BIG Art; Tiny House Post No. 6: Raising the Roof

One month in and BIG Art; Tiny House is finally start to look more like a house than a box!  It’s amazing what one triangle on top can do.  Geometry, my friends, who would have thought?

We got two full work days in this weekend despite it being hotter than we’ve had to deal with so far.  On Saturday, we finished up the sheathing around the door, worked on putting in ceiling plates, and the loft framing.  We once again had some fabulous volunteers who made this process go much more quickly.

By the end of the day on Saturday, the house was square (or as square as it’s going to be) and I started putting the loft flooring in.  This may be my favorite part so far.  It is incredibly satisfying to watch something as important as the floor your bed will go on come into existence with every new board.  Also, and I waited until I was done to say this, I managed to get the entire floor down without breaking a single tongue off my tongue and groove flooring!  How’s that for official?

Sunday we started off bright and early.  I spent the first two+ hours finishing the loft flooring (like I said, I really enjoyed that part).  While I did, Andy, one of our volunteers, started to lay out the roof and built the front gable.  Rebekah Owens worked on the smaller loft flooring while Matt went around filling in the top plate.

It was hot and we chugged water and sprayed copious amounts of sunscreen while we worked, but by the end of the day we had the front gable, the ridge beam, and the first set of rafters in place.  It’s amazing what that does to transform the house and makes me really glad that I went for a gabled room.  Nothing screams house to a New Englander like a gabled roof.

Next weekend, we put in the rest of the rafters and start sheathing the roof!  So far, we’re right on track to be finished by October 1.  If you’re interested in helping out, check the Community Building Page for the days when we plan to be building.