Sitting in the loft looking aft...

To take this photo I was sitting in the loft with my back to the bow wall, looking aft.  In the foreground may be seen the plank and partial sheet of plywood which are the acting loft floor at the moment. Looking up, two sets of dormer rafters may be seen, with their plywood sheathing. 

I went over to Kyle's and ducked under the huge tarp to get the feel of things now that the framing is complete and the roof sheathing is on.  It was a cold but sunny day and I was bundled up against the outdoor chill, but it got very (maybe too) warm in the tiny house after a while! A novel concept -- insulating with a 30x50ft black tarp and heating with nine candles! (And the sun.) It helps to climb up and down a ladder a few times too.

The two blue triangles in the above photo are the aft walls of the dormers, which have their own blue tarp. The blue tarp is also covering what may be distinguished as the aft ends of the rough openings for two of the four dormer windows (port and starboard).  Looking further aft, rafters for the peaked roof may be seen (five I think), and the wrinkly black equilateral triangle shape is the aft end of the house (with a tealight candle set on the header for ambiance). Just below this may be seen the rough opening for the stern windowseat nook window. That diagonal 2x4 across the window opening is temporary bracing. 

For this picture I sat approximately where the notebook and green pencil were in the previous picture.  So I am looking forward now at the bow end of the loft.

I took the following three pictures to help me plan the windowsills/shelves which will be built in under the four dormer windows, but thought some of you might be interested in the nifty framing puzzle Kyle solved for the dormer construction.

The aft end of the port dormer framing.  This is where the dormer rafter meets the side and end dormer walls. Lower right in this photo (above) is the top left corner of the rough opening for the aft port dormer window.  Still with me?

The bottom left corner of the rough opening for the aft port dormer window.  Where peaked roof rafters abut dormer wall.

The bottom right corner of the forward port window dormer wall, where some more fancy framing was done by Kyle. The line of the peaked roof will show on the outside of the bow wall.

Looking up into the loft from the stern window seat area.  It is possible to see that the dormers extend further toward the stern than the edge of the loft floor; this will allow the ladder to be placed anywhere along the loft floor edge and climbed without fear of bonking one's head on the peaked roof rafters...  Tea-lights for atmosphere.

I have spent many hours in the past few days researching potable water tanks, cisterns, grey water holding tanks, camping shower units, solar-powered vent fans, fridges and ice boxes, mini-air conditioners, and many a cook-stove, from alcohol to wood to propane, to butane, to gasoline, and eek there are a lot of choices.  Also Australia certainly has a lot of interesting solutions to problems of roughing it in the great outdoors...

Great pictures on Kyle's blog!

Wooooo-ey!! I just looked at Kyle's blog and THERE are all the pictures I was wishing I could post yesterday!!! Kyle is out-of-town, and obviously had some time to put together a post, since he was many hundreds of miles away from the actual wood and sawdust of the construction site.  No house pictures from me today -- look here:

http://buildingatinyhouseonwheels.blogspot.com

 Happy Boxing Day!

Wrapping for my best Christmas present...

Here are Kyle and M inspecting the brand new 30' x 50' tarp which has enabled work to continue outside.  Kyle kept the trailer covered once there was exposed plywood in place (the floor of the house), and uncovered it on days when work was to be done.

Here that huge and unwieldy tarp is doing the simple job of covering the trailer.  As construction continued, that tarp apparently became a pain to haul over the 6' 6" high stud walls, and then an even bigger pain to haul over the ridge beam, rafters and dormer framing.
 

Here Kyle and my dear friend L stand on kitchen chairs debating whether the ceiling under the loft floor would feel cramped at (I think) 6' 3".  They thought it would and, lucky for me when I joined them, I didn't think so! 

A sneaked peak under the tarp (at the rough opening for the big stern window), as it is being raised by installation of the stud walls. Actually the tarp was off while work was being done (thanks to heroic efforts of M -- that thing is TALL!), but a time-lapse photo sequence of the project at rest between workdays would show it rising in several leaps and bounds...getting exciting!

 

Looking forward to the bow wall, windowless.  It is possible to detect the rough opening for the bathroom window on the port side (left here), and the rough opening for the starboard window over the wheel well on the other side.  If you're really good, you can see the rough opening for the entry door, forward of the starboard window, and evidence of the rough opening for the narrow window forward of that.  Whew!  Or you could wait until I have better pictures! 

This unprepossessing shot is actually the most exciting one of all.  It was taken after Kyle covered up the finished framing for the roof rafters and dormers!!  Since this was taken he and D installed the plywood sheathing on the roof, so the house probably looks just like this at the moment!  After the self-sealing membrane is attached over the roof sheathing, the tarp will probably not be needed.   "Curtains" of plastic drop-cloth material should suffice.

