I'm Official!

Well, maybe not, but I at least have the appearance of being official!

I never thought I would actually lay eyes on it - you can't believe how many phone calls I had to make to my trailer company to extract this - they did a number of screw ups.  They told me it would take "no longer than 3 weeks" and that was in JUNE.  Yeah.  It's OCTOBER.  But!  I have it.  And thanks in no small part to Daniel, who rescued it from being returned to the State of CA by his housemates (it was mistakenly shipped in my name to his address.)

And when I unwrapped it from the mail today, this also fell out of the package:

I can't imagine why Daniel thought I could use that!  LOL  Me?  Stressed?  Just because my apartment lease expires in 40 days??  HA.  La la la la la

Windows Four, Five & Six

We are window ninjas.  Okay, well maybe we aren't - but at a minimum John is a circular saw ninja - but we ARE getting really good at this whole window installation gig!

Here's the review of our day today.

I've gotten very comfortable with the vertical plunge cuts for the sides of the window openings, but the horizontal ones are still challenging for me.  I can do the bottom one, but it's really awkward - partly saw weight, and partly well - it's just a awkward cut.  I did it on the earlier windows, but now that we are timing ourselves on window installation, John has generously taken over the bottom horizontal cut.  Here he is cutting the bottom of the opening for window #4. 

When the opening was done, we dry fitted the window and found we needed to open it up a bit more on the bottom.  John is doing that here - an even trickier cut, since only half of the saw shoe has a place to rest:

 

To challenge ourselves, we timed all each window installations today.  

Window #4: 1 hour, 50 minutes

Looking so awesome!!

After this window we had to do a Home Depot dash - we didn't have enough screws for the next window, and we could tell we would need more flashing and caulk.  We laughed after we got in the truck and looked at each other - we had matching bibs on.  We got a LOT of looks in Home Depot!  John wished for a goat on a rope to walk with us, and we joked about going to lawn & garden for wheelbarrow races.  I mean - people were STARING.  I guess bibs aren't as common as I thought they were... lol  As per normal I laughed my way through Home Depot - I love that place....  And in the truck on the way back to the house, I reflected on how HAPPY I am spending my day building.  If I could do this all day every day...  I would be giddy.

On the way back we drove past a house with this Halloween decor in the yard:

I LOVE Halloween.  I used to go all out with decorations in my yard at my Patricia house.  But for some reason, these girls are soooo creepy!  I don't know what it is.  We think it must be based on a movie, but we can't figure out what movie.  I keep saying Children of the Corn, but I don't have a good reason for that.  The photo doesn't really do them justice... but just trust me: creepy.

And then we took our lunch break.  John introduced me to a new addictive food - saltines that are coated in Ranch dressing mix and red pepper flakes.  OMG!  You mix Canola oil, the dressing powder and pepper flakes up, and pour it over saltine crackers in a Ziploc and shake.  I am definitely making them for the Halloween camping trip!  I'm not sure how I've never heard of them... but I ate far too many of them... that I know.  (And then he sent the leftovers home with me!  Dangerous.)

On to window number 5!  One technique improvement we did for today is buy an 8" long drill bit so that when we drill a hole in each corner we can get all the way into the corner without the body of the drill getting in the way and forcing an angled hole.  It's making our cut lines more accurate.  We also learned that it's helpful to cut away some of the bulky flashing in the corners - the saw blade binds up in it - and we are re-flashing anyway.  It's fun to see what messages we reveal as we cut it away - it's like opening fortune cookies.  It reminds me how every surface of my house got covered with love and good intentions at MAGIC Camp:

Again we dry fitted and needed to do a little clean up.  The saw ninja returned:

Here's a technique John came up with for getting nice square corners with the flashing.  He uses a wood block to crease it into the corners:

When it's time for screwing the window into place, I'm doing the screwing and John hands me the screws - there are about 35-40 screws per window.  Uff da!  Here's his technique for that - I've been making up names that are take offs of Edward Scissorhands...

And - completion!

Window #5:  1 hour, 44 minutes

We can't figure out how we only shaved 6 minutes off our time - a disappointment. (We may be taking too much time to admire our work.. lol)  Onward!

Window #6 - fewer photos are being taken now, because it's all repetitive work, window to window.  Plus, we're timing ourselves - no time for photos!

Window #6: 1 hour, 12 minutes

Our best time yet!

We really wanted to get one more in today, but our trip to Home Depot cut us short on time.  : (

Here's the house now - end of day:

I can't even stand it - so cute!

And the interior view:

It's looking really fantastic inside!  It really was just the perfect day.  I had a smile plastered across my face all day long.

I'm thinking I might have to sleep in the house tomorrow night... I'll see how my day goes... it's tempting... My dog, a sleeping bag, some wine... sounds pretty spectacular to me...

Tonight I MUST get on my yoga mat to stretch out the kinks - and try to ignore those saltines in the Ziploc that are taunting me from the kitchen... I can't believe he sent those home with me...

Tiny House Bathroom Design

As my tiny house construction progresses, I have new sections of it to tackle - both design-wise and self educating.  Some portions are easier than others; I was familiar with framing, so that was easy.  Insulation I'd done before (traditionally and on another tiny house) so that was easy.  

