two days’ worth

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mostly cos I was too tired to post yesterday

I got the rest  of the floor framing put together yesterday, & then put wood screws down through each piece to fix them to the trailer floor.

A length of 2x2, sitting on the bed of the trailer, with a wood screw driven halfway down through it. The housewrap is visible below the wood.

It’s quick to say but much longer to actually do, yanno?

A corner of the trailer bed, with boards of various sizes coming together at right angles. Everything's got wood screws holding it down now.

& then I caulked all the way around the outside edge, which took ELEVENTY YEARS & demonstrated that I have like no experience with caulk.

I took this picture to show how lumpy it wound up but it sort of settled I guess.

The space between the framing wood & the metal edge of the trailer has been filled in with white caulk. The line of caulk is actually relatively smooth.

Anyway there’s no water getting in through THERE & that was the whole point.

After that, insulation. Hypothetically you’re supposed to run whole sheets of this insulation over the framing instead of cutting it into pieces & putting it between but I’m doing a floor not a wall so they can cope. Whoever ‘they’ are.

First you measure & mark …

A green pen & ruler sitting on top of foamboard insulation.

… then you score & snap …

A box cutter sitting on top of foamboard insulation, which has been broken along a straight line.

… then you shove each piece into place & go around the edges with the tyvek tape.

I have no idea if this is a standard use of tyvek tape but it made sense. I cut the foam so it doesn’t need to be fastened in place — it squeezes in & stays — so all the tape has to do is keep water out.

I got three sections of insulation done yesterday before my spine said HAHAHAHA NO MORE OF THAT JUST NOW

Also I live here, isn’t it pretty?

The trailer bed, with three of the floor sections fitted with foamboard insulation. Also in the background is desert scrub rising to low forested hills, the deep blue sky in the background.

I figure between breaks I’m doing maybe two or three hours of actual construction work a day. Which is EXHAUSTING. Turns out construction is hard work! Who’d’ve thought?

Today my first task was pulling the 2×12 boards out of the van so I could cut them to size & then paint them, & let me tell you, ladles & genumints, I almost stopped right there.

But I wanted to get them painted & finish up the insulation before my roommates show up tomorrow with a truckful of stuff that we’ll be unloading Sunday & Monday, so I kept going.

The nice thing about painting in New Mexico — especially when the sun’s out — is by the time you’re done the first coat, it’s ready for the next one.

Three really wide boards sitting side by side on a pair of sawhorses. They've been painted purple except for the very end of one, which has a can of purple paint & a paintbrush sitting on it.

I let that sit for a while & worked on the insulation. By which I mean I took like six breaks & cuddled Loiosh & poked at the insulation in a desultory fashion.

A very closeup of Loiosh, showing his nose & his front paws. One of his paws is laying flat & the other is curled over it, showing pink toebeans.

But I finally got the insulation in place & mostly taped before I ran out of tyvek tape. Fortunately it’s reasonably inexpensive.

One of the hunks of foamboard insulation, tucked in between two of the framing boards. Tape runs along the edges but only until partway along.

Here’s the last two boards, nicely purpled, & that is IT for the day.

Two more wide boards, one cut shorter than the other, both sitting on the sawhorses & painted purple on the top.

Tomorrow I am TAKING A BREAK. After that will be three days of dealing with roommate stuff. Sometime later next week, after I’ve had a chance to buy more tyvek tape & get the RIGHT kind of construction adhesive, I’ll be getting back to this project.

In the meantime, BATH.


This was posted originally to my Patreon, a little over a week ago.

If you want to see these posts sooner, & not incidentally help support me & my cats in our travels & such, the way to do that is to sign up as one of my Patrons for as little as a buck a month.

I’d REALLY like that.

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