Putting In Windows

One of the big advantages of building a tiny house out of SIP panels is the fact that you don't have any framing in the walls.  What this means is that you can add a window just about wherever you want and any size you want, with a few parameters.  Of course you can't put a window there if there is wiring in the way, unless you re-route the wiring. And you have to leave a "header" of 10 inches above the window unless you plan ahead and add extra header support. 


Since this was my first tiny house build, I liked this because I wasn't sure how big I wanted my windows and where exactly I would want them.  So when the tiny house shell arrived, I started taking measurements and finalizing my window plan.  I had already used Google Sketch Up to get an idea of where the windows would go and what size would look best, but I was able to finalize that plan when the trailer arrived.


Putting in a window is relatively easy.  You just cut out the rough opening with a circular saw (to cut through the OSB) and then a hand saw or sawsall to cut through the insulation in between the OSB.

 

Here's a wall where I decided to add a 2x4 window.  I measured, marked it, and cut it with a circular saw.

 

Once cut, the center section just pushes out.

The process is quite messy.  I learned that screwing a board to the outside helps contain the Styrofoam insulation.  I had to dig out enough to frame in the rough opening.  A shop vac helps a lot to clean up the Styrofoam bits.

Letting light in made a big difference in the feel of the tiny house.

I ordered my windows from a local window shop, appropriately called "Al's Windows."  I was hoping to deal directly with Al, but Butch was the salesman I spoke to and ordered my windows from.  I believe all my windows totaled $1800 dollars.  Of course I considered putting in used windows to save money and for environmental reasons, however, it is difficult to find the windows you want in the sizes you want.  Well, it takes time.  I didn't have a lot of extra time, so I went with new.  Plus I know the windows will last a long time and be water tight.  I think if I had a lot more time and if I had a place to store windows as I found them, I might have gone the used window route.  The brand I bought was PlyGem and they seem like great windows. I went with beige.


After doing a couple of windows, I got the hang of it and they went pretty quickly.  I might go with larger windows in the loft if I could do it over again.  The rough opening of my loft windows was 1'x2', which sounded pretty big, but the reality is that the actual glass size on a window that size is pretty small.  The loft windows are horizontal sliders and I think they each have two pieces of roughly 6"x6" glass.  Not big enough to climb out of, that's for sure!  I'll have to post a few up close pictures of the windows in the loft with something for size reference.

Constructed with SIPs panels

Here is a shot Ryan sent me during construction.  He wrapped it in Tyvek before delivering it to me.

Ryan, at Monarch Tiny Homes, built my tiny house shell very quickly.  I think I ordered it in mid-July and it was ready for delivery by the end of August.  It almost came too quickly.  My summer was crazy with finishing school, working part-time for the remodeling company and getting ready for my new job to start as a middle school teacher.  Ryan wasn't able to deliver the tiny house until Sept 21st, which gave me time to get settled in to my new job (well, I'm still not fully settled in--the first year of teaching is hard).  A good friend of mine offered to let me use his driveway to park the tiny house in while I did the exterior work (windows, doors, exterior trim and siding).  I thought I would only need his driveway for a month or two.  I was way off.  My friend Rob's house is an hour drive from where my school is, so I was only going up there to work on the tiny house on the weekends.  And, of course some Saturdays I had other commitments.  Sunday mornings I go to church.  So I would get as much done as possible on Saturdays, but it was a slow process.


When Ryan's delivery guy, Arturo, pulled up with the tiny house it was 8 pm.  He had driven virtually straight through from California, so he was ready to drop it off and get to his friend's house where he'd arranged to spend the night.  I paid him directly for the delivery, which was a significant added expense, but, I felt, worth it.

This is Ryan at work last August. I was always eager to see pictures of my tiny house under construction.

This was Ryan's second tiny house build.  When he decided to start a business building tiny houses he did a lot of research and felt like using SIP panels was the way to go.  What are SIP panels?  You can Google them, but they are basically 4x8 sheets of OSB sandwiched around rigid foam insulation.  They are very strong and have a ton of shear strength.  They are also extremely well insulated.  So, Ryan built his prototype out of SIPs and was very pleased with how it turned out.  I did my own research and found that not too many other people have used SIPs for tiny houses, but a few have.  One of the concerns you'll find is that people are concerned about off-gassing of the OSB.  After looking into it, it seems like it is an unfounded concern, and my SIP panels had quite a bit of time to off-gas during construction before I moved in (I have just recently started sleeping in my tiny house, 8 months after Ryan started building it, and the SIP panels were manufactured about a year prior to that).  If anyone has comments or questions about SIP panels, I would be interested to hear them.  In the end I've been very pleased with my decision to purchase a tiny house shell constructed of SIP panels. I will share one of the other big advantages of SIP panels in a future post.

