Update 11.25.12
November 26, 2012 § 8 Comments
As expected I got a lot done over the break but not nearly as much as I had hoped! 
Here are some pictures:
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- All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy! I just had to get into the Christmas spirit
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- I hate killig a tree for a holiday and I don’t care for manufactured trees either, instead, I got a shrub that will be on my porch and will have a little exta jewlery around the holidays. Yeah for reusable Christmas trees.
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- I opted for red and gold this year.
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- My dad had removed this fixture from someones house to replace it with another. They didn’t want it, he offered it to me, I like it! This is one of the few things I have left to purchase, but not anymore :).
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- I spent all that effort taking those pictures of the step into my shower only to have to rip it out and redo it this weekend :) I made it better though
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- I needed an edge to grout to in order to create the slope so i opted to just lay three studs on top of eachother
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- I I have some left over pieces of TPO roofing from where I cut out the windows. I am using a piece of this to create the waterproof membrane for the shower.
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- Nate has been building his own furniture for his new house. I think it is turning out amazing! I got some great ideas for how to make my dresser and countertop (some SketchUp images are included in this post).
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- Nate designed all of this himself , I LOVE it so much, it’s totally his style too… and mine! :)
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- the coffee table
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- and two end tables
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- :)
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- This is the stain I have bought to do the pallets on the outside of my house Nate is using it on his furniture and I thought it was a good test. Personally I think it is a bit dark, I really like the tone of it though, I think I will mix it half and half with a ‘natural’ stain to lighten it a bit, what you you guys think?
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- I got the first row of siding up, because I am using a rain screen I need to put a bug screen at the top and bottom to allow for water to go in and out but not let the bugs nest up in there!
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- I just bought a roll of plastic screen door stuff to be the bug screen. This is what happens when you try to cut it with a band-saw (AFTER your dad warns you it’s not a good idea, for exactly this reason… but I just have to learn things the hard way… it’s how I am).
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- I ended up just getting some scissors and cutting it into 6″ strips, there will be folded in half and nailed under the top and bottom row of siding.
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- The first pieces of siding, finally. I had the goal of just getting the firt row up adn I just barely made it :).
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- I started on the deck
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- You can kind of see how the bug screen fits in.
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- I am not going to have any corner trim, these pieces will just lap each other, I like the look of it better, there is really no other reason not to…
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- From the front.
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- cant forget the little end piece!
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- The hole we had wasn’t quite big enough to fit the drain in flush so dad got the hole saw out and cut it bigger. I am happy for his muscles because that would not have been an easy task for me, I have an inch and a half floors to get through!
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- And now I have a wood doughnut :)
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- You can see the floor thickness here, two layers of 3/4″ plywood, overkill, maybe but you couldn’t beat the price and it fit in well with the way my trailer is constructed.
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- Getting ready to glue in the drain base
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- Smear some glue on the inside and let it dry and I know have a drain!
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- I also got a light fixture for my shower, I forgot to take a picture but I had to take off the light receptacle box in preparation for that. Getting ready to have a shower enclosure!
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- I had to put a slope to the newly installed drain. I mixed up some standard grout and plopped it in.
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- It looks like an extra thick milkshake!
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- It was a task to get it to slope right, took a few times to get used to the trowel but it was fun as expected. I really like sculpting, once this house gets done I think ill get back to that! :)
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- It isn’t perfect but it should get the job done!
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- So once this dries the TPO roofing piece that I cut will go on top of it, get clamped down, sealed and then more grout will go on top to create a sturdy floor. More images coming soon!
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- It has some calcium build ups on it, we have pretty hard water here so I am soaking it in vinegar water to get it shiny and looking new!
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- But I stopped myself. Part of my downsizing for my tiny house was selling off my Christmas village, I had 35 houses and a ‘ton’ of accessories. I sold what I could and donated the rest to the womens and childrens shelter. This would have been a fun one to have in my collection but alas, no space! :) Besides, I already have my own tiny house, I dont need another :)
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- As mentioned, here are my kitchen ideas. I am planning on using the birch hardwood floor that Stacy found on Craigslist (if that is ok Stacey??) for the counter and wrap-down portion. There is a steel frame that Nate is going to help me with, the white part is all built in wood pieces. I think I have changed my mind a little since drawing this but the basic concept is still the same.
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- I like this a lot because my upper shelves won’t just be the standare Ikea breed, they can be built to the exact length I need. I love the Ikea stuff but it would drive me nuts that the shelves are 5″ shorter than the space I need. I am torn between doing glass shelves or the same wood. I think the glass may look better and make it feel more open. I am also thinking it may be a good idea to put a piece of glass on the counter top to make it less able to hold onto bacteria. Thoughts?
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- Here is the concept for the bed platform/dresser. I like how simple it could work out. I really like how the steps are working out. Another thing I like about doing a steel frame is the durability. I imagine there will be an adjustment period where I bump into things, I would hate to ding up my furniture. As you already know I am not a very graceful person naturally anyway… hence falling off the roof :)
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- Originally I had drawers in the steps but I like how this looks with just openings. I can make some custom baskets in some sort of accent color to fit in each step as needed or just leave it open. Right now I have a bit over one cubic foot in the top cubby. Each cubby grows 6″ as you go down so the bottom cubby is 2′-6″ deep, 1′-0″ tall and 1′-4″ wide. Should be great for storing blankets and art supplies.
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- And one last picture of my happy little Christmas shrub! :) I hope you all have had a great Thanksgiving or just a great weekend :)
Hi there,
Love the updates on your progress, it’s looking great!
Just wondering – why did you use two layers of ply for the flooring?
Keep up the good work,
Madeleine
Hi there Madeleine-
Thanks for the comment! There are a few different reasons I used two layers of plywood for the floor, the biggest one being that if I had just used one I would have had an awkward gap to fill in order to get the wall plates to sit flush on the home built trailer from Craigslist that I have used. It seemed like an easy option. There is no need for it structurally but I was also hoping that it would make the trailer a bit more rigid (since I am using drywall it could limit the cracking there if I could stabilize the frame a bit more). The third reason is because I had the lumber, I picked up all my wood from a local contractor for dirt cheap because they had leftovers from a big job. If I had to buy the lumber separate I probably would have figured something else out but I had exactly enough to do two full layers on the trailer bed.
Thanks for your kind words, I hope that is helpful!
Macy
Hey Macy! Your house is looking really good!
As for your counters, here’s a page from the USDA on cutting boards. http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FACTSheets/Cutting_Boards_and_Food_Safety/index.asp As long as you dry your counters off , after using them, you’ll be fine!
Hey Cheryl, thanks!
You made such huge progress over the weekend! Wow.
Thanks Rebecca!
I agree with mixing half and half to get a lighter stain for the table. I am fascinated with how you are building your shower floor. Keep up the good work. And a belated Happy Thanksgiving!
Thank you for your input! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving too!