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

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.

I’m framing the roof with simple trusses that I build on the ground from pallet wood. Saturday morning I picked up a bunch of pallets including four over-sized pallets. They were about six feet long and longer which turned out to be perfect fit for my roof.

I decided that I didn’t want full pallets in the roof so it made more sense to break the pallets down into the lumber and build the roof from the raw materials. The six foot long pallets turned into very nice trusses. I’m not going to put a cross tie between the rafters because I suspect the loft will add enough strength to keep the roof from settling.

By making the trusses on the ground I’ll be able to keep the roof fairly square. Actually I was pleasantly surprised how strait the walls ended up. They are not as strait as a normal wall, but they aren’t as crooked as I expect them to be. They are also feeling more stable as I add more to the house.

Now I’m on the lookout for long pallets. I think I have enough standard pallets stacked up for the siding and maybe even the interior. So I’m going to hold off on collecting any of those until I use up the ones I already have. I’ve found that the long pallets are out there, you just have to know where to look. Auto repair and heating and air shops are great places to look for free pallets because these businesses get deliveries of bulky objects and regularly discard odd sized pallets.

Once I have the the rest of the wood for the roof framing collected, which is the equivalent of 24 6-foot 2x4s, I can finish the roof framing. I also need to find five or six 8-foot 2x4s for the loft.

After the rough framing is complete I’ll cover the roof in pallet boards, roofing felt, and some kind of metal roofing. I’m hoping to find some corrugated metal but I’m also playing with the crazy idea of using flattened #10 tin cans. I love the idea of tiny can shingles; that would be a sight.

The pallet on the left is the heavy duty pallet and will be dismantled and probably remade into cabinets and shelves. You can see it’s a 2-way pallet and lacks the fork lift fork notches like most standard pallets. This is great for me because I’ll be able to make good use of the solid 2x4s. The pallet on the right is a standard 48″ by 40″ 4-way pallet which will probably become part of the roof. It’s fairly light weight and should be strait enough. It’s got a little bow to it but that shouldn’t be too big of a problem.

Below is an example of a very usable pallet from the same load. It’s a standard 40′ by 48′ pallet, sturdy, unstained, not too weathered, and fairly light weight. I suspect the wood is fir. This is the kind of pallet that makes building easy. Soft wood is much easier to work with and when the pallets are in good condition and a standard size they need very little preparation before they can become part of a wall, floor, or roof.

I’ll just screw 2x4s onto the open ends of this one and it will be good to go. I plan to do a lot of this kind of work this week so I can arrive at the farm the next time with a full load of prepared pallets. It will make the construction go much faster.

My plan is to stay home this weekend, get caught up on a few things around the house, and knock together a few pallet panels. As I worked on the tiny free house last weekend I found that it’s best to screw 2x4s onto the open ends of pallets before putting them in place. It makes them stronger and give you more places to screw them together. To get the 2x4s I’ll just bust up odd size pallets, use the 2x4s for augmenting my good wall pallets and the slats for exterior siding. I expect to make another pallet run or two before the long weekend is over. As I build these pallet panels I’ll photograph them so you can see what I mean.

My wife Julia has gotten really good at spotting pallets as we drive down the highway and has noticed a lot of busiesses with piles of pallets in their warehouse yards. I think I’ll give dialing for free pallets a try tomorrow and hit up some of the local businesses. I’ll also keep my eyes open for free pallets on craigslist but focus on people with 11 or so to give away.