Living in a Tiny House Q&A

So this weekend marks the two year anniversary of physically starting my tiny house build! With the help of some friends, we built the floor box. If I had it to do over again, I would have framed an actual floor joist system and insulated it with Roxul (which I used for the wall and rafter cavities as well as for the exterior insulation wrap). I really love all of the qualities Roxul has to offer, sound dampening being number one.

Anyway, instead of doing a recap of the build process (since you can read about the different parts in other blog posts), I thought it would be fun to do a sort of Q&A and talk about what it's like to actually live in a tiny house. Please feel free to ask more questions in the comments section and I will respond as soon as I am able.

Here goes...

Q: How big is it?

A: It's about 150 sq.ft. (100 sq.ft. on the main floor and 50 sq.ft. in the loft). People often exclaim "It's so big!" when they first see it and are impressed with the spaciousness of the interior. I have toured several 16' tiny homes and they all felt very different due to layout and materials.

Q: Is it on wheels?

A: Yes, it's built on a 16' trailer.

Q: How long did it take you to build?

A: That's a complicated answer. I began dreaming and designing about a year before I started physically building. I had saved a chunk of money which I hoped to use to complete the shell and make it livable. I did that in about 6 months but the bulk of the shell building I completed in 3 months since I was just working at a job a few hours here and there and could put in 12 hour days building if I wanted. The second 3 months I began working 30 hours a week so I had much less time to build. After 6 months of building, I towed my house to it's current location and started living in it. I stopped building for a couple of months so I could save up more money to continue. I then installed the plumbing and finished the bathroom (3 months in), installed the electrical (9 months in) and solar (10 months in), completed the kitchen cabinet (11 months in), and finished the barn door and storage cabinets (17 months in). Finishing out my home has been a function of money, time and design. I could have completed projects sooner if I had the money and time but since I didn't have those things, I was able to spend more time thinking about and experimenting with different options while I lived in it. For instance, I had originally planned a daybed/storage box in the "great room" but then I decided to buy a full size digital piano and built my kitchen cabinet with a cantilevered countertop to accommodate the saddle style stool I love so much. Both of these things filled in the space of the planned daybed and my closet could only handle so much storage, so I built a couple of open boxes for my outdoor gear storage. I designed them to match the kitchen cabinet I made with a welded frame and red stained wood infill panels. Most of these components were not designed for frequent moving and it will be quite a task to secure everything for a move but it's not something I plan to do often. I am at a point now that I consider it done. As with any home, there is ongoing maintenance like replacing water heaters and refrigerators (which I may do and get electric/propane combos), changing door hardware and getting rid of things you no longer use. I have the components to add an exterior outlet but haven't had a need for that yet so will install when/if necessary. I may also swap out the wood supports for the solar awning with aluminum unistrut or rail or I may just disassemble and reassemble the system when I move.

Q: What's your favorite part about it?

A: My loft and the ladder. I'm really proud of the design/build of the steel cantilevers with the fir treads. I also really love my kitchen farm sink!

Q: How do you cook?

A: I have an induction cooktop that pulls out on the top shelf of my custom built cabinet. I also have an RV/boat stove with cooktop and oven that I like to use during the warmer months to keep my house cooler and because it's fun to cook and bake outside. In addition, I have access to my yardie's grill and I plan to buy my own because I really like how easy grilling is and the way the food tastes.

Q: How does your toilet work?

A: I have a simple bucket compost toilet with a Separett insert which divides #1 and #2. I currently just use it to pee in since we decided not to manage humanure on site. I have access to sewer connected toilets for #2.

Q: What's it like to shower in your house?

A: I don't because I am worried about the amount of moisture it would create and even with a bath fan I still see potential mold issues due to the tightness of my air barrier. We built an external structure on site that includes a shower and laundry facilities. It has been wonderful to shower this way even in the cold of winter (PNW style, relatively mild with occasional snow) and even uninsulated because the cedar really helps the space warm up quickly.

Q: What is your greywater system?

