Lofty Thinking

Wow it’s June already! It’s hard to believe that it’s only been four weeks since we picked up the trailer from Tumbleweed in Colorado Springs. Here’s a few weekly progression pictures.

Picking up the Tumbleweed trailer on 5/2.

5/10 – Floor is Insulated.

5/17 – Subfloor is laid and one side wall is framed.

5/24 – Main level walls are in place.

5/26 – Sheathing is mostly up and loft beams are in place.

In the three short weekends since we began, Kyle and crew have gotten the floor insulated, walls built, raised, and mostly sheathed. Here’s some details on the work since the last blog.

Front wall: We used these engineered beams in the front wall in order to provide strength and stability to the wall. This will help prevent racking as the house drives down the road.

Kyle designing the front wall with engineered beams

Lifting the wall in place.

Front wall with holes for door and window.

 

Sheathing: We decided to use Zip System for our wall sheathing. This is an engineered particle wood with a built in barrier that keeps out moisture and air, eliminating the need for house wrap. Kyle made a template to use when cutting around the wheel wells. My friend, Emily and I stapled the sheathing to the studs and taped the seams. (There are no pictures to prove it, so you’ll just have to believe me!)

Using the template to cut around the wheel wells.

testing the fit…

…and making adjustments.

Miscellaneous: Nine bolts are welded to the Tumbleweed trailer frame, and stick up through the walls. Brandon is screwing on the bracket that anchors the house frame to the trailer. I am sealing the cracks between the trailer and the floor and frame to prevent any water from sneaking in to the house. Zac made 9 loft beams by fastening two 2x4s together with a spacer in the middle to make the beam 4×4. Then they framed around them to secure them in place.

Brandon attaching the bracket

The bracket that anchors the house to the trailer.

Water proofing the trailer.

Loft beams

Loft beams that over hang the porch.

Making sure everything is square.

Loft Walls: This weekend, Kyle and Zac got busy on the walls of the lofts. We have purchased engineered floor plans from Tumbleweed – the 24′ Cypress model, and modified the floor plan to fit our needs and desires. The plans didn’t include plans for a dormered loft, so Kyle spent quite a bit of time thinking and experimenting on the best roof angle, and how to make it sturdy. After a few hours of brain work, and a few more hours of physical work, we started to see the shape of the front of our house.

Lots of thinking and measuring….

Side wall in the loft

Metal strapping for reinforcement

A header beam cut to fit around the framing.

More thinking and measuring….

The front of our house is taking shape!

The front wall of our sleeping loft

The things we do to get a good picture!

…

Back wall of the house

That’s it for now folks! Up next is the roof!

~Danae