Tales of a Tiny Homestead

Closet Doors

2011-02-21T23:59:00.000-08:00

Well we finally managed to find the time to work on a few projects around the house, and now I have some lovely closet doors on my coat closet :o) They are made of clear cedar to match the walls with fabric insets to match the curtains. I wanted something that would still allow airflow into the closet in case we put away anything damp.

Also, the trailer frame we special ordered for the next home is here! We're busy planning out the next tiny house, and hope to start building sometime in March if the weather cooporates for a few days at a time. I would love to get it completed by mid July, but we'll see how everything goes. I hear I'm not supposed to count my chickens before they hatch :o)

I'm getting excited to start on the next home though, I have new ideas and plans that have been rolling around in my head and it will be fun to see those plans come to fruition.

And Life Catches Up To Us All

2011-01-25T18:22:00.000-08:00

Nothing new to report on the tiny house front, other than that the trailer we ordered to build the next tiny house is finally finished and we have picked it up :o)
We hope to start building the next tiny home once the weather starts to clear for a few days at a time so that we can get it dried in and don't have to deal with that massive tarp again (that was a HUGE pain).

Other than that, we've been very busy planning out our garden for this coming Spring, and trying to get all of the planting beds ready to go (compost, amendments, etc). Our goal is to grow most of our own food this year and be as self-sufficient as possible.
It seems that everything always comes to a head this time of year and we feel as though we are running in 10 directions at the same time, but it's all got to get done, so I guess one way or another, it will have to happen :o)
Plus, it's always much easier to take your time finishing up the details once you're already living in your home, it seems that time has a way of slipping away sometimes when you're juggling multiple things at one time.

I hope you are all having a wonderful 2011!

Ofuro

2011-01-05T09:46:00.001-08:00

Well, it's not tiny house related, but I am certainly excited!

We were able to pick up a wood fired cedar soaking tub for a good deal on Craigslist and have been enjoying the wonderful wam water in our below freezing temps at night :o)

Creature Comforts

2010-12-12T20:07:00.000-08:00

So while my dear husband has been working on important things today like paneling and finish work, I've been playing house :o)

I put up the bathroom curtain today, we decided against a door as we wanted a light, airy feeling both inside and outside of the bathroom. I chose an organic linen fabric with a darker shade colour block on the bottom. It transfers light beautifully while still allowing for privacy in the bathroom.

I also put up the curtains to cover the under counter storage. It is the same heavy organic flannel that I used for the window treatments and does a good job at hiding the dishes and pantry items under the counter.

I'm so looking forward to being done with the finish work so that I can reclaim my home from the misc. tools and work items that are always laying around.

Coat Closet

2010-12-12T18:07:00.000-08:00

We got the corner behind the front door finished up and I rolled my kitchen island over there instead of hiding it under the counter. Eventually when we move to another location, this will be where my washer and dryer will go as it is already plumbed in (behind the island), but for now while I have shared laundry facilities in the garage of the main house, I'll keep the island there. Then when the washer and dryer are in the house, I'll roll it back under the counter top :o)

I also get a wonderful coat closet! Yay! It fits perfectly into the space under the stairs.
I'm still deciding what style of doors I want, so hubby hasn't put those on yet for me. I think I might do door frames with fabric panels inset into them that match the curtains so that if we put any coats away damp there is still good airflow into the closet. And the space above will be great for setting up electronics (dvd player, laptop storage/charging, etc).

And then.....there was more work.....

2010-12-05T22:27:00.000-08:00

I digress, while I would love to be one of those people that throws her tv out the window and only meditates and reads non-fiction, I am not. I enjoy watching tv while I do the dishes :o)

So, we found an articulating tv mount that we attached to the side of the stairs so that I can watch in the kitchen, or in the living room. And it folds out of the way when I'm not using it.

To utilize the space behind the stairs, we're going to build a coat closet and shoe rack, and then put the DVD player and audio equipment on top of the closet so that everything will be orderly and out of the way.

Hubby also got all of the paneling up in the bathroom

And he's building me some shelving along the wall outside of the bathroom and opposing the kitchen. And no, we're not a couple of raging alcoholics :o) I'm planning to use the shelves he will put in for my vitamin bottles/loose leaf tea/and spices. It should work out great!

