Once deer season is over, myself and a few buddies will be doing some much needed maintenance to our hunting cabin. It was built in 2006 and is very much like an outdoor shed. My uncle went cheap when it was built and the exterior walls are plywood. After three coats of paint and twelve years in the sun, the plywood walls are cracking and need to be replaced. The inside is unfinished with no interior walls or insulation. My plan is knock down all the walls and take it down to the bare studs. Once this is done, wrap the frame in Tyvek and use Smart Siding for the exterior walls. On the inside, I would like to use T13 insulation between the studs and then use either OSB or some other sheathing for the interior walls. I am not a construction guy by trade but was wondering if this was a sound plan? The cabin is 16x24 and is located in the Texas Hill Country. The floor is also plywood and I would like to use laminate flooring on top of it. Thanks!

I think you have a good plan . The Smart siding with tyvek is good. The SOB interior gives many options for fasten items on. On the floor is the floor structure raised for air flow? Not sure on how the laminate will react to hot and cold weather, talk to flooring contractor on that. Carpet squares are simple plus gives a little insulting quality. You don't have to glue squares down just lay in place. Will move with building.

sounds like a pretty solid plan to me ...

one one of our old leases, the LO allowed us to use an old frame house that was bare interior wall studs and no enclosed ceiling (open joists or rafters). One of the guys that hunted with us, had access to a large supply of cheap sheet rock, we put the fiberglass bats of insulation in the walls, then sheet rocked ... did the same with the ceiling, worked like a charm. I don't know what the price difference would be using sheet rock versus OSB though, the OSB would be more durable IMO.

Any reason you can't leave existing exterior plywood and go over with smart siding? Wouldn't need the wrap and would save labor. Just remove trim, buy horizontal, 12" wide, as long on length as you can get and go. Trim your corners and windows.

I've been installing horizontal rough cut pine boards for interior siding. Easy to work with and looks great (rustic). Bought a couple of pallets of the boards from a local sawyer (M&G Sawmill in Huntsville). Reasonable prices and nice folks to deal with. You may find a sawmill closer to Austin or your lease. Just my $.02. I would wrap the Tyvek over the existing siding and add the new exterior siding. I guess I'm up to $.04 now. Good luck with the project!

I've thought about that but the exterior plywood is not in the best of shape. I'll try and load another picture, if it loads try to notice the cracks in the boards. Wouldn't it be like putting lipstick on a pig?

The structure looks sound, so no need to remove the plywood. Looks like it's trimmed with 1x4, so find some 3/4" thick sheet foam insulation and leave the trim - cut insulation to fit between the trim boards and then apply the hardie planks over it. Then you''ll have a much better insulated place than you have now and can still add the interior insulation at a later time if you choose.

I'd also get a good sealing exterior door.

Make sure your foundation and support is solid - cement fiber siding is heavy.

From the pics, I think you could go quite a few more years before doing anything.

If the wood is not rotting on the exterior, you can just remove the trim boards, wrap it with tyvek or a true commercial waterproof coating is better, than just fasten your exterior veneer (Pre-finished metal paneling, LP Smart Panel. etc. Prefinished metal may cost more but you won't have to mess with painting and repainting for years.) On the inside what isn't that expensive and easy to work with is just some 1 x 4 or 1 x 6 pine boards ran horizontal on the studs. Can install Rigid or Bat insulation in the studs. Good luck.

good plan, for the OSB, I would use some kind of sealant (paint ect) the glue in the OSB might cause some allergy problems

Thanks for all the replies fellas! I am going up there tomorrow and will post new detailed pics for everyone to see.

Since the interior is bare studs, don't remove all the exterior siding at once. That cabin may lean or fall down. You can nail some diagonal bracing to the studs on the inside. Then remove all the exterior. Just my thoughts.

Great advice. Hardi is expensive and very heavy. I went with the 4'x8' exterior sheathing with embossed wood-grain on outside, OSB with polymer on the inside. $27 a sheet at LowesMuch easier to work with too. Hardi- board can split or crack very easily. Overall, looks like your place is sound. No way I'd remove the existing plywood. It will add a substrate to attach to as well as extra insulation. Not to mention being a pain in the keister to remove

^^^THIS^^^

Floor needs to be s m o o t h for laminate or vinyl planking. Is the flooring center match(interlocking) plywood? For mine I will likely use vinyl plank (snap together, interlocking). It's like rigid linoleum, durable. I put it in my home after Harvey flood. Water will damage wood based laminate.
Agree with leaving the outside sheets in place.

Papalote

Here is another picture of the cabin. It looks like we will begin Phase 1 the first weekend in March. Phase 1 will include wrapping the cabin in Tyvek, adding LP Smart Siding over the existing plywood, adding trim boards, and finishing out the soffits. Phase 2 may occur the following weekend and will include adding snap together laminate flooring. Phase 3 will include insulating the inside walls and adding an additional electrical outlet. Finally Phase 4 will include the addition of interior walls.

Here is a picture of the inside of the cabin.

Thank you guys for all the good advice, keep it coming! I will post more pics once we get started.

I agree with most of what has been posted above and sounds like you have a good plan. I will add that you will more than likely have issues with the laminate flooring. I would go with the vinyl plank flooring since it won't be conditioned space for much of the year and you don't have to worry about moisture if you have an issue down the road.

Also, remove the trim from the exterior and make sure that you flash around the windows and doors. When you add the second layer of sheathing, it will bring the sheathing out past the edges of the sills for the windows and doors. Creating a lip could allow for water to puddle and penetrate the building causing issues down the road.

Good luck!!

Looks like a great camp.

Is that water tote attached to the inside???

Not yet but maybe in the future. Right now I have an RV water filter attached to the hose end which we use for hosing out deer and washing pots and pans.

nice hunting cabin

I just did a 16x24 interior with osb. If you’ve never worked with osb, which I had not prior to this project, it’s not the easiest to deal with. It’s difficult to cut and not that easy to screw to the studs. I used deck screws and found that five would go in easily then the next three I fought like crazy. I would move the screw an inch and it would go in. I guess it’s due to all the glue? When all was said and done after paint it looked really good. Lowe’s sells a light weight sheet rock that may be easier. Just my two cents. Good luck and keep us posted.

It looks like we will be going with ship-lap for the walls. In order to save money, I think we will be using 1/4" plywood ripped into 8" boards and then painted a rustic color.