Floor Box - Day 19

(3.5 hrs)

Today we installed two more pieces of subfloor plywood (it's halfway done now), roughed in the sink and shower drain lines, and finished the floor insulation.

It sounds so easy when I condense it down to one sentence! The full story after the jump...

Floor Box - Day 18

(2.5 hrs)

Now things are happening! Today I busted out the Roxul rock wool insulation and started installing it in the Tyvek-lined bays of the floor. I thought it would take a longer time than it did; the rock wool was quite quick and easy to work with.

As a reminder, rock wool is made principally from slag--waste rock--from the steel industry. It is melted down and blown or spun into tiny filaments, then pressed into insulating batts (i.e., soft, wooly, but cohesive rectangles of material, like felt). Fiberglass is the only other common type of insulation that comes in batts, and it has a terrible reputation for being nasty, noxious stuff that will irritate your skin, lungs, and every mucous membrane it touches. Rock wool is pretty lovely, in comparison, so I don't think I strictly needed to wear long sleeves, gloves, and a mask... but it was a little dusty, and I was feeling sensitive, so I did.

Floor Box - Day 14-17

DAY 14 (Wednesday, January 21) (2.75 hrs): Today my task was to spray Great Stuff Gaps and Cracks expanding foam in the gap between the trailer and the floor box. Great Stuff is closed-cell polyurethane foam and has an insulating R-value of 6.6 per inch. Since the gap is about half an inch on all sides, that means it will provide about R-3.3 between the trailer and floor box. What does that mean? I don't know exactly, but something good, I'm sure. It will also keep water and air from infiltrating up through that gap and coming in contact with the subfloor, which is probably even more important than the R-value.

I was a little concerned about the foam's performance in cold weather. The label said that low temperatures would adversely affect its performance, and all I could find online is that the ideal operating temperature for Great Stuff is about 70ºF. It was 45ºF today and... it worked just fine. Pshhhaw, worrying for nothing!

Floor Box - Day 10-13

DAY 10 (Saturday, January 17) (0.5 hr): We flipped the floor box! YEAH! My sister and parents, my uncle Chuck, and two friends from high school, Sarah and Becca, helped out. Thank you!!! 

I'm afraid I didn't take any pictures during the procedure ("Okay, everybody hold it... hooold it... just a sec... now, smile... got it! Okay, one more") and somehow forgot to take one afterward. Huh... I was pretty foggy that day. I was actually afraid I was coming down with the flu that's going around--my head felt like it was made of clay and I spent the rest of the day half-vegetative watching Netflix--but it passed. So. All good!

Here's a nice picture of the floor when I finally got around to photographing it in all its right-side-up glory (plus the Tyvek that I added on Day 12).

The Going Green Home - Part 2: Insulation

(The Going Green Home - Part 1: Introduction)

Photo by Jude Hill. Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, via Flickr

Insulation is nominally simple. It's usually fluffy or foamy, airy stuff that fills your walls, ceiling, and floor and keeps the heat where you want it: inside in the winter, outside in the summer. Insulation reduces the need to keep the heater (or air-conditioner) going full-tilt 24/7. Big energy-saver... if not life-saver, depending on where you live!

Help meee!

I've decided it's time to flip the half-finished floorbox. The undercarriage paint is dry and probably hard enough not to get too badly marred by handling, and I've decided what my next steps will be and want to get moving!

Problem: the floorbox weighs about 460 lbs.

SO: I need some helpers! We're thinking this Saturday morning, January 17. There will be muffins or something (and gratitude!). If you want to stick around and help with the lighter work afterward, you're totally welcome to do that, too. No extra muffins for staying, but definitely extra gratitude. :-)

Leave me a comment below or get in touch with me some other way if you're interested, and I'll let you know the details!

Thanks!

Floor Box - Day 8-9

Day 8 (Friday, January 9) (1 hr): Dad and I lifted the floor box out of the trailer bed and laid it on 2x4s across the trailer. This is the first step to flipping it over and setting it back down in place. A car jack was a great tool for this! ...But we'll need a lot more than a jack to get it (eventually) flipped all the way over...