No Procrastinating

One thing about living in a Tiny House: all those little bills and things get taken care of QUICKLY!

Because there just isn't any space ANYWHERE in this house to have a stack of papers sitting around :)

Just Sitting Around

In one of my previous posts I shared one of my common sitting position in the house: criss-cross applesauce, or half-criss-cross applesauce, on the floor.

Another option for seating is this nice storage box, which is surprisingly quite comfortable...if you don't mind your knees to your chest.  

And, quite honestly, I often like to sit with my knees pulled up to my chest so it's really not to bad.  Oh, but I did usually put a pillow on top to give a little cushion.

Then there is the very useful rubbermaid tubs.  

These are for sure the most versatile objects in our tiny house.  

They are seats, they are counters, they are storage and they were even steps at one point.

They're designed quite well for sitting: flexible top, pillow fits nicely for added cushion, feet and legs rest in a comfortable position, back can rest on the wall behind.  I highly suggest this seating for newlyweds and college students! 

Next seating option is the floor pillows.
Actually, one of these is a sleeping bag inside a protective waterproof pillow case.  The other is two smaller pillows, also inside a waterproof case.
Surprisingly, these two "pillows" are pretty comfortable is you like being on the floor but want some cushion.

I can't forget to mention this VERY large stuffed dinosaur that my son LOVES but is completely IMPRACTICAL for a Tiny House.  This animal can't be thrown in the washer, it can't be surface cleaned very well, every little piece of wood shavings clings to it, it has whole in the back where it leaks stuffing...but is this one of the things my son decides to get rid of??  Nooo...of course not, he'd rather get rid of a remote control car than this beast.  Oh, but I digress...

...here's the other seating option right now... I acquiesce...but with a warning to the eventual demise of  Dino.

I really never thought to complain about my seating options.  I'm pretty realistic about what needs to be done first in/on the house.

For instance, the outside and inside of the house needed to be sealed up while we had hot weather.  The weather is cooling down outside and I'm still walking around in a tank top in my house; the sealing up was a good idea!  

But then a muscle in my hip area decided to start pinching a nerve.  I think I'm being stabbed every time I sit down or get up.  It's bad.  The chiropractor taught me how to do this "nerve flossing" action but I need a chair to do it on.  One especially painful morning I tried getting into our car with the rest of my family and I was literally in tears.  My very concerned husband learned then how frustrating it is to me not to have a place to sit.  

"Let's go buy you a chair today.  Buy the most comfortable one you can find."

Mmmm...maybe I should have expressed discomfort sooner....

Oh, and side note in case you're curious: the box is my husbands favorite place to sit, the pillows and/or Dino are my sons choice and the rubbermaid tub and/or pillows are my daughters.

Long Hot Shower = Broken Regulator

We're now going into a total of 8 week this summer with little-to-no hot water.

When the hot water heater first started "coding",  I called around looking for someone to repair it.  No one in our area works on Rinnai on-demand propane hot water heaters.  I called Rinnai.  They started a case number for me referred me to 2 companies close to us who have been trained on Rinnai hot water heaters - I chose the closest: Tri-Tech Heating and Cooling.

The technician came out, diagnosed the problem, told me he would look into warranty coverage and order the part and told me it would be about a week.

1 week later: I call Tri-Tech and ask about the part.  The part isn't in yet.

1 1/2 weeks later: I call Tri-Tech. Still no part in.

2 weeks later: I call Tri-Tech.  The part had never been shipped.  They company shipping it will 2 day rush it.

2 days later: I call Tri-Tech.  Still no part and we have to wait over another weekend.

After the weekend (by this time we are on vacation with family): Part is finally in and they can come out in 3 days, yes, 3 days.  They have taken 3 weeks now to get a part but they still can't come out for 3 more days.  I state/ask, "So this is covered by warranty and we won't have any service charge due to the delay, correct?"  Oh no, it's not covered under warranty and they "have to charge for service".

We have had this heater LESS THAN A YEAR and it took 3 WEEKS to get a part in.

I told her I'd get back to her; I don't like to give in to outbursts of anger.

I contacted Rinnai and asked, "why on earth isn't the heater part isn't covered under warranty???!!!"

Rinnai and then Tri-Tech both called and both assured me it was covered under warranty and we would not need to pay for the service either.

