Two Days In

I took yesterday and today off work to work on my tiny house.  It's soooo much fun.  It's challenging, and it's daunting to realize that this is MY project.  I'M running it.  But it's fun.  And when I get lost in the details I take a moment to step back and envision full time life in it, and it makes me giddy.

Note: There are several instances in this post where I should give you hyperlinks to external websites or to prior blog entries, but I just don't have it in me tonight!  But everything is easily found using the "seach this blog" feature or Google, so don't despair.  If you have questions about something, just post in the comments and I'll respond.  

A lot is going on.  Before I do anything else, I have to do a shout out to my friend John for all of his amazing help the last two days.  I've known John for years through Habitat for Humanity.  He and his friend Jan have been our house leaders for the Bar house a number of years.  They rock.  I emailed John on a whim a few weeks ago, asking if they had any interest in helping me out with my house here and there.  John has given me two full days.  He's knowledgeable, and he's hilarious.  

Like I said - he's been just the best for coming out and helping me.  Do you know how the first few days of a big project are sort of "wobbly" and challenging to get your foothold and get started? He's been my rudder for the first two days.   THANK YOU JOHN!!  John got an Amish beard (remember those from Sonoma and from MAGIC Camp?  I'm too tired to find the posts to link to, but you can search this blog for "Amish" and find them.)

It looks so natural with his hair color...

I can say that plumbing roof vents are now completely and totally demystified.  The concept is super simple! (But wow, putting your hands on the the information on how they are installed was so difficult!  At least for me.)  And of course now that I've done it, I've learned and next time I'd do them differently.  John was instrumental on them  - special widget tools and creative problem solving.  I'll do a blog post on them soon.  They definitely get a post all of their own.  Two vents occupied nearly the entire day for John & I together.

Yesterday the roofer glued & screwed and then clamped the purlin that was damaged in transport from CA.  I took the clamps off today.  I still need to hit it with my electric sander and see if I can square the corners back up. 

 He also took the beautiful and amazing Velux skylight out of it's packaging and assessed what is involved in the installation.  He did not, however, actually install it... 

Today I had further frustrations with my roofer.  Installation date changes, attempted installation price changes, poor communication... I went toe to toe with him at least three times today.  I don't like to do that.  But he gave me no choice.  We somewhat righted the ship today.  He got the skylight installed (I haven't seen it yet) and he got tar paper on.  I was supposed to get the entire metal roof today but did not.  I am extremely unhappy about that.   I do have tar paper, which should get me through the hopefully light rains we are predicted to get tonight and tomorrow morning.  I still don't know when I am getting my roof.  

The roof is on the critical path for the project - Rudy the window guy is adamant that the roof go on before the windows so that the roofers don't damage my windows - makes sense.  The windows are scheduled for Wednesday.  I don't know how a roof is going to go on before that since I am tied up with work on Monday and Tuesday.  I'm sure it will all work out, right?  RIGHT?

Also today I got the exterior of the house stained and sealed.  I used Penofin.  It is a rosewood oil based product.  I "skirted" the house with papers to protect the trailer sprayed it on with one of those jug/pump sprayers.  The paper over the wheels got saturated and the Penofin ended up on the trailer; hopefully it will wipe off with something.  Overall it worked very well except that it was a little windy and I ended up wearing it.  Thankfully I had changed into long pants, a long sleeved shirt, tied a bandana on my head,and put on safety glasses and gloves.  But I still felt crusty when I got home.  I'm not sure that I can tell a difference in the color, but I'm happy that the house is protected from rain.  I will put a second coat on.  

Skirted for stain/seal application (not sprayed yet in this photo)

We also got the cedar boards cut for the porch decking.  I stained/sealed them and they are drying.  I plan to affix them this weekend.  Someday John and I will have a drink on my porch and laugh about how many cuts it took (me).

Today was my free 20 minute telephone consultation with Kacie from "I Killed the Joneses."  Her enthusiasm is contagious and I am going to read about the services she offers and see what fits for me.  Exciting! 

After some "verbal encouragement," Jim got a crew to the house and got the skylight installed and got tar paper on.  I'll be doing a separate post soon with the skylight specs and the hows and whys of my skylight decisions.

End of Day

Today I toted Greta's big dog kennel out to the site.  When the weather cools off I hope to start taking her out there with me and getting her used to her new "backyard."  I can't remember if I kept her tie out or not, but if I didn't I'll need to buy a new one.  She is going to love it out there!  Taking her dog crate out there made the prospect of living out there feel even more real.

I have a running "to-do" list going on a clip board at home.  Very near the top is organizing my shop shed out on site - it's quickly become a disaster area.  It was inevitable, but I need to take some time and unpack things properly and organize it better.  The first two days have been such a frenzy!  It's amazing, though.  And so gratifying!