More of the siding has gone up and our tiny mansion is beginning to look like a real home!
.JPG)
.JPG)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
About Me
- Tiny Tales of a Tiny Homestead
- Our goal is to become self-sufficient and able to care for ourselves and others in a way that is in harmony with nature. We feel that a tiny home will allow us the freedom and opportunity to do just that, and have fun along the way!
Out of curiosity, I've been following several tiny house blogs, and they all seem to have some sort of paper-looking wetness barrier between their siding and the outer walls. Am I just missing something, or did you decide that that wasn't necessary?
ReplyDeleteHi Anna,
ReplyDeleteWe chose not to use a "tyvec" or tar paper type material as they are chemical based and as they heat up and cool down will leach toxins back into the walls, and subsequently, our home. We used the same no VOC stain that we are using on the exterior to coat the plywood prior to putting up the siding, as well as staining all of the siding before it goes up so every area on all of the boards gets a good coat of water-repellant stain.
Once the siding is up, we will also be caulking all of the joints with a non-toxic, soy based caulking to insure that nothing comes through. As with any home, the caulking and staining will need to be redone every few years, but we were very certain that we didn't want any petrol chemicals leaching back into our home, so the trade off is worth it for us.
Also, with having a wood stove in our home, not having that solid barrier will help out with proper air flow through the house when using the wood stove.
I really like the work you folks are doing. I can't wait to see how it looks when it's done. For that matter, I hope you will update your blog soon with some more photos.
ReplyDeleteDid you guys ever attend a tumbleweed house workshop with Jay Shafer? I've been thinking about attending one, but seems a bit costly when you account for travel and accommodations.
Turtle
Hi Turtle,
ReplyDeleteThanks! We can't wait to be done! :o)
We haven't ever attended one of Jay's workshops, nor have we ever seen one of his homes other than online. (In fact, we haven't seen anyone else's tiny house yet) I'm blessed to have a very skilled husband who has worked in the construction field and remodeled as well as adding additions our previous homes himself, so he drew up his own plans for our home from scratch and we are utilizing the fact that we are on wheels in order to be able to leave out certain items that would normally be required in a new built home (like tyvec and argon gas filled windows, both rather toxic).
If you're local to Washington you're welcome to drop by and see our home in person some time :o)
Just shoot me an email if you would like to swing by!
semprespensierato@gmail.com
I really appreciate the offer, but unfortunately I'm a long ways from you, up in the north country. Tell your husband to keep up the good work - he's an inspiration to us aspiring self-builders.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I for one really enjoy learning about what measures/alternatives you guys incorporate in order to create a healthy, non-toxic home. That's something that's really important to me too!
-Turtle
Thanks for explaining that. I totally understand the whole "no toxins in our house" thing. I wish I could say the same about our current apartment. But no, we have who knows what kinds of chemicals off-gassing, not to mention the lead in the water, etc. Someday I hope to live in something that approaches non-toxic.
ReplyDelete