Weekly Update 25

Julian Kopp
Nov 4 · 4 min read

Beginning of the week I had a talk with my Dad about the Tiny House project and my recent doubts and insecurities on the deadline. My brain has the habit of getting lost in its own standards which are far far away from reality. So once in a while, a reset is necessary to view things in the correct(er) perspective. This talk was a reset and I’m much saner and more positive again. If you don’t know any further — ask Dad…

3 main things happened this week. First, I started with the roof. Unfortunately, Marc is currently busy as there are some hiccups at his workplace. So he can’t help me with bending the corner parts of the roof (which need to go on first). So I got creative and tinkered a very very basic version of an ‘angle bender’. I’m clueless if this is the correct word. In German it is ‘Kantbank’ which means a machine for bending thin steel into wished angels. We have a word for everything… It works surprisingly well with two people. So with the new tool, I was able to start with the roof on the porch and then finish the gable facade. On Sunday my Dad helped me putting up the shorter side of the roof. Now, only the gable edges and the middle part need to be prepared. I’m really looking forward to finishing the outer shell as weather conditions develop to my disadvantage.

1) Situation before. You can see some bug screen I crafted from PVC Ventilation Band. 2) Roof finished and gable facade started. Quite an interesting area concerning the roof installation. From first to last installed: eaves flashing — roof sheet — flashing — facade. 3) the professional angle bending set up. The sheet is put in between two battens, wedged in the middle and then bend forward.

Second, because of some rainy days, I continued in the interior and finished the bathroom wall. For this, the door was cut on the table saw and then transported in linen to not damage the surface. I want the texture of the wood to be visible so the door is only treated with a transparent oil/wax combination. Any scratch or dent needs to be sanded so great care was called for. After attaching the wheel to the door and fitting it I could install the plywood sheets to make it look like a wall. On the other side, where the shower will be, some insulation was inserted into the wall mainly for noise damping. And lastly, the first round of spatula was applied.

The third item this week was the wheel casings. Again, parts were cut in the garage. Insulation was applied (this time for thermal insulation) and again spatula.

1) open wheel casing. The black part is 9mm waterproof plywood which is the only part separating inside from outside. That’s why 8cm of insulation is put on top. 2) quality picture of wheel case with spatula everywhere. 3) ice crystals on my workbench in the morning

In addition to the talk with my Dad, I made an observation. Many of the, in my perception, imperfect details are not visible from a meter away. And if you don’t know these imperfect cosmetic details the grand scheme still looks great. E.g. one screw in the facade is a bit off. If you focus on it you see it when standing nearby. Stepping away 2 or 3 meters and you only see a line of screws aligned to a window which looks nice. So the essence is: Dear brain. Yes, I know you want everything to be perfect. And I also know your favourite activity is to beat me up on the imperfections. But do you see that these small details you exclusively focus on are not that important? Look at this awesome house. Be satisfied — or even better — proud. End of message.

A Balanced Tiny House

Tale of a Tiny House Build.

Julian Kopp

Written by

A Balanced Tiny House

Tale of a Tiny House Build.

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