I Hurt

The last couple days have been devoted to the installation of a sheet metal underbelly on my trailer.  Think:  hours on your back in a one and a half foot tall space holding a crunch while applying enough upward force to drill through thick metal crossmembers, hot shards of metal spinning off the drill bit and landing on exposed skin.  My body hurts and so does my pride!    

See, a lot of folks go the route of framing their floor, tacking metal roll flashing to one side and then flipping the whole assembly onto the trailer so that the flashing is facing the ground.  But Nate pointed out that I would only have 3.5" of insulation in my floor using this method and that I would be surrendering the opportunity to insulate the space created by the steel crossmembers of the trailer frame (for a total of 6.5" of insulation in the floor).  I agreed that would be ideal and set to work trying to figure out how to put the metal flashing layer on the very bottom of the trailer.  This would not only provide a moisture, insect, and vermin barrier, but it would also provide a convenient backing onto which I could place my insulation.

Nate pledged his assistance with the undertaking and I wanted to make the most of his expertise to wipe out this nebulous phase of the project with haste.  I visited a sheet metal dealer and purchased 3 of the biggest sheets they sold:  4'x10', hopelessly flimsy (26 gauge), galvanized sheets!  (In retrospect I may have gone with the thicker 22 gauge sheets.)  I also researched fasteners and queued up drill bits and drivers.

We went to work on it Sunday morning.  Nate and I laid out our first sheet and made the necessary cuts and bends.  Then we wrangled the massive drooping sheet under the trailer and set to work fastening it.  That's when things started going awry.  Nate is built like a brick house and was putting impressive force into the small screws I had purchased for the task.  Yet the screws weren't cutting through the metal.  We realized we would have to pre-drill all the holes!  Several broken screws and bits later, we only had a couple mangled screws holding the sheet on.  I was using a #8x3/4", 18 thread count, galvanized #2 tec screw, and if you don't know what means, it is too puny a fastener for cutting through 3/16"+ c-channel steel.  I returned to Portland Fastener and asked for something beefier, leaving with a #10-#3 tec screw (meaning the next size thicker in diameter and a more aggressive head for cutting through heavy steel.  I also purchased several bits made for drilling through hardened metal (cobalt bits).  This re-tooling proved to be the winning combo to make real progress on attaching the sheet metal, but it was still a slow, laborious process, and I think I still didn't have a robust enough fastener for what I was asking of it.  The new screw still couldn't bore through the metal on its own and therefore required a large pilot hole.

Lesson Learned:  These days you can buy a tiny-house-ready trailer from some manufacturers.  Among other customizations, they can weld on a sheet metal underbelly.  If I did it again, I would probably spring for this feature.  I appreciated my method because I learned a lot about fasteners, drill bits, and manipulating sheet metal, but the effort and time expenditure were bordering on the ridiculous.  The slim advantage of my system is that I could remove the fasteners and drop the pan to do maintenance.

A big shout out to my friend Nate for his patience, teaching, and willingness to help me through this challenging phase of home building.  Without his help, I'm convinced I would still be scratching my head about the whole affair or be stuck with only 3.5" of insulation in the floor (which is probably acceptable if you spring for rigid foam insulation).  

"This has 'BAD IDEA' written all over it."

Introducing the Honda Civic:  The ‘Do-Everything-Machine.’  I’ve been hauling some awkward and heavy loads on the roof rack of my Honda Civic over the last couple days.  Today I showed up at the sheet metal dealer with a reinforced, 4x8 sheet of plywood strapped to the rack in hopes of picking up three 4x10 sheets of 26 gauge, galvanized flashing, which I have plans to use for an underbelly on the trailer.  I asked them if they thought I was crazy for thinking I could make it home safely with that set up…there was a long pause.  Several workers came out to gawk and shake their heads while I was tying down the flimsy, humongous sheets.  One fellow outright said, “This has ‘BAD IDEA’ written all over it.”  All the nay-saying shook my confidence, but in the end I drove off chuckling about the whole experience.  They’re use to seeing big contractor trucks show up to receive their material, not some young feller with a sedan rigged with a Yakima rack.  I can't wait to see their faces when they see me hauling my tiny house down the road with my Honda Civic ;-)

I more than maxed out my roof rack carrying four, 4x8 sheets of ¾ inch underlay (plywood flooring) back from Sustainable Northwest Wood.  The material originated from southern Oregon forests and is Forest Stewardship Council certified.  It is also formaldehyde free, a toxic compound found in some plywood glue that negatively impacts indoor air quality as it off-gasses.