Here is what my tiny house looked like on the inside when it arrived.  You can see the roughed in wiring and roughed in plumbing.  The bathroom will be at the front of the trailer, with the shower on the right, sink and toilet on the left.

So, when Monarch Tiny Homes shipped me my tiny house shell it came with the trailer, four insulated walls, an insulated roof, roughed in wiring and plumbing and two rough door openings.  The loft windows were also framed in because he did not use SIPs for the loft, he used regular stick framing.

Long awaited tiny house: Delivered.

My name is John Guppy.  Gupdog is not my nickname, but I think I used it as a screen name once.  So, I decided to call this blog the "Gupdog Tiny House Blog".  I don't know why.  I do know that I started building a Tiny House a few months ago and here is what it looks like now (March 7, 2014).

I still have a bit of work yet to do on the exterior, and a ton to do on the interior.  This is the front of the house. 

This is the back door and back side of the house.  www.monarchtinyhomes.com built the shell for me and I've been doing the finishing work (windows, doors, exterior, interior).




The last three years have involved a lot of change and transition for me.  Three years ago at this time I was in Patagonia, Chile, working as an outdoor educator on a NOLS mountaineering course (check out www.NOLS.edu if you aren't familiar with it).  The wheels of change had already been turning, at least in my mind.  When I came home from Chile, my mind had been made up that it was time to establish a new primary career, but with the hopes that I would still be able to work the occasional NOLS course in the future.  I looked into several career possibilities, but decided that staying in the educational field was the best fit.  I began looking into schools to obtain the necessary teaching credential and master's degree and simultaneously began looking for short-term work.  It was a fairly stressful time with all the applications, resumes, phone interviews, and trying to find a room to rent. 




Slowly things began to fall into place.  I was hired by a medium sized remodeling company to be a carpenter's assistant and dump truck driver.  The first job I was placed on was the gutting of a large Seattle house on Queen Anne Hill.  The house was built in 1903 and we were tasked with removing all the lath and plaster from inside, along with wood floors, wiring, and other odds and ends.  It was dusty, dirty, sweaty work.  I remember thinking, "What am I doing?"  I was almost 40 years old at that time and I felt like I was doing the job of an 18 year old--an entry level construction job--no skills or experience required, just muscle.  As I thought about it more, however, I came to the realization that I needed to be thankful.  Even though it was hard work, I realized how fortunate I was to simply have work, a place to live, family and friends.  I also had a lot of opportunity.  So many people in the world would have LOVED to have the very basic, entry-level job that I had at that moment.  Many people in the world work much longer hours and in much poorer conditions for much less money.  My attitude changed.




That summer sped by, and before I knew it I was in school full-time and cutting back on my hours at the remodeling company.  I had been accepted into a "Master's In Teaching" program that would give me both a teaching credential for Washington State and a master's degree.  The program was fairly short (eleven months) and intense, but, I thought, "If other people can do it, I can do it." 


So, the program started in September, student teaching began in January, and by May I had applied for my first job and was hired!  I still had two months of school left, but I was on track to graduate and a middle school in Covington, WA, hired me to teach wood shop and science.  Sounded like a perfect fit. 




As soon as I found out I'd been hired, I started thinking about where I would live down there.  I had heard about "Tiny Houses" several years prior and had even attended a tiny house seminar put on by Tumbleweed.  I had put my tiny house dreams on hold because I hadn't had the time or space to build one thus far.  Now, however, I thought maybe this is the time.  Covington is just slightly more rural that Seattle, so I think I could more easily find a place to park my tiny house and live in it.  Hmmmm.


Another piece of the puzzle was the fact that a good friend of mine was trying to start a business building tiny houses.  I told him about my interest and over the next few weeks we came up with an agreement.  He said he could build the tiny house halfway (trailer, four walls, roof, rough wiring and plumbing) and would deliver it to me to finish to my liking.  This sounded like a great idea and great timing. 




I also told my family about the idea and my mom said, "You know, John, I think the summer camp that our church owns is in Covington.  If you'd like, I could contact the camp director and see if there is a place on the camp property that you could put your tiny house."  Sounded like a fabulous idea to me.  It turns out that the camp is only 1.5 miles from the school where I now work!


In early July of 2015 I paid my friend Ryan a 75% down payment on the house so that he could get started on the build.  By early September his portion of the project was done and it was ready for delivery.  Ryan has a friend with a big pickup truck who agreed to deliver the tiny house trailer to me for $1.50 per mile (if I remember correctly).  His friend, Arturo, took a few days off of work in late September and drove it up.




A small company called Monarch Tiny Homes www.monarchtinyhomes.com built the shell for me (trailer, four walls, roof, rough wiring and plumbing).  They trucked it up to me and I am in the process of finishing it.  Here is a picture of what it looked like when delivered:

It's come a long way, but there is a lot still to do.  I will add some more entries about the process and decisions I've made so far.