It's exciting to see the walls start to come together. After looking at fuzzy wool walls for quite some time it's nice to be able to run my hands along solid wood walls. And I love that the wood holds the heat and feels warm to the touch :o)

The Cost of a Tiny House

2010-11-28T00:19:00.001-08:00

So I thought it would be fun to calculate the price of our home if I was to purchase it from Tumbleweed (provided they even made something in our size, which they don't). I took their squarefootage from the Fencl, broke it down to price per square foot ($372.73 - the Fencl is 144.875sqft including the loft space), and then took our squarefootage (255.5sqft) at the Tumbleweed price. I about fell over when I added it up......$95,232.52!!! HOLY CRAP!!!

I guess I never really took notice when people complained about the "$400 a sqft pricetag" on the Tumbleweed homes. I wasn't buying one, so I didn't really care, but now that I've done the math, I can't see how anyone can think that at those rates these can be considered affordable housing!

I think that a quality home is very important, but I also think that one could build a quality tiny home for far less than that and still make money off of it. We have spent what I consider to be quite a bit of money on our home, but we made different choices than some do as building a non-toxic house comes with a larger price tag. I just can't see how almost $400 a sqft can be justified....at that price it would have to be gold plated.

Overspending is what got our country into this mess in the first place......how does $400 a sqft at any size lead to a debt free, minimalist lifestyle? Living in a tiny home is a change of life, goals, and the ability to follow one's dreams....sometimes I think that some of us forget that and get wrapped up in the "cuteness".
Anyway, no pictures today, just some random thoughts......

Window Coverings

2010-11-17T23:01:00.000-08:00

My fabric that I ordered for the draperies arrived yesterday, so I spent all day today sewing

and have the living room panels completed and had hubby help me hang them.

The paneling isn't finished on the walls yet, so I'll have to pop them down quickly when he is ready to install the tongue and groove, but I really wanted to get some nice window coverings up. We had burlap bags stapled up over the windows and it was getting old.

The undyed organic cotton flannel fabric looks great against the wood and really lightens up the house. The long panels give the living room a really chic "loft" feel, with the nice warmth of a cabin :o)

New Gutters

2010-11-15T14:47:00.000-08:00

Well, today we moved our home into her semi permanant location in the yard. It's nice to be out of the driveway!

We also had seamless gutters installed that we will use to divert the rainwater into barrels to use for irrigation.
I think that they blend in really well!

A Few Photos of Everyday Life....

2010-11-11T18:44:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures of what our tiny home looks like after a week of working and running around, neglecting chores, and general chaos.

Loft, complete with unmade bed and dog sleeping in my blankets :o(

It would take an act of God, Congress, and the devil to remove him from the bed....he's like a giant cat.

Living room, I did put a new cover on the futon, I like this one better :o) Shelf under counter top for dishes, I don't think we're going to put in upper cabinets as I've got lots of storage underneath, including a wheeled cart that has drawers for utensils and a spice shelf that I can roll out and use as an island when I'm cooking, and then roll it away when it's not needed.

It's fabulous having such a large space to work, but I always manage to clutter it all up! :o)

I've ordered organic cotton fabric and will be making curtains for the front of the counter to cover up underneath. We decided against doing cupboard doors (I decided against them anyway, I wanted a bit softer look, more cozy). So I'm waiting on the fabric to arrive and then I will make the curtains for the storage, and also the curtains for all of the windows.....and I don't know how to sew, so it should be interesting :o)

Anyway, I thought you all might like to see some "real life" pictures of our little home in action :o)

Who Would Have Thought.....

2010-11-06T20:16:00.000-07:00

Well, we've completed the insulation as of a few days ago and are now enjoying the warmth, in fact, a bit too much warmth! While we've spent the last 3 winters freezing our butts off in the 5th wheel, we are now way too warm! It's fine if we leave the heater on low, but you put it on anything higher than the first setting and we're sweating and the dogs are panting.

So, while we still intend to install our beautiful little marine stove as at some point we will be using only solar/wind power, for now while we are hooked up to the grid, we're going to stay electric as it's now apparent that we're not going to wake up with icicles on our noses anytime soon :o)

That being said, I wanted something more attractive than my radiator style freestanding heater, so we picked up this little gem and I think it does the job nicely :o)

It uses less power than radiator heater we've been using (which was still very efficient), and it gives us that warm "wood" glow.

We'll finish off the platform that the heater is on in preparation of installing the woodstove at some point, but for now we're going to use the electric heater until we've got our alternate energy sources in place and are ready to travel off grid.

