My Favorite Part

Our fencl went from looking like a utility trailer to the skeletonish beginnings of a proper home in one weekend!  I suppose that is why I like framing the best, the quick progress.

Having extended the trailer by six feet it was an aesthetic decision to add an extra window on each side.  Steve adjusted the plans as we went along, and after our touch and go work on the floor's frame we knew enough to only screw up once or twice.  And thanks to Paul we fixed the biggest problem before it came back to bite us in the... wheel well.



Picture above

You can see in the picture above that the intended storage space above the door is also different from Tumbleweed's fencl.  We are adding an additional loft there for my stepdaughter, which will be equal in size to our own. 

Everything went swimmingly with the walls until it came time to level them, which is when we realized the frame pinched inward over the wheel wells.  Feeling frustrated I was willing to ignore the problem, but Steve insisted, so we put on these braces...

...and then the walls were perfect.

Floor Finito

The floor was finished in a series of steps.  First came the frame... and it only took three tries.  Don't blame Steve, (though it's totally his fault) because he had to modify the plans.  Yes, we bought the very expensive plans, and having added an extra six feet are changing them as we go along.  Next we pinned down the flashing, a most important step as it keeps out the mouses.  After that we had a small bit of trouble flipping the whole thing over, but with the help of my sister (Kylee) and brother-in-law (Paul) we managed.  Sort of.  Then there was the matter of bolting it in place and adding the insulation.  I did almost all the insulating, a tedious thing, while Steve took a well timed trip to the hardware store.  Though I shouldn't complain because I often nip off to read in the car every now and then.  Plus the insulation foam totally ruined my beatifully laid out poly something-or-other.  See exhibit A...



Exhibit A

Totally ugly, I know.  But it doesn't matter because the final touch was covering it over with three quarters of an inch thick sheathing.  Floor finito.

Before the Floor

If you had asked me before I started building my house how to cut through steel, I would have said you don't.  Seriously I though cutting through metal involved professional something-or-others who use rare and expensive tools.  But after drilling through the frame of my trailer to attach jacks at all four corners I learned that it's done all the time, just not very easily.  I could go on and on describing the time it took, the wasted time, not to mention the profanity and frustration, the number of tools we went through before giving up and buying an absurdly expensive and unweildy drill press - but I won't bore you with the details.  In the end the end we triumphed, forcing the jacks into obedience. 



Ta-da!

The jacks are useful.  Not only do they level the trailer for building but they take the weight off our tires, extending said tires' life.  Oh, and it deters house theft.  Though just on the off chance that there was some crazy fool wiley enough to lift our jacks and take off we bought a hitch lock.





Picking the Perfect Trailer

When building a tiny Tumbleweed house the first step is to get the perfect trailer.  I suggest looking for one that compliments your personality, just kidding, utility trailers are pretty much the same.  We had ours custom made, adding an extra six feet to the fencl.  Adding an extra six feet meant we had to have our trailer reinforced, or something such, to carry the additional weight.  We went from a 7,000 lb weight limit to 10,000, making ours the superman of  flatbed trailers. 

A fencl is the type of house we're building.  To see other house plans visit: http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/

Tumbleweed Tiny House

This blog is a work in progress.  Apparently I’m not as computer savvy as I thought, and sadly, my twelve year old niece has surpassed my knowledge of technology.  I don’t let things like that get me down, usually I quit first.  But as much as I’d like to give up and wash my hands of the whole blogging community, well... I’m a bit ashamed to say I have something worth posting. 

A few months ago Steve and I decided to build a Tumbleweed tiny house.  Having never put together more than a puzzle in my entire life I began to scour the internet for information.  The blogs created by my predecessors have proven invaluable, the pictures especially.  So in the spirit of sharing I shall attempt to keep my blog readers abreast of all new developments.  Starting with my next post which will include pictures... so long as I figure out how to upload them.