A: Both my house and the yard structure have a bucket system where water enters a stack of 2 buckets from near the top, is then filtered through sawdust (again cedar is really great, especially incense cedar) and window screen mesh through many small drilled holes into the bucket below. That bucket is attached to another one farther away with a 10' piece of ABS pipe and fittings to give a good seal. The final bucket is filled with rocks and also has drilled holes in the sides and bottom to disperse the water into the ground. The final bucket is completely buried and we haven't tried digging it up yet to see how that part is working. We have cleaned out the first bucket occasionally and decided it would be best to try to do that monthly so it isn't as gross. What we usually do is throw away the sawdust part (though I have composted it once) because otherwise it can really make the yard smell bad. We hose off the screen, bucket and cover and leave to air out in the sun for a day. Then, we put the bucket back in place, add the mesh and the sawdust. Other options could be to build a french drain and/or filter the water directly through soil to water flowers or veggies.

A few other things...

It's really awesome to have electricity that powers my whole house (after 9 months on an extension cord), some of it even powered by the sun.

Also, running water, and HOT running water!

Creating a place for everything and giving away things I no longer need or want.

On partly cloudy days when the sun comes out from behind a cloud and warms up the fir when I am lounging in my loft...and then the glow fades behind another cloud...I could do nothing but watch for hours, really magical.

Welding: Panels, Finishing & Installing

In my last post I talked about fabricating the steel frames for my barn door and gear storage boxes. This post will be about making the infill panels, finishing and installing them.

For the barn door, I designed the frame to fit the width of the reclaimed corrugated steel panel so I just had to cut it to the right length to fit inside the frame. I measured and marked the cut line and then used tin snips since I have experienced the most clean and accurate cuts with this method. It's also much quieter and produces no sparks like a cutoff wheel or circular saw. I learned that a plasma cutter would also work but it would produce fumes due to the galvanization. After I cut the panel, I set it in place inside the frame with the rusted side down so the back side, which would face my closet and bathroom, was face up. I cut four pieces of the 3/16" x 2" flat bar I found in the scrap section of The Steel Yard to serve as horizontal backing to hold the panel in place (without having to weld galvanized material to mild steel) and to prevent the center field from bowing. I tack welded one of the backing pieces to the bottom of the frame and one to the top after cutting out notches for the bolts that would secure the rolling hardware in place. I evenly spaced the other two pieces from the center of the frame and tacked them in place.

Once I brought the door home, I attached the rolling hardware with some bolts, washers, lock washers and nuts. Since I was installing solo, I had to figure out how to level and install the custom rail I made (the one that came with the kit just wasn't quite right: holes in wrong places and not long enough to span wall to wall) at the right height so there was a small gap between the door and floor and between the top of the hardware and ceiling. I came up with a clever idea to use a 1/4" thick wood "shim" to set the door on and maintain the bottom gap. Then, I slid the rail in place under the roller grooves with the help of smaller wood shims between the top of the door frame and the rail. I used a small drill bit to make a pilot hole through the rail hole into the door trim, wall and stud. Then I drilled with a larger bit that matched the size of the lag screws which came with the kit. I held in place the spacer between the rail and wall while I hand tightened the lag screw with an adjustable wrench until it was snug. I checked the rail for level and repeated this process two more times for the other stud in that same wall and for the stud in the wall that separates the bathroom and closet. I had to make an extra spacer out of wood for both of these locations so the rail would be parallel to the loft joists and back wall. Then I moved on to the perpendicular end tabs which I secured with shorter lag screws through the wallboard into the horizontal blocking I installed back in the framing stage of construction. With the rail in place, I removed the wood shims and set the door on the track. It is really great to have the door in place! One additional thing I may do in the future is add a clear acrylic lacquer coat to preserve the rust condition and maybe coat the frame black. For now I want to enjoy the raw quality of the frame with the welds exposed and not sanded down.

Now on to the gear storage boxes! After multiple conversations and much thought, I decided to match the infill panels to the red tinted panels of my custom kitchen cabinet. I purchased a sheet of maple veneer plywood from a woodworker friend of mine who helped me rip it down to the pieces from my cut list. 

After test fitting and lightly sanding, I began the water based dye process. I bought a 2oz. bottle of red TransTint and mixed it with distilled water according to instructions on the bottle. I poured the mixture into a spray gun and applied the coat to the first side of each piece. When it was dry, I flipped them over and coated the other side. I repeated the process four more times until the color closely matched my cabinet. Then on to the clear coat. I sprayed two coats of Miller Acriclear acrylic polyurethane varnish on both sides, lightly sanded to make the surface smooth and then sprayed the final coat. Once dry, I moved on to the assembly. During this process, I also can sprayed the steel frames with primer and black Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch 2x spray paint.

