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Saturday, April 19, 2014

Day 7

Holy cow!

Bit of a reality check for me.... Today I remembered a few things about construction, wood is heavy, and it's very expensive.

4x6's are really heavy, especially 4x6x10's...sort of like carrying a tree or something. ;)

I spent a good deal of my night Friday trying to come up with an accurate list of everything I would need for the trailer extension, and then that spilled over to the sub floor. One final look at the trailer this morning, a few last measurements with Sterling, and we set off for Friedman's.

I love Friedman's, always have. They're a local company that truly cares about maintaining a happy workforce. They do that by paying them better than the average big box store, and by sustaining a family like work environment. It shows too, in the attitude their staff project, and the knowledge that they have for what they're selling. It makes it easier to give them the kind of money I spent today.

Here's nearly everything I'll need, sans the tar paper (still in the car), and the galvanized aluminum flashing I've yet to buy (forgot that on my list).


Thanks goes to Ursula for letting me store it in her garage. I promised her it would all be on the trailer in the next couple of weeks.

So much for building the extension this weekend, by the time we picked, purchased, paid, and brought home all the wood and matching hardware, I was exhausted. With grocery shopping still in need of being done, and some preparations for Easter Sunday needed. I called it a weekend.

Next week, we build and install the trailer extensions.

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Day 6

OK, nothing physically has been done this weekend to the trailer, but...

I've been trying to determine how to extend the bed of the trailer, and for that extension to provide real sub floor and wall mounting strength. Saw some good ideas, thought of some real impractical ones, hemmed and hawed... I think I have a plan.

I'm going to frame two sets of extensions, one for each side. They'll be comprised of treated two by fours and four by fours, mounted with large threaded bolts that will not react with the treated lumber (no-rust), and look something like this...



I spent Saturday learning how to use SketchUp, again..., to any of you who haven't tried using this to help design your tiny house, I highly recommend it. It helps to be able to use real dimensions, and 3D imaging to get a sense of just how things need to fit together. For free software, you can't beat it.

I even went so far as to explore how the subfloor would be installed, and realized that the Tacks tiny trailer, has a lower wheel well. It's inches lower than mine, and subsequently the subfloor completely covers it. I.E. - no inside intrusion.

Mine are higher, and because I'm purposely extending the deck to gain as much indoor square footage (to allow for a narrow staircase), I will likely have some of the wheel well showing through the interior wall. I suspect that it will be very little, and that I should be able to cover much of it up.

Here's the trailer with the sub floor...



Next up...actually buying the material, building and installing the trailer extensions. :)

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Day 5

Yeah, I know what many of you are thinking, "Sheesh! How many shots of the trailer do we have to endure?"

Sorry, it seems without having paid a fortune for the custom trailer I'd originally wanted, there's a bit of prep work before you can even start with the subfloor. While it doesn't seem like much has happened, I think it's coming along just fine.

So where are we at? Take a close look at this picture...



As you can see, we've removed half of the trailers deck boards. This is a procedure that seems to be universally recommended. Not sure exactly why, might have to do with moisture and ventilation, it certainly removes excess weight. This process also allowed me to get a better look at its overall construction. I found things I liked, and sadly one thing I found to be very disappointing.

On the plus side, lots of steel framing. If you pay careful attention to the picture, you'll see it's spaced every foot, down the length of the trailer. Love it!

On the bad side, the long square headed screws that they used to secure the pressure treated wood to the steel frame, were not a good choice. They were very rusty, with quite a bit of rust build up between where the wood, the frame and the screw came into contact.

I was worried about that, I'd expected a little rust from having suffered outside this winter with the small amount of rain we did get, but was not prepared for what I saw initially. Fortunately the rust was minor, and what couldn't be brushed away with my hand was easily ground away with the 4.5 inch grinder. I followed up with Rust-Oleum spray, specifically designed to attach well to rust and create a protective barrier. Needless to say, I feel much better now.

I toyed with replacing all the screws on the remaining deck boards, and still might, I'll have to check on Sterlings expert opinion.

Next great prep of the trailer prior to the actual subfloor installation, will be extending the width of the trailer, to nearly the edge of the wheel wells.