Biological warfare and some cleanup.

I didn't spend a whole lot of time up there despite being a really nice day, but I did get a few things done.  I initiated my biological warfare with the bugs.  They were really awful last year, so thick that even wearing pure deet wouldn't keep them at bay.  I put out a few mosquito dunks in the creek.  I put them in the clearing where I normally go to look at the creek, and I also put a couple much farther upstream as well.






I also did some cleanup on the lot, picking up all the styrofoam that blew around last winter, in case they come up to examine the lot.

Before:


After:


I definitely need to get a move on with the lawn mowers, the dandelions are multiplying.


After I got home, I worked on the mixer valve controller a little bit (you may remember it being one of my winter projects).  I got the valve and the controller mounted.  I ordered a smaller relay board for it, the one I have is twice the number of relays that I need, and it doesn't really fit.  I installed the Arduino that I have onto it, though I might try to find a smaller one.  I ran into a small issue where the screws that I have for the standoffs I installed are too big, they don't fit where the mounting holes in the board are.  I will see if we have any appropriate screws at work.  I got a couple in, so it is being held together at least.  I plan on demoing it on Tuesday at the Arduino group meeting.

Designs complete, but driveway not started yet.

The road still has the weight limits in effect, so not much movement has happened on that front.  I am ready to be grilled by the selectman and zoning board.

All my plans are complete.  A couple are a little scant on details which I will cover, but here they are:

For starters, the final floorplan.  There was an error on the last set I posted, the floorplan was supposed to be mirrored so that the door opens to the slab, and not to the yard.  This does make it non-conventional with regards to campers and RVs, which conventionally have the door on the right hand side, but the trade off isn't worth it in my opinion.  I don't have enough space to put in a second door.  The little box at the top is the location of where the axles on the trailer are.  I also don't intend to fasten the pantry, that way I can slide it around a little if I get a bigger fridge in the future.


First up is the subflooring.  This is pretty basic stuff; no surprises here.  The only real thing to note is that I plan on putting the short joist on the back of the trailer, where it will have less support underneath it.


Next up is the walls.  These are a little barren on info, most notably windows and doors.  I will probably stand the walls up first and install the doors and windows afterwards.  It wastes a little wood, but is significantly easier, and is a lot more foolproof (remember the shed doorway where everything was off by two board thicknesses?  That won't happen this way).  One thing not noted here is that I will need to install California corners on the floor joists, since the walls are going directly on the subflooring, which is not conventional.  This is because having a 6" strip of plywood is not very stable, and the floorplan is 8' 6" wide.  It also allows me to not permanently install the flooring at this stage, which will be beneficial when I get to wiring and plumbing.


Next up is the roof.  Since I don't have the taller back end anymore, I have switched it to a standard gable style roof.  This is the same type of roof that I installed on my shed.  There is no overhang because the framing is right at the legal width for the road.  I intend to eventually attach awnings over the windows to help prevent water from coming in.


One that is done, I will likely install the windows and doors so I can seal up the outside, though I don't have a sheet for that.  That would be followed by electrical and plumbing.  I didn't color code them (normally in modern CAD tools each circuit would be a different color) but listed out what each circuit is.  The ones with question marks I will have to look at the manufacturer's recommendations for the amperage rating.  I don't want to install a 15A breaker for the dishwasher then install a dishwasher that requires a 20A circuit for example.  I guess I could in theory just install 30A in all the question marks, but that is a waste of resources.  I will probably do most of the wiring in 12gauge, since I intend to just buy a spool of it, and it is good for anything 20A and under.  I could potentially end up buying 10 gauge wire and then wiring the entire house in that as well, that is a distinct possibility.


Then we have the plumbing.  This one is color coded.  I actually forgot the venting at first, but thankfully when I was perusing the internet, someone mentioned venting and I remembered.  I am still debating whether or not my air source will be a true normal outside vent or just an air admittance valve in the attic.  I might ask around at work, see if anyone has any strong feelings one way or the other.  The only other thing to note, everything in a plumbing system has a P trap (except for the toilet which has one built into it).  I do have a single vent for the sink and for the shower drain (it is called a wet vent), which should be ok.  If I end up having shower drain problems, I can add a branch and install a second vent.


After that is all the interior work, which is noted on the floorplan.  If any of my readers notice something amiss, feel free to get a hold of me.

Letter for town written, walls done.

