Sunday was as beautiful a day as Saturday had been, a lovely day of Indian summer, and everything fell into place well for the celebration party. Folks showed up with their potluck salad bar ingredients and various toppings, soups and extra goodies. Fantastic barbequed chicken was had by all. I had a nice time all day myself -- it was just the right sized group as it turned out, and everyone mingled happily. Three toddlers enjoyed all the people, the wonderful dog Bear, and several older kids, who ranged all over the neighborhood and climbed into Big D's treehouse as well as my tiny house loft before disappearing into the woods to collect 10,000 stick-tights all over their clothes before their return.
The loft bedroom was a popular photo opportunity location for all who dared to climb the ladder and smile. Kyle had just put the new floorboards up to check their fit, so it looked like a separate space for the first time.
Friends brought friends who brought more goodies; here J, S, and A are cracking up at something the former pirate princess skeleton butterfly was saying.
Said princess and I did a hard sell job to S with the kid snack containers in the back garden.
The day was perfect for wandering around and sitting in the grass and relaxing. All was mellow and quiet; people were relaxing and waiting for the Belgian waffle food truck to arrive.
J helps an enthralled B ride on Bear's broad back. Bear was happy as a clam to be in the middle of all the kids and attention, and suffered all indignities amiably.
Then the magic moment arrived and caused a ripple of excitement to pass through the crowd. Marty's Waffles Food Truck arrived, and started cooking waffles, right next to my tiny house! Marty's truck was longer than my house, but my tiny house was taller than the food truck. What fun!
B and Kyle order their waffles from D, Marty's son, who was the consummate professional as he helped his father out. There were several special waffles of the day, and folks were able to sample more than one if they had saved room!
With more waffles available than party guests, we sent the kids to fan out and invite the neighborhood to share the wealth, which they happily did. Here one of the neighbors has a good grip on both her caramel apple waffle and a copy of Marty's Waffles business card. It was fun to say a little thank-you to all who had knowingly or unknowingly been tolerant of some extra comings and goings all summer in Big D's driveway.
A nice shadow view of the line at the service window. I got a chance to chat with a few of the neighbors, who enjoyed getting to ask some questions finally about this unusual project taking place practically under their noses!
B and her daughter, and J, waffling in the studio. Many of the guests were artists, and meeting each other for the first time, enjoyed art-making talk.
The awesome and much-coveted outfit of one guest, with her waffle on her lap.
Here are the four girls who had such fun together, D, A, N, and R, three 8-year-olds and a 6-year-old, eating their (first) waffles in the treehouse and making funny faces at the camera.
And later three of the four managed to climb the ladder to the loft, which I thought looked perfectly spacious enough for the group. Think of the possible slumber parties! I am pretty sure that's what they were thinking of. It really couldn't have been a nicer day, and I loved having dear friends, new and old, celebrate the completion of this phase of tiny house construction with me. Thank you all for being there!
On the first day of the tiny house party weekend, the work day, not only did Kyle finish the exterior bow wall siding (pictured in a previous post), but finished up some of the last dribs and drabs of the luan paneling inside, shown here. The uncovered lower wall on the left is marked with measurements to receive tongue-and-groove pine wainscoting, and several people did a great job getting that up, especially considering the fussiness of cutting pieces to fit around quite a number of outlets, both 12V and 120V. In this photo may also be seen the faux stained glass window embellished with t-shirt paints by me and my mother several years ago. It turned out to fit the lower sash of the starboard window very well, so it got hung as a bit of a party decoration, and may just remain there!
Z probably put up the most wainscoting, in several bursts of energy over the course of the day. The nail gun that was used, courtesy of Big D, did a great job of quick installation, with one exception. Its powerful compression recharge was hampered by the distance from the electrical outlet, because the necessary extension cords were too lightweight to keep the power from being lowered over that distance. So each time the compressor needed to be recharged (every 5-10 boards or so), the compressor had to be wheeled over to the studio door to get closer to the electrical outlet, then wheeled back to the tiny house. This was a potential problem I had had absolutely no notion of! Still, it was much faster and cleaner than doing the job with a hammer, especially when one was sitting on the floor.
The trusty scaffolding, loaned to Kyle by a (fantastic banjo-playing) friend of his, after seeing much use the whole spring and summer, was ready to be dismantled (thank you S!). Since it was a job for more than one person, we decided to try to get it done on Saturday, the workday part of the weekend. H, the husband of my good friend CB, gave Kyle a hand, and they got it down and neatly stacked in Kyle's truck in no time.
Just moments later, H was indoors, taping balloons on the studio walls, and twisting streamers, preparing the space for the next day's celebration party.
