Update – Electrical, Plumbing, Interior Walls

Another productive weekend!

So, first thing is first, my new idea for the roof structure.  I have been having a hard time thinking of some material that will feel monolithic and have a ‘mass’ to it without too many seams and or joints.  With whatever system I go/went with I was planning on putting a TPO (plastic membrane) material over the roof to weatherproof it then throw whatever skin material on.  I got to thinking, why?  It is just for looks and that adds to the cost.  Everything else in here serves at least one purpose, even the other siding material is at least recycled (I am back on the idea of using recycled pallet wood outside).  It seemed way excess.  SO, my solution, TPO the exterior (or otherwise seal it) add a root barrier/protection (if not a dual-purpose material), combine that with some sort of creative/decorative lattice system to act as the pretty exterior while also allowing a surface for growies.  Along the bottom edge of the trailer I am thinking I could use a typical gutter system, fill it will an inch or two of soil, steal some ivy cuttings from the yard at work (it grows like a weed if it’s allowed to here), plant them and watch it climb the wall.  Eventually this will create a really light weight ‘green roof’.  It won’t have the same insulation properties as a green roof because there is a very small amount of soil but the leaves from the ivy WILL act as portable shade for the structure in the hot summer, the weight will be minimal and it WILL look awesome :).  Yet another idea I am kicking around to use solo or in combination with the ivy is to build small garden boxes which can hang off of the trellis system and actually grow my garden (I grow in pots already) on the side of my tiny house.  I am considering the options… Here is a crappy rendering.

Ok, into the update an the actual progress completed.  It was a lot of electrical exploring this weekend, the good news is I understand things SO much better and I am no longer scared to play with electricity, the less than good news is I am still confused as hell about some things regarding the wiring, but that is what the diagrams are for, I will work it out :).  I got all the receptacles located and hung.

Dad got the plumbing up out of the floor.  Exciting!

We finished the framing, including all of the interior walls!  It looks awesome, pretty much meets or exceeds all of my visuals ideals in my head.  We were able to find two really great storage bonuses while framing, one is a basin area above the microwave and pantry space that is sunk down about 8 inches, giving me about 16″ clear space on a square about 3 foot by 4 foot.  I am planning to put all of my holiday items and chocolate making supplies up there, maybe more.  The other is a space about 1 foot wide, 4 feet deep and 7 feet tall behind these two spaces.  This we have lovingly deemed my ‘safe room’ because it will be a hidden area.  If someone is trying to break into my house I could totally hide in it and they would never know!  (As if that happens in Idaho 🙂  This space will be dedicated to any larger items I may have, say if I pick up skiing or snowboarding again, maybe some fly-fishing… all things I can do with my new found freedom allowed to me by my tiny house/minimalistic lifestyle!   Also in this space I am considering installing a water purifier/softener for my water supply.  Underneath the pantry area will be a cupboard for my rock climbing/hiking/camping gear.  Pretty much all my other hobbies should be able to fit in my dresser that will be built down the road a bit.

All and all a pretty productive weekend, I even got to hang out with my brothers for Cinco De Mayo AND sell some of my belongings on Craigslist.  Nathan also helped me (did it for me) move my planter from my rental, that is no easy task, it’s a couple hundred pounds… (Nathan just put an offer in on a house, I hope he gets it, congratulations brother :).  I hope everyone had a splendid weekend!  Here are some pictures:

A good portion of my Friday night was spend with a glass of wine and this book. It is highly recommended by me for explaining complex principles in very easy to understand diagrams and explanations. Wine certainly helps too!

Prior to a friend of the family, Steve, coming over to help me check my general ideas and give me some advice I drew up several different circuit options. I felt like it was a pretty good exercise and I understood things a little better with each draft.

Here is my final electrical diagram. I have eight circuits.

Which lead to me buying my well over-sized panel, it is the smallest that they had at Lowe's, all the electrical was less money than I expected, I think it was just over 100 bucks, budget to update shortly.

After getting a plan together, determining how many outlets and switches I need/want, and finding their location it was time to install the receptacles. A good portion of these were left over from when my folks built their place, I only had to buy a couple. Awesome.

Aside from figuring out a lot of my electrical dad and I (mostly dad because I was meeting people to sell my possessions from craigslist) built the interior walls. Show in this picture, Blue=bathroom, Green=refridgerator/microwave cubby and Red=pantry. I was also able to get a large and skinny storage space behind the pantry and cubby, we are calling it my 'safe room... it will probably be some sort of hidden area, because those are awesome :).

Same view, no colors

Dad also popped the plumbing up above the floor, now you can actually see parts of it instead of just trusting that it's there.

The bathroom plumbing, in the foreground is the shower lines and vent, in the background is the bathroom lav and wing wall. My shower is going to end up being 34"x36" which is a tad smaller than I drew but still a good sized shower for a tiny house. Notice also the receptacles are all installed. That one there is for my hair dryer! 😉

I had all kinds of help this weekend, it was awesome, Mom was out with dad while I was MIA selling things, shes a very nice lady! Nater got in there and Steve came over to lend a hand. We even had a visit from the neighbor who wanted to check things out.

I also went through and caulked all of the joints where the sheathing came together horizontally. This is probably unnecessary but it makes me feel better that I have a solid air barrier. There were actually some surprisingly big gaps between some of these areas.

Also this weekend, after some Cinco De Mayo shinanigans with my brothers we were able to move my custom made and designed planter box from my rental to it's new location. Nater has all sorts of handy tools too, must run in the family!

Coming up:

Doors (Dennis, did you volunteer to help me learn how to do this? (-: ), wrapping the exterior, installing windows, starting pallet siding, figuring out the details for a specific material for the ‘green roof’, running the wires, pulling the trailer outside to complete the roof.