On our first day, we had approximately 16 students show up to build along with Dr. Hollers, Mr. Podhorez, Mr.Findlay, and Mr. Nemec. We were able to sheath the trailer with metal which will hold in the insulation under the sub floor. The students also built the entire sub floor framing in 3 sections. There was a great deal of rain towards the end of the build so we were not able to attach the sub floor framing. Our next build day will focus on attaching and completing the sub floor. The students and mentors had an excellent time. Thanks to all those who helped on this first step in the journey of our tiny home build!

On our second day, students began attaching the subfloor to the trailer. This involved drilling and bolting the floor through the steel frame of the trailer. The sheathing attached on the previous build day allowed them to insulate between the stud gaps. Once this was accomplished, the students stayed a little late and were able to attach the tongue and groove plywood to the subfloor, completing the floor base for the home. On our next build day we will focus on building the walls and preparing to attach them to the floor base. We had 18 students with Dr. Hollers, Mr. Podhorez, and Mr.Findlay supervising construction.

Today we were able to build our first wall. Through careful measurement and planning, the students built the wall for the front of the house with the doorway. They were also able to put together the rear wall with its small window for the bathroom. Finally, students began assembly on one of the most complex walls that they will construct, the left wall that runs the length of the house. Because this wall incorporates spacing for lofts, windows, plumbing, and other interior amenities, spacing and assembly of the wall studs is much more complex. They began the first third of this wall. Next build day we will focus on completing this side wall and beginning the final side wall to prepare for attaching the walls to the floor.

Today we were able to complete the remaining walls. We learned that making a cut list of all the lumber that we would need ahead of time and measuring and marking placement of all studs before assembly made everything move much faster. Now that we have all four walls assembled, we will need the help of a number of students to lift them and put them in place. While the trailer still looks like a slab of wood, it will soon begin to look like a house! We have had anywhere from 16-20 students working at the build site to get everything accomplished. We had to build the walls inside because it has been raining and very cold. We are hoping for better weather as the build continues.

The time has finally come to put the walls up on the house. Since they are very heavy, we enlisted the help of the football team to get them in place. They did a great job and in a matter of an hour we had all the walls up and attached! The house is definitely starting to come together with the walls in place. Next step is to add the ridge beam and beginning and ending joists that it will rest on. Additionally, during the school day we had a t-shirt sale to raise awareness and support for the project. We sold enough shirts to make $300 that will go towards purchasing materials for the build! A special thanks to Mrs. Jimenez and Mrs. Vilardi for all their help in the design and ordering of the shirts!

Now that the walls are in place, we focused on getting the gables constructed and attaching the ridge beam. The gables, while simple, required some work because we had not attached them to the walls prior to putting the walls up (this is a change we will make in the future). We were able to attach a temporary ridge beam to support the tarp that will cover the home until we finish the roof. We had to use a temporary beam because the 22 ft. long 2x6 that will be the ridge beam had to be special ordered and delivered. We also began work on the loft areas by attaching 2x6's and 2x4's that span across the width of the house. Once the house is entirely sheathed, we will put down plywood and flooring in these loft spaces. We also announced that we were still in need of some plywood and lumber to complete the shell and have already received some generous donations. We hope to get the new ridge beam and rafters in place on the next build day.

After a bit of a break, we were back working on the tiny home on back to back days. We were able to complete all of the wall sheathing and the house is really starting to take shape. One of the more difficult tasks was cutting the sheathing around the curve of the wheel well. Our students learned how to take the proper measurements and then used a template to match the curve. As you can see in the photo, it looks really good! One thing the students noticed was that as we added sheathing to the walls, the framing and the house itself seemed sturdier. Next build day we will be working on the roof, replacing the ridge beam and building the rafters. The house is coming along quickly and we can't wait to drive it out and show it off at the front of the school!