We’re using Rubio Monocoat to finish the maple floor in our tiny house. We stumbled on this natural hardwax finish a few years ago when looking for a finish for the reclaimed Douglas fir countertops we built for the big house. Designed as a floor finish, Rubio sounded too good to be true –...
"Testing colors for the floor finish"Continue readingMonth: September 2019
Laying out the counters
Started work on the countertops today. Our counters and some of our shelving are made out of 1 5/8” thick hard maple that we glued up with the help of Creative Woodworking NW.With a Janka hardness of 1,450 psi these counters are almost twice as tough as our bigleaf maple floors, and quite honestly...
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Timelapse: laying the hardwood floor
We finished laying the solid maple floor today. It was pouring rain all day so the humidity was a little higher than we would’ve liked to see but otherwise things look really good. Thanks to our friend Don for loaning us the flooring stapler and to Ben Deumling of @zenaforestproducts for giving us a...
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Installing the hardwood flooring, part 1
Started putting down the hardwood floors today. This is such a gratifying part of the process because it transforms the space so quickly. We like sustainably harvested hardwood floors because they are beautiful, environmentally friendly, and will last the life of the house.The flooring we are using is sustainably harvested big leaf maple that...
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Timelapse: casting the concrete hearth
Timelapse from our molded concrete hearth experiment. Details in yesterday’s post...
Casting a concrete hearth
Today’s experimental building project is an attempt to make a solid concrete hearth for our tiny woodstove. I like the idea of a big chunk of thermal mass to capture some of the stove heat and reradiate it for a few hours after the fire goes out. Also the simple gray block is more...
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Everything and the kitchen sink
We’re officially in the “zillion little things” phase of building our tiny house. Wiring switches, fans, installing passive air vents, planning cabinets and built-ins. The cabinetry in tiny spaces can be a little nerve-wracking at times because everything keys off of everything else like a puzzle, so our choices and especially our measurements need...
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Tools We Like: Milwaukee M18 Cordless Angle Grinder
I’ve been a full time builder for over 20 years. To help new builders make smarter tool choices and also to spark no-holds-barred discussion among experienced builders, we’re adding a new segment here called Tools We Like. Today’s tool is the M18 Milwaukee cordless angle grinder. 4 1/2 inch angle grinders are indispensable for...
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Installing the passive air vents and bath fan
It feels good to be working on the tiny house again (this is Brian) after a 30 day work push to fill a last minute commission for some challenging traditional Inuit kayak frames (my day job, Cape Falcon Kayak, is worth checking out if you like beautiful things made of wood).After admiring the perfectly...
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More trips to the store = more time lost
So what are we looking at here: some people would say this is the inside of a flexible 4 inch vent, and that it is, but it’s also the hose that sucks up all your time and money when you’re building a tiny house, especially if it’s your first time building a structure. As...
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