Update 5.20.12
May 20th, 2012 § 17 Comments
Another wonderfully productive day! I have no idea how some of you other tiny housers do things SO FAST! Carrie and Shane built their house from start to finish inside of three months! Nuts! Now Drew and Crystal are four days in and already as far along as I am, after many more months! Today we had four people out there working on the house and made awesome progress though (Thanks Dad, Mom and Nate!). I did manage to give myself a raging sunburn (seems like I would learn that but every year I still get a bad one!), I suppose that’s another hazard of working outside…
In short, I have windows and most of a roof and got to watch the solar eclipse through welding masks, pretty cool! 
Without further ado, here is a quick update:
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- The beginnings of the porch overhang. Dad and Nate did an amazing job on this, While they worked on this I blocked out the rest of the rafters in preparation for sheathing.
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- Mom is gardening in the background! It’s going to be a fabulous front yard! :)
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- I used the same barrier to flash around the windows. On this side I will use asphalt tar and felt covered with elastomeric material with a fabric mesh for an added root barrier.
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- Front view with the porch overhang. This will be braced but can stand on it’s own for a bit. We still need to figure out the best way to build up the patio from the dovetail and once that gets figured out we will brace this overhang with a wall on the short side (Left) and a 4×4 on the tall side.
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- Another view.
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- We got three pieces of sheathing on. I have to pick up a few more, ESI didn’t give me enough (whine!), Ha! I have NO room to whine, ESI has been VERY good to me, it is very much appreciated.
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- Inside the bathroom, it’s a bathroom with a view! :)
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- The big slider in the foreground and the kitchen window in the background. The side door is the opening to the far left, I hope I will be getting those back tomorrow or Tuesday, I probably won’t get them installed until after we get back form San Diego though. It’s all pretty close to being enclosed but not there yet!
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- My cozy bedroom window! I love it!
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- You can still see daylight but its getting closer!
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- Another view.
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- And pretty Lilacs, I LOVE them, they smell SO good right now :)
Update
May 20th, 2012 § 4 Comments
I got some done today, I probably should have got more done but I had some stuff on my mind so i took a breather (that’s important too!) and had some margaritas with Sara. It was a much needed relief! Still, we got the rafters up and it’s starting to take shape! I have a window in as well and started the furring for the rain-screen wall (consisting of fully caulked furring strips, previously cut, nailed into the studs).
Pretty short updated but here are some photos:
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- We decided we were going to park it on the asphalt, we had to move a bunch of stuff first!
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- Also another tight fit, this wont work for driving at speeds greater than say… 10 MPH :) No fear though, I’ve got a plan!
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- I am going to either get a spacer for these bolts of get longer U-bolts that will lift the trailer bed further from the tires. Problem solved, for now though these worked… that is an issue for down the line.
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- Got it all situated outside of my folks’ garage. Here it will sit for a while while I finish building. Then??
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- with the shop in the background.
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- And the other side.
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- With my awesome nerd car! :)
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- Not too shabby if I say so myself! Notice those rafters too!
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- I have some cow neighbors, they have new babies that are pretty adorable… and also, RIGHT out the door is a BIG garden, to be planted in the morning! PERFECT!
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- A quick interior shot with the rafters, hopefully you can start to see it taking shape, I can! :)
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- I even placed a window! I did it a little premature but I wanted to! You can also hopefully see that I started installing the furring for the rain-screen wall. I have a bit more of that to do but I am waiting to get a couple more things done on the roof so I can finish wrapping it up!
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- I’m not sure why :)
Daylight!!!
May 19th, 2012 § 4 Comments
The trailer is out and in it’s new home for now. It was a close one pulling it out for sure but the math worked out in the end, we made it! We got it all leveled up on blocks, I was able to go around and trim the building wrap up and we hung 5ish rafters before we ran out of light. Tomorrow is another day!
Hoping to get all the rafters on, finish the building wrap, get the sheathing on the roof and possibly place the windows. I am going to be getting a late start tomorrow but late is better than never!
“Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.”
