Interior Wall Finish

Since I had some Doug Fir T&G left over from the ceiling, I decided to see if I had enough to use it for my loft walls to differentiate the space from the area below. I liked the idea and feel of the material wrapping the space. Luckily I had been careful about minimizing waste so I had just enough with a few pieces left over for the side walls.

As much as I love wood and T&G though, I decided to incorporate some color in the remaining walls. Typically drywall aka Sheetrock is used for interior wall covering which is mudded and taped before priming and painting. Drywall, however, is heavy and cracks somewhat easily which are two negatives for a tiny house on wheels. Plywood is lighter and more flexible which makes it a better choice.

CDX plywood used for exterior sheathing has a rough finish. ACX plywood has a smooth, paintable finish on one side (the A side). However, I learned that ACX can be more expensive than veneer plywood which has a nicer, smoother finish. I found 1/2" Birch plywood sheets at Shurway for $35 a sheet which is a great price in town. I ordered 11 sheets and had them along with the Fir plywood dropped off at site for $15 since they gave me a deal for building in the neighborhood which was awesome!

I started with the end walls, cutting pieces to fit with a circular saw. I began installing them with a nail gun and finish nails but realized later as I was setting them that they weren't tying the sheathing to the wall well so I decided to use drywall screws at about 8" o.c. Those worked much better. Once I had secured the pieces, I spackled the screw heads and seams since leaving a small expansion and contraction gap seemed like a good idea. The problem is that the larger the gap, the more difficult it is to cover up. I kept the gaps smaller after the first wall. Once the spackle dried, I sanded off the excess, brushed off the surface and started priming with Z-Prime Plus, a special primer for plywood to avoid staining.

Once the stain dried, I started painting. A friend had mentioned using Cape Cod nautical blues like some boats do. I think blue is a good calming color for a small space so I went to Rodda Paint, looked at some paint chips and decided on two different colors, one for the end walls and one for the long walls.

I chose Horizon low VOC paint since I wanted to minimize the amount of toxic chemicals in the house that off-gass over time. I also chose a satin finish to match the existing finish in the house. The end wall blue is called Devine Current.

I really like the way it looks in the space. Someone mentioned it might look better slightly darker which I thought about until I painted the long walls with a lighter blue called Atmospheric Pressure. The lighter paint looks a little purple depending on the light but I am happy with it. The beauty of paint is that the color can easily be changed.

For more photos, check out my flickr!

Doug Fir Loft Floor

Since my last two posts have talked about my Steel Loft Joists and Steel Loft Ladder, I thought I would write about my loft floor even though I started the interior wall covering earlier. I probably should have installed the loft floor first and then ran the T&G I used for the walls down to it but I had to wait for the steel joists to be welded and needed to put the extra T&G somewhere. This way, if the flooring choice doesn't work out, I can more easily remove it.

With the decision to install steel loft joists, I knew I could not easily install T&G flooring since using a nail gun to secure would be impossible. It's possible I could have used 8' long boards, left them floating for the most part and then screwed into every other one on the ends or maybe glued them to the steel with some sort of adhesive. After prepping the T&G for the ceiling though, I decided I wanted a faster option.

So I chose 3/4" plywood. Laminated with Doug Fir. Blasphemy, I know and so I was told by a woodworker on site (who then asked where I found it so he could use it for cabinets). I found it at Shurway (where I also bought the interior wall sheathing, exterior furring strips and cedar window trim). At $70 a sheet, it's not cheap, but that's about $2 a square foot which is inexpensive for flooring.

You can imagine my hesitation to cut it. The first sheet I left the full width which I had assumed was 4 feet like any sheet of regular plywood. We had even readjusted a joist to better line up with the edge of the sheet. I later learned that fancy sheets of plywood are usually an extra 1/2" long and wide. Why? I have no idea. Anyway, I would have had to adjust the joist anyway since we were worried about screw blowout along the edge but it should have moved 1/2" instead of 1". Minor details. I screwed in a piece of angle iron to the joist where the plywood sheets would break so that both edges could be fastened to the steel securely.

I cut each of the pieces to length with my circular saw. The first one fit fine but the second had to be re-cut shorter (better than too short I guess). Part of the problem was that a couple of the joists were slightly longer so they had bowed out the center of the loft a little and the plywood was catching on the T&G (another reason to wait to install wall finish material).

