Uncle Bub!

Just spoke with Bub for a status update.

He said he put the cabinets bases in, and the counter top. The plumber is coming today to finish.

He also said our light came in, and that will be installed as well when electric is done, tomorrow.

He said we can touch base after his vacation to get the rest of our cabinets installed. (He's calling them again now to find out what's up with the delivery on those.)

He also said that the electrician advised against a make-it-yourself cable, so I guess we will be using pre-mades after all. I'm not sure how pre-mades daisy-chained can be more water tight than a single cord with heads attached, but oh well.

You've been updated!

Self Storage Center

Lining up our first month's occupancy with the little house... spoke to Joe at the Self Storage Center we're going to be "storing" our "Camper" at... heh. He said we've got a green light for move in on Sunday.

As far as power is concerned, he told me he has a separate outdoor outlet we can plug into, but he does not know if it shares a circuit with the other outdoor outlet. He suggested we trip the breaker on Kevin's power to find out if the second outlet dies with it.

He also suggested we just split off Kev's line... but I think we will go with a separate line even if it's shared, because we'll get a purer signal through one stretch of cable than can be had off 5 daisy-chained cables.

That is, of course, if Bub's electrician friend can get us the needed cable.

We've got to keep our heaters both going at the same time, sharing a circuit... could be an issue. We'll see how that works out.

I'll be lacquering the interior Sunday and Monday, most likely.

RV Water Pumps

I think we might be screwed on water pumps. They're designed to feed out two different lines, one to hot and one to cold... while drawing from the cold source...

Now, the way we designed our system, the cold water is a two-way street... So, theoretically, if we use a pump, we would have to take the pump out of the line each time we want to refill the tank via a hose.

There is a slim chance we could find one that would allow backflow while off... maybe we can find one that does that... but these things generally have check-valves that prevent backflow so you don't end up with with water "slipping back" past the pump's pressure.

Maybe we can figure out a way to make it easy to disconnect/reconnect... like a switching T-Valve connected to a second stretch of hose that is easily switched between... I wonder how hard it would be to do something like that myself. It SHOULD be easier to figure out once the other plumbing work is done, because I'll be able to see what he used for valves and diameters and whatnot.. maybe..

It doesn't seem promising. Maybe we can just hook up the hot water line and let the cold water gravity-feed. That might work.

Anyone know if either of these ideas would work?

Where oh where has my water tank gone

Our fresh water storage tank seems to have been delivered to the wrong town. Not sure how that happened exactly.

Almost Done

Well, the roof is on, the interior paneling is finished... the only major things left are plumbing and electrical. Both should be taken care of this week, if all goes well.

We are planning to move the house for the first time Nov. 1st.

The Wire.

Well, we are coming down to it now. We basically have 9-10 days from today to get everything finished. We're still waiting on lots of things to be delivered. :\

Our builder is going on a 2 week vacation on Nov. 2nd. If it all works out, we will get everything delivered in time for him to install it... but who knows. Unfortunately, our cabinets are on back order... I am hoping they will come in fast and he will have time to get them installed so he can call the plumber in to put the sinks in.

Then we just need the last of the electrical components delivered so he can have the electrician come in...

:nail-biting:

Scratch list

Scratch list - items for Bub to address:

- Add one exterior outlet on trailer-hitch end, near top of bathroom wall, towards the door side, with an interior switch controlling power supply. (switch would be in the upper-right corner of the bathroom "end wall"--exterior outlet would be opposite, in the same approx. area, but on the outside)

- Buy a sheet of wood paneling to cover loft "floor."

- Use excess wood paneling (or buy more) to box in area above shower stall. (Should effectively prevent mildew and mold formation above shower without sacrificing much head room.)

- Use knotty pine to box in the end of the loft, hiding the 2x4's and create a little trim strip (as used on the window borders) along top edge, over wood paneling.

- Use knotty pine strips, 2.5-3" wide, to cover exposed ends of 2x4s on office shelves. Have overlap on the top side, creating a 0.5-1" lip that will prevent things from rolling/falling out.

Tentative: (will need to be designed first)

- Would like to add a platform in the bathroom, for the toilet to sit on. Would need to be weight-bearing, with a space underneath about 1' tall to be used for cat litter box area. Two-step stairs would lead to toilet, positioned right in the middle so the cats can get in or out on either side of steps.

Smashed.

Our fridge arrived with a corner smashed in, courtesy of UPS. While I was about ready to pull my hair out when I found out, (because it was just one more thing on the pile) I am happy to say that I have filed a claim with UPS and gotten that ball rolling as well.

Productive day.

Batteries and Inverter/Charger

I went ahead and dropped another grand on two batteries and the inverter/charger.

Keeping my fingers crossed at this point... I hope we have enough money for everything!

Water Storage

I've placed an order for a 10 gal RV water tank and a connector kit with the hoses and adapters needed.

I'm holding off on buying the pump... I want to see if it's possible to move the cold water purely by gravity-feed... in which case we might just avoid hot water when not connected to a water source...

...or I will buy a pump later. We'll see.

I'm a little weary about having to run the electric pump at the same time as the electric hot water heater.

Water Heater

Okay, well, the search for the most ideal water heater has been rather difficult. The electricity-consumption on the all-electric models has been pretty high. Since 1500 watts is the best I seem to be able to come up with, I've opted for this model. It has a considerably lower amp requirement than others I've looked at, and while it is still 1500 watts, that is better than 2000. We will just have to be careful when we are using it.

At this stage, we plan to still be on-grid for the most part, so a little extra power consumption isn't too big a deal. We will just have to be sure we're not consuming much power otherwise while it is reheating.

Location Location.

It's all about location.

We're having a hell of a time finding a place to put this thing.

Each idea falls through... given enough time...

After the next picture set goes up, I think I will shoot an email over to Michael at Tiny House Design. I think he offered at one point to help us draw some publicity to our site to help find a place to keep it.

Other than that... it seems challenging to find a place in the south while I am up here in the north... sigh.

The Never-Ending Project.

It just keeps going and going.

Almost There.

Well, we are almost there. Progress is coming along. The walls are just about closed in, except for the bathroom wall, which hasn't been built yet due to the shower not being in yet.

Shower should be getting purchased tomorrow and put in, then the rough plumbing will be put in.

In the mean time, it is back to shopping for us.

The agenda includes:

ONLINE:

- Find a hot water heater. I am looking at this one.

- Buy a water storage tank and 12v water pump.

- Pick out and purchase a power inverter.

LOCAL:

- Kitchen Sink

- Kitchen Counter

- Kitchen Cabinets

- Bathroom Sink

- Bathroom light fixtures (2x over mirror)

- Smallish ceiling fan. (Call Bub for dimensional limitations?)

- Loft light fixture. (Two-lamp bi-directional unit)

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Tomorrow we will go up with whatever we can get purchased. We'll drop off the stuff to be installed, and probably take some nice new pictures as well. (I'll man the camera this time...)