Two beautiful floral bouquets arrived with C, who also managed to help in several places at once, helping with the streamers, cleaning the studio bathroom and putting up wainscoting out in the tiny house. This bright dash of color adorned the buffet table where the potluck salad bar was to be set up, and the other bouquet, a cheerful yellow one, added a needed spot of life to the bathroom, which was outfitted with new soap, towels, flower wall stickers, and two new shower curtains for the occasion.
Our inside decoration consisted mostly of sweeping and dusting off surfaces, and arranging tables for all the party things. Three sculpture stands made the salad bar buffet, Bid D's new table saw was the hot food table, his two kids' tables held the give-aways and the baked goods, and a folding table held the screenprinting equipment. With my own bursts of energy I went to the dollar store and felt like I bought the place out of disposable party supplies and favors. Knowing there were going to be at least two toddlers at the celebration the next day, we made sure we had little plastic animal containers to fill with goldfish, raisins and crackers. It was fun to prepare for a party with the friends who were for the most part going to be at the party. And in a space where I had prepared for many holiday parties with my teacher's family and the other students during my years of fine art studies.
These photos don't do the atmosphere justice, I must say. There was a very festive feeling to the whole room, and part of the fun was having my teacher's daughter and granddaughters helping set up. A and A enjoyed helping with twisting streamers and all that, and added their taste to the decorations.
CB (whose husband provided yeoman service with the scaffolding) had spent the previous week baking up a storm of goodies for the crowd, including pumpkin cake balls, chocolate bottom bars, chocolate macaroon bars, apple orange muffins, and, my favorite, brownie bites with brown butter icing. These delectable delights certainly did their part in keeping the workers moving on Saturday -- creating sugar and chocolate achievers! Yum! What a way to go...
As the day waned, everybody came to rest in the studio, sitting on the same folding chairs that had seen years of use by students listening to my teacher's morning lectures. Clockwise from left, J, who had come the farthest, P, who plugged away at the electrical wiring, C, a new friend, CB and C, old friends, and Z of the boundless energy. I loved having this companionable time at the end of the day, telling stories and laughing with each other (and eating brownies).
Z's daughter A returned from an early Halloween party just as the evening drew to a close. Her mother laughingly mentioned that A had gone to her party as "a pirate princess dead butterfly," but was corrected: A had gone as a pirate princess skeleton butterfly (hence the white face and bloodied stitches).
A's earlier handiwork: she took a chalkboard that had seen use as her and her cousin Nico's garden sale sign earlier in the season, and set it up against the guitarist sculpture. Note the wheels on the tiny house.
Many areas were labeled by A for the party, including the dessert table, kids table, give-away table, and the route to the rest room, but since all of those areas were hives of activity on Saturday, most of A's signage was rubbed out and had to be redrawn the next day. This one held up, an example of A's wit and sense of humor.
What a relief it is to see that fascia board over the dormer windows stained! Its significance is added to by the knowledge that all of the eaves and their pesky little cubbies between rafters were stained in the same afternoon. Egad! Three cheers for the staining crew, of which C and I provided the grand finale (we thought -- more about that in a minute). To the left in this photograph may be seen the still as yet unsided bow wall, prepped (with shims over the studs) in order to receive the cedar siding boards, which were planned to run the full width and height of the wall. However, after much (much!) discussion, it was decided to put up a sort of pentagon of cedar 1x3s, about a foot in from the outside edges of the wall and eaves, and side around that, leaving the inside of the pentagon to be paneled with stained luan. This would finish the bow wall more quickly, and leave it weatherproof (enough) to survive until the shed, which could be constructed separately and installed finished (like a kitchen cabinet -- thanks Big D!) would be installed.
To that end, Kyle removed all the carefully attached shims. As the bow wall now needed a new pattern of them, he made several more, and attached them in their new pattern.
Around this time, we had a day or two of chilly windy weather, reminding us that the idyllic days of Indian summer were not going to last forever. In the studio it was more protected from the breeze, but not too much warmer than outside.
Mid-shim-making, with luan and other bits of lumber leaning against the port wall. The wheels are covered here with an old vinyl tablecloth, a test of something I had been meaning to do ever since I noticed that the afternoon sun had been beating down unmercifully on those rubber tires all summer long. The wind blew it half off in a day or two. Clearly I need to do more than tuck it snugly around the tires.
Two sheets of 5/16" luan plywood, stained face and edges, waiting to dry and be cut to go up on the bow wall. This was the extra staining that came up suddenly. Kyle got the luan, and needed to cut it (stained) the same day in an effort to get the bow wall done before the party. I gave the two sheets and their edges a good thick coat, along with the hopes the luan would survive winter exposure.
