Take your time – You can do it in a long weekend, but you do not need to. Working with Sika skin time, coordinating 3+ people and moving 8-foot plus panels is stressful. You can do the build in 10+ discrete steps, spread over as long as you want. <\/p>\n

You can never have enough glue – You will use more than you expect. Running out of glue during each build phase would be disastrous. You will probably use Sika for hatches, windows, doors so have extra is never a problem. <\/p>\n

Sika Shelf life – Sika 552 has a 12-month shelf life, check the expiration when you get your glue and make sure it fits with your plan. <\/p>\n

A gap is good, no gap is bad \u2013 As Bill says in one of the videos, no gap is bad because the Sika won’t be able to seal the joint. You can use plastic shims to provide a predictable gap and remove the guessing. <\/p>\n

Pay attention to the corners \u2013 It is almost impossible to get a leak along the sides, there’s simply too much glue. In the corners you want to make sure you have applied a good seal to the inside of each corner. <\/p>\n

Suction Cups \u2013 A set of heavy-duty suction cups will make your life so much easier; they are invaluable. They will also help doing doors, windows and hatches. <\/p>\n

Wear Gloves \u2013 The edges of the panels and the beveled corned on the extrusions are sharp, it’s very easy to cut yourself during the assembly. <\/p>\n

Alcohol Wipes \u2013 Bulk buy alcohol wipes, they make the clean up so much easier but you will use a lot, so buy tubes, don’t waste time with the single packaged ones. <\/p>\n

The Roof \u2013 Getting the roof on the habitat is the hardest phase, it’s very heavy. You will need the right equipment to safely lift it into place. You do not need to glue it immediately into place, so you can break this step in to multiple phases. <\/p>\n

The Walls \u2013 Sika is very sticky, which it makes it very difficult to slide a panel in the extrusion. When doing the walls try to slide them into the front wall before going down in to the floor, gravity is then on your side. <\/p>\n

The Edges \u2013 You can take your time and do the visible Sika bead, between the panel and the extrusion, after the panels are glued into place, you don’t need to do it at the same time. Two strips of painter’s tape will help you get a really nice line. <\/p>\n

Buy a digital level \u2013 A digital level allows you to zero the angle based on a known straight edge. You don’t want to use a bubble\\spirit level because your ground is unlikely to be level. This allows you to check the angles as you work through each phase. <\/p>\n

You will not be 100% accurate \u2013 It will be impossible to build a box this size perfectly. If your floor and roof are 0.1-degrees off of parallel, then you will have a 1\/3-inch difference in height between your front and rear. That level of accuracy is insanely good for a DIY build. Trimming the length of the last extrusions could well be necessary, and not a problem. <\/p>\n

Cutting the extrusions is easy \u2013 A 12″ fine wood working blade on a miter saw makes cutting the extrusions very easy. Just take your time, use a vacuum and wear a face mask and gloves. <\/p>\n

Dry fit as you go \u2013 Before you start applying Sika, dry fit everything so you know it fits and everyone knows what to do before the glue starts drying. This is particularly important on the rear where you will need to account for the expected inaccuracies in the rest of the build. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Take your time – You can do it in a long weekend, but you do not need to. Working with Sika skin time, coordinating 3+ people and moving 8-foot plus… Read More<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6913,"parent":4529,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pgc_meta":"","nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[289],"tags":[396],"class_list":["post-6912","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-build","tag-globetrekker"],"acf":{"timeline-date":null,"timeline-title":"","timeline-blurb":"","timeline-render":false},"pgc_meta":"","yoast_head":"\n