One of the shop guys next door had the great idea of "gluing" the panels to the frame with some kind of adhesive caulk so I wouldn't have to use any brackets and fasteners which would otherwise take away from the clean design aesthetic. Since the frame is the primary structure and I designed the panel layout to support itself, I did not need the extra strength of hardware. So I walked over to the hardware store and they recommended Loctite for its adhesion and flexibility. I bought the clear in case some would ooze out onto the finished surface (which it inevitably always does). I wiped down the frames to ensure clean surfaces then ran a bead of caulk inside the frame along the top and bottom so I could place the frame with the back side on the table while installing both of these pieces. 

With those in place, I caulked the back frame perimeter and pressed that piece in place. I caulked and added the two side pieces last and then repeated the process with the other frame. Before installing them in my house, I added small rubber half dome "feet" to each frame corner to prevent scratches between the frames and the floor. In my house, I simply stacked them on top of each other along the wall under my loft opposite the kitchen sink and then filled them with some of my outdoor gear that is not in the back of my closet.

I also made a beefy shoe rack in the class and some yard art with scraps since I wanted to try out the bender with flat bar and rod.

More photos on my flickr album!

Welding: Frames

In my last post, I mentioned that I was starting a new welding class. This time, after a friend's suggestion, I chose to take it at PNCA, a small art college in Portland with continuing education classes. I was hoping for something that was a mix of open studio and also a guided design process which I felt was lacking at the classes I took at a different place last year. The eight week class meets weekly for three hour sessions and then we have access to the space one other weeknight and on the weekend. The class size is ten, which I feel is too big when there is just one instructor, one helper and all of us working on very different projects. I think a class size of about five would be great for faster feedback and help and then time to work independently. The instructor, Chris Gander, is a long time teacher and metal sculpture artist so he is able to help us tackle whatever projects we can think of. What I have learned is that it is best to have a project in mind when taking a welding class because while you can learn to weld with scraps, it is more rewarding to go home with something useful. Also, the actual act of welding is just a small part of working with metal which includes cleaning, measuring, marking, cutting, grinding and finishing. MIG welds don't have to look pretty since you are likely to grind them down flush in order to finish. Even beginners can make strong welds relatively easily. Welding is a somewhat difficult thing to teach because everyone is going to weld at their own speed and style (pushing or pulling, angle, etc.) and hands on doing it is the best way to learn. Ok, now on to my projects.

I had two main projects in mind when I signed up for the class: my interior sliding barn door and a couple of storage cubes. I planned to weld frames for both projects. I then planned to use an extra piece of the reclaimed corrugated steel leftover from my siding to infill the door frame and wood to infill the storage cube frames. Chris advised me to use 1 1/2" x 1/8" think angle for all of my frames since it was the best combination of rigidity and weight. I went to The Steel Yard to buy all of my steel. They were generally quite helpful and usually gave me a student discount.

Once I had all of the materials back in the studio, I started by making the cuts from my plans with the metal chop saw and bandsaw. The chop saw is loud and makes a lot of sparks but it cuts much quicker than the band saw, though the band saw can be more accurate and also takes away less material. I made all of the 90 degree cuts on the chop saw and the 45 degree cuts on the bandsaw. Once I cut all of the pieces, I used an angle grinder with 120 grit sandpaper to sand off the burrs on the ends.

To assemble the frames, I used a couple of jigs that a friend helped me make to line up the corners and clamp into place. I tack welded the face frames together and then for the cubes, I tacked the cross pieces to one face and then tacked on the other face. I used squares as guides and a tape measure to check my diagonals for square. 

It's best to tack everything together before making the full welds so you can more easily make adjustments by breaking the tack with a cutoff wheel. The metal heats up around the welds and can warp the frame out of alignment so a good strategy is to weld a line on one spot and then move to the other side of the frame and weld a line there, moving around the frame until all spots are welded. Note, most of the time a single weld on a joint is sufficient but for aesthetics it can look better to weld the entire joint because when ground down and finished, that seam disappears.

Stay tuned for my next post about the infill panels, finishing and installing!

Publicity, Solar and Welding

Well the new year is going by fast and I can't believe it's the end of January already! Much has happened this month including some internet publicity about my house, solar installs at work and I start a new welding course tonight to finish up some house projects!

Last September, my house was featured on The Shelter Blog and this past week it was featured on Tiny House Swoon! My blog pageviews jumped to 1,694 that day! It feels great to see my work published online though I feel a little self-conscious since I haven't quite finished everything yet and the photos most recently posted are already out of date. People say it looks great as it is but I am excited to work on a few projects in the upcoming months so I can take photos I am proud to show off.