It's so exciting though to have a warm, toasty home that doesn't require much electricity to heat, and we should stay nice and cool in the Summer with as well as everything is insulated

The insulation continues

2010-10-27T20:18:00.000-07:00

We're now about 80% insulated, and the ceiling looks beautiful with its patchwork wool blanket :o)

I love the softness of our walls, they just look warm and cozy and "real". Not like the cold and sterile commercial insulation. I sleep easy knowing that my home is sustainable and full of character.

Our tiny house is becoming a living, breathing extension of ourselves, and I think we need to come up with a name for her soon :o)

Rubber Boots...

2010-10-27T20:11:00.001-07:00

Finally, finally! Our rubber boot for our chimney has arrived! This is the stock photo from the website as we haven't installed it yet, but I'm excited that we finally have some more of the parts that we need to put our tiny stove it.

We still need to fabricate a wall thimble for the inside of our home, and then we'll be all set to install the stove.

Tiny Stoves for Tiny Houses

2010-09-24T18:27:00.001-07:00

We installed the paneling in the living room, so I thought I would post a picture of the finished wall.

And we took our tiny stove outside today to fire it up and make sure it was "sea worthy" for the home. I'm happy to report there are no issues with our 100 year old stove! I'm even cooking dinner on it tonight :o)
We put up a couple of sections of pipe just to get an idea of how hot everything will get (notice the temp gauge on the stove pipe). Once installed, it will have over 10ft of pipe all the way up so that it can draft well, but for now, we're just having fun with it outside in the driveway :o)

Latest Internet/Craigslist Scam....

2010-09-20T23:03:00.000-07:00

Well, generally I wouldn't post about the latest scams online, but it so happens that it involves tiny homes.
Apparently there is an individual posting on craigslist offering to build tiny homes for people for a rediculously low price (his total cost doesn't even cover the price of building materials), taking a large deposit (up to 75%) in cash, and then running off with the money and not delivering a tiny house (BIG surprise!).
It sickens me that there is someone out there taking advantage of the people who are trying to change their lives, possibly get into a self sufficient home and live debt free. I'm sure we all know how hard it is to save our money these days, and for someone to take advantage of the good natured people who are interested in the tiny house movement and swindle them out of their hard earned money just makes me want to scream!
If you happen to come across this person, please report them to the proper authorities as they need to be stopped before they ruin anymore lives and dreams.
From the emails I have received personally, there are at least 7 people who have been taken in by his scam and have no recourse as they paid in cash and any contact information they had for him appears to be false.
Please be careful out there!

Interior work

2010-09-02T15:26:00.000-07:00

We've been putting up more insulation and paneling inside. The living room is coming along nicely.

We're also trimming out the windows so that everything will look finished off when we're done.

It may look quick and easy to put paneling up, but it's A LOT of work! The exterior siding went up a lot quicker. It will be nice when it's complete, but until then, it's lots and lots of work.
We had an open house this last weekend for some of the locals that were interested to come and take a look and there has been some discussion with a few people who would like us to build them a custom tiny home suited for their individual needs. So once we get finished up (and if the weather will cooperate), we'll have a formal "open house" and possibly a schedule a few seminars if the interest is there so that people can get a first hand look at the different options out there and also have the opportunity to ask questions about different building methods, ie: the difference between "green" and non-toxic, what works best for them and their budget, where to source the materials, etc.
So stay tuned for more info on that!
We have also been contracted to consult on two other tiny house projects currently in the beginning stages of design and construction by individuals that just need a little help with the details and planning.
Ideally, once we have our home completed, we will most likely start on another tiny home, and if a buyer comes along early enough in the process, we will build it custom for that person, otherwise we will build a standard, smaller unit.
We've had a few people come visit from out of state to take a look at our home, and the reviews have all been phenominal! We're excited to start a new journey and would love to help others achieve their "tiny dreams".

Work in the Loft

2010-08-19T22:27:00.001-07:00

With our new bed on the way, hubby started putting together our slatted bed frame that will give us just enough lift to keep air circulating under the bed, but not so much that we'll be too high up for the space.

Our little dog seems to approve of the new bed frame :o) See the extra space on the sides of the frame? That's because we're getting a KING sized bed! Woo hoo! Who would have thought that you could have a king sized bed in a tiny home!? We did!

Hubby has also started insulating the ceiling and putting some of the paneling up. It's looking great!

