The M****** F****** Roof

Well this week has probably been the most challenging and the most frustrating. Want to know why? THE ROOF. If someone told me that I would have to resort back to high school geometry with Coach Leicht I would have hired a contractor to come over and just do the damn calculations for us. The Pythagorean Theorem has never brought out so much anger in both of us. It wasn't even the equation itself, which is pretty straight forward...it was the fact that it didn't work! Every time we solved for C, a.k.a. the length of our rafters, it somehow did not sit flush when we actually made the cuts.

Please tell me that you don't get a headache just looking at all these scrap papers filled with our multiple attempts at the Pythagorean Theorem. This isn't even all of them....yea.

Bottom line is that when Shannon tells you to use the Pythagorean Theorem, don't do it. Sorry, Shannon...we love you. After using the guess and check system for the half of the roof that we actually got done this week, we realized that the ridge beam was not 100% centered (it was off by maybe 1/16" or 1/8") so one side ended up being a 41 degree angle and the other side was more like 45 degrees. This explained the whole math thing not working out.

Once we got one rafter on each side to fit perfectly, we kept them as templates, and traced their cuts onto the rest of the 2 x 4s that would become the rest of the rafters. We also left about 6" after the bird's mouth (the cutout in the rafter that sits on the framing of the house) for an overhang. We decided we would worry about the accuracy of the overhang later. We will just go back and with the SkilSaw and cut the overhanging boards to be even.

Queen of the Chop Saw! I was the designated rafter tracer and cutter

The start of screwing in our supports for the ridge beam. The diagonal board is just a temporary brace.

The supports are up and the ridge beam is in place. We decided to use a 2x7 x 20' ridge beam made of manufactured wood. I don't remember the exact name of it. It was more expensive because it is stronger, but we figured if we are going to splurge on any wood, it would be the wood that's holding our roof together. 

Not sure what Jon's doing here. Something important, I'm sure.

Next, we started to nail on the hurricane brackets that we purchased. These secure the rafters to the house framing/wall. Here I am, owning that ladder and nailing away.

Here is the video that we watched in preparation for doing the roofing. Even though, in the end, we didn't use the Pythagorean Theorem to determine our rafter length, I think this video is helpful in understanding roof framing and installation...like if your house is actually even...and straight.

Jon and I actually filmed an amateur YouTube video today of our easier strategy that ended up saving us a ton of time in the end. That video will be uploaded in next week's update blog post! Get ready for some serious carpentry. Here is a picture of the progress we made as of Sunday 8/24...damn tree is in the way but you can get an idea.

Last week's progress!

Galena, the poster dog for what neglect looks like. She will pretty much be satisfied with any of these three balls being thrown. She no longer has a preference. Sadly, we have not been playing with her nearly as much as before. This project has been pretty time consuming. POOR LITTLE GALENA!!!!

Phase 2: Wall Framing - Completed!!!

Well we apparently are moving at record speed and kicked it into high gear this week to finish ALL the wall framing and sheathing.

We started with the wall at the front of the trailer to get ourselves warmed up for the rest of the trailer, because that wall is the only one without any windows or doors. Super easy! And if it weren't for the wonderful YouTube videos of the channel "HouseImprovements" with Shannon to teach us everything we now know, we would probably not be finished so quickly. Shout-out to Shannon - who we now refer to in conversation casually, like we just spoke with him on the phone about how to connect two different framed wall sections together. Yes....we are building our house thanks to YouTube...I mean, Shannon.

For reference, the videos we found to be the most helpful for this phase of construction are the following:

How To Frame A Window And Door Opening

 Wood Stud Wall Framing

So we realized that before doing all our framing we had to decide on which windows we were going to install, and where they would all go. We visited the local Material and Building Thrift store in Hailey and picked out four windows and a door (all salvaged/used) for $250 total. Can't beat that! The real challenge will be prepping those windows for re-installation. They are not in perfect condition and are missing the mounting flanges needed for...well... mounting.

Jon testing out the location of our composting toilet

After taking all the necessary measurements, and adding on a 1/2" here and a 1/2" there for error and insulation, we began to frame out our walls. We framed each end wall in one section. However, we framed each side wall in three sections, because it was just easier that way. It's much less stressful framing out one window per section instead of a window and a door, or two windows, etc, in one section. Turned out to work out perfectly and we only had one or two minor hiccups along the way.

Jon nailing together some framing

One of those hiccups was not accounting for the 2x4 bottom plate on one of the wall sections, so that particular section ended up being 1 1/2" taller than the other wall sections. Ugh. So we took down that wall and cut and re-screwed and raised that baby back up to be flush with the rest of the walls. It was more mentally draining and annoying than it was time consuming.

