Flooring Plans

 Here are my plans for the floor.  Not sure if all that blocking will be necessary over such a short span.  I'll decide based on how straight the lumber is.

And here is my plan for the insulation and sheathing.  The whole exterior will be wrapped in 2" of EPS rigid insulation.  Under the floor I will attach a thin layer (3/8") of pressure treated plywood to keep out the critters.

The walls will be sheathed in plywood, covered in Tyvek, then 2" of rigid... following by strapping and finally the siding.

There are pros and cons to putting the Tyvek outside of the rigid, and also of putting the rigid before the plywood.  But in the end, it will all work as a system, and will breathe well since I've chosen EPS over XPS foam.

Shou Sugi Ban

I've been considering Shou Sugi Ban for the exterior siding.  It's an ancient Japanese method of preserving wood, where you char it then oil it.  It makes it remarkably fire, bug and rot resistant, and only needs to be re-oiled every 10-15 years.

You can get different looks depending on how much you burn the wood, what wood you choose, and whether you choose to stain it or not.  I think I might play with different techniques to see a variety of colours to work with.

I like the way it brings out the grain.

And the contrast you can get with the different techniques

It's pretty labour intensive, but I think it will be fun.  And really, there's not that much siding to my tiny house.  :)  I think it will work well with my vision for the exterior.  All the finishes I'm drawn to seem to have these same tones:

 

New Site = New Design

After moving the build site back away from the water, the design had to change.  The main difference is the placement of the entrance, which will now be double garden doors facing the lake.

New Site

After some initial obstinance, I eventually conceded there was little choice but to move the cozy cottage back away from the lake's edge.  It was difficult for me to give up the idea of sitting on the bench by the window, looking directly out at the lake.  With the new location I'll be quite a bit back from the water, and it only makes sense to have to door facing the lake, which means no window-bench.  But in the end it's more important to make sure the structure is safe and sound, away from any potential water or ice damage.

 The new site is about 15' back into the woods, and slightly diagonal to maintain the same basic view out the length of the skinny bay.

I was very lucky to have help from my Meetup group.  Above is Al, cutting up 2x2s so we can mark out the new foundation.

Here is Anne, hard at work trying to dig through tree roots, rocks and clay.  The soil here is much more difficult than the initial site, which made it even more frustrating to be having to repeat all that hard work.  But luckily my helpers were so positive and happy to get their hands dirty that the whole day was great fun!

Me and Esther digging holes and clipping tree roots.  She told fabulous stories of her adventures building her own home in the woods, and had great advice for living sustainably.

Beth, Jared and the kiddos were great at clearing brush and keeping the fire going all day!

 I'm a very happy lady!

Setback #1: Spring Flood

Meetup: Spring Builds 2015

At our latest Meetup I had a great discussion about my plans with John Hattie from Atlantic Home Designs.

His drawings are so clear and his understanding of construction details has been so helpful to me.

This drawing is showing the "hot roof", which will allow me to have all kinds of insulation (in the form of rigid EPS "TrueFoam") while still leaving the rafters exposed.  We discussed the details of how to insulate and air seal properly at the connection of the wall and roof.  It will be built so that the option to spray foam the rafters on the inside is still possible without causing any moisture issues.

Next Step:  Windows!  Once I buy windows I can finalize the wall framing plans.

My Walden