Bonus work day

I had today off work so I continued on from where I left off

I even managed to cut the plywood for the bay window.  The brake drums are helping to true the twisted lumber, the Kelowna sun is hard on lumber.  As I mentioned previously the bearings are shot on the rear trailer axle. I managed to pick up replacements today.

Rest day

Today I went boating with a bunch of friends on Okanagan lake.  It was a blast getting out on the water.

I did spend the evening finishing off the rest of the spacer and screwing the plywood to the bottom of the joists.  In the three spots with the horizontal spacers I had to use the chop saw to thin the 2x4 spacers so they would clear the metal straps.

More floor framing

I managed to spend a couple of hours on Thursday and Friday nights and most of Saturday working on the house.  The plywood is almost all laid down and joists set on top.  The last section which includes the bay window has not been set.  The short 2x4s between the joists hold the joists and mostly the correct spacing.  I made a stop for the chop saw so I could quickly cut them to 14 1/2", add 1 1/2" for the 2x joist and you get a nice 16" on center spacing.  Guess what, 2x lumber is not exactly 1 1/2" thick, more like 1 3/8".  I didn't notice this until I was out by almost 1/2".  If the future I would put 3-4 pre-cut spacers and then add 1 custom spacer to bring things back to the 16" O.C. spec.  My solution to this will be to make a map of my joist spacing so I know where they all are after covering them with plywood.

Expenses to date $5,300

Another kitchen appliance!

I hate doing dishes and this dishwasher came on sale.  It will end up above the washing machine but for now it stays in the box.

Expenses to date $5,109

Starting on the Floor

Progress feels like is has been slower then I was hoping but going back over what I have accomplished helps me realize how much I've done!  The weather has be very hot the past couple of weeks with highs in the low 30s (86 - 92F) but the humidity is very low.  As long as I drink enough water it hasn't been too bad.

I spent a couple of hours after work laying out and cutting the plywood for the dropped section of the floor.  Nothing is screwed in place but its a start!

Expenses to date $4,885

A new stove

I know I'm jumping the gun a little but I've bought my first of kitchen appliance.  It is an induction cook top.  I'm hoping to minimize my dependence on outside energy sources so electric will be my primary source of cooking.  I want to try it out before I commit to it fully.  So far I'm happy with it.

Expenses to date $4,842

Fire!

I started the morning with a second coat on the battery box.  Next I cut a couple of pieces of metal that I had forgot to put on and in doing so started a fire!  Luckily I caught it in time and stamped it out.  It was a reminder just how dry it is and how far away water is.  I welded on the 2 pieces and was checking every two seconds to see if I started another fire.  Just a little paranoid now :)  The rest of the day was spent spray painting the trailer mat black.  It looks pretty sweet!

Not much left to do on the trailer frame, just a second coat and bolts to secure the house.


Expenses to date $4,751

Priming

I returned the welder in the morning and moved the trailer from my brothers place to the build site.  I also put the first coat of paint the battery box, green enough for you?  I grabbed some supplies from Home Depot, including a 3500W generator to run the air compressor.  I spent the afternoon spraying Red Oxide primer on all the exposed metal.

Expenses to date $4,723

Welding, welding, welding

I did so much welding I ran out of shielding gas and had to get it refiled.  A couple hours later I ran out of welding wire and had to run out for more.  The good news is after all this welding I was finished, woohoo!

Expenses to date $4,186

Fixing the welder setup

I ran errands in the morning.  Last time I had said my welds where better but I'm still not happy with them.  I'm doing MIG welding and the way it works is a small steel wire passes thru a copper tip.  The copper tip electrifies the steel which then arcs to the pieces of metal I am welding.  I decide to pick up a new tip to see if it helps, it turns out the size of the hole in the tip I was using was 0.005" too large.  When I put the proper size tip on it was like night and day.  I spent the rest of the day redoing some of previous welds and a couple of new ones.

Expenses to date $4,081

Waiting on an answer

My new landlord had said he know a welder.  I decided to see how much it would cost to have him weld it up for me.  Unfortunately the welder didn't get back to me until late in the day and he was leaving for northern Alberta that evening.  I kept myself busy with a few things I had been neglecting.

Expenses to date $4,073

More welding

To make up some time loss due to rain I took the week of July 8th to 12th off from work

I borrowed the big welder from work again.  I tacked the supports for the bay window in place.  I also tacked the cross braces in place, these are just in case the outriggers try to twist the frame.  The braces will transfer the load to the other side keeping the frame square.  Next I tacked the rear bumper.

It might not look like I'm making much progress but keep in mind when it is not raining it is sunny and hot!  I'm wearing jeans, respirator, long sleeve shirt and leather gloves when ever I'm welding.  Good thing Kelowna is so dry because I'm sweating buckets.

Worked so hard that there are no pictures!

 Expenses to date $ 4,069

Happy Canada Day!

More of the same. I finished placing all the living room outriggers!  Everything looks level, fingers crossed!  The rear outriggers have to support the extra weight of the loft so they have to be closer together (12" vs 30").

Here is the detail for the joist hangers.  To make more room to keep the waste water pipes from freezing I'll be using 2x8s under the bathroom instead of the 2x6s used under the rest of the floor.