Kitchen Sink and now Plumbing

Last weekend, Jack and I cut the formica counter top, used the router to cut the openings.  It was perfect.  We also built the outside frame for the cabinets allowing me to work on a detailed design that incorporates the 'ledges' above the wheel wells.  I ordered a Rev-a-Shelf two drawer unit and will wait unit it arrives to make any final adjustments to the height of the counter top.


Yesterday, we install the hot water heater, the water inlet, and the kitchen faucet, and went on two runs to the hardware store for parts.  PEX is a wonderful thing. At the end of the day, I am returning the plastic RV kitchen and getting a brass version of the water inlet unit.  Both are leaking.  Buy quality around plumbing otherwise you will ultimately spend more time and money in solving problems poor quality creates. 

John talked me out of permanently installing the water heater to the front of the house and devised a quick release system for all the water hoses that allows the heater to be not connected and still have water to the kitchen sink.

Best DYI in Show at 2016 Florida Tiny House Festival

Handmade plank door and frame

Standing Seam Roof

Deck, Siding and Facia Complete

AC and DC tested! Front and back Beds ready for Cushions.

The camping mat served its purpose when guests arrived.  Martha Cunningham is fearlessly sewing the covers for the memory foam mattresses.   Guests help attach the storage covers to the bed frames using piano style hinges.  They work well!

Jack came over and successfully cut individual pieces of cedar for the front and back fascia.  Awesome.  After the ends are sealed, I'll attach them for a final photo.

Lastly, John worked confirmed the AC and DC circuits are working.  We learned that when you have a subpanel the ground and neutral wires are NOT suppose to be together as you would in a primary fuse box.  I'm happy to know we have lights when I get a battery ordered. The DC plan has been evolving.  Separating DC and AC eliminates an inverter and converter.  I have a Vector battery charger that will charge the battery when plugged shore power is available.  You do need to push the start button, so it isn't entirely automatic.  All lighting is DC. There are a few more outlets and switches to install and test. 

One battery should be sufficient.  I am buying an Optima #8052-161 BlueTop Deep Cycle Marine Battery with 75 Amp hours.

Windows installed, interior walls mostly up, electrical challenges

Progress!

The Windows were easy to install and it allowed me to get the interior T&G started.  It's looking like a cabin.  We also finished the storage area beneath the bed with hinged tops.  My old friend and guest from Colorado, Matt, helped sand, shellac and attach the hinged tops to the bed frames.

The electrical caused a bit of a challenge for my neighbor John.  Every time we plugged into shore power, a circuit breaker was thrown.  Apparently there is a common practice to put the two put the neutral and ground in an electrical box together; however, in a sub panel (which is in the gypsy wagon), doing so is not acceptable.  After separating them, all is good.  We are over a big hurdle.  I'm buying the marine battery today.

Lastly, Jack (the numbers guy) came and got all the pieces cut to create a curved facia board (made of cedar) for the front band back of the gypsy wagon.  He is math skills are amazing.  Sadly, many of the cuts varied between 3 and 5 degrees. The creation of a template on a 4x8 sheet of thermo ply was a so very useful.  The job took half the time expected!

Interior: Started install T&G Interior Walls. Built Bed Frames and Utility Cabinet.

Need to push the pedal to the metal.

Built the frame for both twin beds using 2x2s.

Finished the frame for the utility closet.

Started insulating and putting up knotty pine T&G planks.  They are about 1/4" thick.  I am using a semi-gloss polyurethane, two coats before installing.  I purchased 140 sq ft.

New Electrical Requirements

Learned the gypsy wagon should have five running lights along the top.  We ran speaker wire from the front tongue.  Also decided to have the DC lights powered from the car. 

It appears I do not need an inverter since we are keeping the AC and DC separately.

Ordered a 12V battery charger.

Installed a locked plug RV outlet to bring 120V inside. 

Spray Green Foam in Thermo Ply Walls

I used Foam It Green #102.  It covered the walls well and did not over spray. I really protected the beautiful ceiling with plastic drop cloths attached with double sided tape. It was easy to apply but the price was expensive.  After finishing, I realized the thermal ply is flexible and it may have been better to use open cell foam.  I used closed cell so the wall has more rigidity but believe using 1" insulation, cut to fit, would have been just fine. I used the Dremel to trim the excess foam.

Now the walls are insulated, I can install the windows on the long walls and start putting up the interior T&G. 

Completed Roof Prep

After the spruce T&G was nailed to the curved rafters, 1x2s were run lengthwise and 3/4" ply cut into 1 1/2" strips were used as furring strips.  The ply was glued and screwed into the rafters.  Over the course of two days, we cut 3/4" pink insulation board to fit and used 3/8" ply sheating over the insulation.  We thought ply would bend easier than it did and would use 1/4" ply next time.  Glue and screws were put every 6-8"s around the edges of the sheeting.

On top of the sheathing, about 45 feet (3x15') of Grace Water and Ice Shield was installed.  The pans will need to be added after the carport roof is raised 1.5" 

Spruce Ceiling T&G Installed

I ordered 14' spruce 1x6 T&G.  I wished I had found thinner material.  I used lacquer and gave each board two coats. 

First window and cedar siding installed

Picked up the cedar siding on Thursday and used an clear oil sealer on the front and back of each piece.  It takes long to soak into the wood than the lacquerer  did on the rafters.