After framing out the walls, we would apply wood glue to the whole section, place our OSB plywood on top of it, square it up, then screw in screws every 8" to make sure we had a secure adhesion. Then we measured where the windows or door were framed out behind the OSB, and took a Skilsaw and cut that section out. And voila! Ready to be raised.

Framing out the second wall

Let the wall-raising begin

Raising a wall!

Raising another wall!

Aaaand another one

Jon looking out through the kitchen window

Making progress

My poor little finger got a boo boo!!!!!

Raising the walls was probably the most fun! Every time it fit in perfectly (LIKE A GLOVE!) and was pretty satisfying to see it sit so snuggly (made-up word) against the other walls.

For the walls that were put up first and had very little support besides the screws that were holding it to the floor, we screwed in temporary 2x4 braces to make sure it wouldn't rock or blow in the wind.

On Sunday, we pulled a 10 hour day working on finishing up the walls, and we finally screwed in the last piece of OSB around 8pm! Such a great feeling.

Sheathing with a pile of windows behind us

Final screws

We are feeling a little burned out after devoting every free hour of time after work to this project, but it's been therapeutic in its own right. It's been fun to learn about the construction of a house, and be able to make decisions that will be integral to the process of this house coming to fruition - being able to see the fruits of our labor, if you will. However, we decided that we need to get back to doing some things that used to be part of our weekly routine (getting out into the woods/mountains for a trail run or a climb or a hike). This upcoming weekend we are going to try and spend at least a half day dedicated to getting some nature therapy and just enjoying the afternoon, instead of banging nails.

Phase 3 is putting up the roof, which we figure will take some time, but once that phase is complete we can breath a little easier. Once the house is weather proof we can take much more time doing the "inside stuff" and not feeling rushed to do so. Honestly, we have not felt rushed up until this point...just more anxious to get it all framed out. We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but at least we won't have to worry about the monsoon season that Idaho is experiencing right now setting us back any more.

She's a beaute

Phase One: Flooring/Foundation - COMPLETE!

Phase one is complete!

We have been separating this project into phases in order to set these short term goals and not be overwhelmed by the big picture. Phase one encompassed the trailer prep and flooring. A little detailed information about the materials required for this part of the project.

Trailer Prep:

We purchased a 2006 trailer off Craigslist for $2,100. It is in excellent condition but we decided to be extra diligent and replace all the decking on the flat bed. This required us to remove the screws that were securing that decking to the steel cross beams. However, many of these screws were stripped (happy day!). So we took a grinder and cut those screws off. In turn, this meant we needed to drill many new holes into the cross beams when it came time for us to attach the new boards.

 Ripping up the original decking boards

We purchased six 2 x 8 x 20' fir boards, which we stained for weather protection. After staining all six boards, we realized that the boards were actually 16' instead of the 20' that we had ordered. I called up our building supply guy (shout-out to Dirk at Franklin Building Supply!) who promptly apologized and offered to send us over the 20 footers at no charge. And we got to keep the 16 footers, too! SUPER HAPPY DAY!

Staining the new decking

Let me just say that it is a great idea to do some price comparisons before choosing a building supply place. We originally purchased the 2x4s for the floor framing from Home Depot because it was convenient at the time. But our local building supplier actually has way better prices than HD (about $1 cheaper per board). We now use Franklin Building Supply for all of our wood (plus other various supplies, like house wrap), Idaho Lumber for odds and ends (hardware, etc), and Construction Material Thrift for all re-purposed appliances and doors/windows.

Before screwing those boards onto the trailer, we decided to take it one step further and power brush all the surface rust off the beams, then repaint the whole trailer with rust-oleum paint. After that whole process, we finally were able to screw the decking boards on, which involved drilling a pilot hole and then self-tapping screws through the boards and beams. We placed the boards 7" apart so that the 2x8s were evenly spaced apart across the 80" wide trailer.

Trailer Decking

We plan on replacing the tires as well, which the seller mentioned to us before purchasing the trailer. All together, we will spend $3,000 on the trailer, which includes the costs of all the "upgrading", the new tires, and the hitch package we bought for Jon's car. Not bad! Trailers can go from $4,000-$6,000 for the size and GVH requirements that we had (10,000 lbs), so we figure we saved at least $1,000 with some good old fashioned elbow grease.

Flooring Prep:

Next, we went ahead and put the three sections of floor framing together (Jon did it all himself one day while I was at work. Took him only a few hours). Since we are extending the flooring to be a tad wider than the edges of the trailer, we had to frame around the wheel wells. Hence, three sections of framing. All together, the floor framing is 8' wide (the bed of the trailer is only 7' wide).

