Ima RV - A Tiny House on Wheels

11/13/2011

2011-11-13T16:08:00.000-08:00

Time to add the little things to make this cabin a little more like a home.

Even though this is a temporary platform, it will get used a lot as I can move it around and attach it to different areas on the deck that will be built this next year.

The weather is proving to hold as there is snow in the forecast. This only a two foot overhang, but it is enough to get out of the weather while you take your shoes off to go in.

I need to get a few pieces of gable trim to match the ends of the gables on the cabin. I also need a about a 3 foot chunk of facia to finish the other side.

Time to accessorize the interior. IKEA has a lot of space saving shelves that are light weight and attractive. These shelves gave us a lot of options to hang different kitchen items.

You have to have coat hooks!!!

It is warm inside and cold outside. Did someone say "snow"?

There is still a lot to do, but now we are tucked in a nice and warm cabin! I dont' know how much more will get done before the snow melts, but I am looking forward to seeing a few feet here real soon!

10/29/2011

2011-10-31T11:22:00.000-07:00

Today is the big day for travel. The distance to travel is under 100 miles, but our speed will be in the 50-60mph range with one mountain pass to go over. On that note, there is one bridge to go under on that mountain pass that is marked at 14 feet. There is a sign indicating that vehicles over that must use the off ramp. Even though we are slightly under, we our opting to use the off ramp as a precaution.

The drive went well over the pass and getting the unit into place went smooth. Having a 3 ton jack to lift the corners and put the jack stands in place would have worked well if we remembered the bar to use it. fortunately the ground was pretty level at the final destination and the rest of the lifting was done using only the tongue lift.

Even though it is in it's location, there is still a lot of work left to do. The porch needs to be built (the metal is already cut and ready.) The initial deck which will be a 5' wide by 4' foot extension with stairs on the hitch end of the deck. Taking off the wheels and adding a skirting beneath the wheel wells. I did secure the trailer with a tongue lock for now.

Now that it is up and stable, the furniture can go in and the decorating begins. We are finding that certain furniture items will work, and other will be changing. The couch and chairs are good. The table sticks out too far and will need to be modified so it will not stick our beyond the chairs.

The stairs going up to the loft above the frig worked out well. I anchored it on top and bottom and it feels very stable.

The bathroom is all hooked up and running. I might add another shelve above the toilet to store more bathroom supplies.

The shower is in, but won't be utilized until after the winter months pass. The water to the property is above ground and because there will be 2' of snow on the ground soon, so the cabin will be dry for the next 3-4 months.

The kitchen is filling up quickly. The kitchen shelves need to be put up so we have places to put plates, cups, and other supplies. Well, just because the cabin is now in its location does not mean it is done. There is still a lot to do. I should have more done next week. The hard part now is that it is now 1:45 drive to work on it now.

Good times are coming...

10/28/2011

2011-10-31T08:42:00.000-07:00

After a lot of scrambling to finish the cabin on time, we were able to get things ready for the big weigh in day.

The kitchen cabinets are done. The felted cloth made a nice finish to the face of the shelves. It is all in effort to keep things light.

The pantry and pantry doors are now on as well as the pine that holds the frig. The pine around the frig is heavily reinforced to hold our bodies because it is part of the access to the loft. The new additions are still needing some polyurethane and the ladder needs to be installed on the top of the frig still.

So we are off to the scales.

It took a 30 minutes to get the trailer off the jack stands. It also took a 3 ton jack to lift it up the ends to slowly bring it down to the ground. The next concern was how tall it would actually be when down on tires. Are we going to clear all the power lines? Especially the low one going to my house.

OK. So down on the road and hooked to my Dad's 2500 series GMC with a duramax diesel, it was time to pull the tape. The total height is officially at 13' 5" tall when down on the tires. Sure seemed tall.

Down at the scales, we weighed in at 6850lbs. I was sure it was going to weigh a little more. The trailer is rated 10,000lbs. It is a little tongue heavy which was apparent when towing down the road.
Now that the weight is in. It is time to go convert the flatbed trailer into a travel trailer. Down the the Washington DOL we go. It was a little work going through the building receipts for all the purchases. The taxes paid on those areas translate into tax saving on the licensing side.

It is now a really big travel trailer and tomorrow is the big journey to it new resting place.

day 38 10/24/2011

2011-10-24T21:11:00.000-07:00

We are getting down to crunch time. I am trying to be done and ready to weigh in at the scales by Friday. There are a lot of details still remaining. Today was a good day to work on the kitchen and the closet/pantry. We decided to go with an simple design without cabinets under the counter tops. We are putting shelves under the counter tops where they won't interfere with the sink plumbing and hot water tank. The pre-maid counter tops help to make it easier. The ends are easy to finish on the counter tops.

