http://minimotives.com Less is More Fri, 24 May 2013 21:15:43 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://0.gravatar.com/blavatar/6fa62a04c23504164d2c6b77205cf540?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.png http://minimotives.com http://minimotives.com/2013/05/23/update-5-23-13/ http://minimotives.com/2013/05/23/update-5-23-13/#comments Fri, 24 May 2013 05:23:40 +0000 Macy M http://minimotives.com/?p=2937 ]]> http://minimotives.com/2013/05/23/update-5-23-13/feed/ 2 minimotives IMG_20130523_210156_756 Hooked up to a long hose for my propane tank And in the mechanical room, my drained, the top for the washer/dryer, the bottom for my kitchen sink And there is power to my washer dryer! Shut off valves for the washer/dryer tightening the hoses to the washer dryer Everything is tightened up and ready to test! Testing the water in the shower, this is cold And you can see the steam, this is HOT! And I have a couple baskets in my sink With the basket out Bam, nearly fully functional kitchen! I say nearly because the sink is having a little issue. It is a recycled faucet and as such has a minor issue, a part needs replaced to get rid of a leak.. There is an extra hole that I was going to put an instant hot water fixture in for my french press, I think the water heater will work for that though honestly, it gets HOT! Now I will just plug the hole. This is where Denny's crate will go, it will be a little large, kinda like him but it will work well! View to the loft And the other side, my bed may very well find it's way up there this weekend :) And the crate area again. This is the settings of my water heater which seem to work very well I have to turn the shower on high to let the wather heater kick on, once it does I can turn it to whateer temperature I like. The knob on the left is the propane regulator, seems to work well lower, the one on the right is the water temperature, which I have on high. The fridge is plugged in and making ice :) Roomy enough for me! This is the space to the side of the couch, My bedroom! :) And the wet floor, which STILL, really needs cleaned up! My stove! :) My sink! http://minimotives.com/2013/05/22/update-5-22-132/ http://minimotives.com/2013/05/22/update-5-22-132/#comments Thu, 23 May 2013 05:33:20 +0000 Macy M http://minimotives.com/?p=2918 ]]> http://minimotives.com/2013/05/22/update-5-22-132/feed/ 9 minimotives The mechanical room, its filling up! The yellow line and copper line are the gas lines, one to the water heater one to the oven Yeah for gas stoves! The gas line connections under the trailer. The bathroom sink all installed, still needs to be caulked into place but it's there and it works! Even the cupboard front view And the eccotemp pieces came in, I just barely needed the extender, both of these seem WAY overpriced but I needed them... so 40 bucks for a couple feet of pipe...that I cut in half and mutilated :) The angels got cut to vent correctly and bending the the pieces to fit in in one and other Filing down the sharp edges from cutting Drilling the hole out to vent this on the deck. Now, Eccotemp says don't vent this unit out within 4 feet of a door or window, I don't think there is a single place I could vent this in my house if that was necessary, instead I will be installing a carbon monoxide detector, since it's not used that much I think I will be ok... Two steps forward one step back, had to take a bit of the siding down to put in the vent. And the vent installed, we basically had to add one more angle and about 10 inches of pipe, should be A-O-K. From the outside, just to note, the vents that go to the outside should be angled downward at least 5 degrees so that any rain or condensation drains outside rather than inside, I would have done that wrong without careful reading and a reminder from pops! http://minimotives.com/2013/05/22/update-5-21-13/ http://minimotives.com/2013/05/22/update-5-21-13/#comments Wed, 22 May 2013 18:57:27 +0000 Macy M http://minimotives.com/?p=2900 ]]> http://minimotives.com/2013/05/22/update-5-21-13/feed/ 0 minimotives This is what I came home too! It's leaking because the hose is a couple inches too short and is tweaking the connection a bit, it's just for testing right now so it's ok :) Water on the floor, how exciting! Here is the water heater set-up My 'mechanical room' :) This is the cabinet under the kitchen sink, to the right is the water heater, center is the sink connections, left is the washer/dryer shut off How many other tiny houses have a washer/dryer shut off? :) somehow it gets more 'cute' in a tiny house :) This is the water hoses coming into the cabinet behind the washer as well as tha tgas pipe for the stove just popping its head through :) http://minimotives.com/2013/05/21/update-5-20-13/ http://minimotives.com/2013/05/21/update-5-20-13/#comments Tue, 21 May 2013 14:58:43 +0000 Macy M http://minimotives.com/?p=2878 ]]> http://minimotives.com/2013/05/21/update-5-20-13/feed/ 6 minimotives Welcome to Idaho, I was tempted to try to drive under this! Tonight's agenda was the barn door for the bathroom door. Nathan is a jewel, we measured up and cut the pieces Laying all the pieces out on the ground to be welded The beast that makes the magic happen the REAL beast that makes the magic happen :) Slightly off on one side so we had to take it off and re-weld it. All right! Then grinding the finish and getting ready to cut off the bottom of the hooks and the hooks all cut off, these will not be weight bearing, they are just hooked over a bar to make the door stand upright, Tacking these in place, I just measured them out 6 inches from each end. and the other And placing the wheels, also 6 inches from each side, i wish i was able to find some skinnier wheels, these ones poke out on one side really bad, yet another issue to work through. The are flush with the outside but the inside will need some craftiness to make them look intentional... hmmm The pieces to the bar to hold it upright And installed. I was hoping to get the wood in it too but it didn't happen. Tonight I work on the wood pieces. And try to get ahead of some more siding. http://minimotives.com/2013/05/20/update-5-19-13-with-blood/ http://minimotives.com/2013/05/20/update-5-19-13-with-blood/#comments Mon, 20 May 2013 18:45:10 +0000 Macy M http://minimotives.com/?p=2854 ]]> http://minimotives.com/2013/05/20/update-5-19-13-with-blood/feed/ 15 minimotives First the good stuff! This is Denny, my soon to be here Great Dane! I have wanted a Great Dane for like, over 20 years, seriously! One of the things this tiny house enables me to do is pick my priorities and focus on them. My living expenses are small so I don't have to work so much and I get to spend my time doing the things I want to do instead of need to do, which includes lots of dog training and walks for me! Hes three weeks old here and growing by the hour, I get him shortly after he turns 8 weeks old, there is a lot of prep-work left to do but he and I will both call this tiny house home, some people find that crazy but it has been designed completely with him in mind! A separate note, my brother is back to the furniture making, this is a nightstand he's made with steps for his little weiner dog Jack to be able to hop into bed, Jack is going to love it and I think it looks awesome! My brothers bad-ass furniture is my inspiration for my kitchen and dresser :) So, to the work! We got some siding going! Made it up to the windows by the end of Saturday before we went to a birthday party James spend his precious Friday evening helping me de-nail and plane down some pallet wood to be put up on Saturday Then Sunday we hit it hard again to plane down even more wood, it was ridiculous and got a little more in place. I think/hope we have enough wood on hand to just put up, it will be a big job with lots of ladder work for sure! The overall, this will be stained darker to match the kitchen/loft area but each of the woods will look different so it should really bring out the variation. I am not sure why I have never been photogenic and also why I make weird faces while I work... this was the best of several though... uggg I wouldn't exactly call it 'free' siding because there are a lot of man-hours put into it but really I didn't do it soley because of the price-point, i thought this would turn out great and it definitely has to this point! A little sun-shiney... The shadows are getting long and it's time to wrap up the weekend A couple more evenings (or another weekend) and it should get done This is nothing as far as the total amount of sawdust goes... there was at least four times this much, I thought I had a picture but I didn't, this all came from the planer prepping the wood The scrap pieces that probably aren't worth saving, not bad for 80 or so pallets... I expected more James did most tof the dirty work of searching for those left-over nails that could hurt the planer blades I am very thankful for his help. VERY, this was NOT a fun job at all. And the remaining wood left to put up, ready to go, just have to rip it to size and nail it up! (This is where you stop looking if you don't want to see the blood) I was trying to change the blade out in the planer and slipped trying to un-do one of the bolts... turns out I suck at reading directions, they turn the other way... I hate tricky bolts, I'm used to righty-tighty, Lefty-loosey...) I ended up punching the metal which happened to have a blade in it... the cut didn't actually hurt near as much as the punching of the metal... But it turns out if you keep working and don't let an injury set just a bit it will just keep bleeding... I had to change a few bandages... This happend Saturday and it is pretty much all better today, biology is amazing! Sorry for the gross factor, I did it for the kids ;-) http://minimotives.com/2013/05/15/update-5-15-13-night/ http://minimotives.com/2013/05/15/update-5-15-13-night/#comments Thu, 16 May 2013 03:24:42 +0000 Macy M http://minimotives.com/?p=2837 ]]> http://minimotives.com/2013/05/15/update-5-15-13-night/feed/ 3 minimotives First and foremost, my cousins became home owners today! BIG congratulations Sage and Mikel! As for the house update I wanted to get the bathroom sink millwork done so that the sink could be installed This is the same tongue and groove wood that the wonderful Ms. Stacey found on Craigslist. This has become a major component of my house, I don't know what I would have done without her finding this deal, for free!!! Got it all glued together, trimmed to size and stained to match the