August through November

Last time I posted it was too hot to work outside, now it's already too cold. Summer goes by fast here. If my project was indoors I'd be further along, but the rain (which never really stopped) has significantly slowed my progress down. I had hoped to have the roof on by September, but it's now Thanksgiving Eve and I'm just starting on it. I was at least able to mostly waterproof the exterior (I say mostly because the waterproof underlayment isn't meant to face the weather for longer than 60 days). Anyway, here is the progress from August to November:

Not actually staying dry under that tarp...

Reclaiming old growth redwood for my loft beams. The first two have been planed, the silver one is what they looked like before.

Sealing them with clear, water-based, zero VOC stuff.

Just this one 3.5" piece of the tree—I can't even count the rings. Seriously ancient magical wood.

It's hot out there—I need those vent holes!

Lookin fierce

This is about where I was when my Dad visited for 4 days and helped me get the roof rafters and ridge beam installed, we took a lot of pictures— with his camera. Hope I'll get them one day....

View from the driveway

And this is what it looked like after he left. Even thought it was just the roof framing, it felt like we accomplished so much, and so much faster than I would have done working alone. It was so helpful to gain his insight (he's been designing and building structures since before I was born, he knows his stuff).

View of the loft from the temporary scaffolding.

Loft wall

Snack break and my cute little truck butt

Roof sheathing done!

Sheathed the roof before the walls, like I said, the rain never really stopped. I wish I had videoed myself heaving those plywood sheets up there ALONE. I have a hard time believing I did it myself. But I did, I made that...

Wheel well flange, header, and sheathing

Sheathed! 

It doesn't look it yet, but it's gonna be real cute soon.

Back of the house, view from the street.

Rain = work inside. Prepping the loft boards.

Installing windows! This was the first day of sun since the rain really kicked back up.

So exciting!

I don't know why, but the house wrap came with patriotic propaganda....

Fixed the propaganda post-election. (This side faces the street.)

Lookin good little house.

Heater running inside

I have a little electric heater running inside now, since I already noticed one stud with black mold spots. It heats and de-humidifies nicely even though there's no insulation yet.

Affirmations and woo :)

I have my roofing and siding, just need to install them. I've been working on the trim board and my front door, pics to come!

UPDATES!!

It's been several years since my last post, and it's too hot outside to work on the house, so here's a quick version of everything that's happened between then and now.

I moved in with my Dad, paid off some debt, saved up a little bit, and then moved to Portland, Oregon! I've deemed Portland the tiny house capital of the nation because there are so many resources for alternative dwellings here, not to mention tiny houses being built around every corner. I'm not surprised to see a new one anymore (although I still get totally giddy about them).

I started working and saving my butt off, until I was finally able to buy a new trailer. It's an Iron Eagle trailer, manufactured right outside the city, and made for starting construction on the house right away (no need to weld or cut anything).

Shiny New Iron Eagle Trailer!

Then the trailer waited untouched. It's a detailed story that I won't get into, but basically I wasn't able to start building right away. I had a place to store it, but not to build it.

In February 2016, I moved it to it's new construction site, in the driveway of a lovely and wonderful human: My... Best Friend? My sort of ex but not really? My (mostly) platonic life partner? Or, just my someone-who-is-very-dear-to-me-who-maybe-just-transcends-labels-at-this-point. :) She makes me snacks while I work too!

The first day of Spring was the first day I was actually able to start construction. Fitting, because in the cold and dark winter we hibernate and dream up ideas, but spring is when we begin to sprout those dream seeds into reality! HEEE!

Subfloor Joists Installed

Rock Wool Insulation Installed

All my walls up!

It is now August, and I finally have all my walls up! WHY did it take 6 months just to get the walls up?! WELL: I significantly altered my plans, learned Sketch-Up in the process, DIDN'T quit my job, worked completely alone (aside from a few friends who helped to raise the walls), and I'VE NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE. I don't know what I'm doing! I mean I do, but that's because I'm educating myself as I go. And learning what I'm supposed to do is just one step, then I have to figure out how to do it.

But I love it, and I'll update more frequently from now on.

I'll end this post with a picture of me from 2 years ago: About to move to Portland and start my adventure :)

Ready to go visit PDX and see if I really wanna live there (I do, duh).

The Empty Restlessness

The thing I feel in my bones, the thing that feels most true, is that I will not be happy in any living situation until I dwell in a tiny house that I designed and built. And until I've parked it out in a city where I am both close to nature and culture, a place where I fit into a community, a place where my opinions and my voice and my experiences are heard and respected, until then, I feel in my bones an emptiness. I feel those pieces missing from my life. Which is why I am taking the first steps toward making it happen.

I've downsized quite a bit, and it feels a little more freeing to have less stuff. But that feeling only lasts for a short while until I remember all the REST of the stuff I still have. There is still way too much clutter and unused, unwanted items piled out of sight. I'm continuing to unveil more little corners in my life where I've shoved things away, forgotten about them, and now have to sort them out and make disappear. I'm looking forward to moving to my new temporary living fix with significantly fewer items, although I will continue the slow and steady downsizing process while there too.

I'm temporarily moving to my Dad's house (45 minutes north of San Francisco) so that I can live rent-free, save up some money while I commute to my job in the city, and if I play my cards right, build my tiny house in their driveway. I'd then move the house to where I might find my little dream community. Somewhere near a job that will either give me the most creative satisfaction I can ask for and/or where I do work with sense of purpose. Something that gives me the sense that by the end of the day, I'll feel like I did good. But in the meantime, when I'm not actively and literally making progress toward that goal, that emptiness is dragging on with only dreams forming above and a restlessness to get going. To get building.

Brooks Park, San Francisco

The Beginning

I'm typing this here, perched on my bed in my little rented room with no windows (but a skylight) in San Francisco, CA. I live in Ingleside so it's always foggy, even on the rare days that the sun warms the rest of the city. It's late August, and the nighttime air occasionally drifts down upon me, reminding me the city's warmest time is yet to come. And I think of the ocean nearby. If it's a clear day, all I have to do is walk up or down Faxon to the nearest cross street, and look for where the bright blue sky meets the sparkling darker blue water. I feel grounded when I know where the ocean is, when I can see it, and feel it. The one perk about Ingleside is that I can smell the ocean on clear days. That very specific salty-sticky breeze reminds me that I am human, and I am standing on the planet Earth. And I feel grounded.

But right now, feeling grounded is more like feeling run into the ground. The weight of rent due, student loan payments, and the high cost of living and eating and shopping and doing anything at all in the city is too much to bear. I'm not cut out for regular work. And I'm not cut out for paying rent.
SO. I've recently come to the realization that I need to build myself a tiny house on wheels. It's going to resemble this:

(Photo Credit: Tammy Strobel)

Everything is pointing me toward designing, building and living in my own tiny home. I'm obsessed with home improvement, I'm a highly sensitive person, I'm extremely particular about how I like things, and I hate moving but I love to explore. With the money that I'll save on rent I'll pay toward my student loan debt, and with the time I'll have by not working 5 days a week I'll be able to indulge in all my art projects, venture away into the world, or quietly sit at home while the world goes on around me.

I've bought plans from Tumbleweed Tiny House Company and I took their workshop on how to build one in case you're like me and have no idea where to start.
I'm. So. Excited.