I added some pine to the end to close things up. I think I will also add some finish 1x3 to the face of the shells to make things look a little tighter. The sink came from Ikea and fits well in smaller areas. I put the hot water tank in its location, but still need to do the plumbing and strap the tank to the wall.

I started to build the wall for the pantry which will be behind the door I will build the shelves before I build the enclosing wall on my next day of work as I just ran out of time today. The bottom half will be the closet for coats and shoes and stuff and will have its own door. Same with the pantry on the top with 2 or 3 shelves to be built.

I put in 7 more hours today (265 total hours worked).

Day 37 10/18/2011

2011-10-24T20:58:00.000-07:00

The pictures don't really pick up the detail from the polyurethane, but it is on and looks good. I noticed that the color on the pine darkened a little with is ok. It is a semi-gloss and it really gives it a good cabin look. I have left a heater on it for a few days and I am struggling to get rid of the toxic smells. I will try to cook it with more heat for a few days and then leave the windows open to air it out.

It took 8 hours to apply the polyurethane and I still have a few area that are not done.
(258 total hours worked so far.)

Day 36 10/17/2011

2011-10-24T20:53:00.000-07:00

The Pine is on and all done except for the pantry and the areas around the kitchen cabinets that are net yet installed.

There are still a few windows that need to be trimmed. I ran out of material. I decided to get started on the floor. The OSB plywood that I used for the decking did buckle a little even though I gapped them in accordance with the manufacturer. Nothing that a quick run with the belt sander couldn't handle.

I don't know that is was necessary, but I put another layer of felt paper down on top of the plywood.

Time for some laminate flooring. Most laminate flooring products go together quite easily. and once you get your lines down and layout ready, it goes very quickly.

The laminate floor is very durable. Even after I dropped a few tools on it, the marks never showed. It looks really good done except for the base trim.

The floor is done and next will be the polyurethane.

I worked another 9 hours today. (250 total hours worked)

Day 35 10/15/2011

2011-10-16T11:24:00.000-07:00

The pine is done except for the window trim and cabinet work!

The dormers are continuing to provide challenges to my processes for sure. I attached a ledger on the outside wall and above the window down 5 1/2" from the plywood. That matches the existing 2 x 6 rafters.

I ran the pine long in between the dormers and after I scribed a line, cut them off. Once they were cut off, I attached a board to tie the corners together.

I am not sure how to trim the outside corners. The corners went quite well and ended up amazingly tight. At this point, I am thinking that I might just hit the corners with the palm sander and call them good.

I still need to trim out the winders and then I plan on hitting everything with a sander and knocking down any rough edges. After that comes a nice coat of clear polyurethane. Laminate flooring to follow...

I put in 10 man hours (241 total hours.)

Day 34 10/12/2011

2011-10-12T19:24:00.000-07:00

My Dad came over and helped today. 2 people get more than double the work of a single worker. One person works the saw while the other lays in the loft and secures the wood with the nailer!

Now the loft is really taking shape. Having the pine up there is doing two things. First, I don't have as much head room to put my head up between the rafters. I guess it is good to know how much room I have to work with. Second, The opportunities to crack your had on the rafters was cut in half today!!!

I faced the dormers as well. I need to face them before I attach the ledger to continue covering the rafters.

So I am rounding the corner with the end in sight. I only have the half of the rafters to go before ALL is covered. Of course there is still a lot of trim work to do, but I think it will all be done in a day. I am hoping to be ready for a clear semi-gloss polyurethane on Sunday. Tomorrow will be a much needed brake and then hopefully Friday will bring the closer.

9 hours today (231 total hours worked to date)

Day 33 10/11/2011 Continued

2011-10-12T19:13:00.000-07:00

I started off with a good morning of work end ended with a good evening of work as well.

Just finishing this end make the loft seem a little more cozy.

I found that the loft will provide a good sleeping area, but there is not room to work with a saw and boards up there. I guess it will be up and down and up and down on the ladder for me. It is 11pm now and I and calling is quits for the night!

4 hours this morning and 4 more this evening makes it a pretty good day.
(222 total hours worked.)

Day 33 10/11/2011

2011-10-11T13:24:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to post a quick video of the main floor now that the pine is in and done on (except the trim work).

We aren't done working today, but I am moving up to into the loft area. I still need to finish some insulation, but I plan on getting a lot of wood up before throwing in the towel toninght.

