Thank You!

With much help, patience, and support from friends, I moved my house from Portland to San Juan Island on December 31st.  I am so grateful to have such awesome people in my life; thank you to all of them.

Ken lent me his Dodge 3/4 ton pickup for the move and helped me do a test drive the day before my departure.  We tested the electric brake controller, which seemed to be malfunctioning, but determined that the weight and brakes of the truck itself was totally sufficient to slow and stop the trailer.  Will have to work out the brake issue another time...

Laurel, Amy, Nate and Lindsey helped me load all my junk on the morning of the move, including a coop full of chickens!  Nate and Lindsey drove my car and reported on any unusual happenings with the house while in motion (thankfully there was nothing much to report).  Amy and Laurel rode with me in the truck and helped clear my blind spots, reassured me along the way and supplied me with sustenance and chocolate.  Christian and Meg, who joined the caravan in the Seattle area, played pilot car for the latter half of the trip.  Everyone took some great photos and footage.   Thank You!

Despite my internal stressing, the move was uneventful.  I couldn't have asked for more perfect conditions.  The roads were dry, ice free, sunny, calm wind, low-traffic.  Though the condition of I-5 through the Seattle area was like riding a jack hammer, the trailer appeared to handle it well.  Before leaving Portland, I placed bracing on the interior of the tiny house over the large windows.  I was concerned that the jarring or racking could crack the glass.  Everything made it through just dandy.  We stopped at a few weigh stations along the way.  Unfortunately none of the scales were turned on so I couldn't get an estimate of the overall weight of the trailer.  We stopped approximately every 50 miles for the first 200 miles of the voyage in obeyance of the trailer manufacturer's instructions to tighten the lug nuts.

As we approached the ferry terminal in Anacortes, it became clear that I hadn't allowed enough time for all the stops along the way and the delayed early morning departure.  We were barely going to arrive in time for the ferry that I was hoping to make.  When we finally rolled into the terminal we joined a tragic line of ferry traffic.  Turns out December 31st is an important day for pilgrimages to San Juan Island. We missed our sailing by a healthy margin.  For the several hour wait we hung out in our very own boarding lane inside my house with good company, beer, and Junior the rooster.  A lot of inquisitive folks came by to gawk at the tiny house and find out where they could by one.  I referred them to Nate who has mentioned an interest in building and selling tiny homes (pretty sure the business will be called "TurnAround Homes" or "Turner Round Homes" so keep an eye out!)

On New Year's day I had the privilege of standing lifeguard (someone had to) over friends as they took a nude polar bear plunge into the frigid Pacific.

Now that my home is located 250 miles closer to me, it will be much more convenient to continue working on.  Thank you to the Chan family for hosting my ongoing project at their farm on San Juan Island.  The next hurdle is plumbing for water and propane and installing both DC and AC electrical systems.

Tiny House Shrinks

The wheels of my house touched the ground today.  All this time I've had the trailer frame raised off the ground on stabilizing jacks.  The extra height gave the house an unsettlingly tall profile that made me nervous about taking it on the road and took away from the aesthetic appeal.  But now that the house is resting on its foundation, it looks much more manageable.

I returned to Portland yesterday and was amused to find this ambitious stockpile of urbanite, sand, gravel, and woodchips laying on the exit route of my mobile cabin.  I had thought Nate was joking when he texted the day before, "I just finished the barricade.  You can never leave!"  He says he's trying to prevent me from leaving his homestead because he likes having me around, but I wonder if he's sending a message that he wants help with a project before I leave!  I'm more than happy to pitch in.  I've been so fortunate to have Nate's space, tools, and assistance while building my house.  I really couldn't have asked for a better setup.

I also set a date for moving the house:  December 31, 2014!  A symbolic day indeed.  Barring a nasty weather event, I hope to tow La Cabanita from Portland to Anacortes on that day.  To make the move more dramatic, I'll pull it on to a ferry headed to San Juan Island.  That will be a bizarre moment, as originally I did not envision La Cabanita on the high seas.

In the meantime, I need to ready the ship for sailing.  This means getting La Cabanita registered and licensed, hooking up the tow vehicle to ensure that lights and brakes work, greasing bearings, checking tire pressure and lug nut torque, adding extra screws to siding that could catch wind, and amassing construction materials to continue the next phases of the project.

I put wheels on my house today.

