This morning I awoke to a terribly upset stomach. I either had some type of bug or food poisoning. So while I still managed to be out at the tiny house for half the day, I wasn’t that much help while I was there. We did manage to mostly complete the drain plumbing which was a little tricky since you have to navigate the various parts of the floor and metal supports of the trailer. I shot a video but since it was rather short I thought I would combine it with a video of other parts of the plumbing tomorrow.
I also met with the second insulation guy today. He gave we a quote that was much more in line with what I was expecting: $1080. If I were to do it myself with 2” foam it would cost about $650. So given the benefits of the closed cell spray in (very good seal, high r-value, added rigidity to the trailer) I think I will have them do it.
I also spoke to my brother this morning about helping out with the roof and he thought he would be able to make in out on Friday. So I am pretty confident that that will get completed before I leave.
Hopefully I feel better in the morning.
Thank you so much for sharing your journey. I lost my home a few years ago and since then have wanted to build a tiny house. Dee Williams house was the one that originally caught my fancy (although I’d go a bit bigger) I really like you’re approach and getting to come along for the ride on your projects has kept my fire lit to eventually have one of my own. The little details you share are great.
Hope you’re feeling better today baby.
I was thinking about how you have decided to use spray foam as your choice of insulation. Would you think that road vibration from travel would “loosen” from the walls, so if it’s loose from hundreds/thousands of miles of travel, doesn’t mean that polystyrene foam board work just as well in the long term and be cheaper? The roof you may not have as big as a problem, but definitely the walls.
It’s $650 for the panels and $1080 for the spray. But the panels are 2″ in the walls and ceiling, where as the spray is 3″ in the ceiling and 2″ in the walls. The spray is also R6 per inch vs. R5 with the panels. Plus installing the panels was the single most pain in the butt portion of the entire build. So I am getting something other than the rigidity of the spray for my money.
As far as the vibrations, one of the guys I was talking to (keep in mind he’s a salesman) said that their company sprays trailers for the military that house simulators that have been sent into service overseas, and that they choose the spray foam because it stays intact in harsh environments and after a lot of vibrations.
Have you considered the environmental footprint that spray foam leaves behind, especially when the time comes to recycle your tiny house? This is a large factor why I don’t like it. That and it makes future structure repairs very difficult. I like your non-conventional design, should be interesting when its done.
I agree that spray foam would make it much harder to break down the house and reuse the wood, but hopefully this house will be used for a really, really long time.