Stampie's Grosh Mahal

Invest in a tool belt with big pockets. I always feel like a dork when Im putting it on, but when I was framing my grosh attic to become a temperature controled loft, it was a godsend as my tools had mysteriously been scattered by faries out to all corners of my home. Theres a level of primordial satisfaction that comes from reaching down without looking and your hand landing on a pencil and tape measure in your belt while holding a 2x4 overhead that will never be known without a good tool belt.

In reply to 4cylndrfury :

Absolutely. When I'm wearing a tool belt, I want to be able to reach directly to every single tool in the belt, every single time, with both hands.  Like touching my nose with my eyes closed. 

My tool belt require suspenders to keep it in place.   Sometimes its a pain climbing around and through trusses.   But better than going back down to the ground for something.

Note on tool belts...

If you use one like this, try turning it around backwards (so the pouches are behind you):

It's easier to get stuff out, since so much construction work is bending and crouching. 
 

Im not a fan of those belts. The riveted pouches can't be customized. And tools fall to the bottom of the big pouches and are difficult to retrieve. But they are better backwards. 

I use a large pouch like this on my left side. My left hand does all the manipulation of fasteners, and it stays open big so I can grab a good handful of fasteners:

On the right side, I wear a pouch more suited for tools and their easy retrieval:

My hammer loop goes in the middle of my butt:

No pouches or pockets in the front. That way I can move, crouch, or crawl through rafters and still get all my tools. 

Looks like this when it's all together:

Be careful if you have to run for any reason. The hammer handle will swing between your legs and hit you where it counts. 

If you wear a nail apron like this, I will keep you in my prayers:

SV reX said:

Note on tool belts...

If you use one like this, try turning it around backwards (so the pouches are behind you):

It's easier to get stuff out, since so much construction work is bending and crouching. 
 

Im not a fan of those belts. The riveted pouches can't be customized. And tools fall to the bottom of the big pouches and are difficult to retrieve. But they are better backwards. 

This is the kind I have because it was the kind on the clearance table at the big box. Downsides are already reported above - also, big pockets catch everything, including sawdust from whatever youre cutting. 

The upside is its cheap and holds a lot of stuff. The narrow little pouches on the front are great for pencils and sharpies, as well as extensions and screwdrivers. Im a huge fan of the middle pocket that holds a tape measure. its where it needs to be every time. Also, depending on the tools you use, the big pouches can actually hold a battery powered hand tool - my drill/driver will stay in there tight if I cantilever it just so.

In the end, they are indeed much better backwards. 

I always agree with Sv Rex... well almost.    I don't carry anything in the center back, only because if I fall on my back I don't want that object hitting my spine.   YMMV

I've considered a tool belt.  Might check things out.  Is there a custom tool belt fitter like for holsters?

SV reX said:

If you wear a nail apron like this, I will keep you in my prayers:

I wore one like this for years as a young roofer.  I needed room for nails, that was it; the cloth belts were lighter and made me sweat less than a big wide belt with a leather pouch.  This was back in the day when we still hand nailed shingles and cedar shakes.  Those days are basically gone.

Edit: as we derail Stampie's thread to talk about tool belts..

Hope you get your trailer/house roofed and keep progressing; it's challenging to work without AC power.  I've been running a generator in my new shop for weeks; I'll be glad when I get the panel in there and can run lighting and power the welder.

In reply to Kendall Frederick :

Speaking of which I've spent this week designing a system.  It'll basically give me 1/4 of the final house system and all the parts will transfer over to the final house.  6000 watts of inverter, 100ah of LiFePO4 battery and 3000 watts of panels.  I think I have it worked out to all fit on the trailer.

Stampie said:

In reply to Kendall Frederick :

Speaking of which I've spent this week designing a system.  It'll basically give me 1/4 of the final house system and all the parts will transfer over to the final house.  6000 watts of inverter, 100ah of LiFePO4 battery and 3000 watts of panels.  I think I have it worked out to all fit on the trailer.

I'm going to do a solar setup with battery backup at my new shop using some Tesla pack modules from 057 Technology in NC.  Might be more capacity and cost than you need, but buying wrecked Tesla cells and repurposing them appeals to me.

In reply to Kendall Frederick :

Yeah I looked at that and it was appealing as berk to a DIYer but right now I'm balancing DIY vs. get it done.  I'll be doing EG4 stuff.  Honestly when I said above it would be 1/4 the house system it probably could be 1/2.  I'm aiming for overkill because you can't kill unless you overkill.  Final system would be 12kw inverter 240v, 20kw in panels, and 20kw in batteries.  I'm kinda softing up to an autostart generator just in case.

It's funny looking at real life power and water consumption vs oh E36 M3 I ain't got unlimited access.   This evening I charged up all these batteries. That'll be less load next week on the small solar system. I also "cleaned" out the Suburban to get a little more room.

For some reason I identified way too much with this.

