Dry (mostly)

My pop came by again and helped me get the last window and the slider door installed. This is the last window that went in, and the first to get trim. Hoisting the 60"x80" slider door up to hip height with limited clearance was the greatest challenge. We definitely used our degrees from the university of redneck engineering that afternoon.

Now that all openings are filled, I am out of the wind and weather for the most part. next on the agenda is sealing the roof leaks!

Drying in

My Dad and I spent the better part of a day installing windows. All but two openings have been filled. One of the remaining is for a slider door, and the other had a broken frame when I received it. Both of those will be installed in the next few weeks. It'll be really nice to be all sealed up for the winter.

It was truly nerve wrecking to cut an opening in the aluminum. It wasn't all that difficult, but there was no turning back once the process was started.

Here's a little contrast. As you can see, the trailer is parked about 2.5 feet from my home. I can stand in the trailer and smell dinner on a good day. On a bad day I can stand in the trailer and hear my kiddos getting out of line.  

The tin can with a wood floor.

 We busted out the making tape for some floor planning. Although this seemed really caveman(ish) , it worked very well for us. It allowed us to feel each space and make minor adjustments prior committing to plumbing and electrical rough in.

In this photo, the chair is where my new toilet will be. We were very happy with how much room there seems to be in our 10x55' space.  

Floored

Fueled by frosty beverages, I have spent free time this month completing the subfloor of the Spartan in 2 hour increments. 30 minutes to set up, 30 minutes to remember how I did this last time, 30 minutes of work, and the last 30 minutes for cleanup. I had a lot of help from my 4 1/2 year old though, so that really kept things on pace.

 I went about it one sheet at a time. I layed the sheet down and snugged it up against the last one, marking the rafters where crossbracing was needed.  I then removed the plywood and cut braces on centers so that everything was very snug. After that, it was just gluein' and screwin'.

 I finally scrounged up the better part of a day and completed the job. I'm glad the task is done, and so is my wife because this means it's time to do some floor planning. We tried using graph paper and then CAD, but neither worked out. Both methods cost a lot of time, and the result was inaccurate. I think we'll try chalk or pencil on the plywood. I know, I know, that's really backwards, but that's just how I'm living!

Weeks just passing by......

 We installed our first window about a week ago. I bought one prior to ordering the rest just to make sure that I didn't make a very expensive mistake. Installation methods for wood frame homes are pretty simple and straightforward, but on a trailer with 2" aluminum studs I spent many late nights researching what others had done.

 In the end, I followed the direction of the manufacturer. The downside to doing things their way is that I have to use exterior trim. Initially I considered sandwiching the windows between the skin and the studs, creating a very clean exterior finish. That would have required removing or at least loosening 2 of the 4 structural elements framing the window. It would have looked good, but made it nearly impossible to deal with any problems that arise in the future.

 So now we are considering trim options. The trim is really only needed to conceal the flashing tape and nailing flange. I ripped some cedar into 3" widths and it looks like it will do the trick. I may buy some paint that matches the window color and try that out as well. We are still considering all options, though, and we don't have to decide any time soon. It's nice to be faced with a decision that doesn't need to be made immediately.

I started framing the floor a few days ago. I'm just using treated 16'  2"x6" lumber for the joists. The scrap 2"x6" that were the old joists are getting diced up to be used as cross bracing at 4' intervals. We've decided that our finish floor will probably be some type of salvaged antique wood. So the plywood sub floor that's going underneath the finish floor is just 1/2" cdx plywood. My daughter and I did a thorough cost benefit analysis of plywood types ranging from 1/2"osb to 5-ply 3/4" tongue and groove A-B plywood. The cheapest option was about $200, and the most expensive was $750. We're somewhere in the middle balancing the necessity of quality and application with our checkbook. She's so damn sensible.

New Heights.

As it turns out, the floor joists went as the floor decking did. Again, it felt somewhat wasteful at times, but I had to factor in the labor associated with modifying and repairing what already existed. I have been reminded many times that building new is way easier than renovation. If ease were my main concern, I would have bought a new singlewide. Something tells me that I wouldn't be sharing our adventure in that case! Finding the balance between using what exists and starting new is the key. 

My wife's cat has found new heights to judge me from.

Well built does not mean well engineered.

