Week 1 of working on "Gypsy," as I've so aptly named my creation, went very well! I put a lot of thought and consideration into this part of the build, as the foundation is definitely the most important part of the house. If this wasn't strong, then one good "bump" or a gust of wind while driving down the road would cause the whole house to just fall to pieces.
I installed galvanized metal sheeting onto the decking of the trailer, as well as a layer of plastic house wrap. The metal is overlapped at each seem, and the house wrap has no seems at all. Not only do these provide a small factor of insulation, but they will also do a fantastic job at keeping out moisture, bugs, and anything else that thinks it can come up through my floor!
As you can see, there is a corner of the trailer that does not have any metal or plastic covering it. That little corner will be my "porch." Basically, you WANT water to be able to run through that section, and not get trapped anywhere! I know it's tiny, but isn't that the point? Many people completely cut this out of the design, but I like the idea of being able to sit or stand outside when it's raining, without getting wet. That 2'x2' square is really all I need! This will especially come in handy when the dogs are needing to go out... I can stand in the dry area while they run out and get all wet!
Once I completed the "wrapping," I was able to begin framing the floor. I learned a few lessons within the first 30 minutes of this step...
1. If you need a piece of wood to be 85", measure the full 85". Do not think, "Well, the entire piece is 8 ft = 96", so I'll just cut off 11" and it will be perfect." DON'T DO IT! The guys at Lowes loaded 92.5" studs into my truck instead of 8 footers. Due to that fact, the pieces I cut all ended up being 3.5" shorter than they were supposed to be.
2. Do not screw or nail any of the framing together until it is all measured, cut, and is certainly correct. I won't even explain how that lesson was learned, as the embarrassment would very likely kill me.
With all the framing complete, and put together, I went around the trailer and attached corner braces in all the major corners. Then, I spread corner braces out along every joist, and attached the joists to the trailer. This way, the entire framing is actually screwed to the trailer itself. You can NOT have too many attachment points! GO CRAZY!
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Alright, so here comes the fun part... Insulation. The plan for this tiny house is to NEVER have to be connected to the grid. I need all my heating or cooling to be held tight inside the house. Due to this, I decided to go a little wild with the insulation. I bought big sheets of 1 inch thick foam board, and 8 cans of spray foam for gaps and cracks. I did one line of the spray along the crack where the 2x4's meet the trailer, and then fit the foam board into the space before the foam insulation could harden completely. Then, I did a 2nd layer of spray all the way around the perimeter, before fitting another piece of foam board in. Lastly, I did a 3rd layer of spray foam around the perimeter, AGAIN. That's right... 2 inches of foam board and 3 rows of spray foam. There isn't a single gap or crack that air can come through!
Once all of the insulating is complete, the last step can be started. I used 3/4" plywood as my subfloor. I started out with 1/2" and determined it would be too weak. I cut the plywood to fit around the wheel wells, and yet once again, did not cover the porch area. The only tweak I decided to make at this point was to put blocks of my scrap wood along the "seems" of the plywood. This way, I will never have one sheet of the plywood trying to rise up above it's partner. With the "dead" wood in between the joists, the seems are just as solid as the rest of the floor!
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| (Ok I lied, I got excited and put plywood on the finished sections before completing the framing at the back end of the trailer....) |
TA DA! That, my friends, is how you frame a foundation on a trailer.
The neighbors are all driving by very slowly, but I just keep telling myself that they're staring at me... not the trailer. ;)
One neighbor actually stopped and asked if he could help me build it because he's bored these days with no construction projects to work on! Hey, I'm definitely not turning down an extra pair of hands! The neighbor across the street talked to me for awhile, and then brought me a huge tarp that was brand new and still in the packaging. Since it was supposed to rain, he thought I could use it, and told me I could keep it! I'm feelin' the love.
"A house must be built on solid foundations if it is to last. The same principle applies to man, otherwise he too will sink back into the soft ground and be swallowed up by the world of illusion."
- Sai Baba
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