4 weeks after I first call Tri-Tech: The technician comes out, replaces the part and the machine still codes.  The technician then tells me he's going to call his co-worker who is trained on Rinnai machines.

TRI-TECH SENT OUT A TECHNICIAN WHO HADN'T EVEN BEEN TRAINED TO WORK ON RINNAI HOT WATER HEATERS!  I just can't fathom.  I don't even know what to say.  But, seriously if I had a customer call and ask if I service Rinnai machines and I was a service company, I might just send out THE TRAINED TECHNICIAN!!

The trained technician did come out that day and diagnosed another problem.  This, of course, needed another part.  We were also told at this point that we needed a larger propane tank.

5 weeks and counting: The TRAINED technician came out and replaced the part.
We replaced the 5 gallon propane tank with a 23 gallon.

6th week: Hot Water Heater WORKS.

7 weeks and it's time to call again: Tri-Tech tells me they can have someone come out late Monday afternoon.

Late Monday afternoon: No one calls or comes.  I call them and am told, "we said if there was someone in that area they would stop by." NO, NO, you did NOT!  You told me that about the part your technician left out of my heater, the one still sitting on top of the heater!!  They decided they could have someone come out the next afternoon.

Tuesday afternoon: Tri-Tech sends out the now NEWLY TRAINED technician (the first guy who came out).  He diagnoses yet another problem, with the possibility of another problem.  He's going to order the part and come back in a few days.

8 weeks after this fiasco begins:  The technician calls to say that it's probably our propane tank that is the issue...except this time he talks to my husband.

My husband quite firmly 

tells him that he does not trust him at all.  

Then my husband starts researching.  I contact a friend who said they might be able to help if Tri-Tech can't.  Our friend reminds us that the company who installed the propane lines and the heater might know if there is any validity to the claim about the propane tank being a problem.

I called Twin City about the propane.  I was able to talk to the technician within an hour.  He explained propane tanks, heater usage, etc. and referred us to AcmeGas.  For sure though we probably blew out our propane tank regulator by using the wrong size propane tank from the beginning of using the machine.

At this point I am done.  I do not understand propane tanks and on-demand hot water heaters and my limited understanding of BTU's is not helping me in the situation.

The one thing I am understanding is that quite possibly the "best on the market" hot water heater I purchased is maybe just a tad to "best" for a Tiny House.  I pass the name and number on to my husband and apologize for quite possibly buying a (very expensive and wonderful) hot water heater our poor propane tanks can't handle.

My husband called AcmeGas, ordered a new regulator for the propane tank and warned me about the possible sale of our amazing hot water heater.

I've learned a couple things:

• I will never call Tri-Tech again
• I will not be making any decisions (purchases or otherwise) related to building the house
• I will be a very unhappy person if whatever hot water heater we end up with does not provide a LONG hot shower!

Feeling Fancy

See this?  This is my sitting area.  

See what is in my sitting area?  My really cool storage stairs (without the shelves).  

Random.  

See this?  This is me.  

Eating homemade tortilla chips with salsa and sour cream.  

Sitting on a pillow on the floor and feeling quite Ethnic.  

Like I'm living in another country where they don't have couches in living rooms.  

Or maybe like I'm in India where sitting on the floor and eating is normal.

Or like I'm living in an unfinished Tiny House where my bathroom storage/coat closet/loft stairs are in my living area.

Oh, wait! 

Check out that flooring; it's pretty nice! 

Some of my Dahlia's and Our Tiny House

You can see our "Tiny Shed" in this one as well as the line up of Dahlia boxes I have.

Finished: Caulk

The caulking and sealing is finished on the outside of the house!  

Next, the Spar oil needs to be applied to all of the wood on the exterior.  We're hoping the weather forecast is correct and we have sunshine all next week!

Meanwhile...living in an unfinished tiny house is A LOT of work.  There is stuff EVERYWHERE because there is NO WHERE to put anything.  I've tried to live by the old adage:

A Place For Everything and Everything In Its Place

Right now there is 

No Place For Anything and Nothing Is In A Place

Things were better when I had shelves up in my kitchen and my storage stairs were in their designated location; I keep telling myself that things will be even BETTER when I have shelves and cupboards and usable counter tops and storage stairs.

Please don't get me wrong, I am in full support of the outside of the house getting weatherproofed - it really does need to be done and it really needs to get done before the rain starts for real.

