Monday, September 30, 2013

"An ohh all about"

I realized just now that I am using a lot of exclamation points.  I suppose I'm just trying to convey my level of excitement.  Unfortunately, sometimes it just turns into a lot of exclamation points.  Please forgive me.

Funny for today...my phone voicemail is transcribed and sent to me as email.  The transcriptions are mostly inaccurate and sometimes quite hilarious.  Today was a particularly funny one.  The transcription went like this: "The window you ordered is in the store and ready for pick up. Please come through the customer service desk and we will have a nice ohh all about."  I'm glad their customer service agents will be as excited and feel as much awe about my 2x2 window that I bought for the front of the house as I am.  Of all the windows I bought, this one was the most expensive, AND the smallest.  Of course...

And today, the subfloor got finished, I did my first tap dance on it, and my first floor sweeping. 

And Nellie insists on sitting and lying in the dirt.  Since I won't let her hang out in the garden dirt, she found another little patch of dirt (the only one in the yard) and decided to sit in it.  After I put the camera away she decided to lie down too.  I love her.


Saturday, September 28, 2013

Ice, but not ice cream...

Here we are the end of September and not expecting quite such cold weather.  I went out about 11:30 this morning to start working on the Bungalow and heard a strange noise as I was peeling off the tarp. I looked on the ground and found plate-sized pieces of ice lying there.  Well, of course Nellie was in heaven, she loves to chew ice, so I gave her some.  
 
I figured I had better check to make sure everything was level this morning before I began putting on the porch and found that it was not.  The front of the trailer and the framing was level, but not the back part where the porch is.  I figured it must be from the eco foil I had used everywhere but the porch area.  So I got under the trailer and undid all the screws under the porch framing.  Then I put some ecofoil under the joists in the porch area and added a couple more supports to the framing to level it back out.  That, of course, took longer than I thought it would.  So happy to have it done on the level though, that the time doesn't really matter.  Then I attached my porch boards and the 2x6's that go on the perimeter of the house.  I started laying the subfloor, but I have realized that my measurements are off somehow and my subfloor doesn't line up with the floor joists, so I'll have to spend a little time thinking about that and how I want to change it to make it line up.  That is a little bit important to a squeakless floor.  Anyway, I would post some pics, but my phone has been smashed due to iOS 7 being one of the biggest disappointments of all time.  That's a story for another day and not a very exciting one.  I would take a pic with the iPad, but those don't turn out very good.  Should have a new camera this week.  We'll see how that goes.  All that to say I'll post pics later this week or tomorrow if I can get a good one with the iPad.  Thanks for reading and keeping up with Ticklebelly Bungalow.

Friday, September 27, 2013

Insulated floor just in time for the cold!

Lit a fire in the house to take the chill off.  What happened to autumn?

In between the drizzle, pouring rain, and general downward mist, I was able to get the insulation into the floor and get the tarp back on before it got wet.  Now the only things left for the floor are the plywood and some treated 2x6 that go around the perimeter.  Then we can begin the walls!  Oh my!  

Monday, September 23, 2013

Floor frame finished!

I have made a discovery!! Every single day I make a list of all the things I think I can get done on Ticklebelly Bungalow and every day I only accomplish ONE!  So from now on, I'm going to only plan on accomplishing one thing and anything else that gets finished is a bonus.  So today I finished putting the radiant barrier/vapor barrier under the subfloor framing and bonus...got the framing all connected together.  Tomorrow the goal is to get the floor framing connected to the trailer, while secretly hoping to  put in the insulation and get the plywood on. I have class tomorrow night and it is supposed to rain on Wednesday/Thursday so we'll see.  Here's a picture of what got accomplished today.  Doesn't look like much, but it is square!  I'm so excited to put on my redwood porch I can hardly stand it!
  

Friday, September 20, 2013

Measure, measure, cut, put together! (or a whole lot of screwing going on)

So today I began the actual construction part of this loveliness called Ticklebelly Bungalow.  Enough of the spending money, let's DO something.  Not to mention that I submitted another "final draft" of my proposal for my committee chair to read and I was feeling like I needed a break from academia...back to that on Sunday when the weather turns stormy here.  I actually started the aluminum flashing yesterday, but wanted to post a finished pic.  Then on to the measuring, measuring, cutting, putting together part of the job. 
Before

So spent some time leveling the trailer and putting jack stands under it.  Not much to do it was nearly level to begin with...who'd a thought my yard was actually level?

After......Before

Then rolled out the flashing...rule #347 Always wear gloves when working with metal flashing...no matter what.  Even if you're just unrolling a little.  Had to get out the superglue to glue my finger back together, but it is fine with a bandaid now...hope the bandaid doesn't stick to the superglue that could be bad.

After

So here is what I got finished today...with the measure, measure, cut, put together method I got the subfloor frame under the bathroom/kitchen area assembled.  I'm hoping to finish the floor tomorrow.  That means the frame the rest of the floor, put in the radiant barrier and the insulation and attach the actual subfloor!  Then I can start framing walls!  I am so excited I can hardly stand it!  I sometimes can't believe I'm actually doing this and I have to pinch myself to realize it is really happening.  

