Time for a well-deserved break!

Another busy weekend on the Tiny Casita. I can say without a doubt, this is more work, and especially more time consuming than I expected. Now that the exterior is almost finished, I think it’s time for a break. Time to get back on my bike, and more importantly, time to prepare to be a first time dad.

I found a free sliding door from a guy on Craigslist. I really want french doors so this is likely just a place holder but I think it looks really good, especially for free!

I spent most of my day-off on Friday perfecting the texture and paint color of the “living room” section. After 3 coats of water barrier paint, I mixed together a couple of old cans of exterior paint I had laying around. It took a couple tries but I finally landed on this light gray. Light enough to reflect heat and help keep the Casita cool. 

Two coats of the light gray, and a final coat with the texture added to the paint. The texture gives the appearance of Stucco, which I really like.

Next I worked on getting the wood panels installed on the “bedroom”. These are actually an underlayment intended for use under tile. It’s water resistant as well as resistant to mold and has a great appreance when coated with clear waterproof finish.

I installed the stainless panels on the loft, and installed the window. 

Drip rail along the roof, and started installing the storm guard roofing. Next weekend I'll install the roofing. Still deciding between standing seam metal roofing, corrugate steel, or corrugate panels.

I’ve decided not to finish the backside exterior for now. Most of the mechanicals will be over the axels and I will need to create exterior access doors and vents. 

This is where I ended the weekend. Looks really good, if I do say so myself!

Lets get philosophical.

So, why a tiny house? Many people build a tiny house in hopes of a simpler life or to reduce their carbon footprint, to redefine the American Dream. All honorable and noble reasons, and we'll do our best along the way to be socially and environmentally aware, but lets be honest, my reasons are more self-serving...

For a long time I’ve dreamt of a small piece of land near the ocean. Possibly in the jungle. Maybe in a Latin country. I didn’t know how we would do it, I just knew that we would. Got to put it out there. Right?

While property near the beach is mostly reserve for millionaires, we are not. I have the feeling that most people thought we were crazy. We would never pull it off, or maybe to them, it’s simply not worth the stress of trying.

So, what does this tiny house mean to me? At a time when my tiny family is about to expand, I feel secure knowing that, no matter what happens in the world, we’ll have a roof over our heads. I know now I can build a house, even if it’s tiny. It means that, even if times are tough, we’ll have a place to go and bond as a family, to create memories and recharge. Shouldn’t quality vacation time with your family be reason enough to build a tiny house?

When you think about getting back to basics, what could be more basic than family? Change starts at home. The circle grows wider. We’re happier. We enjoy our lives. The connection between each other grows stronger.  The world is a better place, or at the very least, our “tiny" world is a better place.

Another beautiful weekend in Colorado = Productive Tiny Casita weekend!

I had hoped to get the exterior finished this weekend but I came up a little short. Still, a super productive weekend.

• Caulked and sealed all gaps, cracks and openings

• Covered all edges with lightweight galvanized "angle iron"

• Painted ¾ of the tiny Casita, including the roof with 3 coats of rubberized water barrier paint. This stuff is great! It’s super thick, but goes on easy like paint. Only down side is that it’s only available in a few color options. 

• Cut, painted and installed the green siding panels. These are Hardie Backer cement board. They're heavy but they'll also last forever. 

• Installed stainless siding, and a window on one side of the loft.

• Cut and installed front window

• Ripped and installed furring strips on front section. I was having second thoughts about using the exterior sheathing as siding so i came up with an idea to use these vertical strips. I hope that this gives it a more finished and intentional look. If not, I might have to think about another siding option.

This is where I ended the weekend. I haven't finished the roof in the loft because I'm still working up there and don't want to be crawling around. I'll save that for very last. Also need to track down a used exterior french or sliding door. All indications are that I'll finish exterior next weekend. 

Final illustration to show the color scheme.

Got a little bit of work done last night before dark. This is a little section of roof next to the loft.

Below is a photo from standing on our house. Hard to tell but the roof is actually sloped about 4". 

Below is the final illustration of the exterior color scheme. The green sections actually sit above the sheathing about a 1/2 inch. I think it's called a "rain wall". The idea is that the wall breaths. 

Waterproof?

I planned to use Restore deck coating for the exterior finish. It's waterproof and has a similar texture to truck bed liner, has a 10 year guarantee and comes in many colors. I like the idea that it will look a lot like Stucco. In Mexico, everything is built out of cement, so the perception is that cement is more secure. Plus, esthetically I have the feeling it will look really nice. 

However, I recently found out that Restore doesn't work on vertical applications. Apparently it runs off. Bummer! After hours of research I haven't been able to find a suitable substitute. It only comes in 2 and 5 gallons so today I bought a couple gallons and will give it a try and see what happens. Maybe I can figure out a work-a-round? If it doesn't work maybe HD will be kind enough to give me a refund? 

$39.00 for 2 gallons and a special roller.

The other option is this Ames Block & Wall liquid rubber. It goes on like paint, but it's 3x thicker and forms a completely waterproof barrier. Most of the other similar products can't be used on wood but this can. It can also be color tinted. The only downside is that it's not textured. 

$159.00 - 10% Ace discount and shipped to my local Ace store for free = $148.17 total.

Which is where this stuff comes in. It's an exterior texture additive. You just mix it into the paint and roll it on. I called Ames and asked if it would degrade the quality of the waterproof coating but all they said was "I don't think so". I'll try the Restore deck stuff first. If it doesn't work the Ames Block & Wall will be the slightly more expensive plan B. 

Around $2.50 per gallon + shipping.

Here's a really simple illustration to show what I have in mind for the exterior. 

A race to the finish (exterior).

The neighbors have been surprisingly supportive. In fact, many stop by and ask what I'm doing. They genuinely seem to be pretty excited when I tell them, "I'm building a house of course".

However, I don't want to push it, so I made a goal of having the exterior finished by the middle of April. Tic Toc.

The color scheme is going to be the same as our "real" house so hopefully it will look better while sitting in the drive-way. At least it will be funny. "Hey look, there's a big modern house and a tiny modern house"

Over the past week I glued and screwed together the roof sheathing, built much of the loft, and finished the exterior sheathing. I used fiberglass "Bondo" to seal the seams and gaps. 

Below is where I ended the weekend. Doesn't look like I accomplished much, but the exterior is just about ready for the next step. Waterproof coating.

I can see clearly now...

I installed a couple windows and the wood siding on the back quarter to the Tiny Casita today. The wood siding is actually an underlayment. It's waterproof and resistant to mold. I also coated it with marine weather sealer. I'll coat it again once the exterior is finished. I still need to trim-out the windows but she's starting to take shape. 

I would type more but I'm too tired!

Thanks to the help from some good friends, I finally got to see my design come to life today. We made major progress. All walls and roof framing in place and some of the exterior sheathing too. And, the best news, it looks like this thing is actually going to work. Once we got everything up, glued and screwed together the entire structure became rigid and strong. The neighbors, especially those who slow down as they're driving past, must think I'm nuts! Hopefully next weekend I'll find time to get the loft installed, and finish the sheathing. 

Sayulita under major construction:

Sayulita, the Mexican town where our land is, was recently designated the prestigious "Magical Town" award. This brings major dollars for infrastructure. For the past two months Sayulita has been getting a major face lift. 50 giant palm tress were planted in the town center, new wider sidewalks and pedestrian only streets lead to the beach, and the main plaza is being completely rebuilt. Looks really nice! 

Check out the progress!