Right now though, every day tasks - like eating a bowl of cereal - takes twice as long and usually involves more work than a bowl of cereal should ever take.  I won't bore you with how many steps it took me to make cookies the other night but I will tell you getting a 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda required a ladder, a padlock, a flashlight, restocking crates, rearranging storage containers and finding and rewashing the measuring spoon.  Dumping in a little 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda never felt so successful before that moment!

Cooking Pancakes...

...in an unfinished Tiny House:

Reflections

Filling the gaps and caulking to seal up the outside of the house:

Finished walls and windows...and my dahlias!

Walls are done but the opportunity for organization in this space is zero.  Needless to say, this is where I tend to get frustrated and have to work on my attitude.

The net came down to Varethane and is not back up yet.  My son can play in his room but he is not sleeping in his room right now.  Hopefully now that it's raining, and we can't work on the outside, the net can go back up.

Our tiny shed:

I really think I could fit everything I own into this shed if it was packed correctly...meanwhile it's been great for keeping our things safe while we work on the house.

Big Plans

Fall in the air, 

First day of school pictures everywhere

Leaves changing

Mists rising

Slow house progress

I digress

Big Plan anticipation

Getting ready for more vacation

------------------------------------------------------------

Back to school and Fall has me waxing poetics :)

I've been very remiss in keeping up on this blog over the past few months.  Many things have gotten in the way, not the least of which is my part-time work and keep-kids-busy summer plans.

I also just haven't had a lot to share about progress on the house because all the work has been tied into or related to one or two large projects.  My husband built a tiny shed on our small trailer in order for us to have a safe place to store all of the things we had to move back out of the tiny house while we finished the walls.  This took at least a month of weekends.  Next was preparing the house for the finish on the walls.  All of the cracks between and around paneling and around windows and trim had to be caulked, the walls needed to be sanded and cleaned, windows and doors needed to be covered and A LOT of stuff (actually during this process I realized how little I actually have!) needed to be moved out of the house and into the tiny shed.  After all this was done, my husband applied Varethane to all the walls and surfaces on the main level.  Next the loft areas needed to be done; everything from upstairs was moved downstairs and caulking had to be finished upstairs.  Finally, the last coats of Varethane were applied and we just had to wait a few days for them to dry.

After a busy summer and despite several vacations, the inside of the house is sealed up.

Next we began to seal up the outside. 

"Here comes the rain... la, de, da, da...here comes the rain..."

(I really can't say or think that without singing it...I don't even know what song it comes from but I'm pretty sure it's an oldie and I probably have the lyrics wrong)

The outside of the house will have to wait till the sun comes out and dries up all the rain.

Over the last couple months I have had several opportunities to work on my attitude about the house. When we first planned a tiny house, I was very excited about the "Big Plans" (travel, etc) we could make without a mortgage.  Unfortunately, we always seem to have work to do on the house.  I would really like to have a finished house; you know, actually, I think I might even settle for a range/oven instead of hot plate/toaster oven. It probably didn't help that our hot water heater was broken for a month (long story). A person can get pretty grumpy taking 2 minute lukewarm-to-ice cold showers for weeks on end. Ok, there were several things adding to my irritation and really I think I just got tired of thinking about the house. I'm sure I could find something to be discontent about no matter what; I've even heard it rumored that people in BIG houses have house issues too...imagine that.  I know I've had some unrealistic expectations concerning our house and the last few months I have really worked to have a good attitude about the progress we're making (because we ARE making progress).

This first year of tiny house planning and building did not provide much opportunity for "Big Plans" ... until summer came around.  Now I am looking at our partially finished tiny house and (once I adjust my attitude) I am REALLY glad we live in a tiny house and we don't have a mortgage!  We have gotten lots of outdoor time this summer.  We were able to do several fun day trips and camping trips.  We spent lots of time with friends and family.  We are planning our first ever extended vacation as a married couple, just the two of us...to HAWAII!!  

Yes, Hawaii!  

I say just the two of us meaning no kids.  We are traveling with my in-laws and I couldn't be more excited about this opportunity; first, because I LOVE my in-laws and we can truly say they are some of our closest friends and, second, we'll be in Hawaii with no kids!  

This vacation would not have been at all possible a year ago.

A Hawaiian vacation would not have been feasible for many years if it wasn't for our choice to live in a tiny house.

We might have a Tiny (unfinished) House but we have Big Plans!

I'm so glad we live in a Tiny House. 

;)