Final Update For 2023

Our Last 2023 Build Update

Hello and happy new year! We hope your break was filled with relaxation and joy. Ours was a mix of hard work and a few breakthroughs in our tiny house project. Let’s catch you up on our latest adventures.

Christmas Chronicles

Did anyone experience hail in your area? We were, once again, in a relentless race against daylight and unpredictable weather. The elements threw everything at us, from rain to scorching 40-degree days, and even a hail spell! Erny spent most of the break looking at the Weatherzone app to make sure we would always be in the clear. Even with these curveballs, over Christmas, our tiny house saw significant progress.

We successfully completed the long wall — a cause to pop some champagne (or whatever beverage of your choice may be). Installing weatherboards around the window proved particularly tricky, adding an extra layer of complexity as we ascended. We had to cut the boards to size fitting around the window, but each weatherboard has its own twists and bows, so everything needed to be custom fit. The higher we climbed on our ladders, the more demanding the installation process became.

A pleasant December surprise came in the form of a visit from Silvia and Amanda, who came by to provide some moral support. Amanda is taking a hand tools course, a skill set that, in hindsight, we realised would have been incredibly useful at the beginning of our project. Lesson learned for future builders!

To finish off the wall and prepare for the upcoming gutter installation, we invested in custom-made flashing. Installing this was difficult and very finicky. We needed to cut down our corners to size and redo some of the roof! The result not only looked impressive but also offered a sigh of relief as the wall’s completion meant less tarping to protect against rain. Throughout Christmas, we must have tarped the house over 5 times. A clever addition to enhance stability was the introduction of two pop rivets in the center of the flashing (this was a Lys brainwave). These keeps the pieces in place and flush too to the wall.

Welcoming the New Year with Wall #3

After a short escape down South, our focus shifted to the third wall, and this time around, the process has been notably smoother. Erny’s honed skill in accurately cutting each weatherboard to size, considering the timber’s twists and turns, has streamlined the workflow. With a helping hand from Bel, who assisted with adding battens and oiling the cladding ends. It’s always so nice to have friends come around. Even the soffits went up seamlessly, a stark contrast to the challenges faced during the first wall installation. Our first soffit took over a weekend, but this soffit took less than half a day.

January Goals

While undoubtedly tiring, the satisfaction of making sustained progress over the break has been immensely rewarding. The longer days of summer have certainly worked in our favour. Upon reflection, we have also learnt a considerable amount about ourselves. Erny is a perfectionist, and slight cosmetic flaws bug him to the nth degree. Lys really likes to see progress and is sometimes too one-track minded. Because of this, our estimation skills have become more grounded, perhaps more realistic, as we’ve navigated the intricacies of tiny house construction.

We also have an expanding toolkit of technical skills (get it!). Lys can now confidently wield the table saw, and Erny is a circular saw fiend. He even took the circular saw to work to fix some monitor stands! It is so rewarding gaining some level of mastery, if not amateur confidence, to build something that you once dreamed of.

Unfortunately, we did not manage to finish the exterior by the 31st December — so we’re trying our luck for the end of January. Simultaneously, we are contemplating simplifying the interior design. The joking request to move in by Christmas 2024 has spurred this consideration – apparently, the family prefers relaxation over the new year’s break instead of holding ladders!

What’s next?

A heartfelt “Thank You” goes out to our family & friends – Dan, Troy, Michael, Jason, Silvia, and Bel – whose unwavering support has made this endeavour not just manageable but enjoyable. Bel, in particular, has been quick to remind us to document our progress and celebrate wins. With this in mind — we can’t garuntee more documented progress but hopefully we will do more celebrating in 2024!

Here is to a constructive 2024! Thanks for reading and catch ya later 😄