Build Day One

The build has officially commenced! Jeremy's arms and neck are very sunburned, and my arms and hurt from holding an impact driver up above my head while laying under the trailer on uneven ground. But progress has been made...although we called it a day when it started to rain, so I don't have a picture of the final progress so far.

This past Tuesday, the driver we hired from UShip delivered our trailer to us!

Despite not having the right size ball to hitch our trailer up, not to mention that we don't have a truck (had to rely on family there), here we are, parked at the build site at last.

To give more head space inside, we're using a deck-between, with drop axles, and also going to use the trailer itself as the subfloor (rather than building the subfloor on top of the metal). Thanks TinyHouseBuild for that advice, I think we'll appreciate the extra room when it comes time to sleep in the loft! Attaching flashing directly to the underside of the trailer poses its own challenges, however...

It didn't occur to us until we were about to attach the aluminum flashing how difficult it would be to work around the trailer wiring, not to mention axle attachment points and other obstacles.

From below, you can see how we became good friends with tin snips in order to fit the flashing around obstacles like this tail light. Later, the aluminum tape and I will have some bonding time to fix how messy I am at cutting with tin snips.

One more shot from the perspective where I spent most of the day. From this angle, it looks like we've made more progress than we have. The aluminum flashing is only 24" wide, so it will take 4 long rows to cover the underside of the trailer. Build day one has ended with only 1.5 rows done (but we're getting better at it, so we'll see how tomorrow goes).

Call for Tools: Build Day One Approaches

Our trailer is finally completed! Sadly it took nearly twice as long as expected due to the drop axle supplier failing to come through for the fabricator. But, as of today, a shipper began the drive up from Florida with the completed trailer, and should arrive by Tuesday evening. If all goes according to plan, I'll get it titled and registered in New York, and moved to the construction site before the end of the week. Then, this upcoming weekend (July 26-27) will mark the official start of construction!

As day one approaches, now is the time to get our hands on tools that will be needed. We'll end up buying or renting anything we need but can't get, and some helpers has already committed to bringing some of these, but when and for how long are unknown. We also have some of these tools already on hand (including hopefully everything we need for day one), but could use second/different ones (like stronger and larger drill bits than we have, longer extension cords, more tarps, et cetera). So, if you have any of the following and are willing to lend them to us, please just let us know!

Drill Bits

Miter Saw

Circular Saw

Jig Saw

Saws-all

Framing Nail Gun

Smaller Nail Gun(s)

Compressor and pneumatic cable for nail guns

Staple Gun (for Tyvek)

Clamps

Belt Sander

Orbital Sander

Framing Level/Plumb Level

Framing Square

Measuring tape

Vacuum

Dust Masks

Work Gloves

Tarps, Bungee Cords

Ladders

Extension Cords

If you're interested in helping out with the build, stay tuned for updates here. I'm hoping to schedule the wall-raising day as a fun little gathering for anyone who's interested in giving us some time and work, in exchange for food and drink.

Material Acquisition Round 1

Still no news on the trailer front, though hypothetically they're hard at work (or so I assume based on my credit card statement!)

These days of waiting have been filled seeking out other materials. I made a "red list" for the highest priority items, like items for the subfloor and wall framing studs, and a "yellow list" for anything not needed immediately for the exterior to be finished (Tyvek, for example, can safely go for months without being covered by proper siding, so siding is yellow). I've made progress ordering things, and items have started to arrive...and pile up:

What else are you supposed to do when you get ten boxes in the mail?

It was fun to stack those boxes of sheep's wool insulation, but when we added a few thousand pounds of lumber and 120ft^3 of Roxul to the mix (both fun things to fit in Alexi, our Honda Fit):

Tying the hatch with string is totally safe, right?

Diagonal, scraping the dashboard on one end, past the seal of the hatch on the other...but they fit!

The Tetris skill involved in arranging these trips with five 1'x2'x4' blocks of Roxul at a time are not fully captured in this image. Shifting was an entertaining maneuver in which you couldn't actually hold the stick from above.

Then we had to answer the question "Does your address have a loading dock or forklift?" This was in reference to my apartment, mind you. Still, luckily we were able to get them to deliver using a truck with lift gate, and then it was just up to us to disassemble and carry in this pallet one piece at a time.

Add to all that a few tarps, jack stands, and aluminum flashing ordered for direct delivery, and you have a dining area (and entrance to the hallway, and former storage location for one of our bikes, and...) that's been completely replaced by this:

At some point I think my ~400ft^2 studio apartment will not be able to hold any more! We're eagerly awaiting the trailer so things can start going out, not just come in!