I finished up the letter for the town, had it reviewed by Dad and Barry, so I think I am ready to move forward with it.  Now to just fill out the building permit form and finish the tiny home designs, which I will be bringing with me.  I hope to finish at a minimum the electrical and plumbing (I expect those to be the biggest concern of the zoning board), but would like to finish all of it.  Since it is being shortened (no loft), I can actually put a real pitched roof on it.  I know 3/12 is sufficient, 2/12 will do if it is sufficiently slick (2/12 is roughly what the AC cover I made for Andy had, and he said the snow slid off it slowly but surely), but I also don't want to end up trying to put siding on a 10 foot wall again.  That was obnoxious on the shed.

Here are the wall plans.  There shouldn't be any surprises, just classic 2x4 16" OC studs. I decided a 7' wall should be tall enough.  I can hang a ceiling fan and not hit my head on it.


Tomorrow I will be heading up and checking to see if the weight limits are still on the road and starting to pick up the junk that blew around all winter, since there is a chance that they will come up and look at the property.

Next up is to finish the plans, I hope to have the electric and plumbing done by the weekend.  I have it all in my head, it is just time to get it out for other people to see.

Ill for the last few days, but work has progressed

Around Wednesday, I came down with something that really kicked my butt, between Thursday and Saturday, I probably slept 40 hours, impeding my progress on pretty much everything.  I felt better today though, and went up to check on things and start getting things documented.

My repairs on the trailer paint job from the rust converter appear to be holding.




In addition the creek is starting to lower a bit to normal.


The dandelions are coming up.  That means it is time to get the mower ready, which I haven't even touched yet.


The yard is just starting to turn green too.


It won't be too much longer before the trees start to bloom either, the buds are beginning to swell, though I am not sure if you can see it in this picture.


Just for curiosity's sake, I went up and measured the bumper on the trailer that I was intending to cut off to put the extension on.  It is the exact length of the extension that I was going to put on...  It is 14" long, not including the tube bumper.


The main reason I was intending to cut it off is because the bumper itself was in a terrible state.


The extension itself is welded on quite well and seemed solid when I poked it today.  So now I just need to determine which is stronger, a 2x6 or 2x4 tube steel.

I also took the plastic off the windows, so my shades are open for the first time since last fall.


I also updated the subflooring diagram, and will be working on the plumbing and electric next.


I am also working on the formal write up of my argument for the variance, which I hope to have completed today.

Driveway delayed, variance begun.

I went to the gravel place, and they said that they couldn't haul any gravel up there until the spring weight limits are gone.  Right now the road has a 5 ton weight limit.  He said they are almost always gone by May, but it will probably be earlier this year.

I also went up to the town hall today, and apparently the process for getting a variance is as follows:

1. Fill out a building permit application.
2. Meet with the town selectsman, who will say that they can't approve it until the zoning board approves it.
3. (Normally one would be getting the septic approved at this point, but they are ok with me waiting on the septic until the variance decision is made)
4. Call a meeting with the zoning board.  Normally they will visit the property and I can show them what is going where, and so on.
5. Basically give the zoning board my motivation/reasons/etc for the variance.  From there they will either pass it or not.  I believe this is just a majority vote of the members.  

This weekend, I will be updating all my plans (since the length and design changed, my electrical/wiring diagram is out of date for example), documenting everything so that whatever they might question I can answer, plus it makes me look more prepared.  

The end of the nice weather, better than half refurbished.

Today is the last day of the really warm weather, tomorrow the temperature starts to plummet again.  Despite two days in the 80s and sunny, there is still snow up there.


I also managed to get better than half the trailer done before I ran out of paint again.  I think I will buy two cans this time, since the front was the worst part, which I am just now reaching.  The central crossmember was especially bad.


Most of the cross beams are done now.  Even with the crappy cell phone camera, you can still see where I stopped...


So the short version is that the rust converter was not worth the time.

Tomorrow I will be stopping at the gravel place on my way into work, since I never seem to get to it during the day.  I also intend to head up to the town clerk and start the paperwork for the variance, and at least figure out what the process is.

Just shy of a record high.

It was very warm today, we were two degrees off the record high of 82 in Keene.  I didn't get too much done today, but I did get the back half of the trailer completed, until I ran out of paint.  I only bought one can since I expected to only be doing touch up work, and that is used up, so I stopped and bought another one on my way home.  The picture is kinda crappy since I took it with my phone.


Unfortunately the front half is the worst part, so we shall see how that goes.  It has been a bit slow going with the hand drill and wire brush, but since the wire brushing required is pretty minimal, it will probably be fine.

