It has been a while.

Yes it has been a while since I posted anything up here.

I am working two jobs again, so my weekends are taken up by working and not by the assembly of pieces of my tiny house. Alas and alak.

On the plus side, I have gotten some work done, and my exterior is 95% finished, and in deed the structure is almost road worthy.

yes that is the siding done, the roof done, and the facia up on two sides of the structure. I still need to put siding on those little triangles up by the loft on both sides, and the side not pictured needs to have the last courses of siding run and the facia put up. The front also needs to have the facia put on, put I didn't do it on my stolen three days off since I wanted to fix my roofing overlap.

I didn't quite overlap it enough to cover the siding (an easy enough error to make your first time doing roofing I imagine).

I like the way the rock looks now. Two courses fits so much better then one, and it ties all nicely with the weathered wood style vinyl siding.

I need to finish the last bit of siding and facia on the other side and the front facia, and hang my front clearance lights. Then maybe I can get it road inspected and actually licensed.

Then maybe some interior work can be done.

I have cut the stringers for my stairs, and I did get my toilet in.

I want to drop the loft space floor an inch (I have just that much clearance from the door) to give myself a little headroom. Right now it is just a bit too cramped for my liking.

If I did it again, you know that the center area between the wheel wheels would be a good spot for a rolling bed, and I would shed roof the house to make the loft a little office/work space/library.

Ah well. that and another window or two are my should haves.

Siding Ho!

I had some time off over Christmas, and wonder of all wonders my siding finally came in. I had decided to go with a weathered wood style vinyl siding from Kaycan.  The swirls in the siding match both the roof and some Polyroche fake rock that I am using to break up the huge mass there is.

Overall, I might just need to pick up another course of the rock and double it. Right now it looks good, but a second course of it might look better.

I also have ideas floating in my head for changing how I was going to frame up my front deck area. Dad did some railings and the like at the cabin out of  actual trees/logs and I might just want to copy that style for my porch. It means pulling off what I have already put in place, but the wood touch would look so much better I think. (I was planning to do something like this on the inside for my loft area, but adding some outside would tie everything together.

Ah weight. I get nervous about my frame more and more. ;)

Ah I want to get back up there and fiddle more. The snow just makes things so much harder though. I was getting nervous with my ladder.

Sliding glass door

I sprung for my siding and a sliding glass door this week. Very painful on the wallet but it makes the exterior that much more close to being done. The siding I chose looks awesome though and brings in the colours of the roof and the polyroche.

I have the polyroche faux stone siding for the bottom course and might have started on it, but the corners are really wiggity and I wanted to look up the installation methods to make sure I was doing things right. As it, I know how to do it now, but I need to cut stuff on the corners since I am not going to do the installation over the lathes. If I cut back my tyvek for that spot, I can do the alternate installation method of directly over the plywood.

It was bloody cold up at the cabin, in fact record cold for the region on that day. So while I got the door in, I did not do much else on the day. And then the cold had the truck not starting, so I was a little panicked that I might be stuck up at the cabin for longer then I'd like.

The door looks great though, and I sprung for the blinds between the glass, double sided opening doors that Home Depot had. I installed a five footer, but I would have gladly pirated their display model which was all of 3 feet perhaps? A perfect size for a tiny home I thought.

I still think I will need to install one more tiny window on the blank side of the house. If I stick it above the level of the large landing steps I am planning for my stairs it will add light to a semi-dark corner. Tiny to pick through the boneyard (or new and used) again.

Once I get all of this exterior work done, I can always do interior work over the winter when there is snow on the ground.

Minor things

I wish I had this place a little more accessible so that I could do work on it after work hours. But I went up and got the ridge cap on plus did my caulking around seams that might / and did leak. Started to fiddle with the front porch but as yet I need to pick up the sliding glass door so I don't want to get too far ahead with it making it a bitch to get the door in place.

At least I used up the majority of the crappy 2x4's in that porch.

Oh and I got my bird blocks in place. Happy time.

Looming little more house like?

On the whole it doesn't feel like I got a whole ton of work done this past weekend. More plywood went up, covering the dormer/loft area and a little more was added to the roof. The biggest addition was getting the skylight in place on the roof area, something that needed more then one person to do. Those things are heavy, all that glass and wood.

Overall I know where I sit in the whole getting the structure enclosed thing. I need to scab on a few boards in the loft area so I can enclose the area where the roof transistions from one pitch to the other. Right now I have nothing to hammer onto on the lower portion, but a 2x4 should easily fix that.

Another area that needs a 2x4 is the skylight. I made the opening that little bit too big that you do for windows, forgetting that of course, the skylight sits on top of the roof. This is actually also an easy fix. My spacing as it stands means that one more 2x4 on the inside of the current framing all the way around will make it fit nice and snug.

Then there are the two sections of the roof as it stands that are not covered. One is a small strip, easily cut  and set in place. The other side needs more plywood then that, but it is still fairly easy to do.

The biggest thing is my front area, where I plan to have storage and maybe another small window. This is the roof for my front porch, and would be important when it comes to locking down this porch against wind resistance when towing this beast. I plan on a small enclosed front deck with screens, but I am not too sure if I want posts or just some slanted beams that connect to the house proper. In any case, I need to rough in that front area before I can do anything further with the roof in that space. Maybe a little pressure treated lumber is in my future, just for wet resistance.


I need another roll of tyvek regardless.

Roof time

Well I just accidently deleted my last roofing post, so here it goes again.

I spent the last two weekends cutting, fiddling,  re cutting and getting my rafters up on the structure. When it came down to it I had given myself a little less headroom in the loft, and a bit more of an overhang to my main beam then I had thought I might do. Given that I made it with three 2x4x8's, doubled up, I suppose this was to be expected. The entire frame is 24' 4" after all. So I will need to scab another section on in order to make it that extra little bit I need.

