A very productive day on the tiny house build. We completed the insulation of the walls and moved on to external trim work. We constructed frames for all the first-floor windows (the loft windows will be unframed).  We are using PVC trim for all areas that are exposed to the weather.  It is crazy expensive but will never rot and is totally free of surface imperfections. We used glue and pocket holes for all joints. We also machined a rabbet along the inside back edge so that the frame would sit flat against the house rather than riding up on the window nailing fins.

Maya’s tiny house includes a total of three loft areas. The main sleeping loft is 67 square feet. Two storage lofts totaling 33 square feet are located at the front and back of the house. Maya is pictured here finishing the ceiling insulation in the storage loft over the front porch. Two batten strips are tacked to each rafter where it meets the roof sheathing to create uniform spacing for the ventilation air gap. The panels are cut to exact size and must be pounded in with a mini sledge hammer for an air tight fit.  All seams will eventually be taped or caulked to ensure zero air infiltration. The white square object behind Maya is a fixed HDTV antenna that is wired to the location where we will be installing a flat screen TV.

Maya and I spent most of the day working on ceiling insulation. We are installing two 2 inch foam core panels in between each pair of 2×6 ceiling rafters for an R value of 20. We are leaving a 1-1/4 inch air gap between the first panel and the roof sheathing to create an air channel that will provide ventilation for our roof. This is necessary to prevent condensation which is a common problem in tiny houses that do not include this feature. The work is slow and arduous. Each panel is beveled on one end to match the roof angle, must be cut to the exact size of the opening and installed in at least two and often as many as four sections. It is easily the least fun part of the project so far. Maya works on the ladder taking measurements and installing panels while I cut them in the basement on the table saw. For a little break from the monotony, I added the side walls around the top of the shower stall.  The joints are so tight that no trim will be needed here. I will wait to install the shower head until the trim has been varnished to match the ceiling.

We celebrated Kyle’s 25th birthday this evening. John Quinn helped prepare a birthday feast and I helped eat the ice cream cake.  I try and do my part at important family gatherings.

Nicolai and Karuna have adopted a dog.  At the time this photo was taken it was named Moose. It is not clear if that name will be replaced but I rather like it. We would have preferred if he had waited to get a dog until completing college but for many years now this has been something Nico has wanted to do. 

The tiny house is now ready for roofing and siding. Today we installed the loft windows and finished the Tyvek house wrap. Maya prefers to work barefooted while on the roof insisting that this maximizes traction. I prefer to wear shoes while standing on the ground watching Maya scampering about the roof.

Jeanine has had to deal with two flat tires in as many days.  The first was caused by sidewall damage (probably from grazing a curb while parking) to one of the front tires.  Given their state of wear, we opted to replace both to the tune of ~$700 (my first car cost less than this). The second was due to a puncture by a piece of metal to the left rear tire. When it rains, it pours.  Speaking of rain. It poured like cats and dogs all afternoon into the evening preventing any substantial progress on the tiny house.

We are using all fiberglass Integrity windows from Marvin. They are fitted with double-paned, argon-filled, tempered glass with a U-factor of 0.29 and a solar heat gain coefficient of 0.29. The first floor has one large picture window and two double casement windows in the living room.  The kitchen has a triple casement window and the bathroom has a single awning-style window.  We installed all of these today leaving just the four awning-style windows in the loft to finish.

I am booked on the red-eye back to Boston this evening leaving me the better part of the day for some sightseeing. I decided to visit Long Beach, arriving by 6am, well ahead of the morning rush hour traffic. I spent three hours walking around the marina area before visiting the Aquarium of the Pacific, one of the best in the world.

I emerged with a bevy of great photos five hours later and was in the mood to get off my feet. A nearby cinema offered the respite I was seeking. I saw Atomic Blonde, a movie I was fairly certain would not interest Jeanine and one which I knew I would enjoy (billed as the female 007).

Karuna, whose birthday is on Monday, joined Nicolai for the long weekend in Los Angeles. The two have been dating since high school and seem so happy together. They will spend tomorrow at Laguna Beach for some well deserved R&R before returning to Colorado.

Today’s final match against Haiti was no different from the first two. The fouls against Nico continued and were so flagrant it was almost comical. One foul near the Haiti goal led to a free kick that Nico buried into the net for his only goal of the weekend.

Despite the treatment he received on the field, Nicolai kept his cool and accepted defeat graciously. I am as proud of the leadership he demonstrates as captain of the team as I am of his athletic performance on the field.

The US National Amputee Soccer Team was in action this weekend against the national team from Haiti.  The Haitian team includes many survivors of the 2010 earthquake that devastated their country. Regrettably, despite having a superior team in terms of speed and skill, the Haitians resorted to deliberately fouling Nicolai to prevent him from scoring. The sequence of pictures here shows what happened after Nicolai beat one of their players (who lost his balance as Nico dribbled around him). While falling to the ground he swung his crutch at Nicolai, fracturing the extremely strong carbon fiber tube of his crutch. I shudder to think what would have happened if he had hit Nico’s leg instead.

This was by no means the only such example of foul play.  It became pretty clear by the second game that fouling Nico was part of their strategy to neutralize him.  Unfortunately it was fairly effective.

An early direct flight into LAX had me on the ground there by 11am where I met up with two of Nico’s amputee soccer teammates. We drove in my rental car to Garden Grove where the team has rented a large house through airbnb which will be our base of operations for the weekend. 

With three hours to kill before checkin, we decided to drive over to Newport Beach to check out the ocean scene. The water was too cold for my taste, but there was no lack of interesting photographic subjects.

Tomorrow I leave for Los Angeles where I will spend 4 days with Nicolai. He will be competing with the US National Amputee Soccer Team in an international match against Haiti.  While I am away, Maya will be working on tiny house insulation.  This morning I built the jig pictured above to simplify cutting 22.5″ wide 2″ thick foam core panels at the angles required for our roof (18, 40, and 90  degrees). My afternoon was an exercise in exasperation as I spent hours at the RMV getting plates for the tiny house trailer.

The Audi was pressed into service as a pickup truck this morning.  A couple of 2x4s attached to my home built kayak carrier made for a very simple but effective way to transport 4’x8′ sheet goods.  We ran out of sheathing panels yesterday and needed two more to complete the job.  Our original design was for a 20 foot long trailer and we calculated lumber requirements accordingly.  When we had to switch to a 24 foot trailer we knew that we would be coming up short on a lot of materials. While I was at Home Depot I also picked up the front door that Maya had picked out on a previous visit.

Motivated, as we have often been, by forecasted rain we made significant progress today.  We completed all of the wall sheathing, cut window openings that had been paneled over, completed the last of the wiring, installed an HDTV antenna and HDMI interface for the television, and wrapped the house in Tyvek.  The last job would have been impossible without help from Kyle. He unwrapped, supported and aligned the roll of 9′ wide material while Maya stapled it to the house. I ran around with scissors and a utility knife to cut the material to fit around fenders, jacks, and various other items. Tyvek (Dupont brand house wrap) provides an air and liquid water barrier between the sheathing and the frame/insulation while allowing water vapor to escape.