Bathroom Frame, Walls & Floor Plus the Kitchen Back Wall!
After all the weeks of demolition and preparation it was time for the walls to start going up! As I mentioned in last Monday’s blog post the screedings in the bathroom were being done that day so the week prior is when the framing, walls and floor for the bathroom went in and also the kitchen back wall.
It was a busy week! Getting these walls up is heavy work! It’s not a one person job and something I did need “muscle help” with!
We started with the back wall, this part of the back wall, just the section for the bathroom and kitchen, was not framed, the insulation went up first, I’ve used a blanket insulation which was cut to size and taped into place. I’ve used 6mm FC Lining Villaboard for the walls, it was sized up and holes cut for the taps and power points with the appropriate sized hole saws, smaller sections needed to be cut and we’ve used a villaboard knife to do that. The villaboard was then put up and screwed into place on top of the insulation! The screws go right through to the outside of the container so needed to be grinded off and waterproofed from the outside afterwards. You can’t see from the photos but the internal bathroom wall was also insulated with the blanket insulation before putting up the villaboard! Probably not necessary but there was enough insulation on the roll and it provides another layer between the bathroom and the bedroom!
Sounds simple? Nope it’s not! Well…actually yes it is, but it requires time and patience and the flexibility to problem solve and adapt as you go along! Used shipping containers will have knocks and dents in them so as you go along to put your walls in you’ll find that if you do it in a hurry and just screw everything in as tight as you can you’ll have incredibly crooked walls! Take the time to assess as you go along! After screwing everything in the first time we had to take a couple of sheets down and adjust how they were put in to make them straight! As I went along I used a long bit of board to check if the walls were straight or bowing as they went up…you can check horizontally and vertically to see how even everything is looking!
Once the walls were up it was time to lay down the bathroom floor. For this I’ve used 19mm Scyon Secura Interior FC Flooring. This product is really heavy! It requires a diamond blade grinder disc to cut and it’s really dusty! Once the first sheet is on the floor and in place we drilled it in, the next sheet had to be cut to allow for the shower drain and a joint sealer squished in between when putting together the tongue and groove! The third sheet was cut to fit where the wall frame would end along the hallway and also had joint sealer in between the tongue and groove when putting them together!
Next was the bathroom wall frame! I know frames are usually built on the ground and then put up as one but there was no room in this tiny space for it nor was there room to get it in through the door if we’d done it outside, so the frame was put together bit by bit as it stands, starting with the base plate on the floor, then the top plate on the ceiling followed by the studs or vertical support beams and then the noggins which are the smaller bits of horizontal timbers in between the studs! I’ve used a 70 x 35mm Pine Timber Framing for these walls! After the frame was complete the villaboard walls went up much the same as they did on the back wall just without any insulation.
Two different types of screws were used for these walls and frames…for those of us who do not regularly buy screws I’ll just let you know, the G on the screws tells you the width of the screw and the mm is the length of the screw. To screw the villaboard into the container wall we used 8G x 30mm Galvanised Countersunk Head Metal Screws, these were hard even for my muscle helper to screw in! Emily and I had to screw in a few extra screws prior to flushing the walls so I bought some 10G x 65mm Galvanised Countersunk Head Metal Screws, same brand, but actually found them easier to get in…I’m not sure if just being longer they caught through easier? Can’t explain it, just know they were easier to work with! And to screw the wooden frame together we used Chipboard Screws Countersunk Ribbed Head Phillips Drive 10G x 100mm.
The bathroom wall framing used 16 lengths of 3.6m timbers so approximately 57m of timber. The 6mm Villaboard for the bathroom and kitchen walls is 1800 x 1200 and I used 14 sheets. The 19mm bathroom Flooring is 2700 x 600 and I used 3 sheets and one tube of Joint Sealer. And there was approximately 450 metal screws and approximately 200 wood screws used! The tape used for the insulation to be put into place was T-Rex 48mm Strong Duct Tape and yep it was definitely strong, I’d suggest cutting it before you’re up a ladder trying to tape up insulation!
My next job was to get the bathroom walls flushed before the builders arrived to do the screedings, waterproofing and tiling! Because I was flushing a bathroom wall it didn’t need to be sanded or completely perfectly flat for painting as the waterproofing was going on top of it, and since this is the first time I’ve ever flushed a wall it’s just as well! I’d gotten everything quite smooth but I was actually really nervous about how the job was looking, although I’d covered everything with two coats it didn’t look like it was enough! I spoke to the builder prior to them arriving to let them know that they’d need to check my work when they arrived and if there was anything that needed fixing or done again would they mind doing it and they assured me that if there were any problems they’d take care of it before going any further! So glad the builders gave a tick of approval and they started work on the bathroom floor screedings while I sat on a bag of insulation at the other end of my Tiny House and wrote last weeks blog post!
I’ve got builders / tilers in putting my bathroom back together! The structural part of the bathroom is something I didn’t want to tackle myself as I figured there’s no room for error with the parts of the build like the waterproofing & screedings and I’ve definitely got not enough experience to do the job! They’re doing the floor screedings, waterproofing, tiling, grouting, silicone and putting the toilet in! The floor was done last Monday and then allowed drying time. The waterproofing is now on the floor and the first coat of the wall joins are done and drying! They are back again this coming Wednesday to start tiling the floor!
What have I done this past week? I took a couple of days off! I wish I could say I did nothing but we spent a day hunting for new bathroom floor tiles, the ones I originally ordered are unfortunately still around a month away! Kinda glad because we found some great tiles that we like better at Beaumont Tiles that were in stock!
And back at the house at the end of the week Emily and I have put up the interior frame on the front wall of the Tiny House! The bedroom wall frames are half done so we’ll finish them off this week and I’ll show you in next weeks blog post!
I’ve added in photos again this week of the products I used and have talked about on this post!
Heaps to come so keep watching!
Thanks for reading!
Jen 🏡
