southern illinois

It's very beautiful here in the summer.  More beautiful still from inside of an air conditioned car!

finish carpentry

In the finish carpentry class we focused a lot on the exterior of the tiny home.  We installed the soffit and fascia boards around the roof.  Then we made corner boards using a biscuit joiner.  We installed the windows with flashing and window trim.  We put up some siding, and got the door installed.

I took these pictures part way through the week.

And these pictures were near the end of the week:

On our last day we hung the door.  The couple who are getting this house built for them will finish the exterior siding and roofing.  Then they will work on the interior over the winter.  There's still a lot to do.  But they're so much farther along from where they were when they delivered the trailer to Heartwood.

my creek

After a day of learning and working, it's great to get down to the creek.

by the stream

beaver pond campsite

home building class

I've been learning how to build a house.  It's reviving my old dream of creating my own home.  My class at Heartwood consisted of classroom instruction in the mornings, and hands on work in the afternoons.

We learned about all the major components of a home, and then we built a tiny home!  It's not finished, but it's framed, sheathed in plywood.  Next week we'll put on siding, windows, and trim.

We started with a trailer.  The base had been insulated and sheathed in Advantec plywood.  In this picture we are about to raise the first wall.

After a day of cutting a lot of pieces and assembling them, the first wall is complete and braced into place.

Then we got all 4 walls up, checked for square, and nailed together.

Some people worked on sheathing the outside in plywood.

Others worked on the loft supports inside:

Here is the completed loft, which quickly became a hangout for chats after class.

Once the plywood sheathing on the walls was completed, we put in rafters.  Then we sheathed the roof in plywood too.  I don't have pictures of that step but I made sure to get right up there and deal with my fear of heights.  It wasn't too bad after all.

Then we wrapped the house with Typar...

...and learned how to install a window.

 My class next week is about finish carpentry.  We'll do siding and trim details around the window and roof.  The tiny house won't be completed but we've given the owners a bit jump forward.  They'll finish insulating, drywalling, and all the interior finishes.

camping in the van

Where do you park?  I get this question a lot.  The photos below are of the most beautiful place I've found yet.

Isn't that the best campsite ever!

I'm really into all the mushrooms.

it looks like there's a slug picnic happening!

a great place to take a swim after class.

I'm back at Heartwood taking Comprehensive Homebuilding.  I think I love stick framing!