It is late September and with Winter on the way again it is time to start checking all the weak points both inside and outside of your home. Living in a trailer that we have been winterizing since the beginning of the August, there have been a few things come up that normally would not in a regular home. Here are a few of them to keep in mind even if you are not in a trailer or doing renovations.
After the initial move and since our trailer is an older model, 1960 or thereabouts, we had to make some decisions about its overall condition. The first thing we decided on was to pull down the ceiling in the kitchen and living and tear out the ceiling cover, plastic barrier and the old, wet insulation so the ceiling could dry. I sprayed the wet areas with bleach water to kill and prevent mold. The rest of the ceiling will be done next spring. We built twenty nine trusses to put on the existing roof rather than removing the old roof and rebuilding from scratch. While the roof was being built onto it and insulated with R20, then shingled, the existing vents for the furnace and water tank had to be checked and either reinforced or put in again. Originally there was no attic opening to get into the roof so that had to be cut out in the spare room closet and covered. I replaced all the light bulbs with energy savers.
Once we had enough hose down the well to reach the water, more was needed to go from the pumphouse to the trailer to be hooked up for access to indoor running water. The only way I had access to running water previously was by going out to the pumphouse and turning on the noisy generator that was hooked up to the well pump, back in the house I had to pail enough cold water for use on the stove and for baths after which I went back to the pumphouse and turned the generator off. This, for a month before the hose was hooked up under the trailer and little do we realize just how much water a washing machine uses until you have to pail it in, which is why I use only cold water for washing! All the electrical also had to be hooked up for the lights and power to the appliances.
That done, we next installed a new 40 gallon propane water tank, that had to be ordered in, to heat the well water and got the electric furnace converted to a propane user; the 250 gallon propane tank for the yard was delivered and hooked up by a gas fitter who also had to check the fittings and connections of the propane copper wiring to the trailer. At this point it is good to keep in mind that Alberta regulations are set so only 80 % of the tank is filled for safety reasons and you have to manually check the amount of propane left in your tank and know what the current price of propane is when ordering another fill to make it economical to use. Does anyone hear solar panels echoing in their heads! Well, so far, so good.
September has been busy as money and time was spent on cutting to fit and painting some of the OSB sheets that were used for the porch, to skirt in the bottom of the trailer to protect the water lines from freezing and keep the mouse, vole, mole and bug populations at bay. Before finishing the skirting and packing dirt along the edge and up the skirting all around the trailer, the water pipes had to be wrapped with thirty feet of electric pipe freeze prevention heating cable, with a plug in and then have insulation taped all around the pipes leaving an access door in the skirting for easy entry. It has taken a month to build the 12 x 12 porch, working on it in the evenings and weekends.
Our trailer is on a small acreage so there was a lot of wood boards that were still usable and being economy minded people on a budget who do not like to waste anything, we spent time in cutting these boards for use in building the frame and roof of the porch. My hubby and his friend put twenty feet of soffet up plus the flashing then framed and built most of the porch and put it together. Finishing the low sloped roof with metal and pulling it into place, securing it with three inch screws. It is detached from the trailer in case of a move. This will be set up as my winter porch pantry. The electrical is done in the porch for the indoor and outdoor lights and the switches are in. Now we can insulate and sheet the inside of the porch, I can clean and paint the floor and our freezer, bin, three tier shelf can go in. I still need my two tables, wood/recycle/trash and potato boxes in and the shelving built. Then I can stock it for my pantry.
After I used closed cell foam tape weatherstrip on the windows and doors, I covered the windows with shrink-to-fit, clear film window insulator over the all the windows inside, finishing them with a blow dryer to tighten them up and keep the drafts out; Alberta winds can get pretty vicious. Our wood stove has yet to go in; first we need to build a raised wood platform in the living room with enough room under and behind it to allow for airflow, then put light cement board insulation against the wall for added protection. Ceramic tiles go on the platform, a vent is cut into the wall behind and covered for fresh air, a hole is then cut into the ceiling and out through the insulation and roof so the pipe can be put in place with an added half pipe attached to the existing one, again for added protection. After that the wood stove is connected and fired up, using the furnace fan to circulate the heat from the wood burner to heat the rest of the trailer; this will greatly cut down on our propane use. By the way, one of the best and most economical fire-starters you can use is the lint from your dryer; I save all of mine for just that purpose.
There is still the pumphouse to insulate and a nine inch portable dish heater to put in to keep it warm for the winter and keep everything from freezing. Thirty six feet of house cover is needed to go on the out side of the porch to protect the wood over the winter months and the rest of the soffet has to be put on. Next Spring we will put siding on the porch and attach three inch board insulation to the outside of the trailer walls, then re-side it. Its important to remember that everything you add to a trailer also adds to the overall weight of the trailer, that is why when building the roof you can have only a foot of overhang. Even though there is still work to be done most of the important things are already in place for the coming of winter. Its a good idea to prepare and plan ahead for trailer renos, a line of credit at your local hardware store also helps.
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