Cabin Wall Framing Finally

Whew, finally. We get to constructing the cabin walls. This is the fun part for me. As a former carpenter, framing construction is well-within my comfort zone.

Initially, it looked like it would be easy as pie. I planned to simplify the standard stud construction to reduce weight: (single) sole plate + studs + (single) top plate + simplified door and window openings.

But as I started planning out the end walls, I realized I needed access to the space under the decks, and so the end walls had to work around that.

The side walls were a little simpler and more conventional.

I was using all recycled Doug Fir 2x4s from the salvage pile at the dump, ripped from 3-1/2 inches to 3 inches.

Looking one more time at my wall detail, you see that the coaming (labeled "edgeboard") is cut into the wall studs.  So I had to dado a sizable groove into each of my studs to accept the coaming.

Real woodworkers have tools for this, but I had to resort to some deft skillsaw work. And without a working wood chisel, I was sadly using a flat head screwdriver.  Embarrassing. But it worked reasonably well.

Next, I assembled the walls on the floor of the barn, and then awkwardly personhandled them solo into place in the boat.  Every connection was adhered with construction adhesive and nailed.

In the boat, the wall framing was glued and screwed.

Two walls.

Three.

With window framing and blocking added.

And finally four finished walls. In this last photo, you can see the doorframe to the head on the right.

A big day, for sure. Time for a cigar.  Next up, more mistakes were made.

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Window framing

Life and boat building have collided a bit as of late and, life won out. Now that the holidays have passed, boat building work can resume. As you can see from this picture, Winter has also settled in to our piece of the world, so the pace of life has slowed.

The foam is all trimmed, but the window openings still need some work. The work required by the openings is as much about the finished look as it is still prepping the rough openings. The rough opening in the metal is correct, but I still need to finish the opening so that the clamp ring for the window  has something to grab against. Typically, windows can either be bolted to a metal hull, or the style I have which utilizes a clamp ring to attach the window.

The wall thickness required for the windows is different than the wall thickness created by the frames on the design. The two wall thicknesss add some work, and design challenge regarding  how the finish work will look.  Fitting the clamp ring  surface now vs at the launch site will shave mega hours off of this job and keep frustration at bay.

 

Since all the window openings in the Salon are the same, I decided to start there. I decided to build all the frames on the work bench vs framing each opening in pieces. The first order of the build was deciding how I was going to join the styles and rails of the frames. Im partial to using pocket screws, but given the 1/2" thick plywood I was using, my prototype pocket screw frame turned out not near rigid enough. So given the pocket screw frame failure, I decided  to use biscuits. While biscuits take more time than pocket screws, they turned out to be the right method for this particular job.

Because I have radius windows, I had to make these frame with a radius inside corners. To make things easier, I cut the whole radius on the style pieces ( vertical piece). I made the style wide enough to accept a cleat later so I can trim the finish wall material neat to the clamp ring.  I dont need a cleat along the rail as the window will have some sort of sill on the bottom, and wall material on the header will have plenty to screw to above the window. Once I figured out the width of the style, I made a pattern, then transferred that to my work and cut it on the band saw.

 

 

 

I have enough clamps to do three window frames at a time. After an hour in the clamp, the  glue was set enough to un clamp the frames and clamp three more. I gave the frames a day for the glue to cure before I fit them in the openings. Fitting the frames required no more than pinning them in place using my brad nail er and some 1 1/4" brads. While doing the metal work to the super structure,  I had carefully bolted blocks the the metal so that when the 1/2" plywood was nailed to the blocking, the wall thickness would be exactly 2 1/4". Once the window clamping frames were installed,  I had to see how easily the windows installed, and how they looked against the cherry plywood. I love how the clamp rings pull the windows tight to the metal, and I love how well the radius looks. I also very happy  how fast the clamp ring is to work with. In terms of long term maintenance, the clamp ring should be more user friendly vs drilling 20 holes per window in the metal.  Once the windows are bedded in with the recommended sealant, I have zero concerns about these leaking. For the re fit of my previous boat,  I used the same windows ( Motion Windows Inc.)  and they gave me nothing but trouble free service. Im happy to see the window  manufacturer has changed some things around and for sure improved on their design and manufacturing process.

I used Cherry plywood to build the frames, so if I want to stop at this layer of finish work, the clamp ring/frame joint will look good. I think I might add another piece to the finish work regarding window trim, so the cherry might get buried. Either way, I have it beat now. As soon as I finish the wheel house frames,  Ill go ahead and put three coats of Urethane on the frames, and then theyll be ready for the final install of the windows once we get to the launch site. Theres three or four days worth of work ( in the warm shop ) prepping the openings to accept the windows, but once  I have it completed, it should only take two of us a couple of hours to get all the windows  installed once I land the super structure to the hull. Its important to me to be able to quickly have the boat  weather tight once she leaves the barn.

