Monday, July 29, 2013

Update from Sarah

It's been a while since I've posted info. and pics about my building process, so here it is - a little update before I head off and begin touring again.

It was cold in Ludington much of my stay and I wasn't able to live in Rosie through the winter but in May I happily moved back in and began working again. One of the first things I did was to attach a ladder to the outside of the structure so I could climb up to the roof with ease.


One of the difficulties with building on the road is that you are generally in a hurry and fighting the elements. When I left Champaign Sept. 2011 there was a gap between all three stage panels and the roof, which meant there were waterproofing issues with one side area and the back of Rosie. 



In Texas I used some reclaimed flashing to cover the gap to help with the rain. It was not a pretty sight, but it worked for a while.


Now I finally had some time and a little more money to build out and to install some weatherstripping between the tiny space that was left. It felt great to tear off all that old flashing!





The next project was the roof - again! I was warned that flat roofs were not a good idea, but I tend to be really stubborn. I did NOT want a pitched roof - meaning I have paid the price for not listening... yup - puddling and leaking. I should add that there was a 2" incline on one side but the plywood got rained on and some of it expanded and contracted before I had time to attach the galvanized steel - and because I needed to move there wasn't enough time to tear it off and start over. So a year and a half later I'm having problems with the roof. I am grateful to Mark Fisher for coming out and helping me install a corrugated roof over the flat roof. So far so good:)


After adding the flashing around the edges for the roof more water than usual began streaming off and hitting the windows and door. I used some of the old flashing to create thin metal awnings to give the door and both windows a little more protection from the rain. It doesn't look like much but it helps and the metal is thick enough for high impact winds i.e. driving down the highway.



After that I began working on one of the most important components of my MPD - the stages! I built them like you would build a floor - with studs only 12" apart because I wanted to make sure they were strong. They are incredibly strong and incredibly heavy. In the past I have needed help bringing the stages up and down and I would like it to be a one person operation. The first thing I did was take 1 stage apart, tear off the OSB and replace it with a thin, lightweight plywood. That almost made it light enough... but not quite. So I began building a box frame on the inside.



And I bought a pulley and some rope...


and actually brought one of the stages up and down by myself! That was an exciting moment. I laughed and cried and ran inside to kiss my sister and brother-in-law. Sometimes it's the simple things.

Soon I'll be leaving Ludington to continue the tour I began September 2011. For more information about my traveling journey take a peek at my blog: http://raw-art-tour.blogspot.com/. I'll be posting information about the journey in the next week or so.


Thanks for reading:)



















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