Then again right now I am not building that area, the little front space extension that will serve as a roof over my porch and storage space, so I can get away with it for now. Other then that, a few sheets of plywood were stuck onto the roof, but I still need to add more, and close in my loft area up top with plywood. I was running short of the small screws I was using for this purpose, so I decided to come down at my usual god awfully early on Sunday. Really a waste to come down that early.

Scabbed in my skylight opening, but I need to cut the little rafter segments that will help support that area. Overall, it is starting to look like a house.

Two weekends of work

After two weekends of work, running out of 2x4s and a need for a lumber run, I actually have some walls up.

I banged together my ridge board, but I needed to remind myself on just how to get my angles and birdsmouth cuts correct. So I decided not to do any more work on the Monday and came home to bone up on just how to do this. Ah for those times I wish i could tap dad's knowledge.

I think i can cut them all and haul them up in my car. That will save some gas. That truck is a monster for has usage.

I think I will also relocate a Window from the peak in the dormer/loft to a wall by the bathroom. The bathroom does have a window in it but I have not cut it out from the plywood as yet. Changing some framing will not be easy but not impossible either.

Oh I forget. I need to look up how to frame in a skylight. There is one sitting around that is not in use, and it would look great on the house.

Walls going up

Now that I have managed to get the floor down and the trailer fixed, I could actually start framing. Which is something that I know I can do. I still need to get some epoxy to fiberglass the inside of my new wheel wells before I secure them down so I could not work on that portion of the wall framing,  but the rear of the trailer is up at least.

I also have built two of the other wall sections  not to mention cutting the wood gor another two aread. I can erect them once I have that fiberglassing done. (The benefit of doing the wells this way is that I get lots of practice for my ofuro making later.)

Time to decide if i want a sliding glass door on the front or french doors. (Space vs looks, really).

More work done

Well despite my best efforts to mess things up, the axles are on the trailer. I seriously need to get new bolts though for some of the springs. Little did I know that most of the existing bolts had this issue with a score down the threading.  This means that while I have them on, the one axle has not been tightened at all.

Then there is the issue of the grinding off of the bad mounts. I managed to get it done, and the one axle mounted quite well. The other is just the slightest bit off, so when I put it on the spring the u bolt would not fit. I will need to take a hammer to it when I pull the springs off, in order to percussion fit the whole thing together.

Framing wise, I fixed my issue I made from miss cutting my centre section when putting it together. Rather then having my beams run the length of the trailer,  I cut them by accident to run width wise, meaning my plywood seams did not have any support. I wound up pulling off the plywood and slipping some blocking in between,  giving the plywood that much needed help.

The other bit of work that was preformed was some of the framing around my wheel wells. That was a last minute thing before I left for home, but it looks like it ought to work. I shall need to get a roll of fiberglass or metal in order to protect the word from spray since I do not have fenders any more.

The Dance Floor

When we were building the cabin where the majority of this construction is taking place, the floor we had just put in was called the dance floor. Mostly because it was a big surface with not much else going on.

Now that I was the floor in on my tiny house, I have my own tiny dance floor. A good chunk of 2x4's will fix that next weekend, but until then I am sure the mice, birds and other critters are having dance parties while I am here at work.

I also scavenged a door from the basement storage of the cabin. We had brought it up to do a better cut down job to replace the one that is there already. (The basement is really an oversized crawl space. I have to keep my head ducked or a -lot- of swearing is in my future). I am not happy with it as a final solution, but it will suit for getting spacing, and even getting me through the lock up stage of the tiny house. (I really want more light in that side of the house and a window is the door is more optimal).

If I get really enthusiastic I can always try cutting it in half and making a dutch door.

The Boneyard

This city is quite lucky to have a couple of window manufactures in it. As such, if you go around and ask about their 'Boneyard', you can usually get a good deal on a new window that is either miss-cut, or returned from a job as unneeded. When my parents built the cabin they had a number of nice wood casement windows from someone who worked at one of these places. I decided to hit up another and see what I could get.

My first trip was a wash, since they closed before I got there. With a 4:30 closing time, and a 4:00 quitting time for me, I have to rush in order to make it there. My second trip was a bit more eventful, and I managed to pick up a pair or 16" x 32" casement windows for 100 dollars each. However I did not have cash on hand at the time, and well... taxes are a thing they need to worry about when they draw up paperwork for a debit transaction. If I pay in cash.... I am sure they report the transaction. Surely they do. ;)

This needed a third trip where I picked up five more windows, and this time I had cash in my wallet. These ones were non opening for the most part, which took the price down a ton. I picked up a pair of windows, 46" x 22" for fifty each, and paid another fifty for a window that did open and was frosted. 22" x 22". This should work for the washroom. Rounding it all out was a pair of 19" x 22" windows that I think I will stick in the roof peaks. At thirty dollars each, these five cost less then the others did with tax. Not a bad little haul.

Now that I have seven windows, I can start to work out the wall framing.

I just wish someone would get back to me about those springs.

Axles!

I managed to but my new axles the other day and ran them up this weekend. Of course I did not order springs at the same time. Silly me, but I did not have my spring length at the time. 26". So now I need to get springs and mount them. I might be able to get away with the old tires for the purpose of leveling for the purpose of building.

In the end though i will need to replace those wheels since not only are the rims the old split style which are not allowed any more, but those tires are not good. Aged and cracking.

Alas no photos taken, but over the past two weekends I got the sheet on the frame and started the framing for the back of the structure. I might have done more framing but not only is the version of sketch up on the cabin computer old, but when I take up the new version it wants a file from the net which I do not have.