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Month: April 2018

April 29

We got the tiny house finished and somewhat furnished yesterday. We put up the last of the polystyrene sheets on the walls and got them screwed into place. Then we brought in all the floor coverings we had accumulated for the project. It turned out that the piece of vinyl we’d bought was 12′ x 13′ and not 12′ by 11′, so that made the $45 we paid for it even a BETTER deal! It goes all the way from the edge of the bedroom rug to about 3 feet from the south wall. So we put another piece of vinyl (that matches the living room rug really well) in that small area at the south end and we put the big “oriental’ rug in the bedroom area, with a small piece of vinyl covering the piece of tin under the dresser area. The only place you can even see the painted floor is around the rug in the bedroom, for just a bit on the north end and the east side of the bedroom, and that will be well hidden by the bed.

We moved the fridge in and the lower cabinet from the garage (after I’d washed it really well.) That is stocked with the pans, towels, utensils, etc. There is plenty of room on top of the fridge for cups, plates, etc. We also moved Mama’s old dining room table and chairs in. Finally, we put the two camp chairs on the rug where the living room furniture will eventually go. It looks very homey! We ate supper out there last night!

Now on to the actual house!!!

Another milestone (April 17)

Zoning. The county commissioners meeting was yesterday morning and they voted unanimously to approve our request to have the property changed from light manufacturing to single family residential. Yea! Next we can get our building permit and then start really breaking things apart and rebuilding them!

It was so cold last night that I had to go over and cover the flowers in the raised flower bed and some of the vegetables in their raised beds. It was actually snowing as I was covering them, but that didn’t last. It got down to 32 in Blountville, so I’m not sure how cold it got up there on the hill.

I also filled the refrigerator that we bought for the tiny house with food from Aldi’s yesterday. So now we have lunches, dinners, and lots and lots of snacks!

April 15

We decided to put regular windows on the front side of the tiny house, even though there will be less air flow that way, because only half the window opens. With the huge door on that side, the air flow isn’t a problem. We are going to leave the old windows on the back, just replacing the glass where it is needed. They open so the entire opening lets air in.

So we bought those two windows at Lowe’s yesterday, got them installed and framed on the outside and decided to paint the frame white to match the windows. That was a good call, because it makes the windows look a little larger. We also decided to paint the door the same color as the walls because it is so low and wide and looks a little odd. But we are out of paint for now, so that will have to wait.

Don also put in a conduit and another electrical box that will be to the left of the fridge and be used for the fridge and the various appliances on the countertop.

We picked up a nice enough toaster oven for $3.00 at the church garage sale yesterday. It was covered with grease, but I got it washed up pretty well (there is still grease on the glass door) and it seems to work fine. I finished off the brownies in it and learned that the toaster setting needs to be turned to on, even if you are not making toast! It is really the on/off switch, combined with the toast darkness setting.  The brownies turned out fine, considering they were moved, mid-bake, from the oven to the toaster oven and then the heat was turned off for a while, then turned back on.

The first of the plants are up in the garden boxes – the beets, onions and spinach and maybe a pea or two! I watered them good twice – morning and late afternoon. I planted a few peonies back by the grove of trees behind the tiny house. I just dug up the sod and filled the hole with compost, because we have quite a lot left.  The other plants from the back yard in Blountville are in pots until I discover what they are. Right now they are just tall, grass-like plants, sort of like wild onions, but not.

April 13

We started the day by driving down to Kingsport to the mulch place to get another half trailer-load of compost. Then we went to Lowe’s where Don got the plumbing parts he couldn’t find last night on our excursion to Home Depot, and I got some flowers to put in the raised flower bed once we put in the compost. I also found a new nozzle for the hose, so I can carefully water my plants.

When we got to the new place, Don parked the trailer by the flower box, so I could unload enough compost to fill the box. Then I planted the 12 giant marigolds that I’d bought, along with two other beautiful purple flowers that I’d never seen before. While I was doing that, Don was putting the outside water spigot together, so when I finished, I was able to water the new flowers, as well as give the vegetable beds a good soaking. Nothing is up in them, yet.

Then we got to work on the outside of the tiny house, as I expected we would. We took turns with the power sprayer and got all the gunk sprayed off. It went from dingy gray with black spots all over to nice and white. The back side was a reddish color – not sure what from, but that all came quite well, too. It was hard work and the sun was out and it was getting hotter and hotter! Somewhere in the middle of that project I fired up the grill and made lunch. We decided this was the last day we’d eat outside, because it is just getting too hot out in front of the house. And since our lunch break is supposed to replenish our energy, sitting in the hot sun isn’t such a good idea!

While Don was finishing the second round of spraying – this time standing on the roof of the tiny house, which made me a bit nervous, I worked on putting the chicken wire tops on the remaining five raised beds. They do roll chicken wire very tight, so it was a great challenge to get it unrolled and flattened enough by myself, but I managed to get the job done. About that time, Don called me to come over and finish the spraying, because his hand was too tired to hold the trigger any more.

Somewhere in there I also cleaned our new refrigerator, since we are starting to put food and water in it. We took a mid-afternoon break, then I unloaded some more of the compost in big piles to plant the squash in when they get a little bigger. I’d transplanted them to bigger pots earlier in the morning, but I still want to be able to move them inside if the nights get too cold. Another couple weeks and I think I can put them outside for good.

The final job was to paint the outside of the tiny house. I did the walls, using the rest of the gallon of paint we’d used on the front of the big house. Don did the roof, using a special reflective paint made for trailer tops. It smelled quite strong, so I was glad he was doing that job and not me. I got the front of the tiny house and about half of one end painted before my paint ran out. But I finished it so it looks like I meant to just do the bottom 2/3 of that end!

Water!!! (April 12)

We decided to do the water hookup ourselves after the plumber had not showed up for four weeks. So we started digging and discovered that it was going to be pretty impossible to dig the whole 50 feet or more by hand. Then Don had the brilliant idea to run the water pipe through the existing downspout drainpipe that went within about 8 feet of the city water hookup. That meant only an 8 foot ditch 24 inches deep, which we dug Friday afternoon. But it rained Saturday, so we didn’t do anything more.

On Tuesday, the plumber (who we had called and cancelled on Friday) called and said he could do the work. So we hired him to finish up the project and within a couple hours we had water in the house as well as the parking lot graded smooth. And the hot water heater still works, so we even have hot water.

I cleaned out the shower really good and it is in great shape! The sinks are all in working order and the toilet just needs a seal around the tank and all the existing plumbing will be up and working!

April 1

I finished insulating the tiny house today. Yesterday we bought some polystyrene sheets at $4.50 each (30 of them), to use for the interior walls. They are white on one side and actually have a layer of thin plastic, so they should be easy to keep clean. They will break easily if we fall into them, but most of the wall space will be behind furniture, so we should be okay. I think we’ll have a few extras for serious breakage.

We also bought three more sheets of styrofoam – 4×8 sheets this time. It was just enough to make up for all the pieces that were missing. I got most of it done yesterday before play practice, but I went back today and finished it entirely. I discovered along the way that the best way to keep them in place was to put styrofoam “shims” in all the spaces where they were a little loose. So they are all held nicely in place now. But Don is still going to hold each row with a 1″x1″ strip. That strip will also be what we nail or screw the polystyrene sheets to. I think it is going to work out well. It will also give us somewhere to put hooks or hang pictures or clocks or the such. I’m getting excited about how nice it is going to turn out!

Don also got the electric line buried and hooked up to the tiny house, so we have a couple of outlets and two overhead lights that work! There is also an exterior outlet on the house, so we can run an extension cord from that to the tiny house if we need things on more than one circuit.

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