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Adventures with the jigsaw and other sordid tales

Well, I've had to make a deal with myself that for every two hours I work on my Master's project, I can work on the house for one hour.  I'm afraid if I didn't make that deal, the house would get done but the project wouldn't.  Anyway, I've spent many hours on the project, mainly because it has been raining like crazy the past two days, so this evening I decided to work on Ticklebelly Bungalow for a little while because the sun came out.  I purchased 12' lengths of metal roofing because the sheets don't come in six foot lengths and I figured I could cut them in half and have no waste.  Since I picked them up on Wednesday, the 12' sheets have been lying in the grass (in the rain) waiting for me to do something with them.  So tonight I got out the jigsaw and the metal blades and began cutting.  Fortunately, the learning curve was only one sheet...and I realized that I would have to do some serious vibration control.  Blankets, 2x4's, and a 50lb bag of sand later I could actually cut the metal.  So, I got them all cut and now they are leaning very serenely against the shed waiting for their turn to be put on the tiny house.  I also got a little measuring done and I'm ready to begin the subfloor!  I actually need to go get another tarp to cover the trailer and the parts I have finished, my current tarps are covering materials.
 
The whole sheets lying in the grass.  There are actually six of them, but they fit together so well that it looks like only one. :)
One more down...

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Trailer has come home!

The trailer is home!  Went and picked it up from Big Bubba's Trailers.  Had it custom made, so it is exactly what I needed and at the price I wanted to pay.  SOOOOO happy with it and so very excited to get started actually building.  Also went and picked up lumber, siding, plywood, metal roof panels and a few odds and ends.  Figure that while I had the trailer hitched up to the Jeep might as well.  I'm sure I was pushing my weight limit towing with the Jeep but it all worked out just fine.  Got home and unloaded everything, got the tarp on, and the rain started.  Perfect timing.  Silly me moment...I went out after Mom went to bed and bonded with the trailer for a few minutes.  Today was a really good day.  Everything went how I wanted it to go and although I didn't get to everything on the list I feel very grateful to have everything I need to start my build.  Let the adventure truly begin!
 I was a little nervous about getting it through the gate because we have watermelon growing across the driveway (when I planted it on the side of the drive I didn't think it would grow).  It was a little bit of a tight squeeze, but made it just fine.  Unloaded and circled through the yard to get it positioned where I want it for building.  Worked like a charm.  Best day so far!!


Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Picking up the trailer tomorrow

The day is almost here!  One more sleep and I will be picking up my custom trailer from Big Bubba's Trailers in Ogden, UT.  It will be licensed and ready to go when I pick it up.  I'll post pictures as soon as I get it home!  Now the dilemma...do I park it behind the driveway where it can be seen from the street while I build, or do I park it parallel to the house where it can't be seen from the street, but will block the lovely mountain view?  Dilemma, dilemma...I've got about 15 hours to decide and most of those I'm hoping to actually be asleep.  I also purchased almost all of the remaining materials I need to dry it in.  Just need the roof ridge cap, 5 windows (3 big, 2 small), housewrap, and materials to make the door (T&G 2x6's).  I've got everything else I need.  I'm sure I'll end up buying more lumber, but after picking up the trailer I'm headed straight to pick up most of the materials.  I'm in a little bit of shock that it is actually happening, and I'm so amazingly excited that I don't know how I'm going to concentrate on anything else for a while...like my Master's degree project that I'll be finishing this semester so I can graduate in December.  Whoa!

PS. The two windows I ordered online arrived yesterday.  My cute UPS man actually remembered the last thing he delivered here.  I was impressed.  Too bad he is about 25 years old. :)

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Side note

The coolest firepit EVER is now taking shape in my very own backyard!  So sad to have to leave it when I move into Ticklebelly Bungalow, but if I built it once I can do it again.

ANYWAY, when we bought the house there was an old firepit about 15 feet off the patio.  It was half buried by the grass/weeds but I was intrigued.  Would the city allow us to have a firepit?  Well, after a little checking around, turns out that we are allowed a firepit as long as we have a permit and follow the guidelines.  So I purchased the $10 permit and started looking around the internet for firepit ideas.  Of course there are a gazillion pictures out there of amazing outdoor living spaces.  But one picture I saw fascinated me and it wasn't related to firepits at all!  It was a driveway with embedded glowrocks.  So very cool!  So, that put into my head that I needed a firepit with glowrocks.  Well, I started designing and this is what I came up with...here's the almost finished version. Didn't quite guesstimate correctly on the rocks. I'll pick up a couple more bags tomorrow. Then there will be a surprise as soon as it arrives. I'll update the post when it does. 

Above: unfinished...
Above: finished and I wet the rocks because it looks better

So the fun thing that I wanted to add is the glowrocks, but because of the lighting my phone won't take a picture that is actually visible.  But it looks really cool with the glowrocks glowing at night. Love it!!