When I purchased my trailer, I asked that it come without fenders so that I could tightly seal the house from the wheel well area.  This meant that I had to fabricate my own fenders out of sheet metal.  I took dimensions, drew up a plan, and paid another visit to Pioneer Sheet Metal in Portland to get a quote for the work.  The folks at Pioneer have been easy to work with and friendly.  Including two hours of labor, Mark calculated that I could have two custom fenders at the cost of $180.  This seemed like a surprisingly easy and affordable option.  But I also learned that buying a 4'x10' sheet of 22 gauge galvanized metal would only be $35.  I decided to go with the raw material because I wanted to learn how to work the metal myself.  Ken had offered to help me with the process.     

Earlier in the year I blogged about my first visit to Pioneer where I obtained three hopelessly-flimsy sheets of 27 gauge, 4'x10' metal and transported them atop my utility vehicle: the humble Honda Civic sedan.  I still recall glancing in my rearview mirror as I drove away from the small cadre of Pioneer employees who looked on with expressions of curiosity and dread.  I made it home just fine, but decided not to tempt fate during my second sheet metal run.  I arrived in a borrowed three quarter ton pickup, which felt a little overkill for the task.  The Pioneer staff still recognized me and wanted to know all about how the tiny house was coming along.  When I left the office to retrieve my purchase, I noticed they had rolled the huge metal sheet into a cylinder and bound it with rope.  They must have saw me coming this time!  Boy, it would have been easier to pack off that first load of sheet metal on my Honda Civic had it been bundled like the second!

It took awhile to cut the thicker metal with tin snips.  I channeled Popeye the Sailor Man and swallowed several imaginary cans of spinach as my forearms burned through the metal.  It also took longer to bend it.   Ken showed me how to create a break with chunks of angle iron that he keeps around for such purposes.  We would clamp the sheet metal between two pieces of angle iron and then bend it down by hand and clean up the new edge by working it over with a hammer.  To create flanges for fastening the metal pieces, it took both of us, each working with a pair of sheet metal vice grips, to persuade the material into a right angle as we moved shoulder-to-shoulder down the layout line.

  

Each fender was made with two pieces of sheet metal.  At first I was trying to make the pieces nest together with perfection.  The result was that the pieces were just a hair too big.  Sheet metal lengthens a bit when it's bent.  Several times I had to pound out a bend until the sheet was flat again, scribe another layout line, and bend it back.  I glued them together with flashing caulk and placed sheet metal screws through the seams and fastening flanges.  I screwed the bottom of the fender to the sill plate so as not to weaken the metal trailer frame with screw holes.  I also taped the bottom edge of the fender temporarily.  If the roads are wet during the move, water may get driven up inside there if it's left open.  By the same token, I didn't try to caulk the seam shut because I want water to drain out of that space if it does find it's way in.

I was eager to put on the wheels once I finished the fenders.  I still have a few trim details to complete in the fender area, but the wheels shouldn't have to come off for that work.

In other news, I installed a small entry porch and awning over the door.  I used my new sheet metal working skills to fabricate porch-mounting brackets from leftover sheet metal.  In this way I could avoid anchoring directly into the metal trailer frame, which helps maintain the strength and integrity of the tongue of the trailer.  I made a run to Sustainable Northwest Wood to pickup some FSC 2x6 cedar decking.  It's always a pleasure to visit their warehouse of wood and check out the beautiful slabs of Willamette Valley Walnut, Restoration Juniper, and other locally-sourced beauties.  

The awning came out particularly well.  I built it very light but strong using lap joints.  I used scraps of my salvaged metal barn siding for the roofing.  Now I just need a chicken coop and dog house made out of the stuff to complete the aesthetic!  The awning is hinged so that it folds down over the door during asphalt sailings.  It hangs from a robust eyebolt which is anchored into the ridge beam.  Right now I'm using some blue NRS straps to hold it up until I can find a rustic used chain or cable to replace it.  It's amazing what a difference the awning makes.  To walk out the door, or into the structure, without mother nature immediately pelting down on you is a great comfort.

Exterior 98% Complete!

