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 :-)

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.

After removing all the nails I’ll put it on the exterior walls and interior ceiling. But first I need to put some roofing on it and insulate the roof. I’ve had little luck finding anything suitable for the roof but I’ve also had little time to scrounge around… so at the very least I’ll cover it before the rain starts with roofing felt and possibly a tarp. At this point the less rain on the house the better.

The plywood is now stored in the shed/shop at the farm… well protected from the rain. It will stay there until I started putting it on the house.

My next step is to cover the roof with roofing felt to protect the house from the rain and start on the siding on my next trip… unless my father-in-law scores form scrap sheet metal for me. He mentioned he knew a couple guys with sheet metal shops that often have shingle size scrap pieces of metal. Seems to me some galvanized scrap sheet metal would make some very nice shingles… nicer than #10 cans and still very free.

The photos above are how it looked after I cleaned up my mess on Sunday afternoon. The last photo below is how it looked at the end of Saturday. As you can see I use an extension ladder on the exterior and screwed the boards on as high as I could reach safely.

Sunday morning, working from the inside on the orange ladder, I popped my head and shoulders up from the inside boarded up the peak boards. It was a bit tricky and I was standing on the top of the 6-foot ladder. I’m not exactly sure how I’m going to get the roofing felt and shingles up there without actually getting up on the roof. I think I’ll be OK as long as I stay on the rafters. I guess we’ll see :-)

I also realized the side windows were too high and needed to be lowered so I threw a temporary support in, unscrewed a couple pallets, cut them up and reframed. I only got one window lowered before I called it a day on Sunday.

Next Steps:

• Lower other side window.
• Finish putting boards on roof.
• Finish filling in pallet boards on sides so I have something to screw the milled pallet boards onto.
• Finish roof (roofing felt and shingles (The jury is still out on the final roofing material)).
• Mill up a bunch of pallet boards for the siding.
• Wrap it up with house-wrap.
• Screw on the milled pallet board siding.
• Install the windows I got free off craigslist.
• Mill up pallet boards for trim around the windows and door.
• Build the door from pallet wood, and install.
• Seal the exterior with some kind natural free finish. (I’m open to suggestions.)

At that point I’ll be ready to move to working inside the house. My plan is to get all this done before the rain starts. At my current slow pace I think it’s possible. Here are a few more photos.

How to take apart pallets

Tiny free house tour

How to work with the pallet boards

Demonstration of attaching pallet boards to the roof

Nice view of corn field

Crop duster flys over the Tiny Free House

They’ve been distracted too and have had some short delays as well. I think time may be the most common challenge with free house construction, scavenging takes a lot of it and you can’t just go down to the store and buy stuff. Take a look at their latest progress, visit The Scrap House blog.

At first it was the resale value plummeting which is now down about 40%; yep I’ve  lost almost half the value from the peak market price. But the other trapping quality is the time my house takes to maintain. This one, being about 35 years old, has had some deferred maintenance and it seems like every time I turn around I have to fix, prune, mow, or clean something else.

I’m still planning on taking time off from work but June is looking really packed with previous obligations. I think I may take advantage of the good weather and run some garage sales so I can sell the odds and ends I’ve collected. I may also try to tackle some woodworking projects around here like build the tiny house’s front door. Maybe that will help me eliviate some of the frustration I’m feeling and make some real progress too.

After this weekend it looks like I’ll be back on track with the tiny free house! This week I’ll redouble my scavenging efforts and get all my ducks in a row for my next trip to the farm. Next step is to get the roof on and then I can start covering the exterior with pallet boards. I can’t wait for the tiny free house to really look like a tiny house.

I’d love to see a million free houses pop-up around the country. I can’t be the only one this simple idea has occured to… and the more people that do it, the more people will try it and discover that a little ingenuity can replace spending money any day. Read the complete story on Tiny House Blog. You can also visit the students’ project blog at thescraphouse.wordpress.com.