Temperatures are going to drop in to the teens tonight, so I have the wood boiler running  hard and the radiant floor heat has the shop floor up to about 90 degrees. The rest of the building is about 65 degrees and all is good in Conall-ville.

 

 

Cheers 

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Forward Cabin Framing

Im now walking around on a nice level floor. The floor feels very firm and is squeak free while only being fastened down with maybe 50% of the screws. Im very pleased with the amount of head room I ended up having. So now it is time to lay out the various partitions and interior walls. Just in case anyone is wondering, Im talking about the lower forward area of the boat in this post. The other thing I should probably say about boat building is that there are very few things that are plumb, level, or square on a boat. Certain things might look skewed or goofy, but thats just the way things work out on certain parts of a boat.

I have a two cabin layout in the lower forward area of the boat. The master cabin witch is amid ship on the engine room bulkhead, and and a cabin in the "V" for the kids. There is a shared shower and head between the two cabins and each cabin has its own sink. The spaces worked out better putting the sinks in the cabins vs a sink in the shower area. It might not make the most sense, but it made more sense to me to have sinks in each cabin.

Coming down the four steps from above one will stop at a landing. By turning left you will pass through a door and enter the master cabin witch measures 11 x 11. There will be a full size queen bed with drawers underneath, a sink/vanity on the right side along with vanity/dresser for Shannon also on the right side. On the left side will be a desk for me and a locker to hang things in. Bookcases and shelves will make up the wall above the bed, and a flat screen TV on the wall opposite the bed. A watertight door leads to the engine room on the left side of the bed and another door leads to the common shower/head on the right side of the bed.

If you choose to go straight vs left while standing in the stair landing, youll enter a hall leading to the "V" cabin area. In this hallway will be a small sitting area and a vanity with a sink. Past the vanity you enter the kids cabin with its bunk beds and storage underneath. There is room on the bathroom wall for a small TV, and there is also an opening hatch in the kids cabin. I laid out this cabin so there will be a bunk area and the hallway area, so people could have some privacy to change or be by themselves without having to go into the bathroom. The hallway/sitting room works out nice in my opinion and it gives this area a much needed private space.

There is a port light in the landing, a port light in the hallway/sitting room and two port lights ( port and starboard ) in the kids cabin. There is a port light in the bathroom, and two port lights in the master cabin. All the ports are fixed and cannot be opened. Ill post more on ventilation later down the road, but in a nutshell I have a hatch in the "V", and two six inch vents for the master cabin leading up through the wheel house. The bathroom has force ventilation leading up to the Portuguese bridge. The lower forward area will also have its own dedicated air conditioning system.

I framed the partitions with 2x3, and will sheath them in 3/8 Cherry veneer plywood. The outboard walls will get a 1x6 ceder plank, and the ceilings will be a painted bead board. I decided to frame now vs after the insulation because I think this is way makes more sense. Once the insulator gets finished with his work it will be extremely difficult to attach anything to the steel frames. I used screws to fasten all the framing together in case I needed to take something apart while I move forward with the finishing work. My insulator stopped by the boat one day recently and commented that I was getting a little close to the steel with some of the framing. He suggested I hold some parts of the framing a little farther away to give him some more room to work. The insulator also said Id be a lot of the lumber would still be clean when he left so more blocking could be added after he finished.

My next step is to layout all of my boxes for my 12v and 120v fixtures. Once I know where all my various light fixtures and appliances go, Ill run conduit and boxes similar to conventional house wiring only Ill use stranded wiring instead of the solid wire one would see in a house. I also will run as much of my waste and water lines along with anything else I feel comfortable having buried in the foam. Ive been using urethane adhesive to glue nailer blocks to certain parts of the hull on the recommendation of the insulator. He told me to go ahead and use only adhesive, because once he sprays that particular block into the foam, Ill not be able to get it out and that block will become part of the insulation. Because of the ease of just slapping some glue on a wood block and sticking it to the hull Im putting up blocks any place I remotely think I"ll need one.

Having the framing completed really closes the boat in. But for all of those who know boats I know youll appreciate when I say that the areas Ive created are very roomy and very comfortable. The "V" cabin is a little snug, but it still works good and Im able to move around with ease. Id love to have another 10 to work with, but I must say Im very happy with what I have and the spaces Ive created.

Conall

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