One of the projects is a sliding barn door that will alternately cover my closet and bathroom. I am going to attempt to incorporate some bicycle components and a piece of corrugated steel leftover from my siding project. Another project is creating a couple of gear storage boxes that will stack along the wheel well under my loft across from the kitchen sink. I am thinking that these boxes can be unstacked and placed side by side with some cushions on top to create a more comfortable sitting area on the main floor and maybe also an occasional bed. The last project is to create some kind of shoe storage container or rack by my front door.

Other than those welding projects, I really want to get some more light in my house under the loft and in the bathroom. I was using some IKEA battery powered motion sensor lights which are kind of fun but need new batteries quite frequently (I use rechargeables) and don't provide the brightest light. My charge controller has a port for a light load so I need to look into RV lighting and see what I can find.

I recently converted a solar panel pallet into a deck and some leftover framing lumber from structural upgrades into a table underneath my solar array. It looks pretty cool and I can't wait to hang out there on the sunny dry days!

Speaking of solar, this month at work we wrapped up a 30 kW solar system at a vineyard which was a unique (and very muddy) install. One of my co-workers moved to Spokane and another is shifting toward more audits and design so now I have more leadership responsibility which I am enjoying. This past week we started a new project where I was in charge of the layout and racking while my other co-worker who is an electrician mounted the inverter and ran the wiring. It felt really good when everything came together relatively easy!

Chevy Silverado: Adventure Truck & Tow My House Truck

As my trusty Subaru Impreza approached the 200,000 mile mark, I decided it was time to seriously start looking into trading it in for a truck. I had been thinking about getting a truck for a couple of years and looked into getting a Toyota Tacoma due to their reliability, good gas mileage and prevalence here despite their higher cost due to popularity (like Subaru's). I didn't really want or need a vehicle as a daily driver that could also tow my house around since it was not that difficult to find a truck to rent when I moved it last year.

However, the more I thought about my future plans of leaving the city and moving somewhere more rural, I realized it might be more difficult to find a rig to borrow to tow my home on a potentially more frequent basis since I haven't found that one place where I really want to live quite yet.

A little searching on the interwebs for typical makes and models of trucks used to tow tiny houses came up with the Ford F250 (the one I used to move mine last time), GMC Sierra 2500 and Dodge Ram 2500. People also recommended diesel over gas for greater power. All of these 6 liter, 3/4 ton beasts do poorly on gas mileage and if I wanted to use one daily for work, I would be shelling out a huge chunk of change compared to my car.

I discussed these options with my dad and brother who got more feedback from others. We agreed that a 6L engine was not ideal for gas mileage to drive everyday. My dad also thought I didn't really need a diesel engine and informed me that diesel fuel requires more attention in colder weather. He's a farmer so he knows these things :) He drives a Chevy Silverado 1500 5.3L and has used it to tow his 16' utility trailer around with about 6,000 lbs of weight on it. After doing a little bit of research, I found that a Silverado 1500 5.3L V8 has a towing capacity of 7,500 - 8,500 lbs (higher than other trucks at the 1500 level) and has the best MPG of similar trucks.

I had originally planned to save up enough money to be able to buy the truck outright, but the more pressing time frame urged me to call my credit union and see if I could get approved for a vehicle loan. Since I have been good with my credit so far, I was approved! My initial budget was $10,000-15,000 and with the loan terms, I needed to find something that was under 150,000 miles which I had planned on anyway. I checked in with some dealerships to see if they had anything I might be interested in but couldn't find anything older than a few years and under $20,000. So I started Craigslist searching which is how I found my Subaru four years ago. I looked for a couple of weeks, found some good leads, went on a couple of test drives but didn't find quite find the right one. I did learn from the test drives that I wanted a factory tow package versus one that had been added on after market because the factory can modify the transmission system so that when the truck is in tow mode, the transmission automatically reduces shift cycling which helps with transmission cooling, vehicle control and performance. I also learned the value a canopy or "cap" adds since the fiberglass ones cost $1,500 and up new. And, I realized that I'm not comfortable buying a used vehicle that has been in an accident, even though a minor one with a clean title.

