ADU, Travel, Community
Lina Menard
Maui, Hawaii

After A Week Long Send Off, My Round the World Trip kicked off with eight days in Maui visiting my sister Sarah who has split her time between Hawaii and Alaska for many years. What an epic way to start this adventure! There was mist falling when my sister greeted me at the Kahului airport on Maui a week ago, so she teased me about bringing the rain from the mainland. We headed straight for Paia where she presented me with a young coconut and a lei, accompanied by the chant for the gifting-of-a-lei.

Maui, Hawaii
Tiny House, Travel, Planning
Lina Menard
Lucky Penny Moves to Walla Walla

A number of circumstances collided recently to compel me to move the Lucky Penny to my property in Walla Walla where I have a ground bound small house called Valencia Cottage. So on Tuesday trusted tiny house movers Linh and Stephanie Pham helped me move the Lucky Penny safely from Portland to my place in Walla Walla.

Lucky Penny Moves to Walla Walla
Minimalism, Workshop
Lina Menard
Downsizing Tune Up

As I packed up recently in preparation to travel cross country in my Honda Fit, I did some downsizing… It was harder than it had been during my last couple of moves because this time I had more stuff. I’d been living in a bigger space…My apartment was a studio, but it was still about 6 times bigger than the Lucky Penny! I talked with several people about the experience and a handful of them said “oh my goodness, I need to do more of that!” So I’ve decided to offer a 6-week Downsizing Tune Up…

Downsizing Tune Up

frame tiny house roof

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Day 10: A Sprig for the Last Rafter

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Most of Day 10 of Yestermorrow's Tiny House Design-Build course was dedicated to building so that we could get the rest of the roof rafters up. However, there were also a group of students who hunkered down in the studio to get farther along on their models and drawing sets. I enjoyed spending time in both places as the work progresses. (See more photos in the Day 10 Slideshow.)

Because the house has dormers in the center there are two different pitches. So we created rafters with two different slopes. Both sets of rafters meet at the ridge beam and rest on the walls (at two different heights) with bird's mouth cuts. The rake rafters for the dormers will need to wait until we've sheathed the roof sections on either side, but the house is definitely taking shape.

We managed to get the last of the common rafters up before supper and we had a little "topping out" celebration as we attached a sprig to it. Lizabeth explained that in the Druidic tradition a sprig was attached to the last rafter as a thank you to the trees for contributing to the house. This tradition has continued among timberframers here in America and it continues now on Day's little house. Hooray!

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Day 9: Rafters, Ridge Beams & Jam Night

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Patti started Day 9 of Yestermorrow's Tiny House Design-Build course with a presentation on roof framing. The tiny house on wheels we are building includes dormers in the center of the building, so we are cutting our rafters at two different pitches. Patti walked everyone through the vocabulary and structural mechanics of roof framing with models and diagrams. Then she demonstrated how to use a framing square to make bird's mouth cuts on the rafters. (See more photos in the Day 9 Slideshow.)

 

Down at the hanger we split into teams so we could square up the walls, build supports for the ridge beam, sheathe around the wheel walls, and begin cutting our rafters. The morning flew by and soon it was lunchtime. (I have resisted bragging about the incredible whole foods meal plan here, but let me assure you that the food is scrumptious at every meal!) I took the afternoon off from construction to have a nap and check in with Yestermorrow's office team. By the time I went down to the hanger the ridge beam was in place and most of the rafters were already up!

Since we only have two more days of design work the evening was devoted to studio time so everyone could work on their tiny house designs. However, most of them took breaks to join the festivities in Yestermorrow's dining room. It was a crisp evening, perfect for a jam night in the kitchen, accompanied by Cillