tiny house

Tiny Cabin Update: Roof!

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Chuck’s Uncle Bobby and his cousin Scott arrived at 8 am after a three-hour drive from northwest Arkansas ready to roof the tiny cabin.

The first order of business (after the hugs and handshakes) was to finish nailing the decking. Bobby and Scott then suggested screwing 2″ x 4″s along each seam to prevent sagging. Chuck cut the boards, Bobby held them to the inside of the roof, and Scott used his battery-powered drill to screw them in. The rest of us–my stepson Geoffrey, his girlfriend Angel, and I–tried to make ourselves useful.

The shade dwindled like a receding tide. We felt beached beneath the hot sun. Though the day originally promised to be “partly cloudy,” we were only lucky enough to have five glorious minutes of cloud cover around 1 pm. I was hot, so I could only imagine how Scott and Bobby felt.

I would like to say that our heroic roofers enjoyed frequent breaks in the shade, but they toughed it out. Bobby–two days shy of 61–was up and down the extension ladder helping with the drip edge, the tar paper, and the first row of shingles. Scott worked higher up and along the steep edges. We handed Bobby shingles, and he took them to Scott. Someone was always holding a ladder.

Though I mostly admired their handiwork from the ground, it was enthralling to watch them roof. Of course, I was nervous with Scott up so high. I could tell he knew what he was doing, but he wasn’t overconfident. Though he and Bobby cracked jokes to lighten the mood, they were both serious when it came to safety. In this situation, safety meant awareness–an art almost lost in our modern world of buzzing phones and constant distraction.

By a quarter to noon, they had finished the back. The air was really heating up, and the humidity didn’t help. But with the drip edge done and their system perfected, the front side only took less than an hour and a half to complete.

By now, fair-skinned Angel was resting in the shade. Geoffrey cut the 54 shingles for the peak, and Scott had them nailed in no time.

Tiny Cabin Roof Finished

With Chuck’s arm still recovering coupled with our lack of expertise, we were glad to have called in professionals. But even more than that, we were glad to be with family.

Tiny Cabin: Bees, Rafters, Monkey Bars

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After much debate, we decided to redo the rafters on the tiny cabin. The first time around, something was amiss. The directions said 92″ boards, but the notch didn’t line up where it was supposed to. We lowered the crossbeam in hopes of cinching everything together, but it didn’t quite work.

What we have since realized: we needed 96″ boards. (Another page of the manual had 96″ boards listed, so we think the 92″ was a typo.)

Wednesday we got an early start and managed to have all of the rafters down by afternoon. This time we had scaffolding, which made the process much easier–and far less scary. Though it was bigger and higher than the elementary school jungle gyms I grew up on, scaling it made me feel like a kid again. The hundreds of hours I spent doing daredevil tricks on the monkey bars reminded me of a time when I thought I was nearly invincible. It was just the confidence boost I needed, though my stomach wasn’t convinced enough to untie the knots.

We decided to leave the crossbeam up knowing that rain was on the way.

Rafters partly down

The first item on today’s agenda was to take down the previous crossbeam, which was hanging by a couple rafters. We sat the crossbeam on the scaffolding, and as I was banging out the nails on the final rafter, a high-pitched buzzing sounded close to my ear. I turned my head just in time to notice a perfect hole bored in the wood and a large bumblebee shooting out of it.

My jungle gym skills were put to the test as I raced down the scaffolding and ran. I had no idea how many bees were coming for me. They weren’t vengeful, though. It turned out that there were just two, and they spent the rest of the day buzzing around the cabin looking for the entrance to their former home. We propped the plank against a tree hoping they would find it, but the bees knew where their home should have been and wouldn’t look elsewhere.

Rafters Down

The hardest part was securing the crossbeam. It was a test of balance and strength (amid searching bees) as we nailed in the first couple rafters and then hoisted the crossbeam into place. The day was heating up, so we took periodic breaks in the dwindling shade.

Chuck cut the rafters while I measured and marked where they would need to go. I nailed in the ones above the loft, but I wasn’t tall enough to get a good angle on the ones above the scaffolding, so Chuck did those. I was glad–blisters had already begun popping up on my hands. We managed to put up all but one rafter–and only because the saw batteries were dead and we couldn’t finish cutting the board. At least we’ll know exactly where to begin tomorrow.

