Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Things Are Pretty Cool In Mini Mobile Cottage Land



I remember buying my trailer on Christmas Day last year and being fully convinced I would be living in my new home by mid summer. What a journey. I am printing several pictures from the build (I owe a bunch of pictures to the Picasa site) going back through all of them to create a Photo Story of the build for the cottage. I can remember standing in the pole barn with the propane heater going full blast and us stacking stuff around it to thaw it out so we can use it. We went through a really cold blast last year. Well it has not really hit this year, I am curious how the cottage will handle extended periods of cold weather. It is really about the systems and not the internal temp of the cottage. The choice of spraying closed cell foam was really a game changer to the livability of the cottage. For the last couple of nights I open the upstairs window to cool it down to sleep. Too Funny.

The pictures above show the work shop I currently have access to. I have been coating all the interior window trim with Daly's Crystalfin, Satin. I like the look and it add's a different demension to the interior wood. Lynne Palmer recommeded it to me and it was a great choice. 

Well here is a before picture of the window
I have tried to stay focused on getting some of the little things done. I was not quite sure how these would turn out but I am pretty satisfied with the result.  I still don't have a clue on how I am going to tackle the kitchen but I am not really worried about it, it will become a February project. I am going to start getting my life back. I have made a commitment to ride the Reach The Beach this May. I missed it last year...as a matter of fact I missed everything last year. You might want to plan on that if you want to build a mini cottage.

So here is some progress shots from over Christmas and New Years.



I don't know if I posted that I got the blinds from Select Blinds and they were excellent to deal with, lots of free samples. The end product was perfect from a measurement and functionality stand point. if you need custom blinds these guys are great to work with.

So from a project perspective, I really need a proper ladder (I am using my aluminum construction ladder) to get into the loft, I would like a bathroom door and will make a dual purpose door for the closet and then when it opens it now would shut the bathroom door. Makes perfect sense to me. Here is a sneak peak at the ladder
As you can see, it has a long way to go. The door and ladder are the priority of the weekend. If I can get both of them done, then I can be free to train for the ride. Really I am going to ride 100 miles on my bike in May, you can bank on it.

7 comments:

  1. Glad to hear that the spray foam is keeping you nice and warm. I'm sure it will also help with keeping pipes from freezing!

    Being that I'm in Northern VT, I'm also considering an upgrade to the insulation plans that Tumbleweed calls for (3" of rigid poly foam boards), and going for spray foam. Did you spray yourself or hire it out? What was the difference in expense?

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  2. I would really like to know what other tiny house folks in VT have used for insulation. I know the folks in Seattle said they were cold in their Fencl and it was built to spec. VT is a lot colder then here so someone living in a tiny house should have some pretty strong opinions about it. Do you know any tiny house dwellers in your state?

    Here is what I did: www.sprayfoamdirect.com. I did it myself, watched the video's and followed the directions and it was pretty easy. They get on the phone with you to help figure out how much to get, they were very close on their estimate for me. I did use some filler foam boards that I already had in place and foamed over them.

    I know cost is a concern for you and this was one of my top three major expenses besides wood. It is what make this space livable, in VT it becomes more critical. I would really dig through your options before you jump. My personal opinion is that you have to do this.

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  3. Interesting- I hadn't heard of anyone being cold in their Fencl 'till now. But yeah, there's no point in saving money if the house isn't going to be livable. I did opt for the bigger of the two Dickinson fireplaces A close friend of my family is an architect, and he also strongly recommended the spray foam route. Thanks for weighing in!

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  4. You have only 3 1/2 inch of space till you reach the cold outdoors. Invest the best you can to keep the cold out, this includes the number of windows, doors, and most of all insulation.

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  5. Thanks for the advice. I'm looking at Marvin Integrity for windows. I have a contractor friend who can get me pella, but the architect things I can do better in terms of energy efficiency. Not sure if he has something against Pellas or what!

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  6. Funny you should say that. I have Pella windows, I believe they are at the bottom end of the spectrum. His view of Pella's is born from experience. The only reason I have Pella's is because I found $2300 worth of windows for $600 and these are good high end Pella's. There are better windows on the market and if you can find something better I would. The windows I got did not fit my size goals or the look I wanted but I just could not walk past the deal with new, in the box windows. These are fiberglass and have been easy to work with. They are working great...today. Since I extra cash from the window purchase I was able to put that into insulation....Hmmmmm. These are all great and fun things to ponder.

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  7. Hi Josh, Great you're thrilled with all the 357. I have got one myself since like 10 decades. I enjoy it also, not modded as yours nevertheless.
    Currently it doesn't work, it chokes when heat. Brought into a neigbour of mine and he'll find a deeper look at it.
    It seems just like some have had trouble working with the automated decompression valve, so does yours have that?
    Enjoy a superb day! Chainsaw Sharpeners How To Sharpen a Chainsaw Chain

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