Day 32 10/10/2002

2011-10-10T22:40:00.000-07:00

I started boxing in the lights in the kitchen area until I ran out of material. I originally purchased every package of pine that Lowes had. Looks like is time to go get more.

I will be completely finished below the loft by tomorrow night (except for the trim), even though there are still a lot of loose ends to finish up.

I am trying to use up some of the left over scrap and short pieces to box in all the lights and electrical.

I am liking the finish look around the lights. I will finish and clean up tomorrow and post a video tomorrow evening and hopefully give the full panaramic.

(4 hours today and 214 Total hours.)

Day 31 10/8/2011

2011-10-08T22:20:00.000-07:00

I actually finished what I had scheduled to do today. I did get a late start due to the normal family obligations and finished up at 10pm, but it looks good

It looks different from both the inside and outside. I was concerned that when I put the pine on that it would make the cabin feel a little more closed in. I actually lightens up the room a little more.

The Bathroom will still need a lot of trim work, but I guess I can say that about a lot of areas in the cabin.

This a look at the shower through the pocket sliding door.

The toilet, or where it will sit, sits opposite the shower. From the idea of a cabin, the bathroom seems a little tight, but if you compared this to a trailer, we are in good shape.

I put in a solid 8 hours today (210 hours total to date.)

Day 30 10/7/2011

2011-10-08T07:54:00.000-07:00

So, I was actually able to squeeze in 4 hours yesterday. I really like how the pine is looking on the walls. It goes on easy and the finish gives us the cabin look that we were going for.

I will use a inside rounded corner to trim out the corners after all the pine is up.

Half of the main floor is done, except for the bathroom, which will be finished today. I should be all done with everything below the loft by the end of tomorrow. I worked another 4 hours yesterday.
(202 total hours worked)

10/7/2011

2011-10-07T09:21:00.000-07:00

No work today, but I do come home from 5 days of travel. OK, I might try to squeeze in a few hours this evening. I have the whole next week off and plan to work everyday on the tiny cabin. I expect huge changes everyday!!!

Day 29 10/3/2011

2011-10-03T21:04:00.000-07:00

I was hoping to spend more time on the cabin today, but the day went by way to fast. I did manage to put in some more insulation and pine boards though.

Note that the 2 x 4 walls were built in flush with the trailer wheel well. The pine boards were able to go right over them and conceal them.

Getting around the plumbing seemed to go fine. It will all be covered by the counter top and shelving underneath. The panel will still need to be trimmed out. I am thinking that I might built a small hinged door to cover it.

I only worked 4 hours today (198 total hours to date).

Day 28 10/1/2011

2011-10-02T18:05:00.000-07:00

I guess the time has come to start insulating and putting up some Pine 3/8" x 3 1/2" tongue and groove pine. I insulated the end wall and used all the scrap insulation to fill all the gaps around the windows.

The window will get a ripped down 1" x 4" on the inside (still coming) and then trimmed around the face with a 1 1/2" x 1/4" pine trim. For now, I am just cutting around the windows.

I finished the pine on the end wall. I attached them with 1" nails from my nailer. I decided to face nail instead of trying to angle the nails near the tongue. The boards are so thin that face nailing felt more secure.

The end wall is completed and I look forward to finishing the rest of the pine. I worked about 4 hours today (194 total man hours to date)

Day 27 9/29/2011

2011-09-29T22:05:00.000-07:00

Today was a big crawl on the ground day. I spent a lot of time cutting and measuring and putting together the drains under the trailer. I did a dry run with everything to make sure that it all fit and took it apart and put it all back together with glue of course.

Once I finished the drains under the cabin, I went topside to make sure the drain vents were all going to tie in together and vent out the side and under the eve. I tied them all together over the wall that divides the bathroom from the rest of the cabin.

The drains and vent pipe under the counter did not go inside the wall until it tied into the vent going up the wall. The reasoning for this is that I was running out of room in the wall and it will be hidden under the counter top. The hot water tank is going to go in the corner. The hot water tank dimensions are 26 inches tall (including the 2 inch Styrofoam base) with a 22 inch diameter. The kitchen sink vent will clear the top of the hot water tank by 4 inches.

The kitchen sink and shower vent go up through the wall and tie into the the toilet vent that comes up the other side of the door in the same wall. All three vent exit out the same port on the side under the eve as said before. At 9 pm tonight I realized that I am short one 1 1/2 inch coupling from being completely finished and I just don't have it in me to go to Lowes and get one until tomorrow!

I put in 9 hours today (190 total hours to date.)

Video tour including the electrical panel and loft

2011-09-17T23:17:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this video should have been posted a few posts ago, but now that I know how to do it. I will do them more. I do hope all the viewers enjoy!!!

