A few weeks ago Kyle and I decided that living in 96 sq feet was great for two people, but it’s not really enough space with a baby on the way. Since then, his big project has been figuring out how to add on to our current studio. Well, yesterday he finished the floor, and now we can actually see how much more space we’ll have!

What he started with first was clearing out the space in front of our studio and measuring a 12 x 12 area. Of course, it had to rain directly after this, creating a giant mud puddle! Kyle then dug a trench roughly a foot wide all around the 12 x 12 space. This was to put gravel so water could drain away from the wood.

Kyle collected large sized gravel from the local gravel pit. I thought it was a bit odd that there’d be a gravel pit out here, but we’ve been told by cabin owners who’ve built out here that it’s free for everyone to use.

Of course, Ronan had to be ridiculously cute and sleep right in the middle of the cleared space.

After collecting and placing the gravel the next step was leveling it all.

Once all the gravel was leveled, Kyle took down several dead standing trees and cut them to length. He then used the 4 wheeler to pull them to site, and a drawknife (Amazon) to remove the bark.

After aligning two logs on the sides, he made sure they were leveled out as well. Then he cut 3 x 6 cross beams out of more logs with the chainsaw using a 2 x 4 as a guide. He notched out space for them to set into the full logs and wedged them in. Then it was time to check leveling at this stage as well!

Then Kyle used brackets and purchased 2 x 6’s 16 inches on center to create a base for the floor.

We also included a space for a trapdoor to keep a cooler in that will be dug down several inches in the ground. This is because we don’t have a fridge, so it’ll help keep perishable foods cool so they last longer.

Then we glued down a moisture barrier to seal the floor from the elements. Then placed the floor board on top of that.

Check out the 2020 log addition with our own milled lumber here.