We got all the original flooring removed. It will be used later for the porch. We plan to put down solid oak flooring later. Ohhh..how I love oak flooring!
Hubby had to add another cross beam where the front wall will rest as it fell between two main beams. He got that welded into place and painted. That gives us a beam to bolt the main house floor to and the porch floor as well. The wall will sit over the joint the flooring makes.
Next, he had to weld in some steel wheel well covers as the trailer didn't have them already. This is a must! If the trailer ever had a serious tire blowout, the tire material could come straight through the floor into the house. We have read about it happening to others and decided to take the extra step and weld in some steel ourselves.
Now comes the fun part! Ah..yeah...fun. We were able to use almost all of the fiberglass roofing material we got for free but it had some bad spots so we purchased a bit more. I did mention it's fiberglass right? Itchy!! It worked out well though. It's quite strong and durable. It makes a great pan for the spray foam insulation.
We had to cut the material to fit between the main support beams that run the length of the trailer. We did the side panels first. We had to drill through the cross beams from the underside so we could pop rivet the panels in place. Working in a limited space area was not easy. It was very hard to drill upwards through that hard steel.
All riveted in place and ready to hold insulation! It turned out really nice.
We got the main platform of the house finished, minus a small section at the very end. The center section was a pain to get right. We did the first part in a 9 ft piece. The next piece was 15ft long and heavy! We had to fish it over the axles and I had to hold it up so we could get the first few rivets in place. Once we got it attached at the front, we could work it back one beam at a time. I learned how to use a air pop rivet gun!! Go me! As Ronnie drilled the holes, I went behind and riveted the panels in place.
The bed platform was easier as the panels sit inside the crossbeams. The hubby riveted them from the bottom side as I held it down. Sitting up on the platform, I could visualize sitting in bed and looking down the hall, past the bathroom, through the kitchen area and living room and seeing my front door!
This was the easiest section to do. If only the whole thing was that easy! But it's done, minus a few small things to finish and then on with the insulation! YAY!!
We will finish up the small bit left hopefully in the next few days or so and start calling insulation companies and getting quotes. We have decided to go with spray foam insulation as it retains more heat and prevents drafts better than batt insulation. The spray foam will also give more support to the walls when we frame. It will decrease the chance of the wall shifting from vibration when moving the house. That and the use of Simpson Strong Tie connectors, we will be solid!
Step by step we are crossing off the things to do before framing and I couldn't be more excited!! I can't wait to get it framed and the roof up. I feel like a child at Christmas every thing we get ready to move on to the next step in building our very own tiny home!
