Sugar House Design / Construction

[Maple Rat]

I am planning to build a sugar house and looking for lessons learned and / or designs that I can work from. I would like to have a seperate ( but connected ) kitchen, Sales area and sitting room. My arch is 4x14 wood fired. I am running 1000 taps. I do not have an RO at this time.

[royalmaple]

If you don't have plans you can contact the vermont ext, and they are something like 3-5 bucks for a full set of plans for two different sugarhouses. Very nice plans and well worth the money. Good details. Might help you. I bought some and used them in a few areas for a guide.

I would recommend floor drain(s) as one item to think about. And it is not necessary but for the few hundred extra bucks I ran my slab into my wood shed area to get the wood on something dry.

[Maple Rat]

Royal Maple, Thank you. I'll contact the VT ext. the drain and slab are good ideas. did you also install a 2" drain for a "steam away" pan for potential expansion? Do you have to pour a footing for the evaporator?

[royalmaple]

I only installed 1 center drain think it was 3" pipe. There is no reason why you couldn't run your condensation right down that same drain with a piece of hose. I don't think I would ever own a steam away(not because I don't believe in them or believe people with them made a bad decision. Everyone has their own thoughts on what they want to spend their money on, I'd just rather have an RO.

As for the footing under the evap. I think you'll find about 50/50 on that will say yes or no. I personally didn't but depending on your soil conditions or what you feel works for you, you may or may not feel you need to. Also I'd say the size of your evap would play a big roll in that as well.

The only thing I wish I had is a firing pit, but I really didn't have the right layout for it with my land so I just have a flat floor.

[Pete33Vt]

Royal Maple is right. A firepit is a big plus. That is if you go wood fired. Also lighting, The more windows and lights the better. As far as footings under evaporator, its going to depend on your soil conditions and weather or not your ever going to expand. If you pour for a 4x14 and go bigger its not gonna help. But if you have a slable base you should be set. and if you are not going to upgrade then go for it it gives you a little bit of security. And another big thing is room, room room. Especailly if you plan on alot of visitors. I know with my sugarhouse it gets very crouded in a hurry. And I get very nervouse with kids running around the sugarhouse.
Hope this helps.

[Parker]

I agree with the with Pete and Matt,,I would stress ROOM,,I definatly made my sugar house too narrow (20') and with a 5 foot wide evap,,and benches on each wall,,and a 600 gallon tank inside,,,the place is too narrow,,like boiling in a submarine,,,I did go overboard with my concrete (used to pour it for a living) I have a DEEP footing under my firebox 3'? filled with rebar the rest of the slab is 1'thick and has fibermesh in it as well as rebar with 18"?sonotubs going down 4 feet spaced around the edges and in the corners,,it has not cracked of heaved,,,I do have a firing pit which I like very much,,although I would not be surprised if I broke my neck in it someday (dangerous),,I would suggest that if at all possibel you site the house so sap can be stored above the evaporator and run downhill into it,,I dump my sap from the town road,,it flows down into 2-1000 gallon tanks,,then from there down onto a 600 gallon tank above the evaporator,,gravity moves my sap,,no pumping is a big plus,,,WOOD-infront of my evaporator is my firing pit then a 4foot space (where I can stack 1.5 cords) between the pit and 2 8'wide sliding door that go into my 40'woodshed,,straight unobstructed shot into the wood shed,,I like that,,,and put in as big a power pannel as you can,,,my 2 cents,,,,,

[802maple]

Room is always a issue, unless you are boiling at a high school gym. When you think a sugarhouse is big enough make it 10 to 15 % bigger as it most likely will still not be big enough. As far as a room for a R.O. I recommend putting it in, if you never use it for a r.o. they make good storage rooms. As parker said wider is better as most people like to stand and watch your evaporator from the side and you need the ability to get from the front to back with out someone being in your way.

[maple flats]

I agree, wider is better. I made mine 16' wide for a 3x8, this gets real crowded real soon when visitors are there. And remember, visitors are a GOOD thing.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I guess I am one of the few that doesn't have a room issue with a 24 x 48 sugarhouse and a 2x8 evaporator and 8 x 24 extension on the one end for wood storage. I am hoping to work on finishing the inside next year since I finished the outside this year which will includ a 12 x 10 kitchen and a 12 x 14 bedroom on the one end and the other end is the tractor storage along with atv and other misc and I still have plenty of room with the evaporator and a 625 gallon milk tank, couch, 320 gallon feed tank and stand...