Once we got both in place, we started to secure them with sheet metal screws. This I learned is not a fast and easy task. First, you have to predrill a hole through the plywood and then into the steel. I learned that you have to go slow and steady when drilling through steel otherwise you dull drill bits quickly and/or break them easily. Then the self tapping screws have to match up exactly with the hole which is smaller than the screw so it can tie into the steel. Most of the time, that's what happened. But some of the time, the screw couldn't find the predrilled hole and kept spinning and eating at the wood and eating it's tip up that I either needed to use a new screw or drill a new hole close to the first one so the flat head would cover up the other hole. I used screws with as flat a head as I could find (not the hex ones) so they won't catch as easily on my mattress or other things I have up there.

I waited longer than I should have once the plywood was installed to coat it with something since I was unsure of what to use. It got a little dirty on top even as careful as I was up there (mostly from the steel pulled up when drilling). I tried to lightly sand it since the finish is just a thin veneer. I also tried to use a damp cloth to get it clean but without much success. So after I spent a certain amount of time of that, I just decided to seal it since it's going to be mostly covered with a mattress and not seen anyway.

I used the same General Finishes satin Arm-R-Seal that I applied to the ceiling T&G. I applied 3 coats and sanded in between coats with 400 grit sandpaper. I did this to both the loft floor and the ceiling on the other side. It is supposed to be a durable finish so time will tell. I am curious to see how the 3/4" plywood holds up on top of joists 24" o.c. over time. I could always add another layer or remove it and install a thicker floor like an inch or maybe 1 1/4". 3/4" plywood was the thickest I could find with the Fir veneer so other options would probably have to be painted or something.

For more photos, check out my flickr!

Steel Loft Ladder

In my last post about Steel Loft Joists, I talked about the various metal components I have introduced in my tiny house in an effort to learn more about it as a building material. I designed my house as a shed roof for a variety of reasons but one was so that I could install a permanent loft ladder attached to the taller wall. I did not want to have to move a ladder around on a daily basis. I also wanted the look of cantilevered floating stairs. Since wood is not really strong enough (in my experience) to cantilever and hold up over time, I chose to again commission a welder on site to design a ladder out of steel.

In the design, I wanted to maximize the horizontal space between the door opening and loft so that the ladder would have a shallower slope. I used wood to mock up the ladder slope and spacing of the rungs. In the space I have, I could build the ladder with a 65 degree slope (75 degrees is more typical). I talked with Rory about what types and sizes of steel would be appropriate to achieve what I desired. Tube steel or solid steel, flat bar or angle iron, etc.

We decided to use a 1/2"x3" piece of solid steel as the diagonal support for the cantilevered pieces which would be attached with screws into the framing. I plan to have Doug Fir stair treads on top of the cantilevered pieces for aesthetic and comfort reasons so we decided on pieces of angle iron welded to the diagonal support. We were able to use scraps on site which was great!

I had Rory cut an angle into the face of each piece of angle iron on the outer edge so they would appear lighter but still be just as strong. We first thought about a simple 45 degree angle but then decided that something more dramatic was necessary. I don't know what the exact degree the final angle came out to be since I suggested using the length of a speed square for the length of the cut. Rory cut each of these pieces to 14" so I can either make all 16" wood treads or taper the width from 14" at the bottom to 16" at the top. I still need to figure out which option I want.

Then, Rory sanded and welded all of the pieces together. He predrilled holes in the diagonal support where I marked for the screws to tie it into the studs. He tapered the holes so that the flat head screws would be flush with the steel. He also suggested to leave it unpainted since it does look unique raw.

Rory helped me install the ladder with the aid of some clamps. I predrilled very small holes for the screws and then drilled the screws in working from the bottom up. I am very happy with the way the steel part of the ladder turned out! Once the wall sheathing is up and painted, I will install the wood treads.

For more photos, please check out my flickr!

Steel Loft Joists

As part of this tiny house project, I wanted to learn how to work with metal since my past build experience is primarily with wood. My first interaction with metal on this project was the galvalum undercarriage that I screwed into the floor frame with self tapping screws and then set inside the trailer frame. Of course the trailer is made out of steel so it's really the first but I had it custom made from Iron Eagle Trailers so I did not have to make any modifications to it before the build like used trailers may require.