Big day yesterday, BIG DAY!  Ken and I finished cutting the last siding panel.  Holy Toledo I thought this moment would never come!  Last spring I was hustling to make progress on La Cabanita between rain showers, desperately trying not to get all my materials soaked.  Then came the heat and intense summer sun beating down on the thin tar paper that shielded the wooden frame.  In an effort to preserve the tar paper's water proofness from degrading in the sun, I temporarily affixed all the metal siding panels to the walls.  And now, all too soon, the fall rains have arrived and I have a renewed interest in sealing the building envelope from the elements.                                                                                                                      It would have been real nice to seal everything while materials were warm and dry.  The task of caulking around windows, door, and trim represents the remaining 2% of the work to be completed on the exterior.  Unfortunately caulking adhesives tend to rebel against cold, damp surfaces, so barring an unexpected dry spell, I'm not sure when I'll be able to claim "100% Complete."   But it's quite a load off of my mind to know that very little water should be penetrating the building envelope at this stage.  A quick inspection of the unfinished walls inside confirm this.   

It was necessary to complete the finish work under the eaves before the siding was installed on the front and back of the house.  I used 3/8" thick cedar tongue and groove to accomplish the task.  Ken had recently scored the material for cheap at a neighbor's garage sale.  Beautiful stuff, it's amazing how such a simple detail enhances the aesthetic!

I never contemplated the practical nature of the eaves that overhang our shelters.  Eaves are a first defense against water finding its way inside a structure by providing a shadow over window and door openings where falling rain cannot reach.  I have very short eaves on La Cabanita due to road width restrictions, but even so, I was entertained recently by watching La Cabanita's eaves deflect rain water just far enough beyond the sides of the building that the tops of the window openings were dry.  This gives me comfort that my secondary measures for keeping the bones of the structure dry (vapor barrier, flashing, siding, caulking) won't get tested too rigorously.  Wind blown water can easily get under my short eaves though, so hopefully I'm in the clear.  The longer eave that I designed over the door will play an instrumental role in keeping the entry dry.  I plan to put another roof above the door to protect the entry and small deck (check out my design drawings).  Properly-designed eaves can also play an important role in controlling passive solar gain.  Yay eaves!

Slow Siding, More Windows

Ken and I have been slowly and steadily cutting siding and moulding to fit the windows.  It's looking great but it's a long process of placing panels, marking, measuring, cutting, replacing, marking, measuring, and fastening.  The placing and replacing of panels has lead to an excess of tentative screw holes, which undermines the integrity of the vapor barrier.   The process leaves me wishing that I had somehow created a more standard, predictable design with more straightforward assembly.  Without Ken's remarkable mind for visualizing the process several steps in advance my progress would be unfortunately slow.  The challenge is that the ridges of the siding align differently with the moulding around each window opening.  Sometimes we have to flatten part of the ridge if it conflicts with the moulding.  Once we had to cut a panel, shorten the distance between the ribs, and make the moulding for that window wider than the rest of the trim pieces.  Each siding panel seems to present a unique problem to solve and require some jerry-rigging (poor jerry) to accomplish the task.

We also finished installing all the windows...and there are a lot of them!  But all the light inside feels great.  I hope the larger ones don't crack with road vibration during the moving process.  Eek!  The trimmed out windows with the barn siding look pretty slick.

With the completion of the siding within sight, my attention is beginning to turn to the overwhelming details of finishing the interior, and especially piping in utilities and appliances.  What method should I use to heat the space?  What sort of range/oven should I get?  How should I wire the house?  Do I plan for solar now?  How many lights and sockets should I have and where?  Shower?  Plumbing?  Refrigerator?  I will continue to strive for simplicity and flexibility as I answer these questions.  Function is most important now; Efficiency and aesthetics can come later when I have some experience in the space and more knowledge.

With a kick in the pants from Laurel, I installed a loft awhile ago.  Due to an error in my design, I had to compress the height of the loft a few inches, which increased the headroom of the living space below.  It's fun visiting the loft and looking out the window that I designed in, especially when it's raining.

I've also finished installing the earthquake tie downs in each corner of the building.  These engineered brackets bolt the 2x4 frame to the steel frame of the trailer.

A New Key Appears On My Ring

September 1, 2014:  What a productive day!  For weeks I have been stalling on buying three more windows and a door.  I went back and forth between new and used and kept checking craigslist.  I got a quote on new windows and the total was going to be about $800 for three windows.  Gah!  It seemed such a shame to spend that kind of green on my first handmade home when there are used windows popping up on craigslist daily (many of them in new condition).  Unfortunately I had gotten ahead of myself and framed the window openings before I had all the windows in hand.  This strategy may force me into buying a new window or painstakingly undoing framing to accommodate a more affordable used window.  Lesson:  If you are building a micro house on a budget, buy all your windows used before you finalize your design and framing.

