Odds, Ends, and Preparation for Phase II

The truck wasn't even fully loaded at this point!

We are sealed in! Plywood-wise anyways...

This weekend we went and picked up a good amount of reclaimed foam board insulation. The super thick stuff too! It came from warehouses that had huge food coolers. We will be well insulated for sure. We are a little wary of what the stuff is made of, but it's already here. Better it be in the walls to warm/cool a home than broken to bits in a landfill somewhere.

Neither of us really gave the math much thought, and we assumed we would be able to swing by the big box store to grab some plywood while we were en route- but the stack of insulation came up above the cab of the truck! Nothing extra going in that pickup bed! So we ended up having to drop off the insulation, drive back out to pick up the other supplies, bring those back to the site, and drive the truck back to switch vehicles, and then return to begin working. (We use Dan's Dad's truck for larger items.) Whew! So most of Saturday was spent transporting goods. It needed to be done however-- and by choosing to use Craigslist to find materials- we were able to purchase approximately $625 worth of like-new insulation for just $200!!

My Dad will be happy to have his garage back after we insulate!

With the remainder of Saturday, we finished the last bit of wall sheathing along the top edge and began putting the plywood sheathing on the roof. We wanted the roof to overhang just a little- so we attached scrap pieces of 2x4 all along the top edge and brought the plywood sheathing out to the "new" edge. The result is a 1.5 inch overhang. We will be able to cover things up with trim no problem, so we used just about every scrap 2x4 we had! We get a quirky little thrill out of using every last little bit of something. :) We had a graduation party to attend, so we were not able to finish the roof sheathing Saturday. Today, we finished the last bit of roof sheathing quite quickly! It was nice to hang out on our roof- we chatted a little about the possibility of having a roof deck during the nice weather. Heck yes!

So now we are officially sealed in! We expect the rubber roofing to arrive by mid-week. We plan to apply the roof and also install the windows and door next weekend. Dan's good friend Kenny (who installed windows/doors for work at one point) is going to help us! It will be nice to have an expert on hand!

We also did a bit of work on the inside today. When we first began working on the roof, we needed a loft area STAT. So we threw some boards up cross-ways over the framing and set the loft rafters on that. This is all well and good for when you just need to get vertical, but when it comes to how it will permanently be- that whole set up would not work out. Especially in regards to finish work.  So we went about "sinking" all the rafters into the walls. Simply stated, we put 2x4s within the wall framing that the rafters sit directly on top of- this provides the weight bearing support. After that was squared away, we walked around and hashed out our electrical set up. It is going to be quite simple.

For electrical, there will be two wall sconce lights in the "great room" where you would enter. There will be an outdoor light; the switches for both sets will be at the door. There will be two lights on either side of the kitchen window (button or pull string style), 2 outlets. Then, one light and one outlet in the bathroom. Two outlets in the loft, and one more outlet in the great room. Running the wires and getting it all in place will be no problem- but we are both very fuzzy when it comes to what goes on in the fuse box and how things connect to a converter for solar power. We will be enlisting professionals for this job- more on that when the time comes!

We had a shot similar to this....on the trailer bed! 

All done!

Since the tiny house is all covered up now, we need to be thinking about the next stages, and our "working hours" will be changing too. Now there is plenty that we can be working on, for just a couple hours at a time in the evening- maybe once or twice during the week. We really want to move as quick as we can, so we can take our time transitioning (the apartment lease ends in October).

Not to mention revving up the Craigslist search- we need siding/flooring/planks for the loft!!! Still so much! This week, depending on how we feel, we may shoot for putting in the roof insulation-- and if that goes well and we want to hammer on, we will start the electrical set up. That needs to be done before we can put any foam board in the walls.

Loft rafters now "sunk in" to walls. 

Oh yeah! We've been in an interior design frenzy lately! -Throwing all these different ideas at one another. We really like what the people over at Texas Tiny Houses have done with re-used materials- especially old doors. My dad has a door with diamond windows that's been in the garage for as long as I can remember. He agreed to let us have it! It will be part of the partition to the kitchen. I'm too pooped to try and explain it now, but you will be seeing it in future posts!


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The said door!