The Big Reveal…The Snuggery!

Ta-Da! THIS IS IT, my baby house! Isn’t it just the cutest tiny house ever???  Well I think so. I was afraid this day would NEVER get here! I was hoping to have it a little farther along but it’s going to take more time than I thought, so here’s what it looks like right now.

There will be a little covered front porch, just 30″ deep. And hopefully some gingerbread trim at the roof peak, but I’m having some trouble with that.

I posted the picture to Facebook and it got more comments than any other post of mine! Everyone was very complimentary. I think a lot of them seemed surprised; they probably thought I was building some boring little box. Hah! I asked for name suggestions and got some good ones, but decided to go with one I’ve had in the back of my mind for a couple years:  The Snuggery. It means a snug, cozy, comfortable place.

I thought it a good time to show the costs of the completed shell. Naturally it came to more than I thought it would, because I had to hire more labor than I ever imagined. I thought it would cost about $2000 in materials, but that was actually $500 too high!I am pretty sure this is accurate, because I recorded every box of nails, every paintbrush, etc.  I did not include the costs of tools purchased.

Foundation and Subfloor                                                                                         $  648    Exterior Walls (stud walls, siding, house wrap, etc) Incl. $300 Labor            $1296        Roof:  Including $600 Labor                                                                                     $1206        Door, Windows  & hardware                                                                                   $  383                                                                                                                                                          $3533

Locally you can buy an 8×12 storage shed with the same number windows and a house-type door for about the same price but it would have a very shallow roof angle, no roof & soffit ventilation, and it would be just a plain square box, it would have no interesting architectural details like mine does. Who wants to live in a plain box?! Not me. So. Let us hear no more helpful suggestions about “Gee maybe you should have kept the purple shed”. Look at this house, and go back and look at the purple shed below. (Jan. 2018 post) Yeah, it’s kinda cute, but there’s just NO COMPARISON!! Let us hear no more about the purple shed.

It took a terribly long time to get the siding done; a job that should have taken maybe 3 days. The guys I hired have zero work ethic, and no communication skills. They’d say they were coming the next day, then never show up and not call or text, either. I really think there’s some substance abuse problem going on there. When they did show up, it would be usually 10:30-11:00 and they’d only work til 2:30. Then Tyler got a piece of wood in his eye and lost a few days, then the 35-40 mph winds returned, blah blah blah. So the siding job dragged out for more than two weeks. I was SO anxious to get it done and painted so I could show it off, I nearly lost my mind. It’s close to being done on the outside, but there’s still more work to do and I worry that Tyler will never show up again, because the two trickiest places to fit are still not done.

I guess the question that’s on everyone’s mind now is “when will I move in?” Well, I’ll move in as soon as it’s more comfortable than living in the camper. Technically I guess that would be once it’s insulated. But before it’s insulated I have to run the 12V wiring and the plumbing drain lines. I’m thinking about taking a shortcut though. I plan to use foam insulation, and I need to get 2″ and 1.5″ sheets in order to fill the cavities between the 2×4 wall studs. That’ll cost around $500 and I don’t have that, so in order to speed things up, I’m thinking I could buy the 1.5″ thick sheets ($220) and install them. That would leave space for the wiring and plumbing lines plus the 2″ thick sheets later on, and maybe it would be enough insulation to make the house comfortable enough to move into!  So far the house is very energy-efficient. Since we got the door on, I’ve been checking and the temp inside the camper has been 88-89 but inside the house, only 80. I want to move in NOW! (I hate heat)

I’d have to jerry-rig a kitchen counter and build some kind of temporary bed but that’s OK. I have a portable 2-burner propane cooktop with oven, a dorm-size 1.9 cu. ft. propane fridge, and a nice Kohler cast iron kitchen sink. I’m not sure how complicated it is to hook up a propane fridge, but I do know that the RV place charges around $200 to do it (including the cost of coming out here). So I guess I’d have to continue using the ice chest for awhile longer, but it could be INSIDE the house! Wow, now THAT would be real luxury, not to have to go outside to get food!  I’m sure ice would last much longer if it was in the house too, not sitting out in the heat.  And I could have my comfortable chair, and even the TV, for watching DVD’s!  Wow. I’m getting all googly-eyed.

I admit that the weather here is really crappy. If it’s not too hot or too cold, it’s too windy or snowy. Oh and did I mention we had quarter-sized hail the other day? I can’t comment on the monsoon weather because I haven’t experienced it  yet, but just the word “monsoon” doesn’t bring pleasant images to mind. BUT to make up for it, we don’t have mosquitoes, ticks, or other biting insects; no rattlesnakes, tarantulas or scorpions. I have just discovered there is a very annoying insect though. I guess last year I left for the higher elevations before they emerged…..Face Flies! They are about half the size of a house fly and at first I thought they were baby house flies that were too stupid to know where to go. They don’t bite but they want to suck the moisture from eyes and noses. So they get right in your face and just won’t quit. Aarrrgh!! They live around cattle, and this is free range territory. You can’t eradicate them because they lay their eggs in cow manure in pastures. And I’ve not found any repellents that work against flies. I really hate them!

Good news from the doctor’s office Thursday though! Remember three months ago I finished up the Supartz injections of artificial joint fluid, and then the following week I had PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma) injections in both knees. Well yesterday he had me swing my legs back and forth slowly while he held my kneecap, and…..hardly any grinding and crunching!! (It’s officially called crepitus) So one or both of the procedures worked! My knees never hurt any more but I’m still wearing the braces any time I’m going to be on my feet for very long, and they also help a lot. But….sweet success! And I’m up to 41# of weight lost. Yay. Every pound of excess weight is about 4# of pressure on the knees, so that’s a whopping 164# of pressure relief!  If you are wondering what diet I’m on, I’m not really on any specific one. I’m not just trying to lose weight, at the same time I’m trying to reverse my diabetes, so I have to take that into consideration. I’ve greatly reduced my carbs. My diet is simple…..if it tastes good, spit it out.