Backyard Escape Pod

[mreidsma]

A few weeks back I started building a micro Teardrop-shaped shelter. It's 6 feet long, and only 2 feet wide (4 feet high). There's no galley, and it'll serve me as a backyard napping/reading area for our small house (900 square feet with two kids under 5). Bob Henry suggested "Escape Pod" for the name, and despite the fact that there are a hundred other Teardrops here with that name, this one is mine.



I made a few paper models to make sure the narrow width wouldn't throw the shape out of proportion. The final design is pretty close to the white model. (My wife didn't like the Benroy as much.)



The frame is 2x2s ripped from boards I got out of the dumpster at the end of my street. I lined the underside with cedar fence boards, and caulked up the gaps.



I had a bunch of R3 styrofoam laying around from another project, so I insulated the bottom with 1 1/2" of it. You can see where I doubled up some of the cross members to have something to attach the heavy duty 5" casters that will serve as a trailer.



The subfloor is 1/2" plywood from some ugly basement shelves that I tore out of our house when I bought it. So far I had $9 invested (in the fence boards).



I used 2 4'x4' pieces of 1/4" OSB and 2 2' x 4' pieces for the sides, because (you guessed it) I found them in a dumpster.



It's narrow! But I fit fine.



Once I got all the spars in, I did some tests to fit some 1/8" hardboard for my ceiling cover. I know from reading a lot that there are some folks who hate this stuff, but 20 years ago I helped build an outdoor skateboard park here in Michigan and we used hardboard for all the ramp surfaces. They sat out in the rain and snow and ice for a decade and a half before they moved the park, and that stuff held up great. I'll still waterproof it, of course, but I had a store credit at one of the box stores and so it was effectively free. (Are you noticing a theme here? )



Tonight I framed out the interior cabinet, which will be a handy spot for books and such, and possibly a little compartment for a 12V system. We'll see.

That's as far as I am now, and I get about 20 minutes a day to work on tis with 2 small kids, but there's a foot of snow on the ground, so I guess I'm in no hurry.

-Matthew

[KCStudly]

Cute!

[Lynn Coleman]

Enjoy the escape. It looks like a fun build.

[mreidsma]

Had a little time over the past few nights to work on the Teardrop. First, I got the next section of the ceiling glued in. Because there is a fairly tight curve (1' radius) I tried scoring the first sheet of hardboard to relieve some of the tension in the curve. This turned out to be a bad idea, since the piece just snapped in half at one of the score points when I bent it. Whoops!



I went ahead and installed a different piece, without scoring, and it worked fine. I had to get creative with the clamping to make sure that it stayed tight against the spars since I'm not using any mechanical fasteners on the ceiling, but luckily looking at a hundred other build journals gave me a lot of ideas:



Next I enlarged and framed in the window. Because it is such a narrow space, I'm only installing a door on one side. The window I'm using is a 1" thick double paned sash, 25" square that I found at the ReStore for 5 bucks. I hjad been toying with the idea of leaving part of the ceiling uncovered and using a translucent roofing material to get in more light, but this window is pretty great and getting light in, so I decided to seal up the top and get some insulation there.



Now while I let the glue dry on the ceiling, I'm working on designing a simple 12 volt system. I've been also working on solving some ventilation problems (over in this thread), so before I get any insulation in there I'm going to run wires for lights and possibly a fan (or two). It looks like if I can kick this cold I'll even get a good chunk of time to work this weekend, but I probably just blew my chance by saying that out loud!

-Matthew

[mreidsma]

Had a little time to start insulating this week. I'm still thinking through some big design elements, like exterior and interior coverings, so I've hesitated in putting insulation in certain areas that will need holes cut.



I had a lot of 3/4" XPS styrofoam insulation left over from insulating and air sealing the rim joist in my basement, so I used that. The foam comes in 4' long lengths 14 1/2" wide (so it fits be default between furring strips at 16" OC). I adhered the foam to the wood with Titebond II, but I made sure to cut it to fit snugly as well, especially since I was using scraps to piece together some of the sections.





I'm trying to decide whether it would be easier to cut holes for things like my 3" round soffit vents with the insulation installed or not before I fill all the gaps. I also feel that I need to settle on interior and exterior coverings before I cut those holes, since I'm considering using canvas for at least one cover. That would affect how large I cut the holes for the vents and doors, since I'll need to wrap the fabric over the edges into the openings. I have a zillion questions about how that works (and whether to use flashing, etc.) so I've been working my way through the multi-volume set that is the Foamie Big Thread, and I'm sure questions will pop up soon in the skinning forum.

I'm hoping to get this thing up on the bathroom scale this week so I can get a better idea of how heavy it is to date. That will affect what I decide to use for a skin. According to my research, using FRP or 1/4" plywood on the outside of this thing will add between 40-50lbs to the weight (and that doesn't factor in any interior covering yet!) Since I have to get this up a flight of stairs (admittedly, with help!) I am being a bit conscious of the weight factor. But, thinking through this stuff has been half the fun, and is something I have more time for than actually "making sawdust!"

-M

[Gold5one]

I just had a vision of Grandpa Munster dozing away in his backyard in his camper/coffin--
If you paint it the right color, it looks perfect for the new Elio car rolling out in 2016 (maybe).

