Posts

Posted on

Grade and Fill for Dummies

Things have been pretty quiet what with all the world-wide pandemic and all. In the meantime, I started planning a fence, but two things stopped me cold:

  1. The price of wood went through the roof
  2. The neighbor’s elevation changes caused more water to flow onto my property than normal
  3. I discovered I have several depressions significant enough to accumulate an excess of water
  4. Excess water will accelerate wood rot
  5. Wood rot will kill my fence fast

Ugh.

Wood? Wood!

Good news everyone! The price of wood came down!

Wait, no it didn’t.

Okay, we’ll pass on the wood for now.

Elevation, smellivation

I had to get an elevation survey in order to know how much dirt I would to grade and fill the property. Turns out most places I called never heard of them, but two did, one that cost way more and one that cost way less. The -less one was fishy, so I paid way more.

Before the surveyor came, I had to clear the jungle out and pile up all the trash donations people had provided me.

No more jungle!

Now I have some calculations to do. If the amount of dirt to grade and fill is lower than 1000 sq ft, I don’t need a permit. Stay tuned!

Posted on

Driveway is in!

That was quick! Just a day or two delay due to rain, and the guys finished quickly. I had to call them to come tidy up the site a bit: the culvert pipe was clogged with mud from the construction, and they took care of it promptly.

The Driveway
Posted on

Adding a Driveway

Getting the property prepped starts with being able to actually access the property. There’s a drainage ditch next to the road that has a dirt (mud, if you’re nasty and rainy) culvert covering a concrete pipe, but it isn’t clear if it is sturdy enough to support driving the tiny house across it, let alone trucks and cars.

This means we need a proper driveway.

  • The Crew Arrives
  • Prepping the Ditch
  • Ready to Pour
Posted on

Not dead yet!

Just a quick check-in. I have a bunch of old posts and photos I need to publish to catch you up to the current state.

I’ve run out of cash for building, and I have a big expense coming up: windows.

I would like to buy them all at once so I can get them all installed and be done with it. We’ll see!

See you (hopefully) soon!

Posted on

Installing the roof

Installing Ondura is fairly easy, using nails that have a rubber washer near the head to prevent rain intrusion.

The manufacturer says you can install it over anything, so I decided to lay down Corning Weatherlock-G, which is a ice and water barrier. It is also rough on the top side, so it is possible to (barely) walk on it and not slide to your death. I used the same nails  on the Weatherlock as I did on the Tyvek .

Installing Ondura

Posted on

Getting the roofing

In my original plan, I was going to get a metal roof. After doing a lot of thinking and research, I scratched that idea because, well, metal scratches. Because the house can move, if it goes under a low-hanging tree, a metal roof will get scratched up. This can cause it to rust, which is bad.

Regular shingles are out also, because they tend to fly off during high winds (or, in this case, when driving on the freeway).

I was turned on to Ondura by another Tiny Houser, and couldn’t be happier. It is lightweight, strong and very easy to work with. You can cut it with a box-cutting knife, jig saw or table saw.

Picking up Ondura from the store

Posted on

Additional reinforcement

One area that requires additional reinforcement is the short wall — the one adjacent to the door. It is framed with 6×6 cedar posts, for strength.

As per the plans, in order to keep them from bowing, I threaded a 1/2 rod and anchored it with washers and nuts.

Threaded rod between 6×6 beams

After the rod is installed and tightened, it is time to cut off any excess:

Threaded rod excess

Posted on

Installing the roof

We start with the bare rafters, and install 3/4″ plywood for the roof decking. The plywood has to be thicker because it must withstand the weight of the other roof elements (waterproofing, shingles), but also any ice or snow that may accumulate.

In a normal house, the rafters would be closer together, but we can get away with them spaced a little farther apart (~ 23 inches) because the house is so small compared to the plywood.

Interior looking up at a tarp covering the rafters

Installing the roof decking

Exterior with roof decking

Exterior view of the loft

Posted on

Sheathing the walls

The whole structure is wobbly (but not just-about-to-fall-down wobbly) because the only thing holding it up is 2x4s and the metal CS14 wrapped around it. Wood flexes, of course, so standing in the loft can be nerve wracking.

The fix is to add plywood sheathing.

Once the sheathing is added, I cover it with Tyvek. This is a permeable plastic that allows water vapor to escape from the wood, but doesn’t let water in.