Day 26 9/17/2011

2011-09-17T22:52:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day for plumbing. The rain decided to show itself and so it was good to be inside. I admit that I spent a lot of the time standing and thinking versus actually installing the plumbing today. Just like my electrical work, I am not a plumber either. I used pex plumbing with gator grip fittings on this project for several reasons and cost was not one of them. It is very easy to use and required the purchase of very few tools. The pex is suppose to perform very well in sub freezing conditions even though I plan to winterize most of the system during the winter. The gator grip fittings are nice and easy to use and require no copper or soldering. The are made of a lot of brass and I am sure that is why they are so expensive.

I am trying to make this system easy to winterize so I made the point of enter (outside spicket with a shut off valve) the lowest point of the system. The cold water coming in slopes up toward the kitchen where the water heater will also sit and the upward to the shower and toilet as well.

I went ahead and installed the under-the-counter valves for the sink and toilet so that I could seal the system and check for leaks. There were no leaks on any of the gator grip fittings, but I did have to tight one of the under-the-counter valves for the sink.

Because the shower is not perfectly square, I was able to bend the pex around the back corner. I am sure that is normal.

The toilet valve will pop out from the side of the toilet and underneath the tank.

Before I actually put the shower into place, I did have to wrap up a few loose ends. The Bathroom fan needed to be finished and the vent had to exit out the side wall and then the insulation needed to be installed. Once the shower is in place, you won't be able to get back behind it. Also wanted to make sure the pipes were well covered.

And the last thing to do before putting the shower in place is drill for the shower valve and handle assembly. I think I measured atleast 3 times as I didn't want to mess it up.

I still need to fishing the plumbing drain system, but the shower is installed in place and I did drill a large hole underneath for working on the drain. Now that the shower is installed, I can built the pocket door and finish the remainder of the wall. The only two remaining electrical switched (bathroom light and ceiling exhaust fan) are on the wall. Unfortunately it will have to wait as I have a really busy work schedule this next week.

On my next post, I will try to get some better interior pics as the layout will start to show itself. I worked a solid 8 today. Of course the two trips to lowes didn't help with that. (181 total hours worked to date.)

Day 24 and 25 9/14/2011-9/15/2011

2011-09-17T22:22:00.000-07:00

Now that we are all dried in on the outside, it is time to re-focus on the electrical. I should start with the fact that I am not and have never been a licensed electrician and do not claim to be. I do have a licenced electrical contractor that will oversee and assist where needed on the entire electrical portion of the cabin.

After a spending a lot of time on paper trying to organize the what goes where and how am I going to get there, it was time to start on the power. My electician took care getting electical to the outside of the building with a 50 amp box to receive power from the 50 amp RV cord that I purchased via Poulsbo RV. The RV cord came with a male end on one end and open wires on the other so that a male end could go on that end as well. I wanted a cord that plugs in on both ends so that it could be remove and stored as necessary.

I should have installed this box before the siding went on, but it will be on the back side of the building and out of sight. I did use a polyurathane sealer to seal the unit from moisture and then bolted it through the siding and plywood with carriage bolts. The box, when closed, has a place for a lock to secure the cord while it is plugged in.

On the inside, the electrian ran the wire to the panel so that I could tap into it with the four circuits that I planned on using.

From there, I was able to tap into the four cuircits that are all protected with 20 amp breakers. I plugged into the house with an addapter so that the entire system can be tested and I could turn on some lights and work a little later on the inside.

and with the cover on...

I will build a cover for this out of pine after the walls get covered.

I did try several times to upload a video tour and I not sure why it is not working. I will keep trying.
I put in 15 hours in the last two days. (173 total man hours to date.)

Day 23 9/11/2011

2011-09-11T21:14:00.000-07:00

It is official. The siding is all on, though I have found that I still have a ways to go before the siding is done.

My Dad came over today and we finished getting up all the siding, but we found that a lot of the cedar is wanting to curl up. I decided to remedy this by pre-drilling for a galvanized size 6 siding nail through the cedar only and about a half inch from the bottom and over 1.2 inches. The pre-drilling is to keep the cedar from splitting. I did a few and it seems to be sucking them down quite nicely.

This all has to be done before I caulk the corners and windows. We also found today that a permanent brown marker colors the galvanized nail heads and blends very well with the brick red semi-gloss stain.

So I officially plan on being done with the extra nails and caulking tomorrow. Then I will push hard to finish the plumbing this weekend and most of the electical this weekend. I will try to load some interior pics and maybe try to load a video as well. Between my Dad and I, we put in 10 hours today.

