Lumber Yard

September 29, 2015September 28, 2015 Chrissy Lou1 Comment

Supporting local business is super important to me. We’ve worked really hard during this build to salvage as many materials. But when we do need to buy new, we try to buy local. Almost all of our lumber and building supplies have come from Bryant’s Lumber Yard in Port Henry, NY. They deliver to the job site or Seth picks up materials when he’s running errands so this was my first time here. I was super impressed by how attentive the staff were. Chuck helped us out for almost an hour and a half while we picked out supplies and loaded the truck.

Sleeping Loft

September 28, 2015September 28, 2015 Chrissy Lou2 Comments

Have I mentioned how awesome my parents are?! Seriously. The most awesome. They came up for two days and we made some good progress. We finished framing the roof and framed my sleeping loft.

Originally, we were going to do a shed roof for the whole house. Once we got the bathroom ceiling framed and the rafters over that section, it was clear that was not going to work! It would have been very tight. We decided to build a dormer over the sleeping loft that extends part way in the the main living space. I have plenty of room to climb up into the loft without worrying about bumping my head and will be able to sit straight up once up there. There’s beautiful tall ceilings in more of the house and it looks pretty awesome! We’re searching for a funky little window to place on the wall where to roof line transitions.

The sleeping loft is about 7′ long and 6’8″ wide which will give me an extra 56 square feet of space. I can fit a standard queen size bed but it will be tight so I’m considering some other options. My Dad built this for me and then my mom and I helped him put it in. Remember when I said how awesome my parents are?

My Mom made window pans to prevent moisture from accumulating on the window sills. She also started taking apart my kitchen cabinets so they can be refinished.

Hurricane ties attach the rafters to the stud wall. This way my roof stays on while driving.

Rafters!

September 15, 2015September 17, 2015 Chrissy Lou3 Comments

Today was rainy and little chilly. We finally got a tarp to put over the whole frame and spent most of the day working under the tarp. This was a little tricky because we finished building the knee wall and started putting up rafters. The wind kept blowing the tarp because couldn’t fasten it down until the end of the day. But it was nice to stay dry! Having the rafters in place with the tarp over the top, gave us a better idea of just how tall the house really is. It’s starting to feel more like a home every day that we work on it.

Tyvek Gift Wrap

September 13, 2015September 13, 2015 Chrissy Lou1 Comment

We finished framing the majority of the house, then sheathed and wrapped it. We framed to 8′ and then built a 2’5″ knee wall on top of that to ensure plenty of head room in the sleeping loft. The house can be a maximum of 13’6″ from the ground to legally transport so we’re aiming for an inch or two below that.

I was so lucky to have two very good friends, Nick and Matt, visiting from San Fransisco. Nick, Matt and my friends Mike and Ashley all put in a solid days work and we made enormous (by tiny house standards) progress. As always, I left the build site that day feeling incredibly grateful, thankful and happy.