The crossbeam sits much higher now, which will give us more room in the loft. Best of all, everything lines up.

New Rafters

Our next step: the roof!

Tiny Cabin: Four Walls!

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Chuck and I knew that putting up the walls on the tiny cabin was (ideally) a three-person job, but until minutes before heading to the land, we thought we would be alone in our pursuit. In fact, we were debating if we should even try–it was all four walls or nothing. We didn’t want a repeat of the front wall falling over in a wind gust.

As it turned out, my father-in-law beat us to the cabin site!

The walls have been finished since December, but good weather plus time off work have not been synced. We finally had our chance: last Saturday was a nearly 70 degree day. What’s more, this week is Chuck’s spring break, so we knew we would have time (and, luckily, good weather) to continue working on the cabin after the walls were up.

I have to say–my father-in-law really knows what he’s doing. Not that we don’t have some idea, but we occasionally we hit a snag that causes us to question ourselves, which takes up time.

In a matter of hours, all four walls were up, complete with California corners and additional supports. We still have some windows to finish framing, but time, for a change, is on our side. We left when the sun began to slant below the horizon, tired yet triumphant.

 

Side Walls

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We were lucky this week to have two beautiful work days. The side walls are partially framed after a good bit of figuring, deductive reasoning, and internet research. I learned what a 12/12 pitch is/looks like as well as how to cut boards at a 45 degree angle. However, I am still not bold enough to do my own cutting. Aside from being slightly terrified (remembering Frost’s poem “Out, Out”), I’m left-handed. The saw is clearly designed for the other 70% of the world.

I do, however, nail. It’s a great stress-reliever, and the metal hammer makes a lovely sound on 3” nails, like a coin hitting water in a fountain. And the pitch changes the further the nail goes in.

But in spite of my love of nailing (or perhaps because of it), I managed to pull a muscle in my armpit. It has spent the past few days randomly cramping and releasing, reminding me that not all things are “mind over matter.”

We had hoped to have all four walls up, but we ran out of 2” x 4” x 12’ boards, which was just as well since we also ran out of steam. We did, however, get the gravel pile moved to what will eventually be the back porch area (courtesy of two helpful teenagers) as well as finished weed-eating a patch of grass invading the neighbor’s yard.

Highlights included thousands of blackbirds flying overhead, finding a rain puddle that might one day make a nice koi pond, and hours of breathing fresh, clean air.

Monday kicks off three days of rain, after which holiday celebrations will fill our days. We’re hoping for rest, too, and dream of a tinier home.

Tiny Cabin: First Wall

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We had three days off before Thanksgiving, and the weather was promising. The flood waters had receded, and our cabin had weathered it all. Schedules cleared, we set our alarms for five thirty each morning and drove an hour to the cabin site. The sun crested the God-forsaken Bradford pears to warm the 36 degree air.

The other days weren’t as cold, but they were breezy and sunless. Warming up wasn’t hard with plenty of gravel to shovel around the foundation. Six more inches of rain would soon be on the way.

Our days began and ended in the dark, a rhythm that my body actually welcomed. We were home by six with just enough energy left to eat, bathe, and fall asleep.

The first order of business was nailing down the sub-floor. If I had it all to do over, I’d buy the more expensive, sturdier boards. However, once the sturdy pallet wood floors are down, we won’t know the difference.

Morning Light on Frost
Building Materials
Nailing Together the Wall
Subfloor in Progress

After buying 70+ boards, we began assembling the walls. Luckily, Chuck pays attention to measurements and drawing straight lines. I gave that up a long time ago…

We realized that the 2 ¼” nails weren’t cutting it—nailing one end loosened the other. I’m not sure why we thought they would; the directions were clear: 3 ½” nails. No problems there.

Nailing together the frame took only a matter of minutes. Framing the door and windows, however, required finesse. We had to consider not only the size, but also the placement and height, which meant we needed to know the floor plan. Anticipating this, we had already taped off the size of the cabin in our current living room. That’s right—the tiny cabin is smaller than our current living room!