By Request....a couple of interior pictures

2010-08-16T14:26:00.001-07:00

Life has been rather hectic for us recently, so I haven't been able to update as regularly as I would like to, but by popular request, here are some inside pictures :o)

We quasi-moved in last week as we aren't quite ready to move the tiny house into position yet, so we've been unable to hook up to water and permanent power and are just running the lights off an extension cord for now.

A rather unexpected setback for us was when we went to move our mattress and boxspring into the new house and discovered that the whole underside of our mattress had black mold all over it! NOT good! We had really wanted to upgrade to a completely non-toxic organic bed, but didn't have it in our budget for now, but seeing as how our mattress was toast, we had to do something.

So for now, we're sleeping on our futon on the floor upstairs anxiously awaiting our new mattress to be finished being built by the wonderful folks over at Soaring Heart in Seattle.

We're also generally moved into the living room, of course the picture will be hung properly once we roll the insulation into the walls and put up the tongue and groove on the inside :o)

Lots of work left to do yet, but in the interest of trying to get our 5th wheel up for sale before the summer is over, we're going to live in a construction zone for a bit.

Also, as a side note, we have found another one of those small marine wood stoves to use in place of the one we were going to, so I'm going to be selling the one we originally purchased for the house with the little oven, burner, and griddle top. They retail new for over $3400 once you add in tax and crate/shipping charges, but we bought ours used for $1500 and I'd like to try and get most of that back out of it. So, if you know anyone in the market for a teeny tiny cookstove for their tiny house, let me know!

Thanks!

We have a roof over our heads!

2010-08-11T22:37:00.000-07:00

Well we've had quite a bit going on recently, but I thought I would post a picture of our fabulous roof!

We moved in (sort of) last week and will begin work on the inside finish work soon after we get the 5th wheel cleaned and washed and ready to sell.

I'll post new pictures of the inside as soon as I can, but life has been a bit hectic!

Moving right along!

2010-08-01T19:21:00.000-07:00

We've been able to get the siding up on 3 of the 4 sides

And my hubby has been working on fabricating the front door for us. He still needs to add the threshold and the door stops all the way around, but it's in and functioning! Very exciting! He ended up having to do everything from scratch as it is an odd size, but I think it has turned out beautifully :o)

More siding.....

2010-07-21T21:55:00.000-07:00

More of the siding has gone up and our tiny mansion is beginning to look like a real home!

It Looks Like a Real House

2010-07-18T09:51:00.000-07:00

We got most of the trim work done yesterday, and the back wall all sided up :o) It looks great!

She's Come Undone....

2010-07-13T19:03:00.001-07:00

Well today we unveiled her as the weather is supposed to hold for the next several days.

Here's a picture from the living room looking toward the front door (see all those lovely windows?)

And this, well, this is my marvelous living room! It looks absolutely amazing with the windows installed! (we are storing our insulation in the living room for the time being)
Here she is! Basking in the sun for the first time in a long while :o)

Keep in mind that we're going to be adding a storage shed to the tongue, so we just did opening windows at the top with plans for the storage shed later on.

And this, my dear friends.......is the most beautiful tiny house on the block :o)

Gotta love lots of light!

2010-07-08T15:05:00.001-07:00

My very talented hubby has been working on the windows for us this week, he had the window panes completed some time ago, but is now doing all of the framing work and install on them.

This is the bathroom window
And the kitchen window

and my FABULOUS living room windows! There will be a matching set on the opposite wall, and then some smaller ones on the top of the back wall (where the light fixtures are). He's putting them up higher because at some point we will add a built in storage shed to the tongue of the trailer.

It's all very exciting stuff! Once the windows are in, we finally get to take the tarp off, do some siding, and then the roof!

Back on the Building Bandwagon!

2010-07-05T23:13:00.000-07:00

Well, after many weeks of working, family illnesses, and chaos, we are back on track with building our tiny home.

Hubby is working on the windows, and they look BEAUTIFUL!

My Beautiful Countertop!

2010-05-30T22:53:00.000-07:00

My kitchen countertop is beautiful! I'm still in awe! I've always wanted a butcher block style counter but could never afford the price tag.

My wonderful, talented hubby worked long and hard to give me my dream countertop :o)
We need to do a bit of finish/detail sanding and then he's going to put the trim pieces up around the edges and build the lower shelves, but I'm really proud of how fabulous everything is looking :o)

It's starting to look like a real home!

