So, here we go, another three months have gone by and the time has come for me to update this blog again.
When we left off, I was still working on attaching the angle iron to the trailer frame. It took over $150 to buy all the right drills and drill bits to get this job done. I got some help from my very good friend and we were able to bolt up the angle iron and move the 5 hurricane ties inside the walls of the house.
I sealed up the holes by cutting a dowel rod of the same diameter as the hole to the proper length, rubbing a wood glue on it, and hammering it into the place where the bolt and tension tie formerly were. After I get the whole thing welded, the job of attaching the house to the trailer will be finished.
Another thing my friend and I did was seal up the walls and the ceiling. There were a lot of places that nails and screws did not go into a stud (especially on the ceiling). In order to make sure those places would not leak, I used Killz paint and white washed pretty much everything.
Today's Tom Sawyer whitewashes ceilings instead of fences. And, yes, I missed a spot.
We also sealed the floor with Killz, though I may use a different, specific sealer for floors when we get closer to putting the flooring in, I wanted to do preventative maintenance because I don't want the sub-floor getting wet and weakening.
In late December, I bought a truck. I had been searching for a truck that would be able to haul this monstrosity without costing me a fortune for at least 8 months. After checking out a number of real shitboxes, I found a 2003 F350 diesel dually crew cab with an 8' bed for $3,300. I took a look and saw that, while it had a bunch of problems (passenger side door doesn't open from the inside, power locks don't work, power windows will probably go soon, turn signals didn't work, missing tailgate, etc.), none of them were really bad problems. The engine is solid as a rock, the transmission runs smoothly, and the body is straight as an arrow. It also has a tow package including electronic trailer brakes. So, after talking the guy down with all the other problems, I walked away with a diesel truck that will probably run another 100,000-150,000 miles for $2,900. For reference, a 2012 version of what I have retails starting at $35,000 So, woo hoo for that!
Andy fixed the turn signals (by connecting a wire that fell loose. Cost $0) and I will be hopefully sometime soon working with him to fix all of the other problems. We ran the numbers and it's looking like parts will end up somewhere between $700 and $1000, so we'll see how that goes.
Back to the house: I started installing the electrical wiring. I figured out where it was going to go by drawing lines on the walls. I made a few mistakes, but I believe everything is hammered out now. The main lights in the house are controlled by a three-way switch located inside the door and right next to the skylight in the loft. I did this so I could have lights on as I climbed into the loft and didn't have to fumble around in the dark or have to lean way off the edge to flip the switch.
This was the best picture I had. Shameful, right?
I also installed two other switches. One is for the porch light, which is fully operational and looks really pretty. The other will be for an office light when I eventually find a fixture that I like. I also installed light lines all around the house near the loft line in case I need to add more illumination under the loft. For receptacles, I installed 7 receptacles for a total of 14 plugs in the house. I installed one in the loft, one in the bathroom, two in the kitchen, one in the storage area above the door, and two in the office. I will be installing at least one more outlet under the counter to hook up the refrigerator (oh, I got a refrigerator. Andy found one for free!) and an exterior outlet at the rear of the house which will have both the house's input (for when I want to plug into the grid) as well as output for powering things outside. I also hope to have a way to plug the house into my solar panel instead of running a direct wired line outside, but I don't know how to do that just yet...
My next project after that was insulation. I think that it's a really good idea to get the loft and ceiling insulated before summer starts cranking, so I got to work on that. DO NOT use a table saw to cut foam. It will work really well, about 3 times. Then not so well about 3 more times, then the blade will be so gummed up with foam that it will grab the board you're cutting and throw it right back at you. I went through two blades before admitting defeat and just cutting the foamboard with a utility blade (which works just fine, but is a slow process). I have insulated over half of the loft at this point...
...but that's going to be put on hold because of another long process: sanding the underside of the loft.
The wood that makes up the loft is salvaged wood, that much is obvious. I would like to keep this look, but lose a lot of the pencil marks, dirt, and staining that is on the wood, as well as lighten it up to help with illumination in the small space. This process involves full protective gear (respiratory, eye, and ear protection) and I can only do about 5 minutes at a stretch before my arms get tired and it gets difficult to breathe, so this is now my project every night when I get home from work. I hope to work on my truck while the tiny house is tied up in the sanding project. We'll see.
Alright, that's it for now. See you in May. I promise you nicer looking pictures. :P