Two Halves Make a Whole
Half Wall
It’s Level!
Cabin Floor Plan in Living Room
First Wall!

We spontaneously decided that each door would have a transom window. We built the back wall as well, but we’re waiting to put it up. We covered everything with a 20’ x 30’ tarp and didn’t want it to invite a pond between the two walls.

The hard part now is coordinating time off with good weather. Three consecutive days should be enough to finish the shell, but that depends on forces beyond our control.

Gravel for the Tiny Cabin Site

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We ordered a load of gravel–about 20 tons–and had it delivered to the site. The driver was nice enough to not only back up between the trees and dump a pile where the cabin will be, but also sprinkle the rest along the driveway, reinforcing what was already there and adding an additional strip.

On the day it was delivered, we had the first good rain in weeks. Of course, the downpour began just as the driver arrived and ended just as he was leaving.

gravel driveway

We went out to spread it the following Monday–a lovely, but sunny, 92 degree day. It was a bit warm for mid-October in Arkansas, but it’s been an odd year here.

Gravel 2

Whenever I worry that our 160 square foot cabin (plus loft) will be too small, I remind myself how much work it would be to build anything bigger. I’ve never built a house before, but I’ve noticed that in life, upgrading comes with additional commitments. For example, a nicer car comes not only with a higher payment, but also with higher insurance rates and maintenance costs. More specifically, just this weekend, I learned that buying a $99 cordless reciprocating saw also requires buying blades and a $130 battery and charger. What I originally guessed was a $100 purchase turned out to be $250.

A larger cabin may be in our future someday, but this is one adventure on which I prefer starting small.

Spread Gravel

An hour of spreading gravel was about all we could stand. This weekend we’ll make some small repairs to the camper–it should finally be cool enough to sleep there–and then buy the deck block and other materials we need to build the floor.

Hauling Dirt

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Before we could break ground, we needed more of it. Dirt, that is. Lucky for us, there’s a mound not far from the building site.

dirt pile before

Dirt pile after

A wheelbarrow worked for the potholes, but not to the extent we needed.

The Conway Home Depot rents Bobcats for $249 + tax, and we would have had to haul it an hour both ways. We hoped we could do better by going local, so we called the first place that came up on a Searcy Google search and reserved one at a considerable discount, quite proud of ourselves.

Saturday morning Chuck and his best friend Dan pull up to a sketchy-looking house surrounded by a fence and a series of piecemeal shacks. It was a junkyard minus the Rottweiler.

The exchange went something like this:

Chuck: “Hello, I’m here to pick up the Bobcat.”

Man: “Bobcat?”

Chuck: “Yes, I called yesterday to reserve one for this morning.”

Man: [Blank look.]

Chuck: “I spoke to Curtis?”

Man: “Oh. Well, I’m Curtis.”

It turns out that the Bobcat was ready, but the trailer was in a shack, parked behind a forklift that, they soon discovered, was out of gas. That wouldn’t have been a problem had Curtis not directed Chuck to fill it up with a gas can that turned out to contain pink liquid and that would have to be siphoned before the forklift could be moved.

We were lucky that our work day turned out to be cloudy and an unseasonably cool 86 degrees because it took two hours just to rent and load the Bobcat.

Driving one of these things is a lot harder than it looks.

bobcat

And for future reference: they won’t go in reverse unless you first pull forward. It was sort of a metaphor for our day: going in the opposite direction before any ground could be gained.

While the guys figured out how to operate a machine whose switch labels had long worn off, my friend Laurie gave me ideas for laying out the future garden, taking a page out of the permaculture playbook, such as planting parsley, Echinacea, eggplant, and other herbs around trees to create their very own microclimate. We also scouted out strategic places for a fir and a fast-growing hardwood to create greater seclusion in front of the cabin. She also advised that the number of old, rotting trees on part of the land will make great fertilizer at the bottom of a raised bed. I could almost feel my brown thumb turning green.