I picked up a load of FSC 2x4 studs from the same folks yesterday.  All the boards were stamped ‘Idaho Forest.’  When I inquired why they couldn’t source that material from Oregon hills, they said that OR state logging regulations are rigid and favor the clear cutting practices of big timber companies.  I’ll have to look into that because that’s a serious bummer.  While I was at the lumberyard, I inquired about the "restoration juniper" lumber that they source from eastern Oregon.  Removing juniper is a strategy for rehabilitating the parched sage and grassland ecosystems.  The wood itself is very rot resistant and seems to be used in place of cedar for many applications.  Perhaps I’ll use some on my home!  

In other news I think I’m narrowing down the fasteners I need for securing my foundation to the trailer frame.  Hope to obtain them from Portland Fasteners tomorrow.  On nicer days I’ve been painting the underside of the trailer with Rustoleum because Eagle Trailer Manufacturing did such a poor paint job.  It’s a pain in the butt, and I don’t recommend that company for the reasons I cited in a previous blog post. 

Spring is coming on full bore.  It’s nice to be working outside among sunshine, birdsong, and lengthening days.  

Foundation Framing

 I cut all the pressure treated boards for the foundation today but haven't anchored them to the trailer frame yet.  The lumber came from Sustainable Northwest Wood here in Portland and is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.  One of the beauties of building a tiny house is that you can use sustainably-sourced materials without dealing a painful blow to the pocket book.  At just over 100 square feet, my micro-cabin requires relatively little materials compared to the average 2,480 square foot house being built these days; therefore, whether I buy all of my lumber from Home Depot versus a local company that promotes FSC material, the difference in the totals is pretty minimal.  I am disgusted whenever I see clearcuts in my native Pacific Northwest.  It means a lot to me to have lumber in my home from forests that have been intelligently managed.  I could go on...and I may.

I think I only made one mistake in making all those cuts and it was conducted under the influence of low blood sugar.  Lesson learned:  choose to eat something before the zealous drive to finish the next step leads to a mistake.  Mistakes can mean wasted material and potential physical harm around power tools.

 

  

First Cut (& drilling through the trailer)

I took advantage of the great weather today to fire up my skill saw and make the first cut of many for my mobile cabin.  It's about time!  And it felt gooood to slice and place lumber neatly in the slots I had carefully measured.

I also learned about drilling through the thick metal of my trailer frame to accommodate the all-important bolts that will anchor my pressure treated foundation.  I used more "that-should-do" reasoning to select 3/8" bolts and space them out along the boards.  There are truly thousands of decisions to make along the way and I cannot check all of them with a knowledgeable third party.  Hopefully I'm erring on the side of over-engineering.  I'm also making an attempt to build in a way that I can disassemble things if need be to make modifications at a later date.

I used an eight dollar, 3/8" Irwin cobalt bit to drill the bolt holes through the trailer.  Fortunately I ran into an ex-machinist at the hardware store that explained the importance of keeping the bit cool while drilling to maintain its cutting surfaces.  When the bit gets hot, it gets soft, which causes it to dull.  To keep it cool he recommended dribbling water from a hose over the hole while drilling.  I also reasoned that I should use the slower speed of my cordless drill to prevent overheating of the bit.  It turned out that was a painfully slow and laborious process.  Using the faster speed made the task much more manageable.  I did not start the hole with a smaller bit.  Instead I hammered a punch to create a small divot in which the large bit would catch without walking.

Review: Eagle Trailer Manufacturing (Not Recommended)

Part of my intent with this blog is to document my experience with the businesses I engage with and building materials that I employ as I raise my tiny house.  Buying a trailer is a big first step for tiny house dreamers.  I talked trailer details in a few of my earlier blog posts.  Here I will give more details on the trailer manufacturer that I worked with:  Eagle Trailer Manufacturing of SE Portland (not to be confused with Iron Eagle Trailer, also of Portland).

I cannot recommend Eagle Trailer Manufacturing to future tiny house builders, and here's why:

On the day I picked up my trailer and forked over the remainder of the amount I owed, I inspected it with a novice's eye the best I could.  It was a dark and overcast day...with rain...and everything seemed to look okay.

The following day was bright, sunny, and dry.  As I took measurements of my trailer, I stooped underneath to again examine the paint job.  On a previous post, I explained that I made a special effort to emphasize that the trailer was painted with attention to detail and had paid an extra $50 for the addition of a catalyst paint hardener.  What I saw on the underside of the framing members was bare, rusty metal.  It was like the painter had not even stooped down to spray just a little paint on the underside.