H. Jackson Brown
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- Standing in the loft inside the shop, this was what the trailer looked like AFTER it was off the blocks. I really thought it wasn’t going to get out, I had no idea what we were going to do!
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- Another inch and I would have been screwed! (not really, we still had tires we could have deflated, but we made it!
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- Backing up the trailer to it’s new spot outside.
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- We got about 5 rafters put on before we ran out of daylight. That is going to add an extra challenge, in the shop I had light whenever I needed it and I used it, now that I’m outside the sun actually goes away.
Update
May 17th, 2012 § 5 Comments
Well, we did it again!
A productive day. We got all the furring cut for the rain screen walls. I went ahead and taped up the building wrap seam. Tonight is for packing up some stuff and tomorrow we pull the trailer out into the daylight and put the rafters on. Hopefully I can finish wrapping the house too. Plywood goes on the roof Saturday (after the heart walk… feel free to donate to the cause via our team here) and AFTER the walk I am meeting up with a bunch of strangers to sell a good portion of my possessions (hopefully).
I think/hope I also get to meet Dawson, whom I may love! I am not sure how many people are actually aware of the plan but part of building this house means that I get to finally have my dream dog and I have always loved Great Danes, particularly the blue ones, they are so pretty! And who doesn’t think that Dawson is the most handsome pooch ever?? Really. I hope we hit it off! Even so I won’t be actually getting him until nearly the end of July at the earliest, my schedule right now won’t allow me to have the time it takes to have quality time with a pup, so excited to meet him though!
I am thinking I can get a pretty good start putting the furring on on Saturday as well, in hopes of being that much closer to siding. I still have about 20 pallets on site that I need to take apart and we anticipate that I may need to find about 30 more, that will be a big job, and possibly my whole Sunday plus to get those disassembled. We shall see. There is so much that needs to get done right now that I’m not really bothering with a set schedule, whatever part I feel like working on is what will get worked on. There is still wiring to get done, some more weather sealing… The windows will be going in soon. I have the doors down to Bentley to get pre-hung. I think one of the coolest parts for me will be when the windows and doors go in.
Here is my update for now:
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- Notice the big stack of 2x4s in the background, we are making the furring for my rain screen wall… hours of ripping 2x4s :)
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- we are ripping these at 1/4″ so that behind my siding will be a 1/4″ air gap
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- another action shot! I believe this was the very last piece
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- After ripping 10 10 foot long studs this was all of the ‘waste’, not too bad
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- oh, and there was all this ‘waste’ too, except I am saving this sawdust to use in my composting toilet.
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- I’m pretty sure that’s the biggest pile of sawdust ever, we definitely made the table saw work for its keep last night!
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- apparently I am just horribly impressed with sawdust :)
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- there is not item in this for scale but that is a TON of dust!
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- It filled up two kitchen bags. This will be great in the composter!
Update – Dad is a Rock Star
May 16th, 2012 § 6 Comments
I can’t express enough how much my dad’s efforts have picked up my mood this week. It’s only Tuesday but I have to admit, it hasn’t started off to be the best week. On top of that I didn’t meet my goals for the weekend with the house so it added to me feeling a little overwhelmed. Part of me says ‘hey, this is a ‘for fun’ project, don’t let it get you down’, the other part of me screams ‘Macy, do better at meeting your goals!’. Well, I fell short, dad, he made it all better. I had to stay home yesterday to meet some people who were interested in buying my things, they assured me they would ‘most likely, definitely take it home’ but they couldn’t meet me on my designated time I have set up to consolidate everyone and streamline the whole process of selling all of my possessions. I made an exception for them and they debated for a half hour in my living room (about a 35 dollar bookshelf, really I wanted to give it to them so they would just leave) then decided they were ‘going to think about it’. So it was a wasted evening as far as tiny house construction was concerned. I did get to use the time to get some work done for the USGBC though, so it wasn’t a total loss. It did make me feel a bit further behind but then I got a call from dad, he worked on it and got all the grooves cut in for the wiring, it was taking a while and it felt SO good to hear he had found a tool that made it easy and he just whipped through it for me! Amazing person. On top of that, he let me vent to him about my ‘woahs’ and made me feel lots better. THEN, that’s not all folks, I got a text message this afternoon from him that said ‘Smile, the rafters are all cut.’ And I smiled! Just like that the goals for the weekend were all met! Even though I couldn’t be there to help it was pretty awesome to hear and he did an amazing job, lots better than I would have done. So I got to work on it tonight and here is the progress:
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- The grooves dad cut!