Stage one of the bow wall siding turned out to be attaching the pentagon of luan, including a drip edge along the horizontal seam, and flashing along the top diagonal edges of the paneling. Next, stained cedar 1x3s would be screwed on top of the paneling, to secure the luan (which doesn't line up perfectly with the studs inside) as best we could. In part, the paneling will be attached only to the 3/8" plywood sheathing.
This was the moment when the saving of all those short pieces of cedar siding came in handy. It was very satisfying to be able to get all the bow wall siding done using the "leftover" pieces, and Kyle said it was almost uncanny how perfectly it worked out. We had realized several weeks before that if we were going to completely cover the bow wall with cedar siding boards, we would have to order more. And shell out more money. And stain more. Hence this change of design was helpful on many fronts, and resulted in the bow wall looking gorgeous in time for the long-awaited tiny house-warming party!
Voila!
This close-up photograph shows both drip edge and flashing, making the wall complete and weatherproof for the time being, and still ready to have a shed slipped in and hung like a cabinet later.
And, after many weeks of dry weather, a full day of rain came along, and thankfully the drops beaded up beautifully on the siding, trim boards and stained luan. Yay!
It has become obvious to me that I have entered a new era in the
housebuilding process. With the exterior construction more or less
nearing completion, and various next steps awaiting attention, a lot of
juggling and some serious prioritizing has become the norm. All of a
sudden there seem to be a million details all at the top of the list:
wiring and electrical fixtures and devices, both 120V and 12V, heating
system decisions, wall coverings, fastener types, vent fans (solar, 120V
and 12V!), trailer lighting fixture replacement, shed design and
hardware decisions, loft ladder construction, floor sealing, et cetera,
et cetera.
Additionally I have of course been getting antsy to install interior cupboards, the windowseat/bed unit, and re-purpose and up-cycle many of my collected possessions into useful parts of my tiny house. Most of these re-construction projects first involve heavy lifting somehow, so I am stymied immediately on initiating these thrilling projects. But, lo and behold, thankfully a friend actually expressed interest in the futon mattress that had been on this frame for years, as my couch. So I rolled it up and tied it into a big slug-like floppy roll. And she and her son came over a few days later and took it away!! The next step is to disassemble the frame and get it moved to the tiny house so I can start modifying it into the folding windowseat bed.
Another topic which naturally deserves top priority attention too is the acquisition (or not?) of a tow vehicle. B's Suburban turns out to have a tow bar mounted on the frame and not the bumper (who knew?) and thereby is capable of towing more than was mentioned in the specs I glanced at after I first saw it. It could easily tow my house! That certainly caught my attention. A Suburban would probably be a great choice as it is like a station wagon version of a truck. My budget cannot handle the purchase (or probably insuring) a new vehicle, so I am keeping one eye open for likely prospects, keeping in mind that what I want is an old (i.e. inexpensive) but faithful (i.e. reliable for a few years) truck/vehicle capable of towing 10,000 lbs. I have learned in the course of my ingenuous conversation with a number of folks, with whom I probably would otherwise not have had anything to talk about, that I want a 3/4 ton pickup, with a heavy towing package. This includes a special radiator. Also a trailer brake set-up, so as to have the trailer brakes do their duty of slowing the trailer at the same time as, or just a little ahead of, the truck. Do I want diesel? Or do I not want diesel? Or do I just want to hire people who own such trucks to tow the house anytime I move it? Research is ongoing behind the scenes. But as with every aspect of this process, there is a lot of advice available, in person and online, some of it conflicting, but no way to know exactly when I have done enough research and can make a choice. That is the bad news, and the good news -- there is so much to learn!
For a temporary entry door, I bought an inexpensive interior hollow core door, coated one side of it with three coats of exterior latex paint. Then I got the brilliant idea of making it a Dutch door! I marked it, had it cut in two, and pulled out the cardboard supports, replacing them with XPS rigid foam insulation and a reflective layer of bubblewrap insulation. It is going to be a good test to see if a Dutch door is right for me, before we start messing with the circa 1782 door from the house I grew up in. I clearly remember loving the Dutch door on my childhood playhouse, but am willing to entertain the possibility that my tastes have changed in the last 50 years. I will find out! However if this door gets me through the winter and a trip to my dear friend in B-----, MA., that will suffice. I have my doubts about it lasting through too many wet rainy days, but will report.
A view of the house at night, as construction lights on two long extension cords from Big D's studio give it a homey feeling when seen from the outside.