(Total man hours to date 158 hours.)

Day 22 9/10/2011

2011-09-11T07:50:00.000-07:00

I knew today was going to be a good day. I got an Early start and did some prep work before my Dad showed up to give me a hand. It only took a few boards before I could see how much I was going to like it. Putting up the siding was straight forward and the only minor challenges were doing the angles on the gable ends and the dormers where the windows were involved.

The Cedar was OK to work with. We decided to go with Cedar because it gave us the cabin look that we wanted as well as it was much light than Hardy Board. I did find that I will have to go back and put in some smaller siding nails (size 6 galvanized) near the bottom corners. There were a few reasons for this. First, the cedar tends to curve up after I installed it. I am not sure if it was caused by the combination of the sun while we stained it or because once it was nailed in place, the is a natural tendency to curve. The other reason is that this unit is made to have travel potential. I will have to drive it 90 mile to put in its place and I don't want to take a chance on anything working itself loose or worse, ripping off while driving.

I do know that without the extra help from my Dad that I would not have made nearly as much progress.

He is coming back tomorrow to help finish the other two sides. We did the two side we considered to be more work first, so day two on the siding should go much better. Once again, I am so pleased with the fact that we stained the cedar before we installed it. There will be some touch up of course, especially where the siding meets the corner trim. I will do that after I nail up all four corners with the extra nails that I already mentioned.

It is looking like a cabin now, even though the other two sides are not yet done. I will be building a 5' wide porch roof to go over the door that I will install once the cabin is in place. I will be made so that it can be removed easily if necessary to travel. I will add just a little more dimension to the side.

With my Dads help, we worked a total of 11 hours. I had a family obligation or we would have worked more. I am sure that is exactly how my Dad wanted to spend his 63rd birthday. Thanks again Dad!!!
(148 man hours worked to date)

Day 21 9-9-2011

2011-09-09T21:31:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally found more time including the up and coming weekend to work on the tiny house. Expect an huge face lift after the weekend as I plan on completing the siding. I picked up the last major load of lumber material today and then jumped right on the project. Thanks to Tyee lumber and the great prices on on Cedar (over 40 cents per foot less than lowes).

We decided to stain all the trim and siding before we installed today which definetly change my schedule today. I think when it is said and done, it will have taken less time to stain the siding and trim on the ground.

The real challenge to staining all the siding is finding a place to stain all the material.

There was so much to do today with the staining that I decided to enlist some extra help. They might look small and you might think they just make a mess and get in the way and It is all correct. I guess they just like to play with paint brushes!

I did manage to hang the trim on all four corners and stick up a few pieces of siding.

My Dad is coming over tomorrow to lend a hand so I needed to get set up. I cut two jigs to set the 8" bevelled cedar to have a 6 " reveal. I am looking forward to a great day tomorrow. I worked a solid 9 hours today and feel like I could have used about 5 more. ( 137 total hours worked to date.)

Day 19 & 20 8/27/11-8/28/11

2011-08-29T09:26:00.000-07:00

OK SEATTLE, BRING ON THE RAIN! I CAN TAKE IT CAUSE THE ROOF IS DONE!

The roof took a lot more time to complete than I thought. Once again, the dormers are the reason the roof taking so long. Nearly every roof panel needed a cut with an angle. And it seemed like half my time was spent on the ladder as it was up and down, up and down on the ladders.

The roof is a standing seam and is designed so that you see very few screws. Because this unit is a travel trailer, I decided to add some extra screw where I thought they might be needed. The screws all have washer and seal themselves once screwed in.

I can't believe I am saying that I look forward to the rain and snow. I plan on putting together a large material list next which will include the the remaining plumbing material, electrical supplies, cedar siding and interior pine.

I put in 15 hours in the last two days (128 hours worked to date.)

Day 18 8/17/11

2011-08-17T18:58:00.000-07:00

I finished the the roof panels on the non-dormer side today. There is still so much to do on the roof. There is still at least another day on the other side and then make sure the the ridge cap gets finished up.

One the starting end, with regards to the roof panels, there is a rolled edge which is what keeps the water from rolling up the ends. On the other end of the roof panels, the last panel had to be cut. I needed something on the end to give that same water protection. I was instructed by Johnson Exteriors to bend up the end.

I decided to go with two bends. One that bends up and then one that bends another 90 degrees to add to the protection.

I found that there is always a right tool for the job. If you have to do any amount of bending, a good bending tool is a must! I went with a "wiss" brand and it worked great. Worth a little extra expense!

I only worked about 4 hours today, but it felt great to get the panels finished on at least one side.
(113.5 total hours worked)