My second interaction with metal was drilling holes into the trailer's angle iron flange for the HTT tension ties and additional holes for bolts through the bottom plates since some of the ones I had predrilled landed underneath studs. Lesson learned, it is easier than you think to drill through steel. I used a step bit I bought cheap from Harbor Freight and it held up to the job.

My third interaction with metal was my reclaimed corrugated siding. I used 4 full sheets on each end but then needed to cut diagonals in the top pieces to match the roof line. After trying out an angle grinder as suggested by a couple of people on site and being very intimidated by that tool, I kept putting it off until the day my metal roof arrived which meant I had to find a way to cut it and get it installed so I could get the roof on. Another person on site suggested I use tin snips to cut the metal so I tried that out on the diagonals. It was a little slow going, but with the aid of gloves and left and right handed snips, I cut all of the diagonals that way. I had heard that you could get a plywood blade for a circular saw and flip it backwards to cut metal so I decided to try that except with a metal blade for the perpendicular cuts. While it didn't cut like butter as people had suggested, it felt much safer than the angle grinder and I felt more empowered with each pass after the first rush of adrenaline.

My fourth interaction with metal was my roof. I had ordered a clip lock panel system which was very easy to install. I think the flashing took 3 times as long to install as all of the panels did and though I still have a lot to learn, I think it turned out well. It was less intimidating than I had expected and it has kept out the rain so far (fingers crossed).

After all of this metal work on the exterior, I decided to bring some to the interior. I had seen photos of a tiny house with steel loft joists which I thought looked cool and also added more head space since they were thinner than the 2x4s commonly used as loft joists in tiny homes. Since I am not yet a welder, I commissioned an experienced welder on site to weld pieces of 1"x2" tube steel to plates that I could screw into my studs. Most of the joist plates were different to accommodate the varied configurations of my stud framing. Some were flat plates for multiple studs and some were angle iron pieces for single studs.

Since the joists were made of raw reclaimed material, I needed to sand them. I got over my fear of the angle grinder this time since I was using a sanding wheel and not a cutting one that sends sparks everywhere.

After sanding the joists, I spray painted them satin black. Once they were dry, I installed them in their previously marked places. I set them at 6'1" from the subfloor with the intention of having a 1" finish floor so the finish clearance will be 6' under the joists and 6'2" in the space between them. It's a little lower than in some tiny houses but I wanted more room in the loft and will not spend all that much time standing under the loft since the closet and bathroom takes up a chunk of space and the kitchen the rest. Yet another experiment in spatial relations.

Stay tuned more more metal elements inside. For more photos, check out my flickr!

Doug Fir T&G Ceiling

I drove out to the Building Material Resources center in Sherwood one day to look for some T&G (tongue and groove) material for my ceiling. It is an awesome place to find inexpensive building materials. You never know what you may find there. It was helpful that I only had one material in mind to purchase since I could easily get distracted by others.

One of the sheds outside is specifically for T&G ceiling material. They also have one for flooring which could be used for the ceiling. I looked at beautiful Alaskan yellow cedar and blue pine boards but decided I liked the idea of a Doug Fir ceiling and floor. Plus it was the most inexpensive at $.65 per linear foot.

Then I was informed that they had Doug Fir T&G shorts, pieces that are 3', 4' and 5' in length for $.39 per linear foot. At first I was unsure if I wanted more seams in the ceiling but then decided it would look fine since the wood had knots and other imperfections. I later was very happy with this decision since it enabled me to install them myself without needing to find a helper. I sorted through a sizable pile of wood to find the nicest, almost CVG (clear vertical grain) wood for my tiny house ceiling. I purchased enough for the ceiling square footage plus some extra to account for waste.

Back at site, I applied two coats General Finishes satin Arm-R-Seal, an oil and urethane topcoat which my brother who is a woodworker recommended. I had to get a little creative in making supports for the boards to keep them off of the ground and dirt free since we lack ample sawhorses. I lightly sanded in between coats with 400 grit sandpaper.

