The Walls, They are Up!

Four walls up, and end rafters in place.

Update: November 5.    WALLS!

After a significant lull in our production schedule (making time for some very wet and windy weather and Halloween celebrations that echoed over nearly a week) we managed to get back on task and put some real time in on our project.

Our friend Tim's expertise and assistance has been integral to our quick progress in this last week.   Tim was the perfect person to help us on this project, having built his own custom caravan.  In fact, the designs for our caravans are quite similar, the main difference being that he used curved logs for his roof supports.

Once we had our floor platform completed, the next step was to begin framing up the sections of our walls.  We did our long walls in three separate sections, in order to accommodate the wheel wells, and to avoid having to lift long heavy sections.  We had decided on the placement and height of our windows while determining our floor plan.  Lots of measuring and cutting ensued.  Luckily, Tim is old hat at that game, and we did about half of the framing in one day.  Another short day of work saw us complete a good deal more framing, and having most of the cuts prepared for the next day's work.

Framing for kitchen end-wall.
The diagonal brace held it solid and square until put in place.

Installing wall above wheel well.

Today we were blessed with beautiful sunny weather, which allowed us to get in a full day's work.  Once all of the wall sections were assembled it was time to build and attach the gable ends (that's the upper part of the end walls that sticks up to cover the gap under the roof).  Now we put the wall sections in place one at a time, beginning with the built-out section for the door, which stood upright on its own.  Next came the adjacent short-end wall.  The sections went up surprisingly fast once we had them all fabricated.  Now it was time to attach the double plate, a continuous line of 2x4s running along the top of the wall edge.  This ties the whole structure together and supports and distributes the weight of the roof coming down off the rafters.

Coming together.

The whole time we were assembling the wall sections we had giant grins on our faces.  This was it, the walls were going up.  Our imaginings were finally beginning to take shape and define the outlines of our new home.  Now, we realize there is still an incredible amount of work to go until we're at lockup, not to mention all the finishing work that will follow.  But that said, it feels like we're coming along at a healthy pace, and within a week or so we can have our rafters up and tin roof installed.  Now if only we could agree on a colour....

Our Hero: Tim installs the double plate.

Tip of the Week: One of your most important resources is your tool belt.  Get in the habit of wearing it, and training yourself to return your tools (pencil, tape measure, speed square, hammer....) to your belt immediately so that you don't walk away to another area of your worksite only to realize you left your tape measure at your chop saw.  I have wasted countless minutes walking back and forth, looking around for my pencil.

Thanks to all the people who have taken the time to read our blog and share it with others who might find it interesting or inspiring.  We have been inspired by our friends, who have shown us it's possible to build yourself a modest home at a reasonable price.

Hurray for life without a mortgage!  

With love,

  Bailey and Scott.