What you’ll build
A small building, from bare ground to first fire. Posts on Monday, walls Tuesday, dried in Wednesday, insulated and sided Thursday, wood stove lit Friday. Each time this session runs it produces a different structure the property needs: the bunkhouse, the tool shed, the sauna, the pavilion. Yours will have a date on it.
Day by day
Day 1 — Layout and foundation
Morning skill. Arrival at 13:00 and site safety. Reading a simple plan. Layout with batter boards and string, squaring with 3-4-5 and diagonals, post and pier foundations.
Afternoon build. Set the posts, level them, and square the footprint.
Evening. Frost, footings, and what fails. Why buildings in the UP move, and how to stop yours from doing it.
Day 2 — Walls
Morning skill. Framing: plates, studs, headers, rough openings, sheathing. Layout at 16 inches on center and why. Crowning lumber. Nailing schedules.
Afternoon build. Frame the walls on the deck, stand them, plumb and brace them.
Evening. Loads, spans, and why the header is that size. How to read a span table instead of guessing.
Day 3 — Roof
Morning skill. Rafters or trusses. Laying out a common rafter: rise, run, plumb cut, bird’s mouth. Roof sheathing, underlayment, flashing, shingles.
Afternoon build. Dry the structure in.
Evening. Water always wins: flashing details. Every leak is a flashing failure, and they all look fine on the day they’re installed.
Day 4 — Envelope
Morning skill. Insulation, vapor barrier, air sealing, and siding. Which side the vapor control goes on in a cold climate, and what happens when it’s on the wrong one.
Afternoon build. Insulate and side the building.
Evening. Building science in one hour: the stack effect, and why a warm building leaks at the top and the bottom.
Day 5 — Heat
Morning skill. Wood stoves: clearances to combustibles, hearth requirements, chimney and stovepipe, roof or wall penetration. Firewood processing: splitting, stacking, and seasoning, and how to tell when it’s ready.
Afternoon build. Install the stove and chimney. First fire.
Departure, 15:00. You leave with your build sequence.
What you’ll be able to do afterward
- Lay out and square a footprint.
- Frame a wall with correct headers.
- Cut and set a simple roof.
- Flash a penetration so it doesn’t leak.
- Install a wood stove to clearance.
- Split, stack, and season firewood so it burns.
Tools and materials you’ll use
- Circular saw, miter saw, framing nailer, impact driver, reciprocating saw
- Framing square, speed square, chalk line, 4-foot and 6-foot levels, laser level
- Framing hammer, cat’s paw, flat bar. You will also drive nails by hand.
- Dimensional lumber, structural sheathing, synthetic underlayment, step and apron flashing, shingles
- Insulation, vapor retarder, acoustical sealant, tape, siding
- A listed wood stove, double-wall stovepipe, class A chimney, roof flashing, and storm collar
- Splitting maul, wedges, moisture meter
The exact bill of materials, with part numbers and what each line cost, is sent to registered participants before the session and published in the Build Log after it.
The paperwork
- Michigan residential code basics.
- When a building permit is required in Chippewa County.
- Agricultural building exemptions and their limits.
- What insurance companies require for a wood stove installation: NFPA 211, a listed appliance, and documented clearances.
Rules change. Anything regulatory taught in the session is date-stamped and you are told where to verify it for your own county.
What you take home
- A framing plan for your own structure.
- A materials takeoff for it, with current pricing.
Who this is for / who it isn’t
For: people who want to build a shed, a cabin, a sauna, or a shop and have not framed before, or have and want to stop guessing. People who are about to hire a builder and want to know what they’re looking at.
Not for: anyone planning a full-size house as a first project without help, or looking for timber framing and joinery. That is a separate session on the roadmap.
Prerequisites and physical demands
No prerequisites. You will carry lumber, lift wall sections as a crew, work from ladders, and spend part of Day 3 on a low-slope roof with fall protection. If heights are a hard no, there is plenty of ground work, but tell us ahead of time.
Instructor
Matt Vorst. See Instructors.