With a borrowed nail gun, hose and air compressor, I began installing the boards. I started along the taller wall of my house and worked toward the shorter one. Before nailing each board in place, I added a dab of construction adhesive to the rafter for extra hold. Then I nailed 18 gauge finish nails diagonally through the tongue (so they are hidden) into each rafter to secure each board in place. I had to set the nails in since I had maxed out the compressor pressure and the gun depth setting was not working. I staggered the seams between rows so they do not match up. I realized that I had two slightly different variations of wood but was able to use the one with more for the entire ceiling.

Since I admire the truth windows in strawbale homes, I decided to use a some of the smaller knot holes to my advantage and placed a few of them above my loft so I can see and feel the Roxul insulation if I poke my finger in. Since one of mineral wool's features is moisture management, I chose not to install a vapor barrier on the inside face of the wall.

I am pleased with the way it turned out and I think I have enough left over to cover the vertical side walls of my loft which I hope will feel like its own distinct space since I plan to cover the walls with plywood.

For more photos, check out my Flickr!

Roxul Comfortbatt: Interior Insulation

I had such a great experience with Roxul Comfortboard for my exterior insulation wrap that I decided to use another Roxul product to insulate my wall cavities. Roxul Comfortbatt has some of the same properties as the Comfortboard. It is fire resistant, sound absorbent, mildew resistant, and has a high R-value per inch. A 3.5" batt for a 2x4 wall is rated as R-15. That's 4.3 per inch! (Comfortboard is 4.6 per inch due to higher density.) A fiberglass batt is typically R-11 or R-13 and that is if it is installed correctly with the paper facing stapled to the studs and precise cutouts around wiring and boxes. Perfect install is difficult since the batts usually end up squished in places or have air gaps around penetrations. Fiberglass batts also sag over time. Plus it is extremely irritating to the skin.

Due to poor experiences with fiberglass, more people are turning to foam for insulation. While foam has a higher R-value per inch (R-4 to R-6) and is very rigid, it off gasses over time and looses some of it's R-value. The manufacturing process is also toxic to the environment and the foam is not recyclable.

Rock wool insulation is made from stone rock spun into fibers that create a rigid batt which friction fits into the stud cavity. You simply stick in the flexible edge of the batt with the W markings next to a stud and then press in the other side. You can easily make cuts for narrower cavities or boxes with a bread knife without compressing the batt. Long clothing, gloves and a mask are recommended for installation but I installed some of it in a T-shirt and was not bothered by the fibers.

I ordered the insulation online from Lowe's since they don't carry it in the store and it was less expensive than another distributor in town. I paid about $275 for 7 bags of insulation which covered all of my walls and ceiling. The Lowe's location is also convenient for pick up. I could have had it delivered to site for around $80 which is what I paid for the Comfortboard but that came from Tacoma, WA. I thought it would be more fun to pick it up with my Subaru too.

Some days I really want to have a truck to haul around materials and pick up things found on Craigslist. I will likely trade my Subaru in for a Toyota Tacoma in the next year but it really is fun to see what I can do with my Roo. And the looks on people's faces as I drive by is priceless ;)

It's been great to feel the difference the insulation has made inside the house! What most people don't realize is that insulation helps keep spaces cool as well as warm. With temps in the 80s and 90s lately, it was getting quite hot inside. Installing the metal roof helped reflect some of the sun's rays but the Roxul has kept the interior much cooler. Now my walls have an R-value of 21 (typically R-13 for a 2x4 wall) and my roof is R-25 (typically R-38 but it would be difficult getting it there in a tiny house without an attic). My extruded polystyrene floor has the highest R-value at 27.5 for 5 1/2". If I build again, I would use Roxul batts in the floor where I could get R-23 (typically R-30). But with a space this small, the insulation should be sufficient. (Can you tell I work in the energy efficiency field?)

More photos on my flickr!