Okay, here is the news you've been waiting for! M, having completed the hammered copper shower pan, spreads some M-1 adhesive (from the steel company where we got the copper and the roofing material), preparatory to inserting the pan into the sturdy wooden frame.
And...it is in!! M has piled various anvils and bags of concrete into the pan to make an excellent seal, and clamped everything that could be clamped. Then she waited, a day, two days, perhaps even three -- and...
Oops! This is actually a photo of the shower pan before it was adhered to the frame! Drat! Well it looked just like this from this angle after it was attached.
The scene shifts to evening in the tiny house, as Kyle and M install the shower pan. Kyle drilled a 3" hole, through the floor, the insulation layer, and the steel trailer bottom for a drain pipe that will gather grey water into a holding tank and discharge system.
They test the drain, and decide that gasket under the brass fitting is too stiff and too thick, and therefore interferes with the seal, allowing water to sneak between the gasket and the copper. Replacement with a squishier, thinner gasket is pending.
The shower pan is, however, installed! And insulation in the empty bays (with XPS, not polyiso) and walling the shower stall with Wedi material can proceed. Under the curb of the entry corner of the shower may be seen a gap. This is to allow access to the washer/nut which must be loosened if ever the shower pan would be removed. It will also be a bit of storage space under the shower stall, perhaps for the wrench that would be needed to loosen the washer/nut!
This photograph has a warmer tone to it, and the copper looks more as it really does. It is a beautiful piece of art work, a sculpture really. And it will be a joy to have in my line of sight. It will surely assist me in tasks of everyday living, such as washing clothes and dishes, and rinsing paintbrushes and clay tools out, in addition to being a simple shower. Thank you!
After many (many!) brainstorming sessions to come up with something to use as a wallcovering instead of drywall, which is way too heavy, I finally settled on this thin luan plywood. Not particularly environmentally correct in any way, the choice of luan came down to weight, expense, and ease of installation. This is a thickness usually used for underlayment, and it has considerable flexibility, and I only hope that it doesn't droop or sag too soon. I plan to do a sort of board and batten look eventually, covering the seams and lines of nails with strips pf lath, and, when painted, I hope it will look simple and clean, not cheap and crappy....
Kyle and B set up a cutting station right outside the house, since no rain was forecast, and after that the installation went very quickly.
Here they are putting up the loft ceiling sheets. It was handy for them to work as a duo at this point, although either of them could have managed it alone. Using a lot of measurement, and a lot of compressor nail gun work, they fastened the luan up with 3/4" finishing nails or tacks. The ceiling was up in an afternoon that stretched to sunset.
To B's right may be seen wallcovering on the loft dormer cheek walls. It was grand seeing that fiberglass-covered polyiso getting covered up so quickly. No moisture barrier was used on the ceiling, but plastic sheeting was installed on the walls as the work moved down to the first floor.
Work continued until dark and beyond some days, and the weather was very benign, giving us day after day of delicious Indian summer.
Enter M, a recent sculpture and new media graduate, whose name was given to me by the department technician, and who brought cheerful steadiness to his labor. He was very amiable about getting pulled into the time-crunch of the last week before the housewarming party. We wanted to get as much completed as we could, since a week after the party the house would be towed to a new location. Both Big D and B were incredibly gracious and generous about allowing the use of their equipment, and putting a well-deserved trust in Kyle's good treatment of it.
When the time came to start cutting holes in the luan for electrical boxes, I got an electric roto-zip tool, having used one on drywall in the past (as assistant instructor for a woman's home repair class program). It was a good tool to have even if it did have a mind of its own at times. Kyle's proficiency increased as he and the tool came to a better understanding.
This view shows the aft wall, which was covered entirely with luan, since the windowseat will be built in and would cover any wainscoting. On the far right in the photograph may be seen the unfinished area below the future chair rail; this will be covered with tongue and groove pine wainscoting or bead board.
Looking forward up into the loft, it may be seen that almost all paneling is in. Kyle spent some careful time working around the windows, so as to use as few small pieces of paneling as possible; he cut out rectangular holes from large pieces for the window openings. The unfinished triangular area in the bow wall will have two small triangles covering the insulation, and eventually in the center two openings will be cut out, to allow access to the upper part of the shed from inside. On the outside of the house, this area of the shed will be difficult to reach anyway, and it will be handy to have a cubby up in the loft. A final note on the luan: obviously it looks different in different lights, and often looks rather pink. I plan on painting it, or at least staining it, to tone down the pink, even though the actual grain pattern is very pleasing.
