The 3rd Installment to Our Tiny House Project

Well, this 'weekend' (my husbands days off) was a busy one. We got the frames up for the closet after church on Sunday. Rather simple process. But it still took a while.

Found out that the truss frame pieces we had cut were not right and had to test adjustments. So only one was completed that day. But my husband also made a makeshift sawhorse to help on this project. Engineering at its best!

I cut the little branches that would get in the way when we start adding the roof. Here's a hint - make sure you know if there are going to be branches or trees in the way BEFORE you start putting this together. We made the last minute change to make it taller, but forgot about the tree branches that hang too low over it.

I admit to getting frustrated by this point. After all, my sons and I are just sidekicks. We can walk boards to where they need to be. We can bring more nails when dad is getting low. Or hold a board steady when he cuts it. But we can't really assist further than that. So when something doesn't line up, and that is normal, I get to feeling pretty useless. Don't get me wrong, my husband is doing all he can to get it right the first time. But we are human. And as such, mistakes are inevitable. 

Monday was another busy day. I had a hospital visit to make that cut into our work time. We also had to make a trip to the hardware store to get roofing materials. But we did our best and managed to finish all the truss pieces, as well as chopped down the branches that would be in the way.

Tuesday had another break in our schedule. I had a party to host. Which was good for our kids. They had friends to come hang out and play for a while. And I got to host a great get together for some homeschool friends. We only managed to get half the truss pieces installed before we had to end the work day. This was also because we ran out of the L brackets to hold them up.

Things we learned

I mentioned knowing what trees or branches might be in the way.  We had originally planned the shed to be shorter, which meant that no cutting would be needed. However, my husband started asking about storage. Storage would be great! As we started planning the roof though, we realized that adding in storage might not work so well. So that is still in the air. However, the shed is already tall, so branches had to go.

Measure, measure and finally, measure again. We are working on a plan that resides inside my husbands head. Each measurement is taken multiple times. Otherwise we find we are slightly off from time to time. Thankfully, it has not required additional purchases for more wood. 

Be prepared to have to go to the hardware store multiple times. Not only because someone enjoys just breathing in the scent of home improvement, but because miscounting means more screws and brackets might be necessary. My husband wants to make absolutely sure that this thing can withstand anything. Understandable! But that means we sometimes run out of certain brackets or plates to hold things in place after he uses more on them than he had thought he would.

Next up...

So what is next? Depending on the weather and time, we may continue putting up the truss pieces during my husbands work week, in the evenings. We are supposed to get rain sometime this week, which wouldn't be good for this untreated wood. 

This process isn't as fast as we might like though. 2 of us stand on ladders, while the other 2 lift the piece up to those on ladders. Ladder people then lift up to the end of the wall frames and hold in place. Dad jumps on his ladder to glue and screw the piece to the wall frame on each side, while 2 people hold it taut with ropes and the 3rd person holds the boards themselves. Talk about an arm workout... 

Then we have to add the roofing layers. We have the sheathing plywood, followed by that black paper-like roll (yep, not even caring to look up what that is called), then comes the shingles and a vent. 

Lastly, the exterior needs the outer siding, installment of 2 windows and a door. I can't wait to get that finished. My husband and I both agreed. We never want to build one of these again. And no, I refuse to allow him to build the second story of our house. IF we ever do, we will be hiring someone!

Tiny House Details as Progress Continues!

The building continues on the tiny house that will be in our backyard. We now have all four walls standing.

I think this part was harder on us. Weather started to get warmer and it was a very slow process. My husband had to measure, cut, install, and repeat. Each. And. Every. Board. There was plenty of down time for the rest of us helping him. Kids were ready to quit at the first chance they were given. 

We also faced the first, and hopefully last, injury on this job. My husband says we need to use his hardhat next time to prevent such things from happening. This was the result of a hammer falling on my sons head.

We stopped progress after cutting the truss pieces that will hold up the roof. My husband is back at work, so building will have to stop too. We found that working when he came home was just too much strain on the family. We were neglecting other aspects of our lives.

We also decided that on days we are working, our cutoff time is 4PM. This way, we are not having late dinners. We are not cutting out other family time. We are not having to wait until the next day for showers. All these things that are important to us, we are keeping time for. If you are taking on a project, do your best to meet a deadline. However, don't sacrifice too much for it if you can help it. 

While we are not building outside, I'm still working on the finer details. We have secured the supplies to add electricity in the building. But rather than buy things like light switch covers and plug covers, I decided to print them on the 3D printer! Knowing that this will be my crafters shed after my in-laws move, I decided to get ones that are useful, yet decorative to both of us. 

Steampunk theme

My crafting shed will be in the steampunk style I love. So I printed one light switch cover with the gear theme.A good paint job gave it the detail I was looking for.

I also printed a cover for the electrical outlet that can hold their cell phone.

This will later be in the area that I want my workstation built in. Which means the tray will help me hold things as I work. 