So even though I won't get to "unwrap" this gift today, I may well be able to before the Twelve Days of Christmas are past.  Goody!

A Merry Christmas 2013 in memory of the handsomest kitty in the whole world, Misha, who enjoyed almost seventeen years on this earth, from 1996 - 2013, much beloved, much missed.

Ooops! Time flies when you're having fun...

Back after a hiatus of distractions, I realize that my work on this house has more to do at the moment with sorting, purging, organizing, photographing and fundraising with my huge portfolio of artwork, and otherwise preparing for a big move to a tiny house, than it does with the actual building.  Kyle is plugging away in between raindrops, snowstorms, furnace-replacements and trips to a certain college in Kentucky.  He has the double-insulated coveralls, not me!! 

So I will just fill in some background information on our design decision-making process, more or less starting with the following:

Here is a smartphone picture of the study plans for the now discontinued EPU Tumbleweed Tiny House model.  Credit for the plans, and for absolutely wonderful, enthusiastic help and question-answering goes to www.tumbleweedhouses.com !   

Kyle and I attended a workshop in June 2013, given nearby, to get started on our design process.  It was very helpful as an introduction to the tiny house movement, and gave us lots of ideas.  We made enough changes in our design that until now I was unsure as to whether I could call my design an EPU or not.  But having seen that many other Tumbleweed House builders have modified aspects of their plans, I have chosen to reveal (drum roll, please) Tumbleweed Tiny House Company's EPU as the design of my house, as well as TTH as the source of friendly and cheerful design and building advice (via email and the old-fashioned telephone!)  

Apparently there is a location out there in Sonoma, CA., where all these enthusiastic folks are building houses, designing houses, giving building advice, sending books and plans and DVDs, and signing new enthusiasts up for (currently discounted) workshops. It seems to be a hotbed of ideas and activity about the small/tiny house movement.  A very fun website to check out (no I am not being paid to toot Tumbleweed's horn -- it really is fun). 

So, if there is any chance you can see the details in my smartphone picture, here goes.  Although I have kept the general layout of the bathroom and kitchen areas as positioned in the bow (top of picture), I have shifted the entry door from being centered in the stern to being on the starboard side, forward of the wheel well, right where the stove burners are in the picture. And aft, instead of a porch, that space has been enclosed as part of the interior, and will have a sort of window seat with a pullout bed.  There will be a large double window in the stern (see picture of stern window in some previous post or other).  

From inside the house the window will be framed by the seat/bed, a small storage loft at the height of the header, and shelving built against the port and starboard walls, facing in. (This may be the only real storage for BOOKS! And no, I am not getting a you-know-what yet -- I still like reading a real paper book.)

Above the forward half of the first floor will be a loft, with two dormers, increasing the usable space by a lot; these dormers are taken from another Tumbleweed design (for a different house plan).  

I think that better be all for today, since my sorting is calling me. But more exciting pictures are to come!  As of this posting time, Kyle has framed up the walls, framed in the windows, gotten at least the ridge beam and two sets of rafters up, and is working on constructing the dormer framing. WOW! Also look for a do-it-yourself paper model project posting soon!

A beautiful fall day to be outside

Lots of things are percolating at the moment.  I am nailing down (so to speak) the final position for the entry door and all side windows, and getting set to order the patina green standing seam metal roofing and trim we will need.  I have also been researching a cement-polymer-coated rigid foam tile backing board, which I hope to use in the bathroom area -- 100% waterproof and very light. Here is what it looks like:

An artist friend of mine discovered how easy this material is to tile on (when she facilitated an awesome outdoor mosaic project), and how waterproof it is.  I plan to use the panels for the walls of the bathroom area, and probably purchase their shower pan too.  The molded shape pieces are a bit pricey but I can use this lightweight material now as is, and tile it later at my leisure.  If my tiny house alights more or less permanently anywhere I can tile it with ceramic or stone tiles.

Here is Shelby today by the trailer -- my tiny house "foundation" -- and a picture of the lumber which will be used to build the shell of the house. Thank you Barry! To me the trailer is looking a bit less like a utility trailer.  The skirting is bolted on with stainless steel bolts, lock washers and nuts, and Kyle has silicone-caulked each bay and everywhere that needed to be sealed from moisture.  At this point we want to be sure that not a drop of water enters from below, and I think the foundation has been sealed quite thoroughly. 

This photo shows caulking down in the bay where polyiso rigid foam and spray foam will be placed, as well as in the seam between the 2x6" borate-treated skirting (or fascia) boards and the frame of the trailer.  Note the channel made to allow for the threaded rod -- one of eight or ten I think -- which will secure the wooden wall framing to the "foundation". These rods are carefully welded to the outside of the heavy steel trailer frame.

