actually tiny

Installing the rafters

May 1, 2019October 16, 2019Leave a comment

Started the workday cutting birdsmouths on our 23’ long 2×6 rafters. This task starts with a template to make sure all the cuts are uniform, next I use a circular saw to make the cuts, finishing them off with a handsaw. It’s tempting to try to tackle this task with a jigsaw but even...

Timelapse: Installing the house wrap

April 30, 2019October 16, 2019Leave a comment

Offgrid tiny house build, Day 10. Brian: 6 hours, Liz: 6 hours. . Wrapped the house today. I think we’d both been postponing this as long as possible because it sounded hard, and I’m not gonna lie - manhandling a 9 foot tall roll of Tyvek WAS hard. But once we found a flow things went pretty...

Installing the house wrap

April 30, 2019October 16, 2019Leave a comment

Today we wrapped a big present to ourselves. Until now, every structure I’ve built has been covered with 30lb felt tar paper tacked on with a staple gun. For our nearly eave-less tiny house however, a much more careful approach to water tightness is appropriate. I was trained as a carpenter to mistrust Tyvek...

And another new beam

April 29, 2019October 16, 2019Leave a comment

I probably shouldn’t admit to this but we (meaning I, while Liz looked on incredulously) replaced the main beam for the THIRD TIME today. I plead insanity, but here is how it happened: I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about our beam loads. I hadn’t actually calculated any of this,...

Timelapse: Beginning the roof

April 28, 2019October 16, 2019Leave a comment

Offgrid tiny house build, Day 9. Brian: 6 hours, Liz: 3 hours. . Back to building after almost a week’s diversions sourcing and staging material and double-checking our thinking on some structural elements. . Hung our central beam today - I’m really happy with how the wood delineates the line between living space and kitchen space. Took some time...

Starting the roof framing

April 28, 2019October 16, 2019Leave a comment

We installed the new beam today. Vertical 4 x 4 to a horizontal 4 x 6 – it’s kind of an odd connection. I was originally going to go with an HUC bracket but after laying eyes on it in place the nailing didn’t look very reassuring so I decided to use a header...

Sourcing a new (old) beam

April 27, 2019December 23, 2019Leave a comment

Started the day by coming to the disappointing conclusion that the reclaimed beam that we’d so carefully selected to be the main support for our rafters was just a tad undersized. After going back-and-forth on whether to use it for the better part of three hours, we decided that it was worth losing a...

Rest + resupply

April 25, 2019December 23, 2019Leave a comment

We burned through framing the house in 8 days with two people working, but with our roofing material still on order and questionable weather in the forecast it seemed like a good time for some down time. Of course, “downtime” meant a day of driving around town picking up and ordering supplies and a...

Timelapse: Sheathing the front face

April 23, 2019October 16, 2019Leave a comment

Offgrid tiny house build, Day 8. Brian: 7 hours, Liz: 6 hours. . Sheathed the south (entry) wall of the house today. Sheathing in place is definitely more work and takes more time than sheathing flat. I spent more of my day on top of a ladder with a nail gun than I like - I’ve always...

Sheathing the front wall

April 23, 2019October 16, 2019Leave a comment

Sheathed the south wall in place today. Definitely harder than sheeting on the flat. Moving a little slower than I’d like but it’s all getting done. We leveled our trailer but have never bothered to make use of it. That’s the nice thing about sheeting (most of) your walls flat, unless you’ve made a...