Exterior Storage

February 23, 2016 Chrissy LouLeave a comment

There’s a deck over the tongue of the trailer to hold the propane tanks that I use for heat, hot water and cooking. We built a box over the deck to help keep snow (which we have none of this winter) off the tanks, protect the electrical panel from moisture and provide extra storage space. It also was the abyss for everything we could possibly misplace while building. We rushed to get the box built in November so we could finish siding that part of the house but didn’t end up putting doors on it until December. By some sort of miracle – or, you know, climate change- we had a really mild December. I ended up painting the doors of the storage box in the middle of the night. Why would I paint exterior of my house in the dark? Because it was 50 freaking degrees!…In mid December…in the Adirondacks…and when the weather is that warm, you take advantage. Even if the only time you can do so is in the middle of the night.

Word of advice, try to avoid painting in the dark. It won’t look very good but it might look better than oatmeal colored primer.

Pine Siding

November 15, 2015November 13, 2015 Chrissy Lou3 Comments

I found a bunch of pine shiplap at ReSource that I started to stain a beautiful dark brown. The T1-11 is 8′ tall, my house is 11’3″ so anything above 8′ will be sided in pine. The pine with be put up horizontally and I think the vertical T1-11 will be a cool contrast.

We decided to stain the backside of it to speed things up. But not until after CJ sanded a bunch of it. oops. Thanks CJ!

All the trim will be pine stained the same color – Thanks Sarah and Erika for staining a bunch of the trim and siding!

I’m endlessly grateful for all the help from so many amazingly beautiful people!

This was the week that I discovered timelapse on my iphone. Hope ya’ll are ready for a million more nausea inducing videos!

Siding

November 9, 2015November 13, 2015 Chrissy Lou1 Comment

I like the look of T1-11. I also like that it comes in panels and is relatively easy to install. I wasn’t so crazy about the maintenance associated with it. T1-11 is pretty vulnerable to moisture and can require a lot of upkeep. We opted for LP Smart Side -a wood composite siding- for the exterior. It comes in 8’x4′ sheets and it was pretty easy to install. It’s also pre-primed so all we have to do is paint – except it’s been really tough for me to decide on a color!

The front end, over the hitch, hasn’t been sided yet because we’re going to build a storage locker there. This locker will protect the electrical panel and provide a little extra storage. Under the locker, there will be a little roof to cover the propane canisters. My appliances will run off of bbq propane tanks. I’m not sure yet how often they will need to be swapped out. I’m guessing a least once a month in the winter. It will be more convenient to swap the tanks out if they’re not completely buried in snow.

The siding had to be cut to fit around the wheel wells. Seth sorta eyeballed the first cut – I trust him, he’s good at this stuff- then we traced a template for the rest of the cuts. It wasn’t perfect and it took a couple of tries but we got it. Hopefully, that’s the hardest part. We then filled in the gap between the siding and the wheel well with silicone to prevent moisture inside the house. Thanks Mike for helping with this part!

Kitchen Window

November 7, 2015November 4, 2015 Chrissy Lou1 Comment

This GIGANTIC window was only $35 at ReSOURCE! (I told you they were amazing!) The window had an extension jamb – a frame that fills the depth of the wall space* – that had to be removed before installation. If any of the screws holding the jamb in place were stripped, it would have been a nightmare to remove. Once again, we were lucky. The jamb came off easily.

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The rough opening for the window was too small when we went to install it. Probably my fault (I still don’t have a clue what I’m doing). But luckily it was a easy fix and after removing a small section of the header, the window slid perfectly into place.

*Further proof that I have no idea what I’m doing: I googled extension jam so I could give a simple definition because I couldn’t think of one myself – even though Seth explained it like 100 times. Found out it’s not spelled jam.

a roof over our heads

October 1, 2015October 1, 2015 Chrissy Lou1 Comment

We have a roof! Now we don’t have to worry about messing with a cumbersome tarp. I think this step made the house feel more like a home. I was able to think about some design elements and start visualizing them in the space.

Help from Meaghan and Mike putting in hurricane ties! Thanks friends!

Next up, windows! We tried to install some windows the same day we finished the roof but ran into some trouble. We framed the living room windows too small – oops. We will lower the sill and should be fine.

When we tried to put in the bathroom windows, the sash fell on Mikes face (hilarious). Since I had got them used at a local hardware store, I assumed I made a bad purchase. After a panicked trip to two hardware store, I was informed we were trying to install them upside down (embarrassing). At least the rough opening was the right size!

As soon as we’re weather tight (or close to it) we’ll start wiring the house! My cousin Paul is going to help out with the electrical. I’m a lucky girl to have so many friends and family willing to pitch in. I’m still pinching myself to make sure this is real life.

Lumber Yard

September 29, 2015September 28, 2015 Chrissy Lou1 Comment

Supporting local business is super important to me. We’ve worked really hard during this build to salvage as many materials. But when we do need to buy new, we try to buy local. Almost all of our lumber and building supplies have come from Bryant’s Lumber Yard in Port Henry, NY. They deliver to the job site or Seth picks up materials when he’s running errands so this was my first time here. I was super impressed by how attentive the staff were. Chuck helped us out for almost an hour and a half while we picked out supplies and loaded the truck.

Sleeping Loft

September 28, 2015September 28, 2015 Chrissy Lou2 Comments

Have I mentioned how awesome my parents are?! Seriously. The most awesome. They came up for two days and we made some good progress. We finished framing the roof and framed my sleeping loft.

Originally, we were going to do a shed roof for the whole house. Once we got the bathroom ceiling framed and the rafters over that section, it was clear that was not going to work! It would have been very tight. We decided to build a dormer over the sleeping loft that extends part way in the the main living space. I have plenty of room to climb up into the loft without worrying about bumping my head and will be able to sit straight up once up there. There’s beautiful tall ceilings in more of the house and it looks pretty awesome! We’re searching for a funky little window to place on the wall where to roof line transitions.

The sleeping loft is about 7′ long and 6’8″ wide which will give me an extra 56 square feet of space. I can fit a standard queen size bed but it will be tight so I’m considering some other options. My Dad built this for me and then my mom and I helped him put it in. Remember when I said how awesome my parents are?

My Mom made window pans to prevent moisture from accumulating on the window sills. She also started taking apart my kitchen cabinets so they can be refinished.