Today is my husband's last day at work for the week. Progress on the roof and the inner closet will begin again! Our biggest struggle is figuring out the roof and proposed storage ideas in an attic design. But as we always do, we will take one step at a time. See you in the next update!

From Empty Yard to Crafters Shed to Tiny House!

Life changes drastically, often quickly. One minute you are dreaming of a future project. Then you start thinking about how it doesn't have to be years down the road. And before you know it, you are building with urgency because it is a need. 

Well, that is how it went for us at least. When we moved into our home, our own home, we had a couple sheds in the backyard already. But those were my husbands. Storage and workshop. Eventually, I knew I wanted to have my own crafters shed. A place for all my projects to be centralized. To clear space in the house. Where I could work in an organized way. But that would cost a pretty penny for this family that is making it check by check for the most part. So I knew I'd have to wait a year at least. Or so I thought. 

We started talking about our tax refund money. And what projects might be beneficial to start. About this time, my mother-in-law had quite the health scare. Before we knew it, she was talking about moving out here this year. But she needed a place to stay. Her, my sister-in-law, and their 4 pets. My husband and I are decidedly not animal people. No pets. He has pretty severe allergies, and with all I have on my plate (4 kids included), animals are just a nuisance. We talked about how to accommodate the in-laws without coming to issues with the pets. Thus the shed build was decided as a priority. 

Getting started

Our first step was in deciding where and how big this thing would be. Then we searched online. I can tell you that was grueling! Searching for delivered, pre-built sheds wouldn't work. Our backyard set-up would make for difficult delivery. Kits were also a no. They look great in pictures, but then you read the fine print. Windows not included. Roofing not included. Paint isn't included. Nor were the floors. All that is on you or costs extra. Sizes are rigidly set. Once we compared pricing, we noticed that it seemed cheaper to just build from scratch on our own. With the ability to design it to fit our needs. So, we did just that. 

Foundation to last a lifetime

Usually, you build a slab foundation. The whole building sitting right on top. However, that would have costed around $1,100 - $1,500. We didn't have that kind of money. And we needed to get the foundation started. So the engineer put his brain to work and created the next best solution.

Square slabs. It was inventive and cost us a fraction of the price. I think we used about 50-60 bags of concrete mix total to create 20 squares in rows.

These are 43 bags my mother-in-law had delivered. Each one was a whopping 80 pounds. Made for some back breaking work. 

However, this was also slow-going for us. See those boards forming the square? We needed 20 total to create the foundation. But those board molds - we only had enough to do 6 at a time. Well, we had enough for 6 after the first couple pours. They had to set for 7 days. So it took us a little over a month just to finish that part. Burned out the new drill trying to mix it that way too.

Had to swap to this nifty device my mother-in-law sent us. While this is by no means industrial-strength, it held up for us to get the blocks finished.

And then on top of each one, we had these metal brackets set in the concrete. My husband told me this was to add strength for the high winds we fight here. 

We dug holes and poured concrete. Working as a well-oiled machine together, every chance we had.

Took many weeks, but it slowly took shape with each block we finished.

Then came the next part - the floor foundation. We weren't just laying plywood on top of the blocks. My husband created his plans with a little insight from my research on shed building.

Once we came to this stage of the build, I could finally feel confident that it was really happening. Although there were days when I was pretty tired of going to the hardware store. I know my husband loves window shopping there, but the kids and I get so tired of trudging around the lumber and fasteners.

My daughters took their toys and this is what I saw when we had a particularly long wait as dad checked out the various types of screws... Anna falling asleep with her unicorn on a shelf.

We laid cross sections that added stability. My sons learned a lot from their dad about getting this part right.

Our SUV can't handle the amount of large pieces of wood we needed. So we had to resort to having them delivered on a flatbed truck. Thankfully, the guy bringing them was nice enough to get them dropped off in the backyard, closer to the build. Otherwise the boys and I would have to cart them from the driveway, through the house and out back.

We laid down treated plywood for the flooring and then the walls started to quickly take shape. 

As of today, all four walls have been framed and 3 are standing. It has been a long process. And we are not even close to finished.

But we have learned a thing or two along the way so far that I wanted to share with you. 

1. Careful measurements are crucial to getting everything locked in together correctly. 

2. Having a sense of humor is the only way to break the stressful moments. Don't forget to laugh when it gets hard. 

3. Look up. You get so focused on the craziness right in front of you that you might forget the beauty that is around you. So take a deep breath, and look up. Or around. Great stress release. 

4. Be mindful of your local weather. For us, wind was a battle we hated fighting. It gets strong and lasts all day. Not only did we have to focus our efforts with this in mind, but we had to build something that would withstand those winds as time goes on. 

5. If you are able, ask for help from friends or family. I can't tell you how many times I wished we would ask for someone to help. While my husband isn't big on interacting with others outside the family, it could have gone smoother. 

I'll keep posting as we go along. There are many more steps ahead of us. Both exterior and interior. But we will take them each in stride as a family. And have something amazing to show for it when we reach the end!