Sawmill!

I had to work yesterday.  It was no fun.  It was, as I feared, a killer day.  Someone called in sick.  I had to do my job and then someone else's.  It made for a very long day.

When I got home you'll never believe what I discovered.  I found my beloved hand-milling some spruce (That's Dash in the foreground).  Also in the foreground is some of the siding from dear Miss Maizy.

Today, after a moderately hard day at work, I found Peter was just finishing the milling process and we now have this nice pile of spruce 1x2's, ready for wall building.

We are ready to move forward.  We headed to town to purchase our plywood for the walls.  Heading into town means going into the Bellingham, about 15 miles away.  We examined a dozen sheets of 1/4 inch fir plywood only to decide that the quality was less than desired.  Plans changed (remember I said being flexible here was key?) and we traipsed off to Windsor, intending to purchase that incredibly beautiful birch plywood for that incredibly fine price.  After 20 minutes of examining the birch plywood and Windsor's other offerings we ended up with deciding the fir from Home Depot was more than adequate - as the Windsor birch was less than 1/4 inch and Peter felt we really needed the full 1/4 inch.

As it turns out, we decided to wait to purchase the plywood until next week.  With work schedules as they are we won't have time to work on the wall until then anyway.  

Born to Shop

Today was a fun shopping day.  I had to work a bit (must work to get paid to pay for this stuff). But work was quickly done and off we went to the supply stores for a little reconnaissance.

Since Miss Maizy is small we kind of feel we can spend a little more on some things.  I mean, it's not like we are are dealing with a 20 foot trailer that requires 200 square feet of flooring and 40 sheets of plywood.

We are preparing to build new sides and we need plywood.  About 10 sheets we think.  We want a quality wood and headed out to Windsor, a local specialty wood store.   I (we) have some serious decisions to make.  This birch wood is $35.99 a sheet.  Exactly what we need and it's really beautiful. There are two problems with it.  The price is one.  At $35.99 that adds up quickly!  Plus it's just too pretty.  I envisioned painting the interior white and this wood is just too pretty to paint.

We also considered a marine virola.  Just as expensive, probably more durable, and not nearly as pretty, which means I can paint it any color I want and not feel bad.

And then we left the hoity toity wood store and checked out the local Lowe's and Home Depot.

They have a perfectly fine plywood for just $27.99 a sheet and not too pretty so perfect to paint.  I think that's the way we will go.

We left the plywood department and headed to the flooring department.  In my head I can picture exactly the look and feel I want in my little Miss Maizy.  I need to install the flooring before we replace walls and cabinets.  In building a trailer, it's done before putting in the attached elements (I learned that on a YouTube video).

In my research today I learned what I don't like.  I do NOT like rolled vinyl flooring.  It's seriously awful.  It is certainly a cost saving option but man it's ugly.  Of the two samples below I really like the one on the left.  A tad more expensive (but I only need a little for my tiny Miss Maizy).  The problem with this choice is that it adds an additional 1/2 inch to the flooring height. In a house, not such a big deal.  In Miss Maizy, a problem.  As it is, toward the back of the trailer Peter can not stand up straight.  Near the front he can, but the hair on his head brushes the ceiling.   If you add a 1/2" to the floor, he wont be able to stand up straight at all.  Not so comfortable for him and I'm afraid I don't have time to wait for osteoporosis to shrink him and inch or two. 

The sample on the right is a peel and stick vinyl option.  If done well it wouldn't be too bad.  The problem here is that my experience with peel and stick has not been particularly positive.  

  

After our fun research trip we came home to a bit more work on Miss Maizy.  We continued removing skin and insulation.  She hardly looks the same.