as early as you can to cure t as much as it will. Come time to floor the place, lay down the floorboards but don't nail them. Stack the rest of the flooring lumber inside on stickers. Last thing you do before you leave is pry the floor together as tight as you can and stack the stickered lumber crosswise on top as tight as you can. Next year, pull up the top layer and tighten up the first layer as you nail it.

Depending on how sappy the lumber is, you might get some mold and mildew between layers but I'd think it would wear down to a rustic beautifulliciousness.

[Mosseyme]

Ok, with the two layer floor, how about fastening the first layer then roll out wire mesh over that layer and float the second layer on top. Then when time to leave for the year, run a strip of wood over that every few feet and screw them down to hold the wood flat. The wire mesh would help block the critters from coming through the cracks and keep the wood separated to dry and then you could take up the strips that you screwed on top next year and tighten the boards up then screw them down when you think they have dried enough. Don't know if this girl talk makes any sense or not but I know what I am saying.

[LowKey]

Those are all some very good ideas! Thank you.

[Timberwolf]

Spruce if it's white or red cedar.