What a Christmas week it has been

I know we are in catch-up mode on the posts, so we did not accomplish all this since Wednesday night.  But I feel very good about our progress in the last week.   The walls and sheathing from Volstrukt arrived late Thursday, December 22nd.   Two large boxes of 1200 pounds and then a skid of sheathing for the sides and roof arrived each on a separate tractor trailer.

The driveway finished that same morning and they moved the trailer into its position.   We were eager to get up early the next morning and we were fortunate to have some of the kids home to help us out.  Volstrukt really does a nice job putting labels and instructions together.  We laid out all the pieces around the trailer in their respective positions.  Before we began building, we made sure the trailer was level in all directions.   After that was accomplished, we started to put the walls up.   Instructions said to start in a corner, building out from there and simply connecting the panels on the trailer.   We cut some foam insulation and strips of 3/4″ plywood and placed them underneath each section.   This creates a thermal barrier and also ensures it is at the right height when we lay down the subfloor.

We had flood lights going and worked until late in the evening (dinner at 10PM), but wanted to get all the wall sections at least positioned before some of the kids had to leave next morning.  We also knew it would rain so we placed our tarp over the framing, erecting some long poles in a few places to ensure the water would not pool up.

Well, the idea was the right one, the execution was not as sharp.   When we woke up in the morning, the poles had fallen and water was everywhere.   After cleanup, we adjusted our design slightly, placing temporary roof panels to make the water run off. We also rearranged the tarp, removing excess and making it tighter.  The day had been pretty rain free, but it was going to pour again that night. We went to bed exhausted but with spirits lifted and quite optomistic.

The next morning was perhaps worse than the last.  There were pools of water on parts of the tarp that were still attached. The tarp was ripped in half and there were high wind warnings in the forecast for the next day.  Challenges?  Nah, we got this.  Time to ditch the tarp.   While there were high winds coming, no precipitation for 5 days.   We folded all the tarp sections (good news – we now have several smaller tarps) and stored them away.  We used ratchet straps to secure the walls to the trailer.   Time to celebrate Christmas.

After a couple of days off we jumped back in, working on making sure all the walls were plum which meant we had to make some adjustments to the framing.  Either the trailer frame was off, the measurements I had given were off, or the framing structure was off.  No use arguing.  There was nothing to do than to deal with it, as we needed to move on.   These last couple of days have been freezing (12 degrees F this morning), but we are making great progress.  I was born in Sweden, so this is just everyday weather, but I give Julia a lot of credit as she is from Portugal.  She just put on layers and got out there.  The picture on the left was taken from the top of the trailer. Julia appears to have short legs and looks like “Pop” from the Rice Krispies  commercial.  She even made a hat from bubble wrap.  Nothing seems to deter her from getting the job done.  Some of the roof panels were very heavy, but that didn’t stop her.  She helped me lift and screw them in.  Such a trooper!!  Now all is leveled, bolted down, and ready for the next step.

Here is the deal.  We have tomorrow, Friday to get all the sheathing up, as it is going to snow on Saturday.  Next update will be next year.

Hope you are all having a great holiday season and wishing you and your families the very best in the New Year.