Thursday, May 8, 2014

Big Sticks Into Smaller Sticks

I've been framing my home in recent days.  Cutting big sticks into smaller sticks and attaching them is fairly straightforward and satisfying.  It's fun to see my Google Sketchup design pop into a tangible, 3-D shelter.  The wind is already being cut by my walls and the rain is diverted by my temporary roof leaving the area below dry and protected.  Shelter is a lovely thing!

Nate is examining my unconventional framing plan.  Studs are placed 24" on center and I avoided king and trimmer studs as much as possible to continue trimming weight.  I used Simpson Header Hangers to support window openings.  Nate's pa pointed out that I ended up sacrificing some lateral stability by not using full length studs around some of the window openings.  I'll get by, but if I did it again I probably wouldn't frame in this manner.  It took too long, and the measurements didn't even come out very accurate in the end, and I probably didn't save all that much weight.  This unknown question of weight is a bit of pain.  Perhaps it is worth it to get the 10,000 pound trailer or to build much smaller.  I'll let you know when I weigh this thing on a truck scale at some point.  My concern over weight could be all for not, though cutting weight also means shaving materials and cost.  

I also made the mistake of not starting with full length plates that spanned the wheel wells.  Full plates would have made measurements more consistent, accurate, and fast.  Cutting the unnecessary parts out later would have been a breeze.  

Even for the two of us (as meaty as we are) the walls were awkward and heavy to raise.  I assembled each frame on the leveled trailer deck with screws, sheeted it and tipped it up.  You can see the temporary bracing we employed to keep from being squished while we made adjustments.  A huge thank you to Nate for assisting me with the wall raising, leveling and plumbing everything.  How lucky I am to have such awesome friends!  

 The other three walls made the deck too crowded to tip up the final wall safely.  We each took a shot of whiskey (not) and heaved the frame onto the trailer and commenced sheeting it upright.

 In all its glory...maybe I'll just use these tarps as my permanent siding.  I need to keep the kiln dried lumber reasonably dry.  Getting it wet can mean pesky warping and cracking.  Plywood can de-laminate if it gets soaked and then cooked by the sun.  Also keeping water off the insulated floor is critical as it would be tough at this point to drive out moisture from the sealed space below the deck. 


Rafters intimidated me initially--with the angles, overhangs, and bird's mouth cuts--but they actually went pretty smoothly.  Perhaps I got lucky?  I used Google Sketchup to model them and transferred dimensions from screen to board using a carpenter's square.  My roof pitch is an odd 7.25:12, meaning 7.25" of rise for 12" of run.  This provides me with three feet of headroom off the mattress in the loft .  My success was probably mostly due to Nate, who helped demystify the process.  He was also instrumental in helping me square, plumb, and level the walls, which helps the whole structure come together tightly (well...mostly tight).  Looking forward to nice weather this weekend to unwrap everything to sheet the roof and nail off all the plywood.

My house is bloody tall!  If I did it again, I might go with a little longer trailer with a lowered storage/sleeping loft.  Also, Nate's pa showed off his truck bed camper to me recently and we discussed how campers, as well as boats, are engineered to be both strong and light.  I wish I knew more about the construction methods of these types of shelters.  Using traditional framing on a trailer seems a little excessive sometimes.  Framing with 2x3's instead of 2x4's may be a good compromise.  Lots of considerations for a mere mortal.  Building simple and cheaply is important for an amateur builder with little supervision such as myself.  I like the idea that I can keep modifying the structure as I learn more and improve my skills, all without too much monetary investment.  As it is, I think I've gotten a little carried away in the size and cost of the house, however, forward momentum is also good.   

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