Note the two rubber grommets in the frame and flashing. You might not realize that they are two different sizes (widths and depths) and actually I believe there are four (4!) different types of rubber grommets now protecting previously sharp-edged holes in the steel.  Wiring of different sizes for the trailer lights must pass through parts of both the thick steel framing and the thinner flashing in the floor of the trailer, and we felt that it was asking for trouble to let any wiring get jostled around or rubbed while the house will be underway.  I feel that the trailer is very well-made, and will be a quite satisfactory "foundation" for my tiny house, but kudos to Kyle for being thoughtful, thorough and ingenious about details like this.  My engineer father would certainly have appreciated (as I do!) the doggedness needed to protect each type of hole with its own appropriate grommet. A lot of time is being spent (on both of our parts) in looking ahead, and problem-solving small but important design and construction issues.  Which is VERY satisfying.

Mark's awesome bobcat forklift.  I missed the actual unloading on Monday Oct 21st, but he said it was a bit hairy getting my trailer down from the top of the stack on the semi.   That's how one light got broken.  But I am grateful that nobody got hurt. And that someone from Tennessee got their trailer dropped off at Mark's too, and avoided a trip all the way to Gordonville, PA.

Here is my trailer -- looking kinda small -- and Mark's 3/4 ton truck in the background.  Very exciting though!!!!

Broken starboard fender light, lens and housing.  Mark said he called Holly and is having a replacement sent. 

Here is the stern license plate light -- arrived without its lens cover.  Mark let Holly know.  Hope it will be simple to replace.  I am thinking of using LED lights anyway, so we will see what the cost is to replace.

 

My mechanic Mark Buchert getting me his associate Greg's tape measure, since my burning desire was to measure the distance between the starboard fender and the bow end of the trailer! I just had to see if my design would work to have the entry door forward of the starboard wheel well, and still have room for a window on the wall, forward of the entry door.  I think it's gonna work!!!!

Mark pulled in and backed the trailer up into the preordained parking spot at Kyle's so quickly and efficiently that I had no time to take a picture of him!! So I created this wishful thinking photo opportunity with my car.   Probably I couldn't even pull the 1600 lb. trailer with my faithful 1998 Toyota Corolla, let alone the 10,000 lb. house on wheels! But now it is in position, and if the weather cooperates, we will be moving forward with construction asap!!!!    WOW!!!

Here's a photo of the wonderful polyiso given to me, months ago, for my house by my artist friend.  It is going to be cool to know that it will be in the bays of my trailer frame, warming my feet as I putter around, and I will think of her, cozy in her studio painting, warmed by the same high r-value insulation. Thank you!

Here are the ends of the environmentally safer borate-treated 2x6s that attach as skirting on the frame of the trailer.  Another truly wonderful gift, this from a train-loving couple Kyle and Marsha and I know.  Thank you!

Ah, now it may be seen how cozy, i.e. tiny, this little house will really be!  This is a 5'5" artist in overalls, standing in front of what will be a 6' doorway.  Duck, everybody!

Now, the second and final batch of polyiso, in various thicknesses, acquired from "Craig" in Xenia.  Kyle was able to pick it all up on his way home from playing the hammered dulcimer at the Renaissance Festival last Saturday.  I think we have all the insulation we need for the entire house, and got this batch for less than half of what it would have cost from a big box lumberyard. I am happy to have the option, with all the varying thicknesses, of creating shallow 1"-2" deep display shelves inside between the studs, and still having insulation of r -13 or so.  Next post will be about the trailer delivery!

Kyle and I met yesterday to get our ducks in a row for the arrival of the trailer.  We talked about siding, roofing, 2x4s 16" or 24" on center, and the possibility of a bow shed resting on the tongue of the trailer which could hold my EZ-UP booth tent and some hoses and extension cords and tools, as well as the incoming downspout for a cistern and the opening through the house wall for tapping the cistern.  We shall see.  All very interesting.  Well, interesting to us.  Neither Tuck the Cat or Shelby the Dog seemed to pay us any mind:  

 

Here is a photo of the old 3rd floor bathroom door from Machamux, purportedly the original front door of the (ca.1782) house, lockset perhaps from England.  It is in Kyle's barn right now.  It was very slightly bowed when we took it out of my storage unit, and it was a little humbling to realize that the bowing may have been caused by me leaning it against the wall of the storage unit, and not from any of the many many years it was constantly hanging and being used...anyway, it is resting in such a way that perhaps it will even out.  The jury is still out on whether it can be used in a timely manner as the door of my little house, but it will appear somewhere, to be sure.  

