Continuing the Loft Walls.

Sunday, November 21st, 2010:

Continued putting up the knotty pine and wool insulation in the loft. With the gable wall complete we put a 2×2 strip in place on each side of the gable where the rafter lies behind the gable wall tongue and groove thus creating a terminal nailing surface for the side walls.

Following examples we’d seen from other tiny house builders, we used 2″ screws to put the knotty pine up on the gable wall. They stuck out like a sore thumb. Dan King stopped by as we were working yesterday and suggested we use a pneumatic finish nail gun which would allow the walls to look a lot more clean and finished. We have been using screws in everything in the tiny house due to the forces and vibrations that will be placed on it when it travels down the road. Dan suggested adding a dob of liquid nails construction adhesive behind the tongue and groove at each stud to back up the nails. We took him up on the suggestion and not only did it look MUCH better, but went so much more quickly!

Beginning the Knotty Pine.

Saturday, November 20th, 2010:

Began work on the interior of the Tiny House this weekend by putting up the knotty pine paneling on the loft gable wall. Putting the tongue and groove up on this wall first in particular was crucial as it will allow us to then build out a nailing surface for the adjacent walls of the loft when it comes time to put them up. This is due to the way the rafters are laid out for the roof…

As each board went up, we stuffed a layer of wool insulation behind, thus allowing us to insulate the loft without the need to use the plastic mesh that would be required if we blew the insulation in all at once. A little extra work, but its an area we can make a choice to avoid using plastic that would be behind every wall surface in our tiny home. On a side note -it’s pretty cool that we can put in insulation without having to wear protective gear or clothing. We love the choice to use wool!

Wrapped up the evening by putting two coats of polyurethane on our Birch front door. This is an area that we are conceding the use of a petroleum-based product. Being as the door is a barrier to the external elements, we knew we needed to use a solid, weather resistant product, and were unable to find a solid natural alternative…

Thanks goes out to Larry Davis for his help with finishing the front door!