Left wall is framed

I've been working hard pushing to get the walls up before the drop in temperature that is expected on Saturday.  Recently the highs have been around 10C (50F), cool but once you get working it is pretty nice.  Starting this weekend the highs will around 2C (36F) which is a lot less pleasant to work in.   and if I can start putting plywood on then I can heat it.

With the house tarped over there is a good amount of covered space to work so I putting in an hour or two in after I come home from school.  Today a friend come over to help me, we managed to completely frame the exterior bathroom wall, we finished well after dark but it was a warm evening despite a little rain.

Expenses to date: $7,812

I have walls!

Today I was like a kid in a candy store.  I've been looking forward to this stage for weeks, maybe even months.

The first wall is on the bottom, you can see the stacked lumber that is supporting it.  This was to raise the wall high enough to clear the wheel wells when flat.  Next some plywood was laid down just to have a work surface for the second wall.

One of my classmates organized a build day for me and 6 people showed up to lend a hand.  I had a really hard time keeping ahead so I could have their next job ready for them.  We framed the rear wall with only two minor mistakes.  Like I said I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off.

Finishing touches on the second wall!

Since it's hard to get so many people together at once we decided to put the two completed walls up before the end wall where build.  It took a lot of muscle to lift the walls onto the threaded rods but we got them on.  The best part is everything fit perfectly!  We even managed to put the tarps over it to ward off tomorrows rain.

Expenses to date  $7,781

Framing the front wall

The first thing I did on Saturday was pick up threaded rod.  This took a  trip to 4 different stores before I realized I was looking for the wrong size.  I replaced the 4 rods around the wheel well and reassembled the floor.  Next I continued to cut the studs and headers.  I even nailed together the bathroom area of the wall.

Today a friend come over to lend a hand so I wanted enough building materials around so I did an early morning run to pick up the lumber for the rear wall.  The front wall has 4 windows, the door, two different top plate heights and the span over the wheels. A lot of different sized lumber and plenty of cuts.  With my helper we made great progress, unfortunately when I made the wheel well header I cut it 6" too short.  Good thing I had the spare lumber.

By the end of the day we had almost completed the wall, there is just the area around the kitchen window to frame.

Expenses to date: $7,298

Starting the walls

The floor over the right rear out rigger had to be fixed.  I had problems with this side being too low during construction and I had fixed it.  It turns out the joists in the main part of the floor just where not fully seated.  I pulled it apart on Thursday and pretty much rebuilt it. After the reassembly today it is pretty close to perfect.

I picked up the Bostitch F28WW nail gun yesterday for a steal.  I local tools store had it on sale this month for $50 off.  When I checked their web site last night is was an additional $20 off.  I then price matched this at Rona for another $7 off.  :-)

I've been excited about starting the walls for a while for a while and it is finally and today I finally got a start.  So far I've just cut out studs for the area below the loft but by tomorrow I should be well on my way.

One more thing I need to fix before I get too far into the walls is the threaded rods next the wheel well have to be replaced with longer one.  By doing this they will come up through the header for the wheel well providing a secure hold down.

Expenses to date: $ 7,157

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