Preparation Work!
I definitely did not expect the preparation work after the demolition to be as big of a job as it has been! But I figured if I was going to do it then I was going to do it properly!
I had no idea what I would need for all the prep work until the walls were down, and as time went on, and the job progressed, and I learned more about what I was doing, the list of to dos got bigger and bigger!
Tearing down walls and framework from inside a shipping container Tiny House leaves screws half hanging out of the walls, or just the screw holes! There was glue and silicone stuck to the walls and the ceiling! There were some tiny surface rust spots and of course the mould damage! And lets not forget all of the building debris that came out of the house!
Overwhelming was an understatement! My Tiny House was back to almost it’s shell! Well on the inside anyway! Of course my roof, windows, door, fireplace, air conditioner, electrics, plumbing etc are all still in tact! And although I have had to do some patch work on the exterior of the container because of the screw holes being exposed the rest of the exterior is completely fine…it’ll get a fresh lick of paint when I am done but otherwise fine!
First thing was to get rid of all of the rubbish and then to get in a commercial cleaner to rid the walls of all of the mould damage.
Next was to get a plumber in to check over the plumbing and to fix up the shower drain after the tiles and bathroom floor had all been taken out.
Once that had been done it was time to strip back all of the walls and ceiling where the old framework had been to get rid of glues and silicone and screws. I thought at first I could get the job done with a metal scraper! How wrong I was! So I then progressed to a crimped brush on the end of the drill, I soon after learned how to use a grinder with a wire knot brush and a crimped bevel brush, I learned what a flap disc is…it’s a sanding disc for the grinder, no idea why it isn’t just called a sanding disc! These tools made the job so much easier to do! Walls and ceiling were stripped back to smooth container walls!
Silicone came next! I used a variety of silicones depending on what area I was working on. Gap filler is so easy to work with and great for the inside areas while a polyurethane is needed for the exterior. I also used a marine grade polyurethane silicone for some of the exterior areas, while it is harder to work with the seal is strong, flexible and paintable so does the job really well!
Majority of areas were painted with two coats of a stain and mould blocker primer, which is the white paint. There were tiny rust spots exposed after pulling down the frame work but then more that surfaced after I used the grinder on the walls so I treated those areas with a rust treatment converter and then painted over them with a rust guard primer, which is the grey paint.
Then it was time for the windows and door! I have had issues with the windows leaking in the past and although they had been fixed I wanted to use this opportunity to go over them again myself, and take the time to make sure they are really sealed up properly! I stripped back all of the silicone around the windows and then re applied new silicone to all of the screws around the window frame. I then did something a little different and used a paint on pond sealer to cover the entire area, actually three coats of pond sealer! I did the same thing on all four windows and the door! I also used a clear leak seal paint on the timbers on the outside of the windows after giving them a clean up with linseed oil and a fresh coat of varnish!
The interior walls also got a patch coat of pond sealer where holes had been siliconed! This is why my walls ended up a white, grey and black patchwork!
I have been using a rust prevention spray on the fireplace regularly to keep it rust free and cleaning alcohol is great for getting paint off areas you don’t mean to get paint!
All of this has taken me so much longer than I expected it to but I am glad that I have taken the time to get it all right! I feel like having that properly prepared base is going to make the rebuild so much easier to do!
I have added in some photos of most of the products I used and have talked about on this post!
Remember guys I’m not a builder so this isn’t how to advice! I’m just sharing what I’ve done with my renovation work as I’m doing it!
Heaps to come so keep watching!
Thanks for reading!
Jen 🏡
