February and March Build Update

Well hello there, long time no write. Not really sure where all the time went, but let’s start in February and make our way through the months, shall we?

February - Breaks and Supply Chain Delays

To begin, in February, our tiny house project took a bit of a breather, allowing us to indulge in some personal pursuits. Erny played some Frisbee, which offered a welcome break from the tiny house grind. Lys bought a new second hand road-bike and promptly caught COVID-19. Writing and reflecting on this now, it really does feel like an eon ago. Construction wise, we finished the diagonal portion of the outside wall and Evan gifted us some privacy vinyl for our windows.

A significant milestone arrived in the form of a huge plywood delivery, weighing over a tonne and necessitating a crane for transportation. It was a bit scary watching this huge and somewhat expensive purchase teeter over the fence and onto the lawn. We may have scuffed the lawn up a little… We spent that afternoon into night manoeuvring over 50 sheets of plywood into the garage and the house. We are pretty excited to get started using the plywood because that means…we’ll be working on the inside!

Something less exciting to end February was our first experience of supply delays, with our door hardware being significantly delayed. We had ordered from a local hardware store (the store actually only a few suburbs away) and had requested delivery with the thought that we would save time. Unfortunately, they didn’t actually have the door hardware in stock, and we didn’t know this from the website. We were left hanging for a week… and then two weeks…with little to no correspondence. Lys had to phone and email twice to track the parcel. To be fair, it’s not a huge deal since we didn’t even have a door installed yet!

March Easter Build-Athlon

Moving along in the timeline, we had an early Easter in March, so we had our annual Easter Build-Athlon. Build-Athlon isn’t a real word but it’s a pretty apt description. Every year, we set aside 10 days to just focus on construction (no more weekend warriors for us!) and we normally see mammoth progress. Last year during Easter we raised our walls and this year we were hoping to finally finish the outside and start on the inside.

The weekend began with a flurry of activity. We finished off the door frame that we had started in January. Our hinges had finally come in the mail, so we squared everything up and installed the doors. We unfortunately had cut our rough opening a centimetre too small, so we were fussing with the doors quite a bit to ensure that they closed. To be frank, the doors still aren’t perfect, which comes with building with second hand items, but we (read Erny) will continue to fiddle with them until they suit our needs.

Then we turned our attention to finishing the cladding on the final wall with our free pine cladding that we cladded the picture window with. Over time, we’ve mastered the techniques of weatherboard and ship lap cladding — not experts by any stretch, but enough to speed through the final section of the wall. It was nice to get in a state of flow, Erny measuring and cutting the pieces and Lys painting and attaching them to the battens. We were also blessed by some beautiful sunny Autumn days, and it made working outside so much easier.

As we finally installed the last piece of cladding, Lys started cleaning the inside of the trailer. The inside has slowly become a bit of a store house, but everything needed to be cleaned, dusted and vacuumed in prep to move construction inside. The Makita vacuum that Erny bought got a serious run for its money. A highlight of the weekend was Lys’ mother’s corgi butt sized brioche — some delicious carbs to power us through the long days.

Monday rolled round, and we continued to make the Makita vacuum work overtime, setting ourselves up to start on the floor. We also installed the final piece of Surf mist flashing on the top of the wall — we can now say that our exterior walls are all closed up! We now entered unfamiliar territory — work on the inside. We first started insulating the floor with EarthWool. We had purchased this insulation in late 2022 so it feels really nice finally to utilising the resources that we have been saving. The insulation is soft, but a little itchy — it’s made out of recycled glass and sand. It also cuts so satisfyingly with a utility knife… To make the work move faster, we listened to podcasts — James Acaster and Ed Gamble’s podcast “Off Menu” and Atlas Obscure being on regular rotation.

After insulation came silver wrap vapour barrier in preparation for blackbutt floorboards. Technically the vapour barrier is optional, vapour barriers serve as an impenetrable guard, preventing moisture from infiltrating through. Since Lys spills liquids from cups often, it’s probably a good idea for us 😇.

Ready for floorboards, we began installing the floor! This was a huge moment! Firstly, the blackbutt floorboards were one of the first items that we had purchased in 2022 (or was it 2021?) and secondly starting the inside feels like starting a new chapter of our build. It was slow-going and very frustrating with us breaking drill bits, stripping screws and cracking tongues of the hardwood. Installing your own hardwood floorboards is not for the faint-hearted. Hours became days, and we averaged about five rows a day. Then, our progress became slightly delayed by a freak Thursday rainstorm. Slightly worried, we had a few surges of energy on the Friday and managed to install over 12 boards in one day!

A Build-Athlon would not be complete without some friends! Daum and Gabby were the first to come down and say hi with their gorgeous dog, named Ghost. It’s always so nice to see people marvel at the house and at the progress that we have made. It gives us time to have a break, reflect and truly take in how far we have come so far on our build journey.

Next, Michael and Troy came by to shoot the breeze and learn how to use the table saw. We put them to work sanding and cutting — as usual, many hands make light work even for a short amount of time. Michael even stayed to help us open our skylight! Watching the sisalation be cut and using the handle to slowly open the skylights was extremely nerve-wracking, but we actually had no problems!

The usual suspects, Bel and Silvia, graced us with their presence as always. Silvia lent us some lights so we could work for longer, and as our knees and backsides started to hurt and protest under the strain of labour, our wonderful friends and family cracked jokes and shared lunch — making it all better.

What’s next?

As the second weekend rolled around, and our backsides were protected by some cushions, we installed board after board — 28 in total. We must say, having a floor is a huge quality of life increase. It feels unfamiliar walking around with no fear of accidentally falling if your foot misses a floor joist and having a stable foundation to have cheeky naps on 😂 Okay — enough writing — enjoy some photos. Even though April is almost over, we think we’ll just include our reflections with the May build update — stay tuned!

Catch ya later, Lys & Erny