Friday, June 10, 2011

Starting on the exterior aluminum siding

If there is one way to learn how to do something it's to try and do it by yourself in 100+ degree heat! I bought some double sided fiberglass interior/exterior carpet tape and liquid nails to hold the ISO board in place.. it has held for five days while I have worked on getting started putting up the aluminum sheet metal siding. To do that I have clamped a board to the top of the siding after pre-measuring and cutting the apertures for the wheels and tops of the trusses, then I have used ropes tied to the clamps to hoist the siding up onto the wall while standing on the floor of the bathroom/bedroom loft platform. Then I clamp roughly the middle of the metal panel and tie the clamp with rope to the roof purlins. I make pen marks every foot along the line where the stud is behind the siding and pre-drill the holes ( the 1st hole I drilled was too big and so, being COMPLETELY SLAP FLAT BROKE, and un-willing to give up, I rode around on my bike for an hour until I found enough change to buy a smaller drill bit which broke on the FIRST hole I tried to drill with it! So then I borrowed a drill bit from a friend and put up the two panels you see pictured, until that drill bit was too dull and the generator ran out of gas.) On the places where I have made mistakes, such as drilling the hole too large, or missing the stud behind, I have made some star shaped metal cut outs to cover the holes and caulked from inside. So, assuming that I will be making more mistakes, the trailer will be spattered with stars.
I got a check in the mail from The Honeypot in Asheville, NC yesterday and I borrowed a my friend Kristen of Treehouse Kid and Craft's car to go to Lowe's and buy some more drill bits, more liquid nails, tape, aluminum angle to put flashing above the windows and doors, and also some metal paint to re-paint the large white window frames. That will be a job for when I make a wee bit more money to buy another gallon of gas for the generator. This is the house that recycled hand-made fashion built.
June 15th..
It's a few days after the original post, and here are some more in progress pictures:
Self portraits with bathroom window.
All of my blankets and clothing were soaked in a recent rain-storm, so I stretched a line of bungee cords for a clothes line and put my blankets up on the roof to dry.
Full moon rising

5 comments:

  1. Nice. I love creativity under any form! Thank you for sharing this with us.

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  2. It looks incredible Gretchen! "The house that recycled handmade fashion built!" I love it.

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  3. Your excellent guidelines for exterior design . Nice post. I enjoyed reading it.
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  4. In screening your home improvement contractors you should start by checking that they are licensed and are insured (liability insurance and worker’s compensation).

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