Roof: The Hat

This past week, I installed my standing seam metal roof. After trying to just get a quote from Custom Bilt Metals for over 2 weeks and receiving poor customer service, I gave Taylor Metal a call. Another tiny house builder told me to ask for Lewis who was very helpful with his roof. Lewis is awesome! Although the company is based out of Salem, he travels to Portland often and agreed to meet me at site one day to talk about the components of the roof system and the process of installing it. He taught me some tips and tricks of making cuts in the metal and left me with a couple of sample pieces to test out. After he left, I had some more figuring to do to ensure my measurements were correct. I also had to make a decision on color since I had originally wanted a red roof but it was only available in mechanical seam, not the clip lock system. When I was ready, I called Lewis to put together the order and he worked with me to draw up some custom flashing details. With my exterior insulation wrap and rainscreen system, my roof length is 16'7". Since the panels come in 12" widths, I needed special compensating gable flashing that was wider than the standard flashing to accommodate the extra 7 inches. I also wanted the flashing to match up all of the way around. Usually just the ridge and gable flashing do but not the eave. Unfortunately, due to an oversight on the drawing, what was supposed to be 3/16" was written 13/16". So the gable and eave flashings ended up being 5/8" taller than the ridge and they do not match up in the upper corners. Oh well, another lesson learned.

In total, my order consisted of 26 gauge 16 panels, two 10' pieces each of eave, gable and ridge flashing and cost $400. I also had 4 custom L flashing pieces made for the vertical transition from the corrugated siding to the cedar trim which cost $60. I figured it was worth the money to have pieces of flashing that match the roof. 24 gauge materials would have cost around $100 more. I finalized the order on Wednesday, they put it together on Thursday and Lewis dropped it off on site on Friday. Now that's excellent and timely customer service!

Install was a little tricky since I had to ensure that the furring strips were all in the same plane. Once that was accomplished, I installed the 2 pieces of eave flashing with the piece starting at the front of the trailer overlapping the one at the back. I used the full 10' pieces and let them overlap in the middle. It was a little difficult to get them lined up perfectly and if I did it again, I would have cut one of the pieces so the overlap was only 6-12".

Then I measured in 3 1/2" in from the back end to mark the start the first panel. Before I brought the panels up to the roof, I cut and up-ended the top end of the panel which acts as a baffle for rain. (I later added Flex Seal to close up those gaps.) I applied a bead of Flex Seal on top of the eave flashing where the panel would rest. I aligned the panel with my marks, letting it overhang off the eave 1" as instructed so rain can drip off. I screwed through each of the slots in the flange which conveniently lined up with my furring strips. Then I brought up the next panel, applied Flex Seal, lined it up, and snapped it in place on the rib of the first panel. I repeated the process with the remainder of the panels.

I installed the gable flashing next, applying a bead of Flex Seal behind the leg where it overlaps the panel rib. I used woodfast screws colored to match the flashing to attach it on the vertical face. I let each piece overhang at the ends so I could figure out what kind of cuts would be necessary to finish it. I decided plumb cut at the ridge and the eave.

The ridge flashing was the most difficult since I had to notch it around all of the ribs and gable flashing. I did this by setting the flashing on top of the installed pieces and then marked the locations of the ribs on the short vertical section of the flashing. I used right and left tin snips to cut a V for each rib. After notching, I set the piece in place and then screwed through the flashing into the ribs. I cut the second piece to have an 8" overlap and then repeated the process.

The final pieces were the ridge finials which I think are more functional than aesthetically pleasing. They are L shaped pieces of flashing that you cut and bend to cap the corner where the ridge meets the gable flashing. Since these pieces of flashing did not match up vertically, I had some custom cuts to make. I think photos are better than words for this so here are a few photos and you can view more on my flickr!

Siding: Exterior Aesthetic

After picking up some reclaimed corrugated steel siding from Aurora Mills Architectural Salvage and some cedar siding left over from a friend's house remodel a few years ago, I was excited to get it installed on my house. I had originally thought I would put vertical corrugated siding on the tongue end and then run it horizontal on the short long wall with open joint cedar siding on the tall long wall and back end. However, a friend suggested putting the corrugated on the two long walls which made me think of putting it on the two end walls with cedar on the two long walls so I would not have to deal with cutting and flashing around the windows. I would, however, be challenged with cutting diagonals to match the slope of the shed roof.

