Day 7

So. The subfloor is done, and now it’s time for the first steps of framing out the tiny house. Can I tell you how excited I am to be this close to framing! CAN I TELL YOU?! Ok. You get it. No more screaming necessary.

Day 7 was a short day. But we got quite a bit done. Though…things did go awry. So, first, we measured out the sill lengths and tried our best to match them with the bolts on the edges of the trailer. The sill plates are essentially just the bottom of the frame…why they need a fancy name is beyond me, but I’m no carpenter (yet). The bolts on the trailer, by the way, hold the whole tiny house to the trailer. That is ALL that holds the tiny house to the trailer. 8 giant bolts, paired with 8 giant hurricane ties (which you should be prepared to special order, as no one carries them. try connectors.com – we got a great price there!) Anyway. We got confused, as the pictures on the plans showed the sill plates hanging over the outside of the trailer, and essentially called for the bolt holes in each 2×4 to be centered. Following directions, because of course the architects know best:

Following directions and the blueprint images resulted in this wonky affair.

At first, I thought – sure. I just followed all of the directions. And these are centered. Yet there is an overhang. But what do I know? And later, in bed (where all strokes of genius hit, moments before the snooze arrives) I thought – hey. How the hell am I supposed to eventually nail sheathing from the frame down to the fascia if there is a massive overhang?

So…long blog short…we got this done:

felt a massive sense of accomplishment, and then realized that we needed to redo the whole thing. It’s ok. It’s part of the process. (that’s what I’m supposed to say, right?) Anyway, needless to say, cussing commenced and we got back to work. But you know what? It was all so great anyway. I mean…it’s quite the accomplishment to mess up this badly in only 4 hours and then realize the mistake before it’s too late! So…Day 8 will be exciting. (How do I know? Well…because there is a lag in this blog due to drill-induced wrist pains and exhaustion, so I just got home from Day 8 a few hours ago! AND IT WAS AMAZING…stay tuned!)

Julie