Then, I get a message from my cousin's friend who works at a dealership in Hillsboro that they took in a "REALLY nice" 2009 Chevy Silverado 5.3L 4x4 extended cab short bed, 102,500 miles, $18,250 (KBB retail $21,250), factory tow package, black with black leather interior, Tahoe wheels, brand new tires. Was I interested? Yes, yes I was even though it stretched my budget a little.

I drove with a friend to check out the truck, a little nervous because I thought it might be the one and I couldn't believe I was about to commit to a vehicle worth at least five times my current one. What can I say? It was love at first sight! It really is a beautiful truck, well proportioned (though I might have preferred a regular length bed), drove smoothly and has all kinds of features my older vehicles never had like remote start, power seats, power folding mirrors and an instrument panel that tells me my MPG, tire pressure and oil level to name a few. I'm sure that those of you with newer vehicles are used to these kinds of features but they are a whole new world to me. So I said, yes, I'll take it, and after some time doing the paperwork, I was driving it home. Time to go on some adventures!

Garden Cleanup and Planning

Wow, what an awesome growing season it was this past year! It was my first year managing a large garden and thanks to the heat, dedicated watering and weeding, I grew much more produce than I could eat so I was able to share the abundance with friends. As I pulled the remaining tomato and winter squash plants in mid-November and planted cover crops of fava beans and clover, I began to think about what next year would bring. 

Fall Cleanup!

I had already decided that I wouldn't grow as much edible produce without another dedicated helper, but instead add more berry and wildflower plants. I also really enjoyed the presence of the volunteer giant sunflowers so I might plant a whole patch of different varieties and a row of them along the front fence for the neighborhood, privacy and skeletal winter enjoyment.

Early Summer Native Wildflowers and Veggies

I plan to increase the size of the sweet corn patch since even with the dry and hot summer, I don't think there were enough plants to cross-pollinate since the ears were underdeveloped. More winter squash (love the red kuri squash!), less summer squash. More root veggies: beets, carrots, parsnips, turnips and maybe even some potatoes this time. I want to do a better job at succession planting so everything isn't ready at about the same time. I also intend to intermix varieties like my yardie did (now that I can better identify seedlings) to help with natural pest management (namely the aphids) and to achieve a more organic garden aesthetic.

Late Summer :)

Using a map template my yardie created, I mapped out this past year's garden in pen and began planning for next year on another sheet in pencil. I have also been reading a book on gardening my mom gave me. So much to experiment with and learn!

2015 Garden

2016 Garden Planning

One Year Anniversary!

Halloween marked the one year anniversary of when I started the adventure of moving into my house! I invited friends over for a party the day before but due to a crazy wind and rainstorm I postponed until the following week which provided more accommodating weather for tours and sharing stories and s'mores by a fire :)

Last year, it started raining about two weeks before my move which was not an issue at my build site since I was building on asphalt and transportation was easy on the city streets. The difficult part was getting it into the yard on soft garden ground into it's place. You can read more about all of that here. After four days of moving and settling it on a sound foundation, I moved in!

Within a few weeks, I had a couple of friends in town spend the night so I put up some temporary shelving to get things off of the floor to clear a space for me to sleep while they slept up in my loft. Luckily they are also outdoors people and didn't mind the chaotic accommodations.

Since I had spent all of the money I saved to start the build, I took a little break from projects until January when I installed plumbing and finished out my bathroom. I used the compost toilet I found at the ReStore until I had an overflow issue and then needed to rebuild it. I used some inexpensive cedar fence boards to build a new box but it wasn't all that functional for various reasons so I continued to use the shop bathroom. In the last few weeks I finally rebuilt the toilet to a more functional and aesthetically pleasing design so I am excited to be able to use it now that the rainy season is back.

Speaking of rainy season, I am really grateful for the gutters and rain chain I added to help direct rain away from my house, not to mention how cool the recycled glass bottle chain funnels water to the ground. My polycarbonate awning is also welcomed in providing a more sheltered entry to my house. I needed to add some flashing above it to help prevent water from pooling up behind the siding and entering my house through capillary action via my door frame. I also built a covered bike and tool storage area with another shed roof on the trailer tongue. Moving my tools out of my house freed up a good amount of space since about half of my possessions are tools and outdoor gear!

I added rock holds to ease loft access, new "great room" shelving in the form of fruit crates, and a full size digital piano that I hope to loosen up my rusty fingers on more this winter and beyond.