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- Another shot
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- Pretty simple rafters but at a bit of an angle, it was sorta tricky to figure out. I’m glad dad did it, he rocks!
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- I got a couple rows of the building wrap up, the rest will go up when we get the roof on this weekend. It is coming out of the shop this weekend!! woot!
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- I got a couple rows up of the radiant barrier/building wrap up, this was donated by Key Energy Solutions, I was surprised at the quality of this, I thought it would be tear-able, not even close, I hung this up by myself, all in one piece that wrapped the three sides, it went up very easily and didn’t rip tear or give me any difficulties at all. Awesome product, and triple functioning (radiant, air and moisture barrier) gotta love that for a tiny house!
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- there is more work to do here obviously but I wanted to get this much in place at least so I can start adding the furring for the rain screen wall, maybe start to get some siding up here soon.
Tomorrow morning I am taking in my doors to get pre-hung, I was going to do this myself but I have heard form others that it is another major pain area and that if they had it to do over they would pay someone to do that. So I trust them. It also saves me a weekend of time so I can proceed onto other things that need done. AND I get to support Bentley Door and Windows who have been so generous to me in donating all the windows in the first place. It’s not nearly enough but I am happy to save the work for them instead of me . Tomorrow dad and I are going to cut the furring for the rain-screen wall and I will start to install it. Because the radiant/wind/water barrier shouldn’t have penetrations in it I have hung it in a way that I have staples just at the top, overlapped by the pieces above it. I plan on taking my furring strips and caulking them on the back side and then nailing through them into the sheathing to create a waterproof seal that I can then fasten my siding to. Because I am using recycled pallets for siding the lengths are all going to vary so I am placing the furring at one foot on center then I will cut each piece into the maximum nominal foot dimension, I will have pieces varying from one foot long to probably five foot long. This will be a ton of effort to complete that portion but I figured that from the beginning, I think it will look ‘that cool’ to be worth the extra effort, we will see though.
I hope everyone is having a great week, that’s what I got for now!
~Macy
Big Thanks!
May 14th, 2012 § 4 Comments
I find this to be EXTREMELY motivating. Even though I am totally doing this project for me it is awesome that I have had a constantly rising group of very supportive and helpful people following along for the 11 weeks since I have had this site. You guys rock, thanks ever so much for the support!
Interior Materials
May 13th, 2012 § 11 Comments
And here is the interior pallet. I am going to buy som 1×2 poplar boards for the kitchen counter as well as my hand made dresser. I have actually come back full circle to a concrete floor, even though it is REALLY heavy, I have been planning on using tile all along for the thermal mass anyway, concrete is only a small amount heavier for the same dimensions. I was concerned that it would be a problem to use a thin slab of concrete, after speaking with an engineer on the issue I think I will be just fine. As a back up plan I am looking at using a white terrazzo tile. For the shower and accents I am looking at using a natural stone tile and/or blue/brown or grey glass tiles. The hardware is all pretty simple, brushed nickle pulls, modern-ish fixtures etc. Here are some images to give the idea.
Exterior Materials
May 13th, 2012 § 2 Comments
I was asked what my material pallet would be like so I thought it would be good to post somethign about that and where things are right now in my noggen. This is my exterior material pallet. I am back to recycled pallet wood siding, I am planning on planing these down and staining them, probably with a walnut tone stain. The trim is going to either be a dark bronze metal or possibly even stained dark wood. For the roof and back wall I am leaning towards a white elastomeric roofing product with a metal mesh suspended over it so that Ivy can crawl it’s way up the walls. I am considering a couple dark bronze light fixtures for the patios but am leaning toward a galvalume one at the very moment. Who will know what I end up with until I actually make the purchase. Here is a visual:
Update – Wall Insulation done
May 13th, 2012 § 4 Comments
Big long day! Lots got done.
