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

Why I did not build with SIPs.

I got the estimate back for the SIPs yesterday.  I expected it to be in the 3,000 to 5,000 range.  I opened the email and saw $9,200!!!! =O

This morning I called another company, they where nice enough to give me some numbers so I could ball park the cost.  This time it came to about $7,000 with a 6 to 8 week delivery time.  (Edit this second estimated ending up being $9,500)

I did up a spread sheet to estimate how much a stick build would cost.  I included sheathing, framing, insulation, vapor barrier and a large cushion. My estimate is $3500.

I love spreadsheets.

I've been using one to track my expenses so I just added a few numbers for the siding and windows to get my "dry in" price.  With SIPs I would be around $19,000, stick build $15,500.  Add on plumbing, electrical, cabinets and it starts to add up.  Granted I'll have more time to look for bargains which would help.

Done and done

Crossed a couple of long standing items off the list today.  I installed the flashing for the front bay window and welded on the last 4 anchors.  Moving into the home stretch for the floor :-)

The SIPs will not be ready for a couple of weeks and I'm running out of things to do so I've decide that I'm going to head out on the bike for a week.  Vancouver island is the leading candidate.  This is my list of what is left to do:
Seal gaps
Typar on bay window
Secure plumbing
Paint new welds
Insulation
Vapor barrier
Deck sheathing

Delay on account of SIPs

I spoke with the SIPs company last Friday.  I was told the earliest I would be able to get the SIPs is the first week of September.  It took the wind out of my sails.  I didn't order them sooner because I wanted to floor mostly done so I could make sure my model matched what I had built.  Good thing too because the house is 1" shorter then it should be.

I also spoke with a company that provides wool insulation last week and still have not heard back from them.  I guess I'm going with fiberglass.

I spent the last few days mostly relaxing with family but I did finish all the flashing on the bottom of the trailer.  I also wrapped each of the outriggers in typar (like tyvek).

With the outrigger upside down

 And on it's side

The wasps have been really bad and the spray has not done it's job.  I tried to buy a wasp trap today but all the stores where sold out so I bodged together one.  I'll let you know if it works.

Expenses to date $5,761