Winter is coming! (and all about nails)

This morning I was out of the house early to meet some out-of-town friends and I was greeted by the most unpleasant sight.

Yup at 8:30am my motorcycle seat was still covered in a heavy frost.  How I wish I had walls.  By the time I returned at 10:30 the frost on the tiny house had melted but there was so much water that it looked like it had rained.

I spent a relaxing day working on the house.  The sub floor is almost done, I just have two 13" x 49" pieces to install.  I had to run to the lumber yard to pick up another sheet of plywood to finish it off.  I figured while I was there I should pick up the lumber for the first wall.  This led me to research fasteners.

Warning long winded, slightly technical but important topic ahead 

Basically the internet says screws are too brittle, they snap when bent and they don't come in a big enough diameter.  Fair enough, I've already seen this while straining the joists.  Off I go to buy a nail gun and the lumber.  Later that night it pops into my head that the nails for the gun looked a little thin too.  Many web pages latter I come across this nugget.  The nails for my gun (and most guns sold in town) are .120" in diameter and I would have to use 4 nails for the top and bottom of each stud.  I don't think the lumber would hold up to that abuse.  Further research leads me to the Bostitch F28WW nail gun which can take a nail with a .131 diameter and I would only need 3 nails.  Seriously who knew that attaching two pieces of wood together could be so complicated.

Now back to pictures!

The bay window  sub floor is finish too.

I also leveled the trailer and put the Stack Jacks in place.

Expenses to date: $ 6,977

Subfloor

This week has been busy, unfortunately it was at school and not on the tiny house.  I had a couple of mid term and a presentation which meant late nights at the school.  Fortunately it is the Thanksgiving long weekend so I have two more days to work on it (and maybe a couple of turkey dinners).

It doesn't look like much progress but I was pretty stoked today.    The two panels of sub-floor I put down had all the holes for sewage and services so they took a long time to measure and cut.  Having said that I still managed to have a couple the holes in the wrong place.  Fixable but annoying.  Tomorrow should go much faster, I only have to cut and place.

Expenses to date: $6,524

Just a little rant about vapour barrier.

After the last storm I went back to the low slung tarp setup.  It continued to rain for the next 3 days but the rock wool still managed to dry out under the tarps.  On Thursday I install the remaining batts.  An important note, I did not put any insulation on top of the sewer pipe, this is to minimize the risk of them freezing in the winter.  Because of the extra 2" drop in this part of the floor the pipe have between R12 and R22 underneath them.  Friday I had a friend giving me a hand.  We installed the foam board insulation over the frame, the 1 1/2" board gives a nice R value of 10.  We also put the 6 mil vapour barrier down.  I just have to tape where the pipes pass through the plastic and staple the edges down.  Next stop sub floor!

This is one of the few things I have to rant about.  I've seen how this is handled in most parts of the states and it is shit.  The vapour barrier is usually little more then tar paper stapled to the studs.  I'm not even sure what the point is of wasting staples on that.  Here in Canada the only accepted way is 6 mil plastic sheets.  It comes in 100' x 10' rolls so you can do a whole wall with no seams and lots of room for overlap.  I took it one step further and used acoustic sealant on all the joists.  Acoustic sealant is gooey tar that never dries.  When I screw the sub floor down the acoustic sealant will seal the screw holes.
Rant off

Expenses to date: $6,461

Vacuuming insulation

Around 11 last night we had a storm come through.  The shelter was flexing significantly so I had to pull the tarps down and recover the trailer.  All the insulation got rained on while I was doing this.  Luckily the rock wool is hydrophobic.  This morning I vacuumed up the water that was still sitting on the batts and the little that had soaked in.  Had this been fiberglass I would be pulling it all out and replacing it.

Insulating the floor

First as promised, my sketchy rain shelter.  It won't stand up to snow but the roof should be on before then.  The center beam is made up of two 2x4x14s butted up end to end and a 2x4x8 spanning the joint.  Hopefully there is no wind.

It was pretty hairy putting this up and it included almost having the main beam dropping onto the solar panels.  It will be a lot easier taking it down.



I spent Friday and today putting the insulation in for the floor.  My first choice was wool from Oregon Shepard but they didn't reply to my inquiries.  I ended up going with rock wool and here are my reasons:

• loose fill has a lower R-value per inch
• loose fill has to fluffed up
• fiberglass is itchy and has a slightly lower R-value
• rock wool is pretty dense and will probably resist settling and shifting
• rock wool is fairly water resistant
• rock wool was $220 vs fiberglass $130

My little spreadsheet to help my choice

Floor insulation
Cubic ft needed	92
	ruxul loose	ruxal batt	FG loose	FG batt	Cellulose
Coverage/pkg in cubic feet	22.49	18.24	56.63	35.89	18.12
Cost/pkg	34.47	36.38	36.20	43.66	14.22
Weight/pkg	33.00	42.10	30.00	29.90	25.35
R/inch	2.82	4.00	2.70	3.64	3.33
Weight/cu ft (lbs)	1.47	2.31	0.53	0.83	1.40
Cost/cu ft	1.53	1.99	0.64	1.22	0.78
Cost/R	0.045	0.042	0.020	0.028	0.020
Weight total (lbs)	134.51	211.56	48.57	76.37	128.24
Bags needed	5.00	6.00	2.00	3.00	6.00
Cost	172.35	218.28	72.40	130.98	85.32

Now the fun part, installing it.  I wore long sleeves, leather gloves and a mask.  Rock wool is nowhere near as itchy as fiberglass and it washes off much easier.  I found it would give slivers without the gloves. I've finished installing 3 1/2 bags out of five.