Once the guys got the hang of operating the bucket via pedals and the right angle at which to charge the pile, we spread the dirt.

cabin site with dirtcabin spot with dirt

It took surprisingly little time to complete the task, so after a hard-earned lunch break, we finished out the driveway. Like the foundation of our cabin, the driveway will need gravel, but now it’s at least level with the ground around it.

dirt road from land

We left feeling pretty triumphant, even if later I discovered that I had provided a host of mosquitoes with their daily dose of iron. I had so many bites that they blistered—it felt like chicken pox all over again or the time I somehow managed to get poison ivy on my back. I’ll remember to re-apply the bug spray more frequently, and in the meantime, I’d like to give a shout out to my new best friend, the oatmeal bath.

A Ton of Work…Literally

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5-22-15 driveway with partial rockA few days after our sinking episode, we called a gravel truck. The problem: because the clay was so soft, he couldn’t gradually release the rock so that it spread evenly. He just had to dump it. While he went for another load, we spread it with shovels, shoes, and gloved hands.

We hadn’t expected anyone to be able to come out on such short notice, much less deliver multiple loads. Otherwise, we might have had more hands on deck! Instead, it was just the two of us. We had planned to spend the day clearing the new site for the cabin, but we knew this had to be done. More rains were on the horizon, and the driveway was basically a 6’ x 22’ mud hole.

The air was cool and the day was lovely, but after spreading the third load we were worn out—and the driveway was only half done.

Then, the mayor of Higginson himself showed up—tall and serious, with a resemblance to Tommy Lee Jones. He was in the neighborhood because around the corner a stretch of houses were having some sewer problems. [With a composting toilet we won’t have to worry about that!]

He exuded silent confidence while sizing up the situation. He told us he’d be back with a backhoe, and five minutes later we watched, mouths agape, as he smoothed out the freshly-dumped load.

5-22-15 driveway with rock

We asked if we could make a donation to the town, but he wouldn’t take any money directly. Instead, he said, “If you want, go to City Hall and make a donation to the 4th of July fund.” He seems to take his civic position as one “for the people.”

Thankfully, our cabin-building schedule was only tentative, or else we’d be behind. At the moment, we’re under a severe thunderstorm warning, and up to five more inches of rain are expected this week. We’ll go out to the land on Thursday to see if our new site is still above water.

Clearing Land by Hand: Before and After

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wheelbarrow

Some gasoline had spilled in the wheelbarrow, so we drove the hour to Searcy with the windows down. It was 7:00 am and a refreshing 64 degrees.

If only we had been able to go straight to work! Chuck had to give a final exam, so we didn’t get to the land until 11:00, when it was 84 degrees and the sun was almost directly overhead.

Chirping followed wherever we worked, with one bird louder than the rest. It was as if the birds had designated a reporter to keep up with our whereabouts. I’m glad we waited to bring the weed eaters, preferring to see how far the hand tools could get us.

driveway before          driveway after

Based on the before and after pictures, I think they served us well. Granted, I took a three hour nap when I got home. We still have to fill in the ruts in the “driveway.” Luckily, there’s a pile of dirt around the bend.

house area before          house area after

The blue spot in the picture is the tarp we laid over our supplies. It’ll be a few days before we get out to the land again–grading takes precedence, not to mention there’s an 80% chance of rain this weekend. Plus, we have some planning to do and decisions to make.

Things I learned: don’t forget a ponytail holder and wear long sleeves (bugs bite, branches are sharp).

Tiny Cabin

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My husband Chuck and I are building a tiny cabin this summer on seven acres with a pond just outside of Searcy, Arkansas. I’m looking forward to breathing fresh air and living more sustainably.

We have a little experience with carpentry, but this will be our first ground-up project. The “Thoreau cabin” will be 10′ x 16′ with a loft. We’re also adding a small front porch and a screened-in back porch. Though we still have some details to work out, we’re going off-grid, using solar power and rain water.

We purchased the plans from solarcabin–watch his 3-minute video for the “Thoreau cabin” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTT5kC4V54o

Tomorrow we begin clearing the chosen spot. The car is loaded with shovels, a wheelbarrow, weed eaters, bug spray. and a first aid kit. What we bought: tarp, rope, gloves, clippers, stakes, a straw hat.

May in Arkansas is lovely. The weather should be great, though there’s a 20% change of a “stray thunderstorm.” Even so, it’s all part of the adventure!