2010-05-27T21:23:00.001-07:00

Well, with a picky poodle looking on, hubby framed in the kitchen countertop.

I'm soooo excited to have lots of counter space! My counter top across the one side will be 12ft long, and then over the top of the washer and dryer will be a 4ft-ish counter.
I was pleasantly surprised to find out that there is plenty of room between the counter and bathroom wall/fridge/washer dryer. I was worried it would feel like a tunnel, but actually there is really good flow and space when you come in the front door.
It's starting to feel like a real cabin that will be both beautiful and functional.
Hubby did make an executive decision and nix my porcelain cast iron sink though....apparently there is a 97lb difference between the cast sink and the stainless one that we ended up using. Oh well, I'd rather have the extra 100lbs for something else I suppose.....

The woodstove will be built in as an addition on the end of the counter top so that I can use it to cook on and it will still seem like part of the kitchen when I need it. We'll heat shield it around 3 sides and once it is placed with the proper clearances the front of the stove will be flush with the front edge of the countertop, so everything will continue in one seamless line.

Plumbing

2010-05-24T21:04:00.000-07:00

Well, our plumbing is well underway so we're one step closer to being able to be done!

We tossed around different ideas for piping and decided on PEX as it is supposed to be non-leaching (Riiiiight) and enables us to go solder free. It's quite a bit more money, but with the jostling from towing the house at some point, we thought it was worth the investment.
You can see the shower plumbing here, one of the knobs will be painted blue to show which one is "cold". The shower head will be coming directly out of the ceiling into the middle of the tub as hubby is taller than I am and we didn't want to lose any space by adding a standard drop and angle on the shower. This way he won't have to bend his head under the running water, it will be just the right height to accomodate his height :o)
It's exciting to see everything start coming together, but also very frusterating to not be able to move in right away.

It's Alive!!!!

2010-05-11T23:04:00.000-07:00

You can't really tell that well in the pictures, but we have POWER! That beautiful little green light on the GFCI is ON!
It's so nice to be able to walk in, flip the switch, and voila! Lights!

The ceiling fan and the wall sconces look great :o)

And the electrical panel is a work of art~

Drumroll please.....

2010-05-09T20:57:00.000-07:00

This is our bathtub/shower pan, we can sit in it and soak and it's the perfect height to rest our heads on the edge.

Guess who's going to have a washer and dryer? ME! I'm very excited about it :o) It will go just to the right as you walk in the front door, and hubby is going to build a shoe rack over the top with coat hooks on the wall above.

This is the framed in wall for the bathroom, the composting toilet will be right as you walk in with the tub/shower after that.

We also get an almost real sized fridge! It's apartment sized, but certainly much better than those tiny things that come in the Tumbleweed houses. We eat at home 99% of the time, so I need something that is more realistic for keeping produce, condiments, milk, etc. This will go next to the washer and dryer, and on the same wall as the bathroom.

And I get STAIRS!!! Eat your hearts out! We're the only people I've seen so far that have put in a staircase in a tiny house, and I'm exceptionally proud of it! (My hubby did all the work, but I'm still going to gloat!)

Our dogs can even manage to go up and down them :o)

Hubby is going to build me a computer desk/office underneath the stairs and against the bathroom wall.

I think he's planning to work on the plumbing next...or maybe more work on the windows...not quite sure yet, but it's really exciting to see it all start coming together. Maybe someday soon we'll get to enjoy it :o) The space feels so great to be in there, it's incredibly useful and well thought out in my humble opinion, I think we've managed to creatively get all of our needs and wants packed into it while still feeling comfortable and like a home, not a small cardboard box.

We're very blessed to have this opportunity, and I'm very blessed to have a husband that is so talented and can literally put a roof over my head.

The comforts of a real home

2010-05-09T20:52:00.001-07:00

Look at that! I get an outside electrical box! I can have Christmas lights on my tiny house :o)
AND....I get a real ceiling fan! This should help keep us cool in the Summer and warm in the Winter. It's got 3 speeds and a switch to change which way it rotates depending on the season.

More Electrical Work

2010-04-24T21:18:00.000-07:00

Most of the outlets and boxes are now wired in by my lovely husband, and he put up the lights so I could get a better idea of what they would look like. These two lights will be on either side of the kitchen window and sink.
This is the view from the loft looking out the back window, a light on either side and outlet boxes underneath

The view from the loft looking down to the living room, a light above each side of the couch for reading along with individual switches to turn them on and off, and if you look at the ceiling, you can see the box where the ceiling fan will go (YES! I get a ceiling fan! How cool is that! *no pun intended*)

Reading break! And I'm also very excited to report that my papasan chair will fit nicely upstairs in the loft, my dogs are also thrilled about this, and I get the feeling that I will never get to sit in it......

