4-27-21
The Shackventure continues like a freight train out of control waiting for Bruce Willis to show up and stop the thing. If you recall from a previous diary entry, the week of the great back wall replacement by Kevin the handyman, the weather forecast magically changed from the 50s and sunny to the 30s and snow.
Not to be outdone, the week of the great junk hauling caper brought us a forecast of 20% chance of rain.
It snowed. Even worse than the last time. The squirrels were out building tiny little snowmen, the chipmunks were skiing and we had a grand old time. So I shifter my focus to the inside of the Shack.
At this point, walls have been insulated, paneling has been bolted onto the walls.
Overall, I'm satisfied with the progress.
4/25/21
It's time for the second trip of the year to the Shack. The first trip was filled with rain, snow, cold and back pain. However, we managed, with the help of a great handyman, to replace and insulate the back wall in prepping the Shack for the new addition.
This second trip will be to prepare the foundation that the addition will sit on and to remove all the construction debris from the property and clean out all the junk from the storage shed and the Shack.
In preparation for this, I've purchased an electric nail gun/stapler and a medium quality paint sprayer. I've also grabbed a can of spray on Flex Seal for where the wall meets the foundation.
4/13/21
I am writing this entry from the world famous shack! The battery bank is set up, the new inverter is powering the shack at night and the inverter generator is powering the appliances during the day.
I have already begun working on removing the cement block wall and removing the plywood from the back wall.
The lumber is being delivered today and of course a nice big fat juicy fly has plopped into the ointment.
the day the handyman is starting the work, the forecast is for....snow. Believe it or not, the one single day we need good weather, there will probably not be any in sight.
However, there is always, 90% of the time, a change in the weather. For instance, today is supposed to be rain all day. That was yesterday's forecast. Now it's going to be sunny.
4-8-21
The more things stay the same the more they change. Let me explain. The plan for this year is to replace the plywood on the back wall which is 20 years old, put insulation in that wall, remove the 2 layers of cement blocks that have been there for well over 50 years.
Next, an addition is being delivered from Jim's Amish Structures in Chelsea, Michigan which looks like the shack ( a half a double wide mobile home) which will add 188 square feet of floorspace. The key is removing the blocks so that the addition can be set on the foundation that's under the concrete blocks.
Sadly, there is a fly in the ointment - the end of the foundation where it's easiest to slide the addtion in from has a small concrete pad and 4 iron pipes that the old heating oil tank sat on. So, what we were going to do is remove a LOT of the blocks so the addition can be installed from the other end.
After talking to the handyman, Kevin, who is helping with the prep work, he thinks we can remove those 4 iron pipes pretty easily. So, that's what we're going to do which should cut our work nearly in half.
4/4/21
While enjoying Easter and all that entails, I've been in contact with the handyman who's going to help me in a couple of weeks and wanted to touch on some issues related to rural residences.
Being off the beaten trail - our place is 20 miles from the nearest town - it can be diffucult to get the help you need. While the population in Northern Michigan is sort of dense around cities like Gaylord, it's still difficult to find reliable help without networking on places like Craigslist, Angie's list and the like.
Where our main home is near Ann Arbor, a phone call usually gets someone in to repair/install/replace within a day or so. Up north, it's a crap shoot.
3/31/21
Tools, tools and more tools! The excitement continues to build as I get ready for the biggest project I've undertaken in 10 years. When you're doing major building and/or expansion of any home or home impovement project, the biggest thing you'll need beside knowledge and experience is the proper tools to do the job.
For this project, in the past month I've bought a large tarp to cover the building supplies, a sledge hammer to remove the concrete blocks, a circular saw, drill, multi tool and a recipocating saw, all of which are cordless and the same brand so the same batteries will work with all of them.
3/27/21
After several successful tests of the new pure sine wave inverter and the battery bank, it's all ready to be moved to the Shack. The system is working as expected. You can read more about it here.