I spent much of the day today removing the plywood floor. It felt like a waste sometimes because I was often removing large sections of good plywood. There were, however, enough cut outs and rotten spots to justify full removal because I would end up with a patchwork floor if I tried to piece it all together and would probably end up with an additional day of labor as well. These efforts cost me 2 circular saw blades and totaled a borrowed reciprocating saw before I broke out the chainsaw. That saw chain is now totaled as well, but it worked like a charm and was fairly inexpensive. I wish I had used it before I broke all the other tools.  That process was fairly simple, just cut and pry. Removing the ductwork, however, proved to be a little more challenging. The duct work for the old air conditioner was basically just a sheet metal channel between 2x6" floor joists. It sounds simple enough but the sheet metal had been sandwiched between the wooden joists and steel web trusses you can see below. In addition, all three of those components had been through-bolted in a way that I could not access both ends of those bolts and they were free spinning. I'm sure that you'd like more technical details, but it's late, and I'm getting frustrated just thinking about this. All along, I've felt that this trailer was extremely well built. It's strong. It has served it's purpose much longer than many conventional wood frame homes have or will in the future. That's much of my attraction, it's a survivor! But being well built does not mean that it was well engineered. What I mean is that the people who built this trailer never considered dis-assembly. Maybe that was intentional, maybe not. The bottom line is that if something is to be built, It should be built in a way that it can be deconstructed without having to be destroyed. That beautiful and potentially re-usable ductwork now lies in a mangled, twisted pile because I had no option but to savagely beat, cut, twist, and tear it out from between structural members. It really looks like it's been through a garbage disposal. This wrecking bar assault also cost me a few 2x6"s. For some people, this kind of brutal demolition is a good outlet for their anger but for me, the destruction was the source of the anger.   

A couple of good yanks.

My Pop came by this morning and helped me get the large cabinets and old appliances out. The cabinets may be re-used so we hauled them back to put into the already overfilled garage. We then decided to cut out a few bad spots in the floor. As you can see, things progressed pretty quickly to removing the whole floor. I'll finish it up another day. I also went ahead and pressure washed the interior.

As I was putting the wardrobes into the garage, I noticed that the sliding doors on one of them weren't sliding very well.  I almost blew off looking at it to see why, but I had a little flashlight in my pocket so i figured I might as well take a look. This is what I saw.

It might be a little hard for you to see, but it's a snake. Now I don't know my snakes very well, but I have never seen one anywhere near my house. We are in town and not far from the Colorado river, so I know they are present, but not that I have seen at the house. This worried me. I brought this trailer home from the Texas hill country where it sat uninhabited for close to a decade. All of this forced me to assume that it was a rattlesnake. The first thing I did was get out of my flip-flops and into some boots. I thought for about 2 seconds about the best way to capture a snake that I could not yet identify because I couldn't see it's head or tail. And then I thought about about the best way to kill a snake that I could not identify. The LAST thing I wanted was any type of snake alive and loose in my extremely cramped garage. If I fussed with it enough to scare it deeper into the garage, I would never have been able to tell anyone because my wife would make me completely gut the garage and burn the contents if she found out. I brainstormed for the longest, sharpest, skinniest tool that didn't need any clearance for a chopping motion. Don't scour the depths of your brain too hard because there is only one tool that fits that description: the Arborist's polesaw! 

Now you might think I'm a jerk or worse, but I slid that polesaw between the doors and gave a few yanks. The snake thrashed a bit and started looking for an escape route. As soon as I could see it's head poking out and trying to climb, I made a swipe for it's neck. It dodged and struck at my blade a few times before I sunk it in. I had it by the jaw and stretched it out, careful not to yank it out around my ankles. I held to poor thing under tension for a minute or so and let it bleed. When I felt that it was safe for me to pull it out to the ground, I did, and severed it's head with a shovel. I'm sorry that the little dude had to die, but he did. 

I thought about trying to skin it and make it into a belt, but came to the realization that it would probably just hang in this overstuffed garage with my other projects! I buried it in the alley, but if you act fast, I'll dig it up and give it to you if you buy this 1940's Okeefe and Merritt  range.



Integrity

While moving some disassembled cabinets out of the Spartan this afternoon, I ran across this bank deposit bag that I found while preparing the trailer to come home. It's story is worth telling here. Decades ago, the owners of this trailer decided it needed a fireplace. So they cut a big old hole in the side of it. Most of that fireplace had fallen over prior to my discovery. I brought various sledgehammers and pick-axes to carefully tear the rest down in order to provide for clearance on the way out. Now, it was mid June in the Texas hill country. To say that it was hot and dry would be the understatement of the year. A friendly guy that had been clearing brush and trash from this property was already moving some soil around for me and offered to work the bottom of this chimney away from the trailer with his backhoe. This was a great help to me, and I explained that I wanted this to be done very carefully in order to avoid dinging up the aluminum skin. So my Pop and I stood aside, tools in hand, and directed the careful placement of the backhoe shovel. He made 4-5 gentle pulls at the chimney, and we spent a few moments moving some debris by hand while the operator waited on us.