On a side note, we've also put in vents in the rafter blocks so that everything can breathe well.

Lots of Work

2010-04-07T12:54:00.000-07:00

We've been busy working on the house, even if I haven't been the best at posting updates :o) I was busy getting our taxes ready, so posting went by the wayside for a bit.

My dear husband has been working on the electrical and outlet placement for us as well as planning the best spot for everything to be in before he installs appliance specific electrical work.

AND, my fabulous hubby has been building our windows too! He's got the glass cased in and will work frames and opening design soon.

House Update

2010-03-23T17:56:00.001-07:00

We got the plywood put up on the front of the house (and of course by "we", I mean my husband). I've been feeling rather crummy lately so things have been progressing slowing. Hubby has been in the shop working on the windows and deciding which style of joint he is going to use for the wood.

Some progress is better than none I suppose, but I keep hoping that we'll wake up and some little elves will have finished it in the middle of the night :o)

Wood windows and our own economic crisis, laughs!

2010-03-18T14:09:00.000-07:00

Today we were able to get our clear cedar for the windows, it doesn't look like a lot of wood (and it's not), but boy is it ever pricey! Already being 20% over budget is bad enough without paying this much money for a few sticks!

Everyone says that's what happens when you build a house, no matter how tiny, but still, it hurts the pocket book a bit.

It also seems that the prices on everything are rising due to the economy being so bad (can we say hyperinflation?), so not only has work slowed down for us because of economic factors, we're now faced with paying more for all of our building supplies.

We ran the figures for our tiny house project the middle of last year and came up with a figure we were aiming to stay under, and then found when we bought everything this year to start on it that we could easily add 15-20% to that original figure PLUS being over budget by 20% (and we're not done yet!) YIKES!

Glass for windows

2010-03-17T19:22:00.001-07:00

The glass that we ordered for our windows was finally ready today.....we ordered it quite some time ago, and it seems that they kept "misplacing" our order, but lo and behold, today was the day! We're building our own windows as ordering them from someone like Jeld Wen or Milgard proved to be in the several thousand dollar range, and we just don't have the budget for windows that are that expensive. Also, even though we wanted wood-clad windows because we didn't want any plastic/vinyl in the house, apparently most companies are just wood clad vinyl windows, or they treat the wood with toxic chemicals to cure it. So, it ends up just being better to make our own!
Tomorrow we will go place our order for clear cedar to construct them out of, we had to do some shopping around for the wood as prices seem to vary significantly, but any way you skin it, clear cedar is still a WHOLE LOT of money!

More work on the house....

2010-03-10T23:57:00.000-08:00

The house is now covered on the exterior with the siding underlayment, except the entrance wall. We're still tossing around some ideas for the entryway, but should have those pinned down shortly. We've decided on our window placement, so will frame those in soon as well.

Also, the whole exterior has been covered in the organic stain so that it will hold up in Wet Western Washington while we continue work on it. It is a HUGE pain to have to keep putting the tarp on, but a necessity due to the bad weather here, and we're hoping that this extra layer of stain will also help with weather resistance.

Poodle break!

2010-03-01T15:24:00.000-08:00

Today is turning out to be a planning day, deciding if the roofing system we decided to go with will do the job, or if we need to use industrial grade roofing to withstand freeway speeds. What size windows we want to use, which side the hot water tank is going on, etc.

So, I thought it was a good day for a Poodle Break!

They spent the afternoon chasing my neighbor's ducks around the yard and have decided that it's nap time :o)

Tomorrow's agenda involves painting the plywood exterior with a water barrier before we put up the siding, and maybe a bit of interior electrical work, we'll see how the day progresses....

Someday we'll be done.....but not today!

2010-02-23T12:42:00.000-08:00

We were up into the wee hours last night trying to get all of the plywood up, but when our fingers froze we thought we'd better go inside
Blocking in the rafters

Sort of looks like an ark, don't you think? We're putting all of the plywood up first and then deciding where we want the windows after it's all boxed in. We only get a very few days without rain here this time of year, so being water tight is more important than windows at this point. The windows will go between the existing studs, so that won't be a problem, we're just not sure yet how tall we want them and how many of them we're putting in.