In May we wired up my house for AC power but it wasn't until June that we ran power out to the yard shed where I could finally plug in and turn on my fridge and water heater. In August, I added a small battery based solar system that powers the electronics and lights in my loft and could power my great room light and outlets in the future if I want or need to be off grid. (I would need to swap out the water heater and fridge for RV/boat style propane appliances and figure out my cooking situation if I could cook outside on my RV range or grill year round.)

I learned how to weld in May and built a kitchen cabinet frame which was finished out with drawers and slides in September by a cabinet maker friend who works in the shop next door. I also built a small cabinet with one shelf for the left side of my sink (next to the bathroom wall) to fill in the gap which had been designed for a double basin sink before I found my awesome farm sink!

Outside, it's been a bountiful year in the garden (my first time as the primary gardener for a large space). I grew native wildflowers, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries,pees, green beans, beets, parsnips, carrots, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, chard, cabbage, lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, basil, corn and squash (so much squash...). Giant sunflower volunteers grew to over 10' tall! And of course there was much watering and weeding...the morning glory, thistles, dandelions, wild peas, wild onions, blackberries and quack grass really wanted to take over the yard but not this year...

I have changed jobs a few times from doing home performance audits, sales and project management to a summer outreach and canvassing position promoting the urban forest and now to solar installs! I continue to volunteer for my favorite non-profits: Friends of Trees, Portland Fruit Tree Project and Community Cycling Center. I also found time to play outside more this year, mainly in the form of hiking. Here's to the next year!

As always, you can check out my fickr for more photos!

A Little Bit of Everything #3

I'm starting a new job installing solar systems next week so I've been making a push to wrap up some house and yard projects before then. In the garden, we've been eating up and pulling out all of the summer veggies and preparing for the winter with cover crops to help build up the soil. I also rebuilt the fire pit because the thistles were taking over since it was usually too hot and dry this summer for fires. Now that the nights are cooling off, I am excited to relax by the fire again!

I found an awesome cantilevered polycarbonate awning with aluminum brackets for above my door so now I'm ready for the rainy season! I'm curious to see how it functions in the rain since the panel has bent up flanges on the top and bottom to help direct rain down and then sideways so you aren't walking through a waterfall to enter. This should help to protect my door hardware as well though I plan to change it out with something of a more square/rectangle design next year. I decided to purchase rather than make the awning since I haven't worked with polycarbonate before and have heard that welding aluminum is challenging, especially for a beginner. I also didn't want to spend much time on that project and was able to find a quality product at a reasonable price. The polycarbonate is also unique in that it's UV layer reflects the sun's rays to keep my house cooler inside. The original design idea was to have a single awning extending from the front of my house but due to various reasons (including the angle limitation above my door since it swings out) it didn't work out that way. I also really like the aesthetic of a colored canvas awning but it wouldn't hold up in the rain here and I would need to develop an anchor system to attach the outside points since there aren't any trees near my house.

I have been working on my "great room" wall design by adding fruit crates which also act as shelves and mirrors which are fun since they add to the perceived space and also offer snapshots of different parts of my house. One thing I just noticed is that I can see into my bathroom from my loft (the bathroom is underneath)! Don't worry, eventually I will have a sliding door there for privacy (and I still need to rework the toilet design and functionality). I'm going to add another shelf above my jackets but am hoping to design some unique bike brackets to hold it in place and/or replace the jacket hooks for a more streamlined design. Part of me wants to find a locker for them and my shoes but I decided to live with a more open aesthetic for a while and redesign as I am inspired.

The other area of my house that has transformed is my kitchen. A friend built me some panels and drawers as well as a countertop the the steel frame I welded together. I decided to go with a red stain for the side panels and most of the drawer fronts so the wood grain shows through. The drawer boxes and slides are black as is the top drawer (as an accent) which is designed to store my induction cooktop when not in use and then pulled out when in use so I don't loose any countertop space. The countertop is black laminate which isn't my favorite but it was inexpensive since I was able to use scraps from the shop next door. We thought about using a walnut butcher block top but it just didn't fit the design. I may swap it out later with some kind of composite material or stainless steel. I also changed up my wall storage with more IKEA products. My plan is to keep a visually open space above the counter for a while now that I have some of the clutter removed from the lower storage area and see how I feel about that over time but I may add some metal upper cabinets to minimize visual clutter.

That's all for now!

Sun Power: Solar!