More photos for the hardware-curious:

 

 

Exciting news today!! My specially-built utility trailer is finished (out west somewhere)!!! And the truck will leave with a stack of trailers, including my 7x14' "no porch" model, probably on Friday of this week!  And therefore arrive here at my mechanic's on Monday or Tuesday of this coming week.  Boy, does that feel good!  I have set it up with my mechanic to take it off the truck, put the wheels on, AND hitch it up to his own truck, which has all the right wiring etc., and tow it out to the building site.  Have I already mentioned this?  Well it is still exciting!!  I will probably even have pictures of it being fork-lifted off the tractor-trailer!   So watch out!  One step at a time.  ... And on the artistic front:

 

Here is a slice of curled mulberry tree trunk I am thinking of using as outside trim on my house.  I have been moving the larger section of tree trunk around with me for so many years that I can't remember where I got it!! It may have been from the house I grew up in, Machamux, but I have only a memory of seeing the piece and asking someone if I could have it ... and memories of carefully moving it numerous times.  The object, for a long time, was to find a saw with which I could even out the end cuts, and then make a glass-topped end table out of the 18-20" long section of trunk.  When I finally was able to even out the cuts on the big bandsaw at the university where I got my second bachelor's degree I realized that slices of the trunk would be truly a wonderful way to showcase the beauty of the "log".  And after mulling THAT over for a few years, suddenly I have a house to build and a place to put these beautiful curls of wood.  Certainly they will be used somewhere in my tiny house.

The Last Window (I think)

Here is Kyle testing out what I hope will be the last window I need.  It is 16.5" x 36" so it would match in length the forest green one which is 24"x36".  It has pebble glass in the bottom sash, so it may end up being used in the bathroom area (on the port side), but we shall see.  I wanted a slightly wider window over the kitchen counter forward of the entry door (and one that is operable), and the forest green one will probably go aft of the entry door (this is all on the on the starboard side)...

The whole stack, all 9 are double-pane and low-e, some with argon gas; 5 are double-hung, 3 are casement used as awning style, 2 inoperable.  Total price: just over $500 with tax. Whew.   Another step forward.  

Speaking of which, my mechanic has okayed the drop-off of my trailer at his shop; he will put the wheels on there, and he has a pickup truck with the correct ball and hitch and wiring connectors, so he said he would tow the trailer to Kyle's house.  For some cost naturally, but presumably less than a trip to Gordonville, PA would have been.  Prettier pictures next time.


 

Building continues on the MODEL of my tiny house on wheels...

Looking in port (left) dormer windows.  I am leaning toward cedar clapboard siding after all, and whitewashing or staining it.   Turns out it is approximately the same weight per square foot as T1-11.  (Though about 2.5 times the cost.)

Looking in stern window up past (sagging!) crosstie to loft and dormers.  Mock-up of first floor kitchen and bath areas visible.  It is really not as skewed as it looks. It is pretty much on a scale of 1" = 1'.

Roof view, standing seam metal roof

 

 

 

Stern port view.  There will be one window on the port side forward of the wheelwells, in the bathroom area.  Starboard side will have two windows and the main door.  The port and starboard openings have not been cut out in the model because their final position cannot be determined until we have the mystical 7'x14' trailer on hand.  A wait of only about three weeks.

Here is a picture of the two small shutters 17.5"x15.5" which were originally for a third floor half-fan window at Machamux.  Probably from the 1920s or something, certainly not from the original foursquare house circa 1782.  

Today I continued working on arranging to have the 8'x14' no-porch trailer dropped off near me.  Depending on the weight of the trailer, I think I can have it dropped off at my long-time car mechanic's shop.  Then the wheels may be installed there and if we get confused about getting the wiring hooked up for brakes and brakelights, they can come to our rescue (for a fee!).

Yipes!  Time really gets away from you when you are doing 8000 things every second.  More news, but here is my photo of the first two windows, purchased at Brad's Bargains in Cailfornia, KY, located in the old A.J.Jolly Elementary School on Route 8.  A fun afternoon of scrounging, and met an all-white cat named Spot (hee-hee).  Sorry not to have a photo of Spot, but here are the windows:

 Inside view of 43"x48" window for stern "windowseat" or "sunroom" area.

 Outside view of same

Outside view of 24"x36" window which will probably go aft of the entry door on the starboard side, kind of over the wheelwell.
 

Inside view of same.  Yes, one window is green and one white, but I feel confident that I can manage the aesthetics at a future date, and they are both low-e, double pane, double hung and great bargains -- thanks, Brad!   Cheers all!