I think people get nosebleeds when they are that high in the air :o)

In an effort to make sure that our home will really be non-toxic, we are skipping the Tyvec house wrap (it's plastic), and using a coat of no VOC, organic woodstain on the siding underlayment to give it an extra water-tight oomph! Plus, my giant tarp won't quite cover the bottoms of the walls, so this way I don't have to worry about rain saturating my new plywood before the siding can be put up.

Up goes the sheathing!

2010-02-23T11:21:00.000-08:00

And here he is, the man responsible for making all of my tiny dreams come true.....my loving husband. Someday I will run out of projects for him, but not likely in the near future :o)
We started putting up the sheathing so that we can have some sort of water barrier before the rain sets in again, gotta love the Pacific Northwest!

The back section is almost finished, we took care to space out the plywood sheets so there is room for expansion and contraction if need be.

It feels like we're on top of the world!

2010-02-20T10:43:00.001-08:00

I guess I didn't realize how high our new house was going to be, it is much taller than our 5th wheel that we're currently living in....
But the views from the loft are fabulous!

The roof goes up easily, we utilized less of a roof pitch so that we can have more head room in the loft

And there she is in all her glory!

Wall construction begins.....

2010-02-20T10:33:00.001-08:00

The entryway wall goes up without a hitch ;o)
But then the rain sets in so we have to halt construction and rush to get our huge tarp in place, we can't have water getting into the insulated floor

More framing.....

After all of the exterior framing is done, we pulled the tarp over the whole thing and started work on the loft inside.

Time flies when you're building a house!

2010-02-20T10:04:00.001-08:00

We got the floor framed in and are ready to insulate the floor

Wool insulation proved to be a really easy, non-toxic solution to conventional insulation and we were lucky enough to find some locally, even though it's produced in Wales, UK.

Beautifully insulated floor! We were out working on our little house until about 11pm, so the pictures are a bit dark.

Work on the sub-flooring

2010-02-09T21:35:00.000-08:00

Well, it took A LOT of homework and searching, but we FINALLY found an all organic, non-toxic, no VOC wood stain. We used this on the underside and up the sides and top edges of the sub-flooring to waterproof the underside of the trailer and keep any moisture from creeping up. We'll also use this same product to stain our siding once we get the exterior walls up.

Smells a bit like canola oil, but that's it! No stinky fumes!

We painted the boards for the trailer and let them sit for the recommended cure time per the instructions.

And lo and behold, we have a sub floor! Next stop, floor framing and insulation!

Yay! My tiny house has a foundation!

2010-02-03T20:30:00.000-08:00

It finally arrived! Our custom made trailer for our new home!

Very exciting indeed!

We painted the frame in Rustoleum so that we won't have to worry about it later on.

There she is, in all her glory! 24ft of tiny living space!

Now the fun part begins! We actually have to get ourselves in gear and get working on our new house :o)

Our Tiny Dream

2010-01-31T22:27:00.001-08:00

While many people dream big dreams, ours are quite small indeed.

We've created a life for ourselves that some consider drastic enough already, but we're getting ready to embark on a new journey, a more permanent journey into uncharted waters for us.

Sometime between the middle of 2006 and the beginning of 2007, we had both left our jobs on a hope and a prayer that there had to be something better than 8-5/Monday-Friday/Until the day we Died.

We started our own business, and I'm not going to say it was easy, but we have managed to put food on the table and it's so nice to not be working for someone else anymore. In order to regain more freedom in life we decided to rent out our house in the city, condense our vehicles, buy an RV and move to the country to stay on a relative's property until we got our bearings. It's been a blast, but we're again pondering "what now"?

The last year has proved to be a huge learning curve, emboldened with the desire to live an organic, non-toxic and healthy life, and not willing to return to "normal" employment we're stuck trying to find answers for a permanent housing solution that will give us a peaceful, happy space to call home.

Enter the Tiny House!

We had heard crazy stories about people living in yurts, mud huts, and converted school buses, and now we are the crazy ones! We're building a very very tiny house on a trailer that will accomodate all of our needs and serve us well for the next many years.

Building will be a chore, but it will be worth it in the end! We'll be able to take our home with us wherever our lives may lead us, and allow us to become self-sufficient and independant!

I'll keep you posted with our progress :o)