The nails for cedar siding were a big issue.  I found an instruction guide online and they spec'd 6D, 2" nails with textured heads.  They needed to be Stainless steel or hot galvanized.  I drove an hour to get these nails because they are not carried in a local store.  On Saturday, the first nail drove in where the instructions indicated broke the tongue off .... even AFTER drilling a small pilot hole.  I can go on and on, but it took five trips to various stores to finally settle on 2", 16 gauge, stainless steel nails I could use with a nailing gun.  No more problems.

On the front of the trailer, where wind and rain can easily penetrate the exterior siding while in transit, I decide to cover the wall sheathing with Grace Watersheild and created a rain sheding wall with 1/4" furrings trips applied over the Grace Watershield.  The cedar siding was nailed to the furring strips on the tongue of the T&G cedar boards.

The window was installed as usual and is undoubtedly watertight.

To ensure the siding is securely attached, I am going to use screws on the corners.  I found SS screws at home depot:  Simpson Strong-Tie, 1-5/8 in. Lobed Flat-Head Stainless Steel Multi-Purpose Wood Screw. The smaller the gage number the smaller the screw diameter (opposite of nails and wire diameter, sheesh).

Curved Rafters Finished and Installed

The rafters were a enduring project.  After getting them built and cut to the same length, it took weeks before I was able to sand them and lacquer them.  My guess is that it too hour to construct each rafter, sand each one and apply two coats of lacquer.

Instead of cutting a birdsmouth, we simply used Simpson Ties.  Smaller ones worked well, putting in four screws in each end of the rafter seem to secure them well. They are roughly 2' feet on enter with the front and back Rafters are inside the wagon.  Only the porch rafter will be outside the wagon.  I decided to have the porch only 3-4 inches beyond the end of the trailer.

I thought I wanted to see the rafter tails from the outside,  However, after looking at many pictures, I like the appearance of a fascia board.  So, in planning the roof, one needs to plan for the additional 3/4" for the fascia board since it has to be installed before the drip edge.

Electrical Planned

Now that the wall framing is complete, the electrical was planned.  As always, DC and AC electrical complicates the plan.  For the Gypsy wagon, we are planning:

• All lights to be run on DC.  Apparently you can use regular recepticles with DC light bulbs.  I have a swag lamp over the dining room table, two wall sconces above the head of the beds, a light above the kitchen countertop, and a outside porch light.
• There are two DC outlets with USB chargers near each bed.  
• AC outlets will available at the dining room table, for the Air Conditioner, one embedded in the kitchen counter, and one in three of the four OUTSIDE corners.  
• On the porch, there will be a battery box outside.
• Inside a bench, there will be a inverter/switch unit, the DC fuse box, and the AC breaker box. 

The horizontal "shelves" above the wheels were the convenient place to run electrical wires from the front to the back of the gypsy wagon.

The bench was designed and built for the electrical apparatus.  

Wall Framing

Yesterday, a crew of four assembled most of the other three walls in a matter of 4-5 hours.  Everyone was quite impressed with the rigidity of the structure even before the side sheathing is on.  I thought we would build four walls and then assemble them; however, we actually built the back wall (with the door) and used that as the template for the front wall.  Once complete and put in place, we built the side wall framing between the front and back walls.  

The next step is to finish the door header and cut the opening so we can get inside easily.  

On a second weekend, we finished the door header, matching the curve of the roof, and cut the opening so we can get inside by walking through the door opening.

Installing the thermal ply side walls were easy. I glued and nailed the pieces to the framing.  The siding will be screwed or ring shank nails used with construction glue.

Windows and the door opening was routed out with a plunge router bit.  I have said before, the purchase of the router is worth simplifying this task.

We will need to add a few more nailers to support the inside T&G paneling and to support the exterior siding beside the side windows.

Floor almost done; lower walls cut.

Now that the ply is cut I can see that 10" horizontal ledges initially planned are too wide and believe it would force the total width of the roof beyond the fenders.  I do not want to do that.  I'm going to buy brackets that are 5.5"deep and sell my 7.5" deep brackets on Ebay. Here are the ones I want:  Avery-Wrought-Iron-Bracket-8-Triple-Center-Brace-mediterranean-brackets

Highly water resistent bottom

Interesting problem, perhaps solved.  I was excited when my neighbor suggested using Thermo Ply as a light weight, water resistant panel which will face the road.  Then he suggested painting a truck liner to really make the bottom durable.  So, last weekend we attached the thermal ply to the bottom of the floor, taped the seams with Gorilla tape and then sealed it with two coats of xxx

Then we used Thermo ply to build the water-resistant sides.

Build Floor

Trailer has arrived

A neighbor brought my new trailer from Ocala to Zephyrhills yesterday, 11 July, 2016. 

All aluminum, roughly weighing 420 lbs.  It has a battery box and spare on the tongue.  Ribs soldered below the frame as Dee William's suggested with a single drop axle so steps may be unnecessary. When I'm back from California (business trip), I'll tackle building the floor with hatch.

On Friday I removed the 7th and final rafter from the mold.  I need to finish planing, sanding and sealing them.  Again, maybe next weekend that process will be started.  I want to put several coats of sealer on the rafters so it will be time consuming.