I also got Barry up there during lunch today.  The slab was in fact reinforced with rebar, placed approximately 2ft apart, according to his metal detector.  It took a while to get it calibrated, since there a lot of random staples and the like on the slab, but after some sweeping and desensitizing it, he found metal in the slab in pretty regular intervals, which indicates rebar was used to reinforce it, not wire mesh.  That is good news finally, just in case I need to erect some walls and a roof to pacify the town.

Beautiful warm day.

Today was nice, up in the 60s and sunny.  I actually went up to work on the property to do work for the first time in a while.

The driveway was clear, and reasonably firm.  I was able to get the car up without trouble.  I took the car since the truck's inspection is out of date (expired in March).  The windshield cracked over the winter.  It has a new windshield in it now, but they didn't want the truck on a lift (it torques the truck a little) until next week.


The creek has been very very high the last several weeks.  I briefly looked at a hydro-generator, a powerspout (http://www.powerspout.com), but apparently even despite the head, I am not sure I have enough volume to be able to do anything more than charge my phone.  I might get more out of it in the spring (like right now), but most of the year the volume just isn't there.


The snow hasn't all melted off up there yet, so the first thing I did was finish shoveling off the slab, at least where the trailer is.




I haven't gotten the electrician up there yet, so I used my cordless drill to do the wire brushing.  I didn't get very far before the batteries gave out (the first one was nearly dead already, I haven't charged it all winter), but I did get the bulk of one side wire brushed and painted.  I also picked up the first new cross beam, but sadly Ace only had one in stock.




By the time I was finished, the slab had melted off the thin layer of ice on the bottom and was starting to dry off.  It was only around 3 when I left, so I am hoping it is completely dry tomorrow.  Barry is going to bring in his metal detector to see if we can tell how the concrete was reinforced, whether they used that wimpy wire mesh stuff or full on rebar.  I am assuming rebar, especially since the tie downs for the old trailer were rebar laid in the concrete when it was poured.

I recently hit another snag, a potentially fatal one.  The town of Sullivan updated their ordinances last month (essentially the town laws) and have outlawed any primary residence under 700 square feet.  Since my tiny home is only 208 square feet, I might have a problem.  The selectsman thankfully recognized me and told me when I went up there to fill out the paperwork for my property taxes, and mentioned I might be able to get a variance (essentially an exemption), but gave me a booklet to make sure none of the other changes bode ill for my plans, which I will read tonight.  I plan on going up and starting the paperwork for the variance very quickly.  My main arguments will be:

1. I am hoping to get grandfathered in since I started the tiny home project last year when none of the ordinances existed yet.  My blog is proof if it is needed.
2. The tiny home is not a permanent fixture and that I will be building a full sized house on the lot eventually.
3. I am rehabbing the lot, taking what was a crummy lot and making it nicer, raising its value.  The lot has been overgrown and has been an eyesore for several years.  I plan on knocking down the old foundation and filling it in, I will be putting in a real driveway very shortly, etc.

If they need a hearing, I might bring Barry with me; he is familiar with these kinds of processes as a zoning board member in Westmoreland, which is the next town over.

If the town rejects the variance, then things get interesting.  I will then have to start looking for loopholes (ie get it considered as a seasonal or non-permanent residence), alternative plans (build the garage on the slab first?  The slab is 28x40, plenty big enough) and those kinds of things.  Regardless of the outcome though, even if I end up selling the lot, I will still probably build the tiny home, get the driveway started, get the electric fixed, and probably a few other things.  The lot was listed for over two years when I bought it, and I don't think I would want to wait that long for it to sell, so hopefully it doesn't come to that.

In addition to all that, I finally got around to fixing my old glasses.  I picked up some JB Weld at Ace, unfortunately all they carry nowadays is the putty stuff, the liquid and hardener style wasn't available.  The putty kinda sucks for my application; if I wanted bazooka bubble gum, I would use bazooka bubble gum...  We shall see later tonight whether or not it works.  The frames are stainless steel, which it should work good for.  

Mother nature wins again.

So I went up to the property today with the snowblower.  I only got the end of the driveway and around the mailbox done.  Apparently the ground didn't refreeze like I thought it had, and snowblowing was an exercise in frustration.  A few feet into the driveway  the snowblower sank into the mud.  So I pulled it out, moved over a few feet, started to go again, and it sank into the mud.  Snowblowers don't work too well when they are buried in mud.

In the end, I only got about the first five or six feet done, but hopefully with the nice temps and sunshine coming this week, it will be melted off by weeks end.  I was able to drive my truck up the hill, but turning around didn't work so well, I ended up sliding part way down the hill sideways.