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Rocky Mountains 1905 Cabin Addition

Integrating livable space to a historic cabin

By High Altitude Finishes

December 15^th, 2022

In the Fall of 2022 we completed the transformation of an old porch into an insulated livable space. The goal of our clients was to add more insulated livable space to their cabin to allow for comfortable winter use.

Some of the complexities of this project included framing individual window units one at a time instead of framing the whole bay of windows at once. We had to integrate this addition to an old cabin that was not square in any way or form. Our clients decided not to pour a foundation but carry the project on piers. This decision was made given the complexity and rocky nature of the terrain and the fact that the rest of the cabin was already built on piers.

We began by deconstructing the old porch.

Among the complexities of this project is that, unlike building a new structure from scratch, we had to properly integrate the new roof to the old school complex multi pitch hip roof line. In order to be cost effective and in order not to change the pitch of the original cabin, we had to grind the old roof allowing for the proper integration and flashing of the new metal.

Concrete Piers & Floor Structure

Given the extremely rocky terrain, establishing our new foundation was very challenging as we had to pour all new concrete piers and make the integration with the existing cabin super precise so that our new flooring perfectly integrates with the existing living room of the cabin. Our laser level and expertise made for a perfect integration. The pre-existing piers had all rotted due to moisture.

This picture shows the original 1905 polygonal cabin structure. The windows still the have wavy old glass.

To anchor our concrete piers with rebar, we used a hammer drill on the pre-existing rocks and old piers.

We decided to use 6*6 cedar posts that we manually selected and accurately cut to create a perfectly level floor structure.

Floor framing came next. We used treated lumber through out.

Framing of Walls

Then came building our walls. We manufactured our own beams as needed. The walls were framed to accommodate the home owners design that included 15 double hung Anderson Fibrex windows. We used engineered headers in order to cut down on the size of lumber needed and allow for maximum mountain views from the inside.

Hybrid Hip Roof

The roof integration for this project was very challenging. Given the lack of architectural drawings for this project, we were tasked with designing and integrating the new more shallow pitched roof with the steeper hip roof of the old cabin.

The client also wanted the interior rafters of the structure to be visible and organized while allowing for the most visibility through the new windows. He also wanted the least amount of overhang obstructions of the soffits and fascia. Meeting our client aesthetic requirements as well as creating a roof that was pitched enough to shed snow and water was a complex challenge.

Matching the old pitch required the rafters to be double beveled and cut one at a time. The lack of architectural plans meant that we had to design and frame the roof with string lines and levels, cutting every individual rafter one at a time.

Siding, Windows and Interior Finishes

Time for siding, windows and interior fun.

We installed 15 double hung Andersen Fibrex windows.

Our clients selected prefinished hard wood floors. We decided to keep the floor installation in house.

Our floor integration was perfectly executed. We managed to carefully plan the height of the floor to match the existing threshold of the living room door.