rest of the wood in the house Installed even! Looks great AND the cabinet is functional :) The first cabinet door installed :) The corner detail, it isn't 'perfect', close though! :) The door, I don't think I'll put a pull on this since it really is more utilitarian under there then a real cabinet These are my hinges, they were a great deal AND perfect functionally, they let the cabinet doors sit right next to the wall and lift them to open. Aside from that I also got the next round of pallets ready to go, over the next few days I will be de-nailing these, planing them and ripping them to size in preparation for the next round of siding! And another pallet of pallet wood, this is about 50 pallets taken apart, really that is probably the hardest part, the rest just takes time... In case I don't have enough taken apart I do have some 'extras' for taking apart. Also, I de-nailed and cut to size the hardwood flooring to be used on the bathroom barn-door, Nate has agreed to help me weld up a frame for them soon and I need to figure out the home-made hardware part... http://minimotives.com/2013/05/15/update-5-15-13/ http://minimotives.com/2013/05/15/update-5-15-13/#comments Wed, 15 May 2013 18:10:20 +0000 Macy M http://minimotives.com/?p=2824 ]]> http://minimotives.com/2013/05/15/update-5-15-13/feed/ 2 minimotives I have a tricky problem here since the cabinet is outta whack... I figured I would stick one more tile there, square the sink up with the cabinet and grout the difference, it will be a noticeable flaw to me but hopefully not that big of a deal, it just wouldn't be a red-neck state without a plethora of red solo cups... which come in handy if you ever have to set one tile a butter knife comes in handy too. and in place, most of this will be covered with the sink but should make this an easier gap to fill. AND look, its a box for my washer/dryer :) The vanity sink all dried in. As far as budget, I bet I could have saved another 500 bucks if I didn't put a bathroom sink in, but I like it! :) Everything had to be re-routed a little bit, looks nice though! Here is the diagram for the water heater, the heater itself says that it comes with the manual gas appliance shut-off, but it didn't... bummer And how the heater will sit :) Painted out! http://minimotives.com/2013/05/14/the-real-update-5-14-13/ http://minimotives.com/2013/05/14/the-real-update-5-14-13/#comments Tue, 14 May 2013 18:19:09 +0000 Macy M http://minimotives.com/?p=2822 ]]> http://minimotives.com/2013/05/14/the-real-update-5-14-13/feed/ 1 minimotives Time to bust into the plumbing, I made a mess of this! But it comes right off! this particular sink is either a wall mount or a Good as new! Fresh out of the box, my bathroom faucet and connectors IMG_20130513_192805_458 I got a weird faucet (weird=cheap) and as such its tricky going together, my wonderful father was working on the plumbing and pretty much had to assemble the whole thing together, he said it was weird. First thing he did was throw off the cheapo gaskets that it came with and use his plumbers putty this should provide better seals I think it looks pretty neat going together, when I asked him if he liked doing the 'pretty parts' of plumbing and he said it was nerve wreaking, which makes total sense, there are lots of down and dirty to the job but then it has to finish off all clean and tidy, and the clean and tidy parts are the expensive ones! because we used the putty we still needed to use one of the original gaskets to tighten it down right, and dad says over time those gaskets just disinigrate into the metal connectors so I cut out a cardboard ring to go between, this will allow it to tighten down well but not get as cut up by the metal. Like a clove! The white part in the back is the original gasket Isnt she pretty! These are the parts that made it have to be assembled all together, they wouldn't fit through the sink together AND hook to the faucet so it had to be threaded through, hooked to the faucet and then put together Here is how it hooks to the faucet Hooking it up, another tool for the tool list, cowbells (more cow-bell) tightening the stopper and yet another ancient looking tool, pretty sweet The stopper looks HUGE in the tiny sink. it is a push down kind, not the lever kind :) Slick! and the overall, I still have to figure out the cabinetry It's a little out of square, that makes it tricky, I forgot to check this before tiline the floor, so now it is tiled into an out of square position... hmmmm :) The stuff under it is the filter for the whole house's water And on to the water heater, I do in fact meet the clearances, I will have to add another angle to the vent to get it outside, I can't go straight out the wall both because my trailer width is already mazimized so it would have to be removed during travel but also because my window goes so low behinde my sink. I will be routing it out onto the poarch, i have some ideas on how to make it look less tacky And here is the reason I have decided NOT to put both my propane tank AND my water heater under the sink, pretty important paragraphs that will make me sleep better at night :) I think I will move the tank out-doors under the trailer anyway, save myself a lot of risks of keeping it indoors. It's just one more hole