Don't know if you've seen his stuff but he shows the different parts of American societies with a deep perceptive.

I futzed with different tool belts for years before finally settling on this:

My DeWalt cordless drill and impact driver both have belt hooks the hold onto the belt reasonably well and keeps the weight to a minimum. The tool pouch holds a small number of tools needed for a specific task (currently electrical) along with a hammer loop and tape clip. The leather pouch holds loose hardware. 

Looking forward to seeing your off grid system come together. I don't remember if you mentioned it, but what are your plans for water? Well? Rain collection? My family in Sarasota have a well, but the water has to be pretty extensively treated to be tolerable as their well water has a high sulfur content which gives it that wonderful egg smell. 

In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :

It'll be rain water collection on this temp setup and the final house. 

I got into town this morning at 10 but ran into a delay so I didn't get to the property until 1pm. First thing I noticed was the rain water tarp had fallen down. I see what I did wrong but I was tired and in a rush so it is what it is. No water was collected. 

First thing I did was temp wire in the 12v cooler inside the cabin so that it could cool down my groceries.  I had left it open and unplugged to save battery power. The battery was at float charge when I hooked up the cooler. Next the rain tarp came down and I got busy. First was filling in the front. 

Then boxing in the wheel wells.

And then a bed frame. That's right, you heard it here first, I won't be sleeping in the Suburban tonight. 

I put the green side of the zip panels up so that if AC visits he can wet the bed and we won't have to worry about it soaking into the wood. I would have loved to mount the door today but wasn't able to do so.  I used the mosquito net from the rain water tarp and put that across the door. I have the real door inside the cabin so I'll just lean it into place once I go to bed. 

Finally before quitting for the evening I put up Hotspot V2.5. I'm saying 2.5 because it's still a phone zip tied to a pole except I'm using fence top rails instead of electrical conduit. I also moved it to the cabin as you can see. It's about 22 feet up there and working great. 

Moar!

I mean...you basically built every 9-year-olds dream fort...with a refrigerator and wifi.

Bravo

In reply to 4cylndrfury :

It's funny you mentioned that. Last week I was remembering how as a kid I wanted to build a 4x8 footprint "house".  I'd have a bunk bed and a little 13 inch TV with my Atari 2600 and be set for life. Fifty year old me can't get into a bunk bed and that Atari is long gone but I think I've kept the spirit.  

It's chilly tonight but I don't have my door blocking the opening yet. It'll be in the 50s but hopefully I will be able to sleep. Off to bed soon. 

I froze my fat behind off last night. I had to make a perfect burrito with my blanket just to get some sleep. Got up seeing sun light between all the cracks in the zip panels. That confirmed that today's job was taping the panels. 

First up was measuring the door opening again. I changed my mind on doors mainly to get wider but also found a great deal on fiberglass doors in Jax. The change in door size meant a quick run to Home Depot for dinner 1x2s to make a jam.  I know that the door framing isn't "correct" but it'll do.  I'm using that as an excuse because even at 8 am I was shivering too much to work. Sorry I slacked on pictures today but  I had to stop after running out of tape at 11:30. 

I headed over to El Indio Mexican for lunch. I'm sorry to say that I have to remove my recommendation for them. This was my third time there. I think I just got them on a very good day the first time when I ordered their carne asada enchilada combo. That's a basic Mexican meal that you really can't go wrong with. Next time I ordered their fried fish burrito. The fish was like frozen in a box kind, the cheese wasn't melted and it was just had a dryness to it. Today I ordered two tongue enchiladas. The tongue was ok but the tortilla shell tasted undercooked and the cheese they used while melted just didn't add to the dish at all. Going to take them off my list and keep searching for a good Mexican restaurant. 

Hit Lowe's for more tape and back to the grind. When doing flashing tape you start at the bottom and with your way up. That meant I was on the roof at 2pm this afternoon. It was hot. Didn't help that I was tired. I did take a picture showing the view. The planned site for the house and shop are the left side to middle. The shop door should be on the other side of the big tree in the middle.

Finally I finished taping the whole thing. 

Would have been nice to get the door mounted but I needed to take a shower and head over to a_florida_man's to look at all his cool stuff. Was nice to sit and chat to get me off the build. 

On the way home I stopped at the commie Lowe's in High Springs because they had a USB light that the Gainesville store didn't.

It was strange last night to be in a room but not have a light. 

Got back and started cooking dinner by phone flashlight but did a real quick door locker version 1.0 to get me thru the night. 

I was wondering if you would be warm enough last night. Is there a plan for heating the space?

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

Maybe. Honestly last night was worse case. Big gaps including an inch around the door. No insulation and I couldn't close it up until it had already dropped into the low 60s. My main concern now is the no insulation under the floor. Might look into that. 

Back when I was a Gainesville resident, El Indio was a tiny hole in the wall and it was one of my faves!  Since then, they've modernized and lost some of their original charm.  House is looking great!