Better to have too much room than not enough. Hopefully I can use it for a weekend getaway and possibly a hunting camp, etc. The entire inside has a concrete floor also.

[gmcooper]

After visiting several other sugarhouse before we built we built to small to start with buget is always a concern. We have added on once. Started 12x18 with 12x10 woodshed. Added 16x24 for kitchen sales area.

WE are still nearly out of room. Not a great location to add on to again so next one will be all new in new location.

40x60 would be a good start with room to expand in all directions. I have not been to any sugarhouses yet where after a few years they are not looking to add more space somewhere.

Parking and access in mud season is another area that gets left out many times until too late (some one is buried in the mud). Easy access fill wood shed and getting wood to evaporator.

The last feature I would plan for next will be inside sap storage. Separate area from everything but a great way to minimize extremes in temp either sun and warm temps or hard freezing.
Mark

[Pete33Vt]

Mud is a big problem around my sugarhouse also. Where is currently located its off the beaten path and theres mud everywhere by the end of the season.I brought 3 big loads of broken up blacktop up there this summer to rebuild a section of the road we use to haul sap in.Plus being out in the woods and out of sight not many people come to visit just family and thats to many at times. Our new sugarhouse is going to be right of the main road with good visablility so we will really have to tink of our space issue.
Good luck Chris and Dave on your hunting trip. I have hunted PA once and would love to go back.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Mine is right on the main road aprox 30' from the road and the entire front of the sugarhouse is nothing but a gravel parking, so mud is one thing I don't have to worry about. Gravel stays clean most of the time from the rain and the ashes that blow out of the stack wash down thru it or blow away. A little extra $$$$ up front and additional planning will save you many headaches down the road. Cost me a little extra to pour a concrete floor for the entire 24 x 48 building, but well worth it as it cleans right up.

I have several inches of gravel underneath my wood in the woodshed. This allows any for air circulation underneath the wood also and eliminates any moisture down low. Gravel is cheap compared to concrete and makes an awesome floor for a woodshed as far as drying the wood goes and if any rain blows in the two 7.5' openings on each end of the shed, it drains out immediately. Don't think the mice like it quite as well either!

[Dave Y]

Pete,
Where in Pa have you hunted? If you come back you will find that the hunting is not as good as it used to be, of course everything changes.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Dave,

I thought things were getting better in PA with all the antler restrictions????????

[firetech]

I too am working on a sugar house, my logs (free) are at the sawyers right now for next years construction. The 1st log is sawed and I have 700 bdft from that one and 550 in the next one. I figure somewhere around 2200bdft when its all done. I found (7) 32 ft pole barn trusses for 150$ so I got those. It's starting as a 32x36 barn. I will build interior walls for the kitcken, evap rm seperation and wood storage. The way I figure now I will only need 32x20 of the barn for sugering but like everyone says build bigger. There will be floor drains, fireing pit same level as the wood storage area and full electrical. One brother is a mechaical contractor,brother in law is a plumber and I'm an electrical contractor,so we are in good shape for skills. Maybe a place to put my boat in that extra 16x32,or some picnic tables for a maple pancake weekend? Good luck on yuor project and please post pics as you go along.

[PATheron]

Maple rat- I dont know how many producers are in your area but I think there are quite a few. Look them up and Im sure theyll show you their sheds. Thats what I did and I just used all the Ideas that I thought were the best. I tried to keep the sap as simple as possable. Try to move the sap gravity as much as you can. Get a good base under your concrete with good drainage. Make sure your wood is accessable. Look at all the sheds on the site. Also theres a sight with a bunch of shed on it. Try, Sugarhouse pictures from all around new england. Theron

[Dave Y]

Brandon,
depeneds on whose doing the talking. If you want meat some areas are ok.
The racks are getting bigger. But you cant eat them. Where I live not to many. The woods I am setting up with tubing. I have seen one deer in it And i have been in those woods about 25 days since the first of september. see a few droppings no tracks in the snow. I havent seen much other game either. couple of turkey and a few grouse that is it.It a big area to boot.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Dave,

Antlers make the best soup in the world. Haven't you heard of antler soup?? The bigger the antlers, the better it tastes!

[Pete33Vt]

Dave, When I went to PAa few years ago I was hunting in and around Greencastle, Chambersburg area, down on I-81 exit 1. Thats where my parents live. I enjoyed hunting there I saw a few good bucks but couldn't get a shot and I saw lots and lots of does. But didn't have a permit.

I ended up shooting a nice little 3 point, 112lbs this last Saturday(17th) here in VT. Not the biggest deer but should be nice and tasty.
Good luck to all