We then purchased some steel brackets/joists that we nailed at each intersection of 2x4s in the framing. These are about 42 cents per bracket and we bought about 40 of them. A relatively cheap purchase for some extra strength and support.

Then we took the styrofoam board insulation that we purchased and cut it so that they fit into each section of the floor framing.

Styrofoam insulation cut to fit

Installation:

House wrap goes on first over the decking boards - secured with nails. 

Floor framing goes on after! Framing attaches to the decking with brackets and lag screws.

With the trailer and the flooring prepped, we nailed some house wrap over the trailer decking in order to place a weather-proof barrier between the outside and the insulation. We have seen other tiny house builders do this in order to prevent water from splashing up underneath the trainer, through the decking boards, and into the insulation.

After the house wrap was nailed on, we placed the floor framing on top. Keeping it in place with a couple clamps, we nailed on a few more brackets/joists where the framing met the decking boards for an initial loose attachment, plus extra security in the long-run. It will be SUPER DUPER strengthened once we drill the lag bolts up through the bottom of the trailer and through the framing. But that doesn't have to be done immediately.

Next we placed the pre-cut insulation boards into their appropriate slots, followed by spray foam around the edges to make sure we filled in any cracks and achieved a tight seal.

 Jon securing on some more brackets

Spray foam that we used

Spray foaming the edges

FINALLY, we placed two 4x8 OSB plywood boards onto the framing, creating our flooring! OSB is the cheapest kind of plywood you can get, and is actually stronger than the expensive plywood that people tend to buy for siding their homes (Bat & Board, i.e.). The reason for this, is that instead of the OSB being solid wood, it also has a very strong glue mixed into the wood particles that make it up. It is uglier than regular plywood, which is why people don't use it when it is visible from the outside. The OSB will eventually be covered up when we install our flooring on top of it.

BOOM! FLOORING! DONESKI.

Now onto Phase 2, which is the exterior walls...stay tuned, people!

Kind of a bad picture of the finished product. But in conclusion, we have a floor! 

224 Square Feet

Well this would be about my third attempt to start a blog. I am building upon my already-existing one in  an effort to keep a little continuity. Everyone cross your fingers that I actually update this thing.

WE ARE BUILDING A TINY HOUSE OMGOMG. So after much consideration and lots of number-crunching, we have decided to build a tiny house on a 8' x 20' trailer (with a loft for a total of 224 square feet). Our reasoning being that we are having a hard time affording rent in this area and getting ahead at the same time. We are also so busy that we find ourselves outside more often than inside...camping in a tent or chillin in a yurt. We would like to explore this life of tininess and minimalism. It's an exciting thought to soon trim ourselves of the "fat" and decide which items in our lives are essential. Yes...a Yard Sale is in the works!

It was pretty nerve-wracking to actually take the money out to buy the trailer - our first step in this project. Now that we have done that, it's official...this shit's happening.

As we were doing research these past few weeks, we were having a hard time finding blogs or websites that give cost breakdowns for tiny house building (from scratch), so we intend to share all of that information for future builders. Most tiny houses out there seem to cost around $25,000 and many of them can be purchased from Tiny House building companies, such as Tumbleweed (awesome company, check them out!). However, we intend to cut those costs in half by doing everything ourselves.

Our budget is $10,000 and it's all we've got, so it better happen! Hopefully I will be diligent enough to share some of our techniques here regularly, such as the nifty binder I put together to keep track of all our costs, receipts, ideas, and mock-ups. We have also given ourselves 13 weeks to build this thing, so we are going to need crossed fingers, fairy dust, a perfect alignment of stars and planets, and any other voodoo magic tricks to actually get this thing built in time. Send us positivity and encouragement!!

BUILDING PHASE 1:
For now, we are working on Phase 1 (as we call it), which is to get the trailer set up for the flooring, and then to build the floor framing, attach it to the trailer floor, insulate it, and sheath it. Essentially, our foundation. We just purchased a 2006 flat bed trailer that we found on CraigsList for $2,100. This will be one of the most expensive parts of the entire project.

Now that we have it parked and ready to be messed with, we are cutting off/removing parts of the trailer that add unnecessary weight (metals ramps that extend out for getting small vehicles onto the trailer, etc). Next, we noticed the wood flooring of the flat bed trailer was dried out, cracking, and fragile. Therefore, we are removing all that wood and replacing it. Not an easy task, as the screws that attach it to the metal frame of the trailer are stripped. So we are in demo-mode, taking a pry bar and just rippin those babies off.

All for now - will hopefully keep everyone updated as we go along! Here are some pictures of where we are at:

Our trailer and the first batch of materials we will need for the flooring

Surprise! The wood flooring needs to be replaced

Rippin boards