First, I want to say, the soap.shampoo and toothpaste I bought recently from soapforgoodnesssake.com, in an effort to clarify my grey water tank so that when I move into my tiny place I can use the excess water for my garden is FANTASTIC, I love it. I sort of thought I would feel like a dirty hippie for at least a few days but it is not the case at all. The shampoo is the best I have ever used, my hair is clean without being greasy or dried out, the toothpaste tastes a little funny but I am quickly getting used to it and even starting to like it. The soap is always amazing! I highly recommend the pumpkin, the avocado AND the rose petal. Good stuff. (this is a completely unsolicited shout out, FYI)
In tiny house construction news, I finished the wall insulation!!! It felt like it was going to go on forever but I imagine my swing at it was a lot easier than some others. This was the area where I have heard the most complaints from other tiny house people so I streamlined it . In standard construction you would wire the house and insulate around that, it is a little tougher using ridged insulation. There are building codes in place that make this the ‘standard construction’. For now tiny houses have no ‘codes’, so I took liberties . It may be a little unclear still with this post but hopefully this gives the general idea of how I am going to wire.
Next weekend I plan to bring the house out into the daylight and install the roof, It will be nice to finally be enclosed! Also, I finally brought my camera out to snap some pictures, I put on my little wide angle attachment and here you are!
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- Insulation looking toward kitchen/bathroom
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- Insulation looking toward bed/living
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- This is my bathroom, where the roll of insulation is sitting is the shower.
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- Another shot
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- This is the fridge/microwave nook.
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- Exterior, front end
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- Exterior back side.
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- Exterior loft window.
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- ELECTRICAL! It’s that time :)
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- You may wonder why it is fully insulated before the wires are strung… so… these are nail plates, the insulation is going to be cut at two foot high, the wire strung along the void along the front side of the walls. These nail plates will be fastened on the studs so that the wires don’t get accidentally nailed when putting up the sheet rock. stand by for a follow up!
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- A nail plate. I tried to get one installed to show you but I ran out of steam for the day.
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- I marked all of the insulation to be cut to make room for the wire. This is not the ‘standard’ wiring on a house but this was a calculated decision for this house.
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- This is as far as I got tonight… I got tuckered! Hopefully this gives an idea of how the wiring will sit though.
Composting Toilet
May 11th, 2012 § 8 Comments
I have ordered a toilet! I have gone with the Sun-Mar Centrex 2000, non-electric. It costs WAY too much and really is more than what I ‘need’, system wise, but I there are several conclusions I have drawn through my research that have lead me this direction:
- The mechanism that the Sun-Mar products use is a manual crank device as opposed to that of some other companies that use a grating system. As I understand the grating system has a tenancy to dry out and ‘clog’, requiring a manual disassemble and cleaning. Though I was told this was rare it is not something I want to deal with.
- The unit itself is longer and more spread out and therefore allows better waste management because of the design (more surface area for ‘liquids’ to evaporate and a longer waste storage area for solids to go through, there is a drawer at the end of the process where wastes will be removed and no one will be the wiser! Or so I am told, we shall see…)
- I like the way this company is run, really there were two units in the running for my usage needs, the other being a Sancor model. Both companies have made in the USA products, Sancor is a factory direct sale and as such they were able to drop the price a bit more than Sun-Mar could… I however like the fact that Sun-Mar takes it a step further and supports local economies, providing more jobs throughout the US. My Sun-Mar dealer is located about 8 miles from my project site and was able to cut off a few hundred bucks from the ‘retail price’ for me.
- I went with a remote toilet as opposed to the self contained so the waste is not actually kept in my house, it will be in a tank below the trailer, accessible/cleanable from outside.
- I went with a waterless option so that I do not have to worry about draining extra water or hooking water up to the toilet.
- Really, what I was looking for was the most ‘conventional’ looking composting toilet, I want people to feel comfortable using the bathroom at my place and I don’t want to have to leave a book of instructions for them to be able to do so. It did end up costing me a bit more but I felt like it was worth it, and it’s all about priorities… the potty is one of those for me.