[mreidsma]

Ha! I did have to negotiate the number of windows in the thing so my wife would stop calling it the coffin.

-M

[mreidsma]

I have made some more progress, and have some more photos to prove it, but the big news is that I weighed the build on the bathroom scale the other day: 145lbs so far, with only the interior and exterior wall coverings left to install.

I'll be doing Titebond II and canvas on the outside (with a $15 Menards drop cloth) and probably some sort of thin fabric-covered panel on the inside. I should be able to keep the weight below 170lbs for the trip up the stairs. Then I can install the window and the door, and finally, the casters and wheelbarrow handles!

The weather forecast says that we'll get above freezing this weekend and stay there, so once I return from a long trip at the end of the month, I'll hopefully be able to wrap things up and get the Escape Pod into the backyard!

-M

[Gold5one]

How's the Escape Pod coming along?

[mreidsma]

Glad you asked! I was abroad for a few weeks, and it took a few weeks to prepare and then a few to recover, so I haven't done much since the end of February. But with a 66 degree day today, I'm itching to get back at it. It's fully insulated now, and I built a little fake tongue box off the front that opens from the inside where I can put my shoes when I get in:

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1427931216.808622.jpg (107.87 KiB) Viewed 3219 times

Then I put in some nice vinyl flooring that looks like old barn wood ($10 at the Restore):

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1427930767.897629.jpg (101.79 KiB) Viewed 3219 times

Next step is to "poor man's fiberglass" the outside with Titebond II and a $15 Menards drop cloth. Then I need to finish building the door. Right before I left I got a box from Lil Bear full of door goodies, so I'm ready to get started on that, too.

The problem I have now is that the warm weather means I have a hundred other projects to work on!

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1427930714.842796.jpg (109.13 KiB) Viewed 3219 times

-Matthew

[mreidsma]

Well, once the weather got nice, it got a lot harder to work on an indoor project, but I made a little headway at the end of April by taking a few vacation days.

First, I finished skinning the outside of the Escape Pod with 1/8" hardboard. I used some homemade clamps made of scrap wood that I first saw in a post somewhere here on the forum:

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1436025642.220446.jpg (96.68 KiB) Viewed 2855 times

After the glue had dried I started covering the sides with canvas. I used a Menards drop cloth thatI initially thought would cover the sides and the top, but that was before I realized I was really bad at math.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1436025528.503340.jpg (112.01 KiB) Viewed 2855 times

I finished both sides, and then about a month later started canvassing around the "tongue box." It turned out that not only did I not have enough canvas from the first drop cloth, but the 12' x 4' one I ordered for the top was also not long enough! I ended up with a longer delay than I should have had by planning to pick up. 4' x 6' cloth "someday" at the hardware store, I but I went several weeks without getting near the store. Finally my wife took pity on me and ordered another 4'x12' cloth from Amazon, which has now been washed and is ready to be applied to the top.

After thatI'll need to build a door, and figure out what to cover the inside with. I've read about several foamies that used a thin chip board as a liner in the inside, and that might be nice because it would be easy to replace. I've also thought about using spray glue to cover the interior with fabric (which I know one or two of the Vardos here have done.) Whatever I do, it either needs to be light or needs to wait until I get the thing out of the basement. I figure it currently weights about 140lbs, so too much more and it will be a real pain to move.

With any luck, I'll have another update soon!

[Gold5one]

Well, down here in Florida we have cardboard boat races. It's amazing how far a boat made of painted cardboard can go. That said, you can buy bundles of flat cardboard at the office stores- paint both sides and staple it to the inside walls. You won't have much weight and cardboard has insulating qualities, to boot, and you can quickly begin using your backyard sanctum.

[S. Heisley]

Once you get the outside weather proofed with TBII and you have the tongue box and door completed, you can move it outside and put the door on and finish the interior there. I like that idea of painted cardboard! Cardboard has insulating properties, too!

[mreidsma]

That's a great idea, and since it isn't permanent, if I decided later to do something fancier on the inside it wouldn't be a chore to remove the existing covering. Plus, my 5-year-old could probably help with the paining and installation. She's a marksman with a stapler.

Next week I've reserved a vacation day just for finishing the canvassing and building the door frame. All the other days I had planned to use on the escape pod were used up putting in a brick patio. Both projects had goals of making a space in the backyard to hang out, so I can't complain! With any luck we'll catch the tail end of summer in the escape pod. Updates to follow next week!

-M

[mreidsma]

Well, last week I finished canvasing the outside of the Escape Pod. While I still have to build the door and canvas it, I'm nearly done with covering everything I own in a thin layer of glue.

Here's the canvas as I started covering the fake tongue box:



I only have about 18 inches on either side of this thing to move, and working on the top I needed to have space on either side. I covered nearly every part of myself in Titebond II at some point.

Once I got all the canvas glued on, I went over everything with several thin coats of 50/50 water & Titebond II mix. That was even messier. But here it is, all canvased:



Hoping to get some time to work on the door in the next week or two, and then my neighbor and I are going to try to get this thing out of the basement and into my garage for door and window installation, painting, and interior coverings. With any luck, I'll be able to sit in it before the snow falls.

-M