So I took the trailer back with the humble request that the trailer manufacturer paint all four sides of the trailer, and especially the side that will see the most moisture, road salt, and grime (the bottom!).  Today, I went to pick it up for the second time and still found areas of bare metal and paint so thin that you could see the rust right through it.  Once again they said they would take care of it, and once again I will have to borrow my friend's truck to pick it up later today.  My suggestion to you is to either find a trailer manufacturer that pledges to adequately paint the underside or has a method of flipping the trailer over or lifting it up so that the painter can access the bottom.  Eagle Trailer does not have this ability.

A manufacturer such as Eagle who builds and sells trailers to Tumbleweed and other tiny house companies, as well as to trailer sales businesses throughout the region should have their process and quality control measures down.  This is not rocket science.  It's as simple as having a checklist that is reviewed once by the builder (or painter) and once by the supervisor before the trailer moves along to the buyer.  The mistakes they made in painting and with the gussets leave me concerned about other aspects of the trailer they may have rushed or conducted poorly.

Furthermore their customer service is lacking.  Often I felt like my time was not being respected and follow-up phone calls were promised but often not returned.  I would be stuck wondering the status of the trailer and, upon calling, I would be told "Oh, it's ready."  The manager I had been working with left on vacation without assuring me that the paint job was being done properly and giving me a time frame or a point contact for who would be managing the job in his absence.  There were no apologies offered for the lack of follow-through.  Another suggestion:  examine your trailer in detail before making your final payment.  You will retain more leverage if you notice the manufacturer didn't do something properly.

When I was first researching trailer manufacturers, I searched for reviews of Eagle Trailer's work and customer service.  Oddly, for such a busy manufacturer, I found nothing about their reputation.  I will be reviewing Eagle Trailer online and explaining my disappointing experience.  If you're a tiny house builder starting your process, contact me if you would like some suggestions of other trailer manufacturers to explore.  If I could do this all over again, I would work with one of the smaller manufacturers that seemed to be more customer service and detail-oriented (try MCI Welding in Oregon City or MS Trailer in Molalla).

What Now?

Thanks to Nate's Pa for loaning me his burly Dodge to...PICK UP MY TRAILER TODAY!  A big step for modern man!  My rusty trailer driving skills were rigorously tested when I had to back the whole lot into the narrow driveway.  I had a few inches to spare on either side and people waiting for me to get out of the road.  Yikes!  Those big Dodge diesels have some serious tension in the clutch petal and my legs ain't puny neither (Apologies for the solecisms.  The big truck brings out my redneck roots.).  My left ham was a-quiverin' by the time the maneuver was complete.

What now?  A lot of thinkin' and figurin'...figurin' and thinkin'.  Do I seek out someone with more experience to check out every one of my ideas for structural soundness?  Or can I rely on common sense, intuition, and my extensive experience with Legos.  Probably some balance of the two!  Depicted below is some scheming I've been doing on Google Sketchup.  I think this program is so helpful for me to envision things in 3-D and avoid mistakes.  It's like I'm actually building it before actually building it.  The old adage is "Measure twice, cut once."  I would like to update this saying:  "Google Sketchup first, measure twice, cut once."

  

This drawing has helped me examine my framing specs around the wheel wells, as well as the framing and attachment points of the wood foundation to the trailer.  Also, it's nice to have the trailer here to help visualize  and take real-time measurements.  Getting this foundation right and solid is pretty important.

Trailer Check-Up...Take Two

Met with the trailer manufacturer again today.  I was glad to see that they added more gussets and stitch welds to support the flange that will carry the weight of the outer walls.  They still didn't quite get the gussets right, but the outcome is acceptable.

I also asked that the supervisor emphasize attention to detail to his crew as the trailer gets painted.  I have seen trailers in the field, including a few from the manufacturer that I'm working with, that have a disappointing amount of rust on them.  In some cases, the undersides of the trailers seem to be lacking in paint.  My manufacturer does not flip the trailer over to paint the underside.  

What if I were to take up residence in my tiny house on the coast?  Would the puny finishes I've observed cause the trailer to crumble away in a few years?  The supervisor sold me on the addition of a hardener in the paint, an additional cost of about $50.  He said that they apply this tougher paint to trailers that he sells to a Canadian client because of more caustic road conditions up north.  A lot of energy went into creating my trailer at this point.  In my mind, a trailer isn't a throw-away product with an expected lifecycle of only a few years.  My hope is that $50 is a small price to pay to keep the trailer in good condition for several decades.  Why wouldn't more people choose this slightly more expensive route?

The jury is still out as to whether I would recommend this manufacturer to future tiny house builders.