I got lucky today and bought a door and a window that are perfect sizes for my rough openings.  And tomorrow I expect to buy my most exciting BIG window for $60 used instead of $400 plus dollars new (with a 2 week wait).  Hopefully by tomorrow I will only need to find one more window.

Also I'm excited to announce that as of today my home has a door!  With the instrumental help of Ken, we installed the door in less than an hour.  If you're interested in the process...read further:

First of all, I wasn't just searching for any old door.  Initially I had wanted to use a door from the Habitat Restore or Rebuilding Center, but many of these doors do not come "pre-hung," that is, attached to the door jamb.  I learned that one can purchase a jamb kit from a place like home depot, but that may not be as simple as it seems.  According to a few folks I called, "nothing is standard about doors," which was surprising to hear.  Each door can be pretty particular about how it hangs on the door frame.  Anyway, I decided to begin looking for a used door with its door jamb still intact.  Furthermore, I was seeking a 30" wide by 80" tall exterior door (a not-so-common size for an exterior door).  It also needed to swing inward to the left, so that I didn't block access to my "mudroom" on the right side of the entry.

Once I found the door, we first considered the total thickness of the wall. With 1/2" plywood sheathing on the outside of a 2x4 wall and 1/2" sheet rock on the inside, most doors built for 2x4 walls have a jamb that is 4.5" thick.  My finish material on the inside was going to be thinner, so we disassembled the jamb, ripped down the pieces on the table saw and then reassembled it.  The purpose of having the jamb the same thickness of the wall is so that the moulding (finish material) around the door lays flat against the wall. Then, we carefully hung the door on the hopelessly floppy frame and carefully placed the assembly in the rough opening of the doorway.   Next we placed shims between the door jamb and rough opening framing and adjusted so that the frame was plumb and also flush with the walls.  Using 16 penny, galvanized finish nails, we nailed through the jamb at the shimmed areas and into to the framing.  We wanted to ensure that the hinges were well secured to the framing for a sturdy, long-lasting installation.  Now we could open the door and verify that it was swinging properly on its hinges.  With the door in the right position, we set to making the gap between the door slab and jamb consistent around the whole perimeter using shims.  The threshold (sloping metal piece at the bottom of the door) and top piece of the door jamb do not get attached to the framing.  Retained!?!

This is not an incredibly attractive door for my house, but the price was right for now.  When I find the right door (left-swing, 30"x80", wood, window in the upper half), I'll just swap out the old one when I like!

The Show Must Go On! Roofing and Siding

Hi friends!  I haven't been able to make much progress on the micro house over the last few months.  The micro house wasn't in moveable condition by the time I had to report to work in Washington.  So I decided I would travel to Portland during my weekends to continue work on the project.  Two months later and I've barely spent any time on the project.  Fruit harvest and preservation season has been too compelling to ignore!

Before I moved to Washington, Ken and I placed tar paper over all surfaces to protect the plywood.  Then the vapor barrier also needed protection from the sun and rain for my unpredictable length of absence so we decided to temporarily place the siding panels. 

Quite a lot of figuring was involved in this seemingly simple step because we wanted to attach the panels in such a way that we could remove them a few at a time to cut window openings and then put them right back in place.  We cut a finish piece called a "bullnose" to cover

the tops of the panels and cut all panels to length using a tin snips and occasionally an angle grinder for trimming down the width of a panel.  We also predetermined how to cut the end panels so that corner moulding could be placed effectively.  The progress went quickly once we got started.  The down side is that I will have do the work twice, but I just didn't have all the windows, flashing, moulding, and door figured out in time for the hasty departure.

As predicted, all the metal was a bit overwhelming, but after Ken and I installed the first window with moulding, I was satisfied with the look.  Now...order a few more windows, buy barn siding flashing, build fenders, install windows, cut siding, install a door, screw down all the siding, earthquake and hurricane ties, put in a few more screws in pieces that might catch wind on the road, put on the tires, check lights and brakes, check weight, get a moving permit, and then it should be good to transport.  Easy, easy....uhg!