Wednesday, March 10, 2010

More work on the house....

The house is now covered on the exterior with the siding underlayment, except the entrance wall. We're still tossing around some ideas for the entryway, but should have those pinned down shortly. We've decided on our window placement, so will frame those in soon as well.


Also, the whole exterior has been covered in the organic stain so that it will hold up in Wet Western Washington while we continue work on it. It is a HUGE pain to have to keep putting the tarp on, but a necessity due to the bad weather here, and we're hoping that this extra layer of stain will also help with weather resistance.



5 comments:

  1. So, how tall are your side walls? ...
    And what pitch are you using for your roof?

    I've been thinking about dormer windows or a gambrel roof for headspace ...

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  2. Hi Freth,
    We did 10ft walls with something close to a 3:12 pitch. It seems HUGE inside and has quite an echo since it's still empty :o)

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  3. I think you folks did a great job with it. I understand why people want some more space in the loft area of a more traditional tiny house with a 12:12 pitch roof, but the both dormer windows and gambrel roofs just seem to overcomplicate the roof line, and make it harder to deal with the roofing and siding well and the seams.

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  4. Great job so far...I would recommend looking at Hardie siding from James Hardie. It is very durable and stable, made with cement, and highly fire resistant. Hope that is never an issue for you, but it's a good thing with those great expanses of wood in your walls. Hardie also makes paneling for bathrooms, the stuff you'd put tile on, which is MUCH easier to work with than the traditional stuff and cleaner to boot, as you don't have cement grit all over the place. It is also pretty much entirely mold and mildew resistant, which the old style isn't at all.
    Am I a James Hardie rep? No, but I DID used to work at a Home Depot contractor sales rep, I had training in the stuff and I sold it whenever possible. I will use it myself, when I am able to build some day. It's that good. If you paint the exterior stuff, it will last for ages, as it doesn't expand and contract like regular wood does with the weather.
    I recommended the stuff to some friends a few years ago for their building, they have been very happy with it.

    Well, best of luck, it's coming along great!
    Lauren

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  5. Thanks for the suggestion, but as we're building non-toxic, we're using good 'ol fashion cedar siding. Hardie Board has more toxins in it than we would like in our home, and even though it may be on the exterior, I don't want the siding heating up and any of the off gassed chemicals getting trapped into the walls and then subsequently into the house. I agree though, Hardie board lasts forever! But with proper care, the cedar is naturally mold, pest, and mildew resistant and will last a lifetime :o)

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