I have neglected to tell you yet that the previous owners of this Spartan were what Texas ranch-type folks would call "eclectic". I think there are other names these types could be called, but most Texas ranch-types are too polite for that. What I mean is that the previous owners collected all kinds of bizarre trinkets. They had about a tractor trailer full of old bowling balls, and had boxes full of key chains made by captives at the "Texas Slave Ranch". You can read about that wierdness here- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Slave_Ranch .  This information is relevant because as my Pop and I were moving this debris aside, we saw something unusual resting in the void space of the now opened chimney base. It was this bank bag. And it was full. I saw my Pop's eyes light up with excitement and fear all at once. We knew that we were part owner of this treasure trove. Confederate bank notes! Gold Dubloons! Safe deposit keys! Treasure maps! We also knew that it didn't entirely belong to us. I'm amazed by the quantity and complexity of emotions that can run through your mind when a once in a lifetime opportunity lies in a bank bag fireplace tomb right there in front of you. My Pop and I could feel each other questioning our own and each other's integrity. This was not my property, but I had paid someone to allow me to haul off this trailer and dispose of associated debris. And the property owner bought the place from a deceased person, so it's not like this was exactly her bank bag either. Where does backhoe guy fit into all this? Listen to me trying to justify my greed! One thing was certain. I was not going to share the contents of the bank bag until after I knew what was inside. I looked at my Pop, and then back at backhoe guy. " I think I can get the rest of it by hand.......so we don't tear up the trailer." He knew as well as I that he could pull down more of the chimney without hurting anything, but he was also glad to move on with his life. Now, Pop and I played it cool for a few minutes, just shoveling bricks around until backhoe guy was out of sight. Then we reached down into the open void and gently pulled out the bag. It was full of soft stacks of paper, more than 2 handfulls worth. I pulled out my knife, but Pop slowed me down and said "Try the zipper first, you might want to keep that bag as a momento!" . I worked the zipper back and forth a few times, but couldn't get it to open more than a few inches. Pop  said "Hell, just cut it open already". I cut it open and my Pop and I both craned our necks over the bag to look inside at the same time. It was stacks of paper alright. Someone had ripped up an old teen novel and stacked in there like wads of cash. I burst into laughter, and Pop turned an angry beet red. "Son of a .....". What a cruel joke. Funny, but cruel. I was relieved in a way. I never had to know what I was made of.  I wish I could know what the comedian was thinking when they set this up. I learned a little bit about myself today. I have no idea what I would have done if there was something valuable in that bag. No idea. But if it happened again, I'm pretty sure that I'd run things the same way. First I'd find out if I was rich, and then I'd wrestle with the decision to share!  

This is the side of the trailer where the chimney was. You can see all the debris to the side.

Here's a photo of the Spartan. I removed the front window yesterday in order to remove some larger cabinetry and old appliances that I'll be selling for scrap. 

Domino!

I'm almost ready to pull the trigger on ordering windows. This will be the single most expensive decision that we make, so we're taking it slow. But as I considered what to do in the meantime, I started to wonder if we would ever polish the aluminum skin. If we decide to polish, at least the perimeter of the window openings should be done prior to window installation. So I did a quick sample to help us decide. I just used some cheap polish I had laying around, so I'm sure I could take it a lot further than this if I found a quality product and learned more about how to do it. The jury is out.

Progress comes in tiny bursts

Here is a photo of the fully gutted Spartan from end to end. I spent an hour this afternoon moving the cabinets that may be salvagable into my already tight garage. My goal is to get EVERYTHING out of the trailer so that I can repair the bad spots in the floor and then start our floor planning with a roll of blue tape! I tried graph paper and I tried to learn CAD in an hour, but as you can guess, neither worked. We figured that there was no need to simulate a floorplan if we could just tape it out in real life on the actual floor! My wife is a smart lady. Makes a good sandwich too.

Fasten your seatbelts........

Here are a few videos my pop took on the way home from Centerpoint, Texas.

Here it is in our driveway. I hope my townspeople don't murder me in my sleep. Also, a few photos in various states of disassembly. Spray foam insulation and new windows are the big ticket items here. Every decision sure seems to snowball into 8-10 other decisions. Little by little!

Here are a few photos of the interior prior to moving. On the day that these were taken, the trash was cleared from under the trailer, remaining utilities cut away, bearings replaced and packed with grease, and brush was cleared to allow egress. Fun times with snakes, scorpions, and rat feces.

Warning: Rant ahead

After several months of dealing with red tape and unneccessary beaurocracy, it's done. We have a title. We have a HUD number. So what if the arms of the state lacked the accuracy and proper reporting they so adamantly demanded of me. So what if after I followed their very specific instructions on how to properly acquire a title, they were confused by the information and tax records and certified letters to previous owners of record and ancient bank liens that they so adamantly demanded. I'm not bitter. So what if they still screwed up the paperwork and it cost me another $45 dollars. It's sitting in the driveway. I guess that's what counts. We'll post some adventurous video of the trip home as soon as my recently retired Dad figures out how to work an iphone.

This is our Spartan as it sits waiting for title issues to be resolved before it's moved home for the work to begin! Certified letters to a deceased person and a bank that hasn't existed in 15 years are available for pickup at the post office, and when they get returned, we can get a title.