Walls going up

Now that I have managed to get the floor down and the trailer fixed, I could actually start framing. Which is something that I know I can do. I still need to get some epoxy to fiberglass the inside of my new wheel wells before I secure them down so I could not work on that portion of the wall framing,  but the rear of the trailer is up at least.

I also have built two of the other wall sections  not to mention cutting the wood gor another two aread. I can erect them once I have that fiberglassing done. (The benefit of doing the wells this way is that I get lots of practice for my ofuro making later.)

Time to decide if i want a sliding glass door on the front or french doors. (Space vs looks, really).

More work done

Well despite my best efforts to mess things up, the axles are on the trailer. I seriously need to get new bolts though for some of the springs. Little did I know that most of the existing bolts had this issue with a score down the threading.  This means that while I have them on, the one axle has not been tightened at all.

Then there is the issue of the grinding off of the bad mounts. I managed to get it done, and the one axle mounted quite well. The other is just the slightest bit off, so when I put it on the spring the u bolt would not fit. I will need to take a hammer to it when I pull the springs off, in order to percussion fit the whole thing together.

Framing wise, I fixed my issue I made from miss cutting my centre section when putting it together. Rather then having my beams run the length of the trailer,  I cut them by accident to run width wise, meaning my plywood seams did not have any support. I wound up pulling off the plywood and slipping some blocking in between,  giving the plywood that much needed help.

The other bit of work that was preformed was some of the framing around my wheel wells. That was a last minute thing before I left for home, but it looks like it ought to work. I shall need to get a roll of fiberglass or metal in order to protect the word from spray since I do not have fenders any more.

The Dance Floor

When we were building the cabin where the majority of this construction is taking place, the floor we had just put in was called the dance floor. Mostly because it was a big surface with not much else going on.

Now that I was the floor in on my tiny house, I have my own tiny dance floor. A good chunk of 2x4's will fix that next weekend, but until then I am sure the mice, birds and other critters are having dance parties while I am here at work.

I also scavenged a door from the basement storage of the cabin. We had brought it up to do a better cut down job to replace the one that is there already. (The basement is really an oversized crawl space. I have to keep my head ducked or a -lot- of swearing is in my future). I am not happy with it as a final solution, but it will suit for getting spacing, and even getting me through the lock up stage of the tiny house. (I really want more light in that side of the house and a window is the door is more optimal).

If I get really enthusiastic I can always try cutting it in half and making a dutch door.

The Boneyard

This city is quite lucky to have a couple of window manufactures in it. As such, if you go around and ask about their 'Boneyard', you can usually get a good deal on a new window that is either miss-cut, or returned from a job as unneeded. When my parents built the cabin they had a number of nice wood casement windows from someone who worked at one of these places. I decided to hit up another and see what I could get.

My first trip was a wash, since they closed before I got there. With a 4:30 closing time, and a 4:00 quitting time for me, I have to rush in order to make it there. My second trip was a bit more eventful, and I managed to pick up a pair or 16" x 32" casement windows for 100 dollars each. However I did not have cash on hand at the time, and well... taxes are a thing they need to worry about when they draw up paperwork for a debit transaction. If I pay in cash.... I am sure they report the transaction. Surely they do. ;)

This needed a third trip where I picked up five more windows, and this time I had cash in my wallet. These ones were non opening for the most part, which took the price down a ton. I picked up a pair of windows, 46" x 22" for fifty each, and paid another fifty for a window that did open and was frosted. 22" x 22". This should work for the washroom. Rounding it all out was a pair of 19" x 22" windows that I think I will stick in the roof peaks. At thirty dollars each, these five cost less then the others did with tax. Not a bad little haul.

Now that I have seven windows, I can start to work out the wall framing.

I just wish someone would get back to me about those springs.

Axles!

I managed to but my new axles the other day and ran them up this weekend. Of course I did not order springs at the same time. Silly me, but I did not have my spring length at the time. 26". So now I need to get springs and mount them. I might be able to get away with the old tires for the purpose of leveling for the purpose of building.

In the end though i will need to replace those wheels since not only are the rims the old split style which are not allowed any more, but those tires are not good. Aged and cracking.

Alas no photos taken, but over the past two weekends I got the sheet on the frame and started the framing for the back of the structure. I might have done more framing but not only is the version of sketch up on the cabin computer old, but when I take up the new version it wants a file from the net which I do not have.

Productivity is what you make it

I had the trailer at a 45 degree angle and then accidently dropped it down. :(

So I sacrificed some of my 2x4's and built some cribbing.  That gave me enough room to pop the axles off the frame. Damn those things are heavy.

I will have to try and turn it over again now, since that took a ton of weight off. Maybe next time I can also haul up my flashing to do the underside as well.

Not overly productive

A very quiet weekend for actually getting anything done on the roost. Went up after work on Friday with my mom and a load of wood. She was going to rebuild the steps on the deck at the cabin since the stringers and everything were getting awfully rotten. Since she was hauling up some wood anyways, I went and grabbed a small load of 2x4's as well. Not enough to really get anywhere special, but when I have a chance I ought to be able to get the flatdeck framed up.

I did manage to cut off a bit of the front flange on the trailer, but damn it took a long while. Angle grinders, metal cutting wheels, and some good old elbow grease. There is still a lot left to get off however. As for the back flange, I might wind up leaving it, giving me a bit more protection of the entire frame sliding off the rear of the trailer. I still think I ought to remove the old sewage hose holding assembly though. More grinding in my future.

I did try to turn the entire frame onto it's side, but it is one hefty chunk of metal. Jacking and the like only got it up so far. I really need to build some cribbing and jam it under there during jacks. Maybe then I will actually be able to get it up enough to do the needful. Between trying to get flashing welded to the underside and replacing the axles I need access to the underside of the frame and that seems to be the best way to get at it.

Yes I am going to replace the axles. I need to get the proper measurements in order to order them, but I was not sure what I needed. However looking at them when I was up, I did verify that I only have five bolts on it, which make them likely somewhere in the neighbourhood of 3500# each. That does not  really leave enough to play with for building a house, so I will likely update them to 5200 each at the very least. New brakes and hubs might as well be achieved at the same time.

I will still be out a lot less then if I had bought even a used trailer, so I am not overly concerned. (shipping costs are going to be a bitch though!)