The sad news is that it looks like the family farm is going to have to be sold. Both the primary legal owners are retired and living there… and living way out in rural anywhere doesn’t always make the most sense as we all get older. So both are carefully working through the details of selling and moving. It’s sad because the land has been in my wife’s family for over 100 years. But then again 100 years ago the world was a very different place and the needs of folks back then were quite a bit different from folks these days.

So while this is good and sad news it also seems like the right thing to do all the way around. Although it does increase my interest in finishing the house soon and finding some cheap land to set it up as a home away from home.

So stay tuned… now I’m working on moving day preparations like finding the quickest way to batten down the pallets and exploring the best freeway-free path to safely make the 60 mile trip. The house IS on wheels but it’s far from complete and will need some added support to make it through all the bumps and turns.

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.

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.

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

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.

Anyway it felt very good to have this milestone complete. It also feels good to have a safe roof over head. I didn’t want to use pallets in the roof because it just seemed like asking for trouble. This roof shouldn’t collapse on my head.

The next step is to close up the roof with roofing felt, tin or shingles. I’ve already got enough scavenged roofing felt but I still need some kind of roofing material. Initially I was hoping to find an old metal shed someone wants hauled away, but I’ve been thinking more about using flattened #10 tin cans. I’ll need to do an experiment before I start collecting the 200 cans. My imagination tells me it will work great but my practical side tells me I’m crazy… but we knew that right?

A finished roof will give me some shade to work in while I finish up the interior wheel well and bathroom wall framing. I’d like to get all the rough framing work done before I start closing it in with pallet boards so it’s easier to work in there under the hot sun.

I’m also still on the lookout for insulation but I’m pretty sure I’ll use styrofoam packing peanuts stuffed in old plastic grocery bags. The bags should hold the peanuts together and keep the whole process of putting peanuts in the walls and ceiling less messy. The interior will be sealed up the same way are the exterior with pallet boards.

Here’s what it looked like after I cleaned up my mess at the end of the day:

I plan to put bracing in at the peak to keep the roof strong. Instead of framing the roof normally I made simple trusses on the ground and lifted them into place and then added cross bracing between each truss. By adding a little metal or wood plate at the peak it should help keep the roof together for a long time.

I need 16 more 6-foot 2x4s to finish the roof framing and I can get three 2x4s out of each pallet so I need to find about 6 more pallets. I think I have enough standard pallets for the wall sheathing stacked up at the farm so I’m going to keep an extra good look-out this week for at least six more long pallets and skip picking up the small ones. If I can’t find enough by the end of the week I might break down and spend some of the money made by selling free stuff found on craigslist and buy a couple 2x4s.

I’ve spent very little money on screws and saw blades so far; money very easily recouped by selling the free stuff I’ve already found free on craigslist. I figure that since 2×4 studs cost less than $2.00 each it might make more sense to get these last few pieces of lumber at the store instead of burning up gas looking for the free variety, as much as I hate to do that. I’ve used some pretty scrappy looking, yet solid, wood in the walls but I want to make sure the roof is sturdy enough not to come down on our heads. So in a way it seems like cheap insurance if I have to break down and spend $30 on 2x4s.

Julia snapped a photo of me loading the one good pallet we found. It came with a very nice piece of masonite attached to it. I’m not sure how I’ll use it but I’m certain it will come in handy. Below that is a photo of the pallets I left behind.