Procrastination

There are times that I just don't feel like working on my projects.  The last month has been one of those times.  I have my excuse, waiting on the SIPs, starting school and a couple more.  The truth is moving off the floor is another reality check.  Do I really want to do this?

Those who have met me know I look at things in a different way.  Odd might be a popular description.  I've always though that most of society is not overly happy so why should I follow the herd?  But I like the herd

Well enough philosophical musings back to building!



September has been another wet month and winter is fast approaching.  I spent the whole day building a frame to hold up some tarps so I can start on the walls, even if it is raining!

This pictures was taken at 7:30, the sun is going down so early.  I'll post another one tomorrow when there is light






Expenses to date: $6,347

More posts coming soon

I'll be soon back to work on the house but here is a little summary of the past 3 weeks.

First, I got a second quote for the SIPs and it was $9000 with taxes in, about the same price as the other quote.  As much as I would like to use SIPs, I can't justify spending and extra 4-5,000 on them.  Now I have to rework the plans to go with a conventional stick build.

Second, I spent 5 days on my motorcycle touring around Washington state and Victoria island.  It was awesome.

Third, I started school!

Finally, I sold my 28 foot toy hauler and had to drive it to Edmonton to meet the buyer.  With school and building the tiny house eating up a lot of cash the sale gives me a good buffer.

Two small updates.  I was given a second induction cook top for free!  I just bought a used 2500 pure sine wave inverter for 225!  Now I can run all the tools off the battery bank.

Expenses to date: $6,019

Here is my spreadsheet of expenses

Trailer	3410
Framing	907
Tool	800
Appliances	315
Electrical	225
Siding	141
Batt box	129
Plumbing	93

Date		Description	Store	Category	6019.52
18-May		Trailer	Castanet	Trailer	2,800.00
3-Jun		Grinding discs	Princess auto	Tool	13.42
9-Jun		Caulk gun	Home Depot	Tool	68.59
15-Jun		Lumber floor joists	Home Depot	Framing	103.34
15-Jun		Tools	Princess auto	Tool	78.92
15-Jun		Metal	Spartan Metal	Trailer	350.00
18-Jun		OSB - floor bottom	Home Depot	Framing	119.56
18-Jun		Flashing floor bottom	Home Depot	Framing	144.48
18-Jun		PL premium	Home Depot	Framing	11.85
18-Jun		Mason Line	Home Depot	Tool	5.03
23-Jun		Plywood sub floor	Home Depot	Framing	174.38
23-Jun		2x4s	Home Depot	Framing	19.62
23-Jun		Spray paint gun	Princess auto	Trailer	22.39
24-Jun		Battery Tub	Walmart	Batt Box	16.80
29-Jun		Battery box paint	Canadian Tire	Batt Box	37.61
29-Jun		Strong ties, vent	Home Depot	Batt Box	14.68
29-Jun		Trailer Paint	Home Depot	Trailer	51.00
4-Jul		Battery box security	Home Depot	Batt Box	37.34
8-Jul		Welding supplies	Reliable welding	Trailer	2.20
8-Jul		Welding magnet	Summit tools	Trailer	2.21
9-Jul		Welding supplies	Princess auto	Trailer	7.86
10-Jul		Welding gas	Praxair	Trailer	71.11
10-Jul		Welding wire	Princess auto	Trailer	33.59
11-Jul		Paint supplies	Home Depot	Batt Box	11.70
11-Jul		Screws	Home Depot	Framing	56.50
11-Jul		PL premium	Home Depot	Framing	11.85
11-Jul		Gerry Can 10L	Canadian Tire	Tool	10.07
11-Jul		Generator 3500W	Home Depot	Tool	446.88
12-Jul		Gas	Chevron	Tool	13.00
12-Jul		Compressor oil	Princess auto	Tool	14.55
14-Jul		Induction cook top	Walmart	Appliances	90.98
20-Jul		PT lumber	Home Depot	Framing	32.08
20-Jul		PL premium	Home Depot	Framing	11.85
24-Jul		Dishwasher	London drugs	Appliances	223.99
27-Jul		Screws	Home Depot	Framing	23.95
27-Jul		Lumber	Home Depot	Framing	44.65
27-Jul		10" miter saw	Home Depot	Tool	113.96
27-Jul		Wasp killer	Home Depot	Tool	7.71
29-Jul		Wheel bearings	Lordco	Trailer	69.68
4-Aug		PT lumber	Home Depot	Framing	8.02
5-Aug		Waste plumbing	Home Depot	Plumbing	84.38
6-Aug		Tie downs	Home Depot	Framing	41.48
8-Aug		PT lumber	Home Depot	Framing	22.76
8-Aug		PT lumber	Home Depot	Framing	11.73
9-Aug		Waste plumbing	Home Depot	Plumbing	7.43
13-Aug		Screws	Home Depot	Framing	25.94
15-Aug		Squeegee	Canadian Tire	Batt Box	11.19
15-Aug		House wrap	Home Hardware	Siding	141.10
15-Aug		Staples	Canadian Tire	Tool	4.80
15-Aug		Sharpie	Superstore	Tool	5.59
16-Aug		Bolt	Home Depot	Framing	0.62
16-Aug		Sewage coupling	Home Depot	Plumbing	1.11
26-Aug		Stack Jacks	Walmart	Framing	41.99
1-Sep		Staple gun	Canadian Tire	Tool	35.27
1-Sep		Plumbing returns	Home Depot	Tool	(18.26)
11-Sep		Prosine 2.5	Castanet	Electrical	225.00