Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Digress? Who me?

Oh my, another week has slipped by.

I have been dreaming and working on plans for the new shop.  16 x 20 insulated and heated with electric service.  From my conversations with one gas/electric contractor I should have no problem getting a 60 amp service and a small natural gas heater in there.  I spoke with the engineer down at city hall and picked his brains a bit on what I need on some spans for floor and roof.  A few weeks ago I went to the Home Building Centre in Clinton and the guy there printed off a plan for a 16 x 24 garage and I can glean most of the information off of that and turn it in to the city for the building permit.

So, plans......well I have to admit I went back to the old method.  I went shopping before Christmas last month and picked up a T square, a couple of triangles and a scale and went old school.

Here is the elevation views of the shop



300 square feet may sound large, but once you see it with doors and windows you realize that it is going to be a small shop indeed.  I will have to be careful about organizing and keeping neat.   Still, much larger than the garden shed!  Oh, and the little title I put on the picture....my dad's name is Dennis, so Jim's Den seemed a neat fit for the drawing.  

This seems to be the place where a lot of building goes on.  There have been more than a few times that large sections have been removed from the house.  Now, let me be upfront here.  Our home is a mobile home.  A 1986 Redman 14' x 75' model.  It also is in a small park that could have up to 38 units in it and looks like what you think when you think "trailer park".  Luckily, we are tucked in around back and we face on to the Bayfield river.

The first time I tore apart the house was back in May of 2004.  Just after our first year anniversary of living here.  You see, the front bedroom (the one with the desk in it now) was a bit breezy.  The windows were horrid and there was a funny triangle jut out that was all leaky and it was a big mess.  So I tore it all out.  I went from this. 

   


to this 

to this


to this on the first day



If you notice, the home is built with 2x6 for the walls.  Very nice, more insulation, more strength.  Not your usual method of building a mobile home.  Of course, just because I did not get it totally closed in the weather decided to have a bit of fun and storm.  There was a tornado not far away too.  It was a bit of a tense evening trying to get tarp and plastic up in the wind.  We survived though and the next day we did a bit more work.  After framing I added some OSB and then a layer of polyisocyanurate insulation/house wrap with foil faces.  This makes my walls nice and tight and about an R 25 or so.



The whole house has since had all the siding torn off and the same layers of OSB, insulation, and new siding put on.  The house is extremely rigid, quiet, and easy to heat.

Of course, new windows were part of this project.



A couple of double hung vinyl windows.  A worthwhile investment for sure.  By August we had picked out some siding and I got that done.



So, that solved one problem in the house.....there was also putting in the patio door, finding a leak in the roof in the back, and then getting the whole roof replaced.  The building has been going on since we got here.  This is our home and we are really enjoying it.  It is way cheap to live in too.  We just paid it off in 2014, so our living expenses are really low.  We are also on the banks of the river, and despite what the view is getting here, once here we see


May in our yard with the river in the background.  I love the spring here.


and a shot of the river, which will be pretty close to what I will be looking at when I look out the double window on the end of the shop.  Where I plan to put the work bench.

Well, that was a little rambling and scattered. I did not know where I was going with this one.  Just like every time.

  I am trying to sit and compose a story as I go.  Sometimes the direction goes it's own way I suppose.

Thank you for stopping by



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