Metal roof design?  A greater learning curve but pretty manageable.  (I still keep waffling on color. Colonial Red?)

And the windows - that has been the biggest challenge to date.  Holy smokes who knew there was so much to learn?

Next came the front door.  Design, and hardware.  I've got those figured out for the most part.

And now I'm facing some portions that are more daunting to me: Plumbing and electrical.  Plumbing seems like the most difficult, specifically those pesky reservoir tanks.  Where do they go?  How large should they be?  How and why do you access them?  The actual running of pipes doesn't seem scary.  And then there is the water pump, and the filters, and the tankless water heater... those?  A wee bit more challenging.

But before I get to plumbing, I must address bathroom design.  The toilet I've mostly figured out; I wrote about the various options here and I've decided to go with the bucket and sawdust as written about in the Humanure Handbook.  I may or may not add a Separett Privy Kit  to the set up later. So that leaves a sink, some bathroom storage and the actual shower design.

I started looking at the standard bathroom design for the Gifford, and the shower area is 24" x 24".  I'm not sure that I can wash my hair in that much space without hitting my elbows on the walls, and I'm positive that I'd have to be a contortionist to shave my legs in that space!  To remedy that I've decided to make my bath a wet bath - you know, like on boats, where the whole room becomes the shower.  I'll need to figure out a way to cover the toilet and storage, and I'll have a curtain that pulls over the window to protect it from water.  The door may or may not be waterproof - depends what it is made out of.

Japanese Ofuro Tub (the more I look the less crazy it seems...)

I've started researching what materials I could use for the floors.  I like the look of galvanized metal, and I found one couple that built their own.  They wrote a step by step instruction of how they did it, and you can read that here.  I am less excited about having metal on the floor in the shower - doesn't it seem like it would be freezing on your feet in the winter?  But I could put down my teak bath mat and that would solve that issue.  And I do have a couple of friends who do commercial metal working, so I think a design could be within reach.

Then with a few Google searches I found some commercial options that aren't metal - they look like they are rubber (I've always suggested I may need to be in a rubber room... here is my chance, lol.)  Here is one: Altro Floors.  They do floors and walls, and it looks like they come in a variety of colors.  Hmmm

And here is another idea: DIY Wetroom.  This kit gives you the option of a tile floor (won't work for me - the tiles will probably crack as I travel) or a vinyl floor, both of which can get wet.

I haven't researched those in detail yet, but pretty soon I'll be digging into the details.  I have a feeling I am going to be in a RV supply store before it's all over.  Or maybe a nautical supply - that sounds more fun.

Preparing for MAGIC, Day Two

Sunday in Camarillo.

Last night, sleep came easily after a full day.  I woke up at 6 a.m. this morning - okay, so on Dallas time that was actually sleeping in, but still - sorta dang early for a Sunday on vacation.    Laurie slept in a bit and then we lounged around (p.s. to my Dallas friends -- it was too COLD outside to have coffee on the patio... I know, I'm mean...) and then showered and got in the car  to Home Depot and Michael's for a last minute trip for Camp supplies.

I'm not sure that dear Laurie really understood the breadth of what she was taking on, offering her home to Ernie (f/k/a/ T-Homie) and I for the week.  Holy smokes.   We are completely out of control - it is WAY TOO FUN.  And after 4 trips to two different grocery stores inside of 24 hours, her kitchen is filled with all sorts of fabulous things...

Meanwhile, Ernie was texting us travel progress as she drove the 7 hours from her home to Camarillo.  A lot of good it did her - we weren't here when she arrived!  She pretended to be bitter, standing at the front door with her luggage, with nobody home.

And THEN the fun ensued.

We popped into a few other stores and then picked up Laurie's friend Jennifer and headed to Ojai.  We tried to go to Feast Bistro (owned by a carpenter journeyman friend of Laurie's - she is also coming to the Camp!) but it was unexpectedly closed.  Disappointed but undaunted, we skipped down two doors and found some comfortable chairs and some wine.  When we left, a fellow patron stopped us and asked us if we had grown up together. ??  Er, no.....?  She said that from our conversation it seemed like we all knew each other really well.  LOL  Ahhhh and so it begins.

Next we headed to The Farmer & the Cook - this amazing little organic cafe.  OMG.   We sat outside and solved world problems over spectacular food and really entertaining people watching.  My people.

Then we asked MAN IN PLAID SHIRT if he would take our photo on the way out.  But then... tragedy. 

ERNIE LOST HER HEAD IN OJAI

 But then she righted herself:

Honestly we were all laughing so hard in the car, that even with the windows rolled up we were turning heads.  I don't know how Laurie was able to drive home, laughing as hard as she was..

And on the ride home?  "Eric & Ernie" was born.  You'll just have to ask us about that.  But don't worry if you forget - you'll hear about us soon enough, I am certain....  We are going to be famous.

Tomorrow is the kick off of Camp.  We have to BE there at 7 a.m.  Eeek.  The wine bottle got corked a bit earlier tonight than last night.  Early to bed for all of us.  More tomorrow...!!!!