in the envelope which I was trying to avoid but I feel like my house is actually still really tight! and I will fill the gaps as needed On my trip i experiences my first impulse buy ever... and I bought dog butts... these are the towel holders in my bathroom and this is my accent color :) I also grabbed a rug for in front of my kitchen sink, and some king size sheets for my bed! And on to the shower which is still pretty filthy! Here is my hardware for that though And the shower head, which is neat, I like the geometric shapes I am happy my dad is a plumber :) It's a beauty! IMG_20130513_200637_492 Still a lot of work cleaning it up and several more wipe-downs to get rid of all the mortar I messed up on and dust but it is actually still coming off pretty well with water and a scrubby pad, just lots to do there... Overall And! It was mentioned that this could help remove the grout, I have to say I am just afraid of it as it is :) My dad just happened to have some left over from one of his projects, I may test it out before I go all in I am sort of afraid it will eat my house! not just the grout :) and possibly damage the tile maybe, thoughts? Believe it or not we had four people and a dog inside pretty darn comfortable! Mom! the neighbor and dad, the farm cats were accumulating on the porch too, they wanted in and Tobi of course, who just barely counts as a dog but still does! I love it! http://minimotives.com/2013/05/14/update-5-13-13-denny/ http://minimotives.com/2013/05/14/update-5-13-13-denny/#comments Tue, 14 May 2013 15:47:51 +0000 Macy M http://minimotives.com/?p=2769 ]]> http://minimotives.com/2013/05/14/update-5-13-13-denny/feed/ 3 minimotives Meet Denver, AKA Denny, I am getting my great dane! He was born the end of last month and will be finding his way to me at the end of next month but this is him at 2 weeks old :) I think he's a very handsome fella, I am so excited to meet him but there is A LOT to get done before that! Here he is with his mom, Asia and all of his brothers and sisters My wonderful and amazing cousin also happened to graduate law school this weekend so I had a little trip over the the twin cities to partake in the festivities! Congratulations Mikel and Sagey! Here is the Minneapolis skyline, it's the best we got, and I didn't even get it :) (Thanks Shae) And this is the contraption to wear on my foot. I have to say I am pretty skeptical but willing to wear this all the time if it avoids foot surgery... We will see. It works by sending a magnetic pulse through those diodes on either side of my foot which apparently spurs bone growth. Anyone else have a story about these? I feel sorta like its a placebo :) http://minimotives.com/2013/05/05/update-5-5-13/ http://minimotives.com/2013/05/05/update-5-5-13/#comments Mon, 06 May 2013 03:04:37 +0000 Macy M http://minimotives.com/?p=2709 ]]> http://minimotives.com/2013/05/05/update-5-5-13/feed/ 9 minimotives The stove being reassembled, it looks gret, I can't believe how much better it looks And installed Procrastinating the siding I decided instead to plan the seedlings I started a few weeks back Here they are, various flowery vines that should look pretty on the side of my house And planted With no more options I have to put siding up... I prepped a lot of pallet wood previously but I still had to do some, here I am planing down the wood in order to stain it in the end, one pass through Second pass Third pass and final fourth pass, every board has to go through about this many passes or more. Pallet wood is mostly free but ridiculously labor intensive I got a few rows up and needed a break. I was thinking about doing mitered edges at the corners but because they are all slightly different thicknesses and wood tends to shrink at different rates I thought it would be better to do finger joints like this This is as far as I got done today. The porch porch 2 overall This is the reason to wear a mask when cutting this stuff, these pallets are all used and coated in various amounts of whatever, in an effort to not breath this cocktail of chemicals in you really should wear a mask, You don't want this stuff floating around in you. I am using all of the pallet wood outdoors as well, you wouldn't really want it installed indoors for the same reasons. I think for my rain-screen wall it will be ok. I am also making a lettuce tower. and the tower on the porch :) Another shot I guess this is the trellis which is rather saggy now that it has warmed up a bit. Not a huge fan but it should work and Im just going to cut it down at the end of the season. I also caulked all of the trim indoors My lovely kitchen minus some open shelving up above Much better color match, you can also see the brand of washer I got here. I had to epoxy on the oven handle, the screws fell apart The water heater JUST BARELY fits. I have like an 1/8 of an inch to spare with the vent I cut some boards for the bathroom sink, not complete but planed and ready to go. I cleaned up and showered then got ready to head out and came upon 9 people hanging out on my tiny house porch, my folks were showing their friends, Tobi also showed up, she seems to like the patio and his picture taken I forgot to include how we got the washer dryer in the house It's handy to have a dad with a tractor.