Tiny Free House

I spent another half day at the farm this past weekend right before the storms blew back into northern California. I got a few more pieces of plywood screwed onto the exterior of the house.

The only wall left is the back wall and then I’ll trim off the bottoms of the plywood where they run too long and cut the wheel well openings. The trailer has no fenders like you see on so many tiny houses built on new trailers so I’ll need to frame the wheel openings in with wood and cut the exterior wall sheathing and siding over the wheels in arches to make it look right.

I’m still on the lookout for the right kind of roofing. I’m holding out for corrugated metal roofing. I hope to finish the roof before moving onto the siding.

Katie and I made an impromptu trip to the farm yesterday. She got to spend five hours playing with her Grammy and Pop and I some plywood on the outside of the tiny house. Once this layer is down I’ll wrap the walls in housewrap and then screw on a layer of pallet boards on for the final exterior finish.

I’m still hunting for roofing material and currently thinking I may just focus on searching for some scrap corrugated roofing. After experiencing extreme winds and rain this past winter it just seems like the smartest solution for roofing is to use some kind of real metal roofing.

Below: Here’s what it looked like when I left. We’re expecting another storm this week so I resecured the tarp before I left.

Above: A mid-day shot with the tractor working the field in the background. This year the farmer that works the 40-acres has planted four separate crops for organic seeds, bok choy, swiss chart, carrots, and radishes. The carrots are right behind the tiny house.

Below: A close-up of a date stamp on one of the recycled pieces of plywood I’m using.

…and lastly Katie posing for a photo with the tractor :-)

On a quick trip to the farm yesterday I threw a tarp on the house’s roof and lashed it down with a bunch of bungees. It looks like we’re going to be in for quite an extended rain storm so I figured I better get up there to try and protect what I’ve done do far. Ironically those old pallets seemed in great shape for being out in the rain for so long already. I hope to have some kind of roofing in hand on my next trip to the farm so I can get past this major milestone.

Katie also got to spend a few hours with her grandparents and walk out in the muddy field to pick a few early organic radishes. The farmer that works the land did something new this year and instead of planting a cover crop he planted carrots, radishes, bok choy , and Swiss chard for seed. I guess the market for organic seeds is doing well.