3/24/21
This is officially insane. I'm referring to lumber prices. OMG, WTF! Ordering all the supplies for the shack for the entire year, supplies that will allow me to totally complete the inside of the shack, minus the shower and kitchen sink base, came in at over $2,000. I've checked my paperwork from 2019 when I started planning the Shack to a tiny home thing and at that time it was $1,400. That's $600 increase in one year.
I don't know how people are doing any remodeling or homebuilding without going waaaaay overbudget.
At any rate, everything is ordered, scheduled to be delivered in April 13th, rain or shine.
Getting into the weeds and the nitty gritty of the project, the next step is to purchase a large tarp. At least 20 x 16 foot. That way, I can have the lumber order delivered, set on the tarp and have the tarp wrap around the top of the massive pile of supplies to protect it from the weather.
We're also upgrading ladders. The one we have now is a wooden stepladder from the 1950's that I have repaired one time too many for safety so we're getting one of those multi ladder jobs. I'll be able to work on the inside as well as getting up onto the roof when needed.
3/23/21
Second entry: Today is a day for the ages. Future generations, once civilization falls and and humans are left to sit around campfires trying to survive will speak of this day.
For today is the day of the most major upgrade to the infrastructure of the Shack in the past 10 years. It is the very first true sine wave inverter that we've ever had.
Some bullet points:
- True sine wave power
- 85% efficiency
- Less than 6 watts standby draw
- Draw dictated cooling fans
This is a photo of the first test of the new inverter. You can see a couple of our solar panels in the background. The battery bank is two Duracell 6 volt, 219 amp hour deep cycle batteries. The load is a LED light. The first test was for 12 hours wherein the combination of the inverter and the lamp drew down the charge on the battery bank by about 5%.
With all the pieces coming together from the handyman to the lumber and the addition from Jim's Amish Structures, I'm emotionally in both a good and satisfying place.
Over the years, from 2006 on, I've worked steadily on the Shack, maintaining it and doing some upgrades as money became available. With retirement and the financial ability to do one of two things came a decision:
1.Tear down the Shack and build new.
or
2. Upgrade and expand the Shack.
Replacing the Shack would be more expensive than adding to it, by around $20,000. The addition, insulation, paneling, kitchen and bathroom will be somewhere around $10,000 to $12,000 so the expense (if we go by nothing else) is less.
Then there's the emotional attachment. I know the Shack. I know where every screw, nail are. I know where the mice like to nest, I know the wiring. It's been solar powered, grid powered, generator powered, battery bank powered, all by my own hand. That is enough of a reason for me to use the existing structure and remodel it from top to bottom.
So, decisions have been made and now it's time to document the process which is where this site comes into play.
3/22/21
So, a big day for the Shack! I've actually spoken with Kevin, the handyman who's going to do the work on the back wall about the work. We had a great conversation and everyone's on the same page. I'm ordering the load of lumber the first week of April - holy shit have lumber prices gone up! What would have cost me $500 a year ago is now $1,400. Prices are insane.
3/15/21
A 50/50 great day. I still can't find anyone to hire to work on the back wall but I have actually and really for real have ordered the addtions which will be installed around the middle of May.
3/10/21
Well, I'm in continued talks with Jim's Amish Structures about the additon. The addition will be attached to the back wall of the Shack where it will become the kitchen and bathroom, leaving the area that now serves as the kitchen freed up to be part of the living room or as I like to call it the "sorta great room."
Once we get closer to the serious order date, I'll have more to say.
3/01/21
The entire process of changing the Shack from well.....a Shack into a tiny home keeps hitting speedbumps along the way. In fact, it's turned into a pothole filled Detroit freeway. Under construction. On a weekday. In an overheating car.
What I've needed is first of all a handyman to help with the exterior prep work. All that needs to be done is remove and replace 8 sheets of plywood and take a sledge hammer to a 3 row cement block wall. That's it.
Every single person I've contacted has not returned calls, claims to be "hurt" or says someone will call me and they never do. Argh. (more about this later in the month - an actual solution!)