A friend and I installed the eight 2'x8' panels in a few hours which probably could have went faster if I was not so meticulous with it being plumb and level and matching the existing structure. I put off figuring out, cutting and installing the top angled pieces until last weekend when I took the measurements and drew the sketches I needed for each of the eight pieces. I attempted to use an angle grinder to cut the line I wanted after the piece was clamped to the table with a sacrificial guide. However, since I am new to metal working, I was unprepared for the amount of sparks created and the sounds associated with cutting steel. I also felt like I needed my sturdy Carhartt pants to better protect myself so I decided to postpone it until yet another day. One of the founders of the site where I am building who is a welder offered to help me cut the pieces one evening but he ended up having other commitments so yesterday I decided to buy a metal blade for my circular saw, put it on backwards as suggested for this task, and go for it! At least the circular saw is a tool I am familiar with and it has a fence to better guide the blade through the material. Still a bit intimidating though.

I marked my cut line on the corrugated and then clamped down a piece of wood to guide the saw fence in a straight line. Then I put on my safety glasses, ear muffs and leather gloves (one time where gloves are necessary when using a saw), started the saw and made the cut. I definitely felt an adrenaline rush the first time through as I was unsure how the saw would react to the steel. I was told it would cut like butter and while I did not find that quite true, it was just fine. The sparks flew to the opposite side of where I was cutting and it cut through the corrugations somewhat easily though the blade wanted to tilt the saw when going over the ridges. I made the cut on the finish side so the burrs were left on the backside. I think if the saw blade was put on in the other direction, the burrs would have been on the finish side.

I made all of the perpendicular cuts this way and then used right and left handed snips to hand cut the diagonals just to see what that was like. I actually liked using the hand tools because it was quieter, didn't use as much energy and felt safer. They also did not leave burrs which I had to file off from the circular saw cuts. The steel I have is pretty thick, probably about 22 gauge. The newer stuff is much thinner and so cuts easier. This experience has made me feel less intimidated to install my roof which is also metal.

The cedar siding I picked up from a friend was sitting outside covered for the last 3 years so it had a slightly weathered look to it. Much work had already gone into preparing it to be used as siding including jointing, planing and ripping to the final dimensions. Some of it even already had one side stained. I had not planned to stain it so I could watch it weather over time. I did consider leaving the back side stained so it would be more resistant to moisture but then some friends mentioned that wood will cup if you only stain one side. I had heard of the reverse, painted siding that cupped since the back had not been primed, so moisture could cause the wood to swell. This made sense to me along with the fact that I have an air cavity behind my siding which allows moisture to drain and a convection current to dry it out. I sanded the one side that was already somewhat smooth and then started to plane and sand the other side since smooth surfaces repel water easier than rough ones, but quickly realized that the portable powered hand planer we have on site really needs a new blade to be effective in creating a smooth surface. So I just decided to install the boards with the smooth side out.

I used 5d stainless steel siding nails that I found at Parkrose Hardware to install the cedar with two nails through the siding into each furring strip. My build buddy, Lina, later found out that Home Depot carries 6d stainless steel nails after I was going to have to special order more or wait until Parkrose got more in stock. Such a great find! I had friends help me install the longer pieces since it would have been more difficult alone and I installed the shorter pieces solo. It was a little tricky figuring out the spacing of the boards since I didn't want to have to notch around windows and also wanted to minimize the amount of waste that would be created by ripping them down. I also had a limited supply to work with so I spent much more time deciding which pieces should go where which I would have not had to do with new cedar, but the material I found already has so much character that I love. After three trips to pick up the siding, I had enough for both of the long walls and I think they look great!

For more photos, check out my flickr!

Door Install

My door arrived on site last week and I was so excited to get it installed! I realized, however, that I had some more prep work to do before I could do so. I ordered a fiberglass flush glazed full lite Codel door with a composite jamb from Medallion Industries because they offered me a combination of good price and customer service. I chose to order a door for a 2x6 framed opening even though my framing is 2x4 but I have an exterior insulation wrap and rainscreen system that thickens the wall a couple of inches. I also chose to go with an outswing door so I would have more space inside and hinges to the front of the trailer which someone suggested would be safer if it happened to open when traveling down the road. I learned that the place where you screw the door jamb into the framing is directly behind the weatherstripping. You just peel off the weatherstripping while installing the door and then cover up the screws when you press it back into place. Pretty awesome. However, with my wall system, the place for securing screws was to the outside of the framing somewhere in the Roxul insulation. So I needed to fur out my framing with ripped 2x4 material. I used cedar since it would be more exposed to the elements and since it is what I am using for the trim and siding on that wall. I originally thought I would trim the door out like the windows, but then realized that it would look better to have flat trim to cover the gap and create a consistent reveal around the door jamb. Since I made the rough opening for the door the standard 82 5/8" high and then learned later that outswing doors are about an inch shorter, I also needed to add some blocking to make the opening shorter. I decided to do this by adding a 2x6 on top of the sill plate since I had trailer bolts I would have to shim around anyway and this was a more solid solution. I'll have to figure out the transition to my floor later since I don't know yet what thickness of material I will be using.

