On the Verge

Wow! I had no idea how many obstacles would rear their heads and have to be resolved along the way, or how all absorbing and exhausting it would be.  Or how much more it would all cost than I expected.  Because the Vehicle is a prototype, because it's made of aluminum and very few people weld aluminum in Boston, because my crew had to constantly figure out how to do things they had never done before, and solve dilemmas specific to the materials we used...labor costs were astronomically higher than I anticipated, and this is definitely not affordable housing for poor people--but it could be.  What we've figured out could greatly simplify the job for others. 

Johnny and Anthony installing the greenhouse we invented, with Vaclav's help.

One of the components we're proudest of, that took the most work to figure out, will never be seen by anyone: the custom shower pan that Johnny designed, our friends at Metal Marketplace sold us the bits of metal for and Vaclav, an engineer who makes metal kayaks, figured out how to build and then assembled.  We couldn't use vinyl, plastic or fiberglass because of out-gassing from the material itself or the adhesives used with them, and it had to be shallow enough to fit within the trailer floor's dimensions. We also needed a shallow shower drain, and ended up having to rotate the grey water tank to allow for everything we had to do, because for a MCS-friendly home, it makes sense to have the entrance also be a decontamination chamber, where guests can shower and shed their street clothing.

The bottom of the shower pan, riveted in many places. It slopes gently toward the trench drain making sure water flows where it's supposed to.

The finished floor.

And then there are all the different kinds of latches and other solutions for keeping my stuff from flying around. They have to be made of metal, because I avoid PVC and plastic, but you can't put most kinds of metal into contact with aluminum, so they have to be enameled, and they have to be easy to open with arthritic fingers. It took weeks to figure out the right latches for the greenhouse doors and the drop down desk extension.

And for some reason, ATC, the trailer company that built the shell, added a metal sheet on the bottom of the trailer, as I asked, but didn't extend it to shield the insides of the walls, so we had insulation open to the water and gravel of the road. Yesterday Johnny and Anthony, the wizards of improvisation, created aluminum wheel wells, riveted, caulked and taped to protect my thickly insulated walls from mold-inducing moisture.

These are only a few of the thousands of problems we've had to solve, and those of you who've been emailing me, asking about materials and design choices will be happy to hear that Johnny and I will be collaborating on a book about the whole process, with plenty of details. 

But first, we have to finish the Solatube installation, put a stovepipe on the roof, pray that the unpredictable electrician will finish the plugs, and activate the insurance we finally found to cover the trailer.  Wish us luck!