This week we installed my small solar power system! It was very exciting to see this transformation after saving up money for months to finally make it happen. I originally did not plan to install a solar system for this house due to cost and power limits but I really wanted to learn more about solar and create a porch awning which also starts to realize my original design intention: a clerestory roof.

Since I decided to go with an all electric setup, I was somewhat surprised to learn how much power was necessary (to code) to run all of the lights and appliances. Obviously, I only use a fraction of that power most of the time and it makes sense to connect to the grid while living in a city. I do plan to move to a more rural location in the future and at that point, depending on power resources, I may swap out my electric appliances for propane and then use the solar system for lighting and electronics charging so I don't have to rely on grid power.

Tom, who I met while volunteering at Cycle Oregon last year, had his solar charging trailer there and suggested that I make a solar awning for my home. Since he has many years of experience designing and building portable solar systems, I thought it would be awesome to work with him on my project.

The solar power system we installed consists of the following:

(2) LDK 280 watt - 24 volt poly solar panels

(1) 30 amp / 24 volt PWM charge controller

(1) 400 watt / 24 volt modified sine wave inverter with two 120 volt AC plug-ins

(2) 12 volt deep cycle sealed batteries

To install, we through-bolted a hinged attachment so that I can fold down the panels during transport and also change the angle of the panels to match the ideal sun angle depending on my location. We used 2x2s to create a lattice frame and connection for the panels to the hinge bar. These may be swapped out later for stronger metal supports. After bolting the panels to the lattice frame, we swung them out and used two 4x4s for support. Ideally the support posts would be adjustable to change the tilt angle for time of year and location to maximize the sun's energy which may be a future iteration.

Then Tom got to work on the wiring. He had to drill a hole through the wall to get the connectors from the panels into the house to the charge controller. The charge controller regulates the power going to the batteries which then supply power to the inverter in my loft. The inverter has two AC plug-ins which I can use to charge my phone, laptop, light, etc. Since the batteries are sealed, we could store them inside in my closet. Tom wanted to keep everything as close together as possible to maximize efficiency.

I am excited to see how this system performs over time and to enjoy a covered outdoor space as the rainy season draws nearer. Check out my flickr for more photos!

I've Got The Power!

(cue Snap...)

Well, it's been about a month since we made the final connections to connect my house electrical to the sub-panel in the shed. It was quite the process, trying to figure out what components of the boat and RV worlds to use and how they can (and need to from what I found) work together. Since I built my house to electrical code and don't currently have any propane appliances, I decided to go with a Camco 50 amp extension cord with an RV style plug on one end and a marine style plug on the other end. (Note: You may be able to make your own cord for less money, but after pricing out 6 gauge wire and the different style ends (about $100 just for the marine style end), I decided a manufactured cord was best for me at around $200.) 

This cord has four 6 gauge conductors (1 ground, 1 neutral and 2 hot for 120/240V service) which is sufficient for my electrical loads. The RV end has a PowerGrip handle which makes unplugging much easier from the standard 50 amp receptacle we installed on the outdoor shed. The marine style end has a twist-lock design with a threaded locking ring for a secure, waterproof connection to the Marinco power inlet I purchased. It came with a rear safety enclosure for use within a floor or wall, with 6 gauge conductors connecting directly to the panel but since I chose a surface mounted design, we had to find a different way to connect it to conduit through the floor and up the wall. Luckily, with the generous help of a friend, we found a weatherproof electrical box and extension ring with gaskets that were compatible with both the power inlet and the conduit.

Once we had all of the pieces necessary, we measured, marked and drilled yet another hole in the floor. Somehow I was about 3/8" off from missing the rim joist (I still can't figure out why other than having to remember shell construction from a year ago) so we had to cut that out a little. Oh ya, and we had to jack up my house again since the hole we were trying to drill was in the same place as a CMU foundation block (of course). I worked at breaking the block in half so it could support my house and still leave space for the hole and cord to plug in while my friend assembled the weatherproof box pieces and inlet. Once that was complete, we connected the conduit to the box and electrical panel via set-screw connectors. Then we pulled wire, made the connections, secured everything in place and plugged in the extension cord.

Finally, we flipped the breaker in the shed sub-panel, started flipping breakers on in my house and everything was a success! It's been really great to have my own fridge running to keep things cold in the summer (though I may go back to outdoor refrigeration in the winter), warm water to do my dishes, ease of plugging in kitchen appliances and my fan, and really awesome to flip on my light switch to this!

A photo I took while at IKEA which is a better illustration of the ambiance.