Once the opening was ready for the door, we moved the door into place, tipped it back to apply silicone under the sill to prevent water from entering, and then carefully set it in place with one person on the inside and one on the outside. To screw it to the frame, we started with the top of the hinge side, added some shims so there was a little wiggle room between the jamb and framing, made sure it was just slightly proud of the outside, and then put a screw in. Next, we moved to the bottom of the hinge side, lined things up, checked for plumb, added shims and another screw. Then we added another screw next to the center hinge. Finally we shimmed, leveled and plumbed the latch side of the jamb and then screwed it in place at the top, bottom and next to the latch and deadbolt strike plates. The woman who helped me is a finish carpenter so she had little tips and tricks to get the door looking good with micro adjustments for the reveals. I am so excited it is in so I can paint and trim it out and then start siding!

More photos can be found in my flickr album.

A Little Bit of Everything

This post is going to be a bit of a catch up on what I have been working on lately. In my last post I talked about siding sourcing having finally found a place to buy reclaimed corrugated metal siding. I met with Lewis from Taylor Metal on site yesterday to figure out ordering my roof as well as some install questions. In addition to being very helpful to a novice metal worker, Lewis also asked if I needed more corrugated since he had some he wanted to get rid of. If only I had met him a couple of weeks earlier! Perhaps I will take him up on his offer anyway since I could store it under my house until I build my porch roof or for the next tiny house I build...

I made a couple of trips to pick up some reclaimed cedar siding from a friend. It was interesting to see how much my Subaru's roof racks could handle as well as the looks on the faces of the people I drove past on my way to site. I will probably have enough for the tall long wall, maybe even enough for the short long wall. If not, I'll likely head over to Shur-Way for the rest since they are located close to my house, have good prices on cedar siding and are really nice people to work with.

I picked up some 2x4 cedar from Shur-Way to build out my window frames. I had originally planned to install flat trim boards on top of the furring strips but due to the depth of my windows, it would have looked weird so I came up with a new solution. I had to cut back the Roxul insulation around the windows first so that the 2x4s on edge could frame the window. Then I ripped the sills with a table saw to have a 10 degree slope. I made the headers the same way since it was a little beyond the point where I could have installed header flashing as well as for aesthetics of not seeing flashing but still providing a way for water runoff. I cut the ends of the vertical pieces to 10 degrees with the chop saw. Then I lightly sanded, stained with Sikkens Cetol SRD, and screwed each frame together.

Ideally, I would have face screwed the frames into the studs but that would have required me to also screw through the window flanges which I did not want to do. I thought about finding a way to glue them to the house but learned that was not really possible due to the stain. So I finally decided to screw furring strips to the sides of the frames since I would need them there eventually anyway. Once screwed to the frames the furring strip/frame combo could be screwed into the wall studs. This worked quite well with the help of shims ensuring that the gap between the window and frame was even all around. I was a little concerned about installing the upper two windows, but they actually went in quite easily. I think they look quite beautiful!

I had previously primed and painted the windows after install with spray paint since Lina has been a strong advocate of doing so. I could have painted them before we installed them but then I would likely had to touch them up which would have been somewhat difficult. Despite the wind's repeated attempts (and successes) at blowing off my window masking, I eventually applied two coats of flat red primer and two coats of heritage red paint. I am happy with the results and glad I did not choose the expense of having them factory painted though I may disagree with that decision for the interior.

My door arrived on site this week so I am excited to get that installed and painted soon as well!

We hosted this month's tiny house mixer on site last evening and it was fun to talk to people about their visions, tell them about my house, and play the guessing game as to whose house is larger, Lina's or mine. Mine is only 5 sq.ft. larger if you don't count the loft!

For more photos, check out my flickr!