First wall covered – a riveting experience.

7/4/19

(Above: The first rivet I have ever installed within Jacobhouse. To think I was learning to how to take them out just a hair under a year ago…)

Building Summary: Today began with my driving the big white pickup out to Jacobhouse once more*. There, I took off a piece of galvalume, measured the north side of Wall #6, and then measured / marked that piece of metal accordingly. Nibbling ensued, and then I brought the modified panel inside Jacobhouse to test its dimensions. The top left corner needed trimming, I found, so I took the piece back outside, nibbled it a tad more, and then brought it back inside. I commenced to measure the combined width of the two pieces I had cut thus far (75″), and then I measured the container end’s width (90″). After that, I proceeded to cut a piece of galvalume that was equal to the difference (>15″) while having a vertical ‘bar’ down the middle. Fastening took place after this – a task performed via drill and rivet gun [more in commentary].

Commentary: Like yesterday, today’s primary highlight concerns the use of a new tool. It was my first experience with a pop-rivet gun, and I must say, it was even more impressive and satisfying to use than I suspected. First, there was the experiment. I drilled a small hole through a piece of scrap metal into a leftover plank of ½” plywood. After some minor struggles with the basics of riveting (i.e. putting the rivet in the gun backwards), I eventually fitted the ½” rivet through that small drilled hole and pulled the handle. Nothing happened, so I pulled again, and this time I noticed a slight bit of resistance. Knowing that something magical was afoot, I pulled the handle a third and fourth time, and on the fourth, it ‘popped’. My efforts afterward to pull apart the wood and scrap metal were to no avail. That’s when I knew I would be using rivets to put up the wall paneling.

As for other highlights, I have to mention that the galvalume paneling is looking almost exactly how I thought it would. It matches the container’s original walls quite well, and the rivets really do maintain a subtle industrial-style atmosphere**.

Final Note: Tomorrow I will begin applying metal to the closet-wall. Seeing as I have already trimmed down a piece to the correct width, I will only need to cut out the light switch / light receptacle holes before I rivet the panel up.

*We are keeping the aluminum under cover, though now that I think on it, I don’t wholly know why; it got downright soaked as Madre and I loaded it into the van at Home Depot. Either way, I suppose it’s easier dealing with non-slippery sharp metal than it is with super-slippery sharp metal.

**Though, I do wish I had made a straighter line of them! I was too intent on ensuring the levelness / straightness of the paneling to take notice that my rivets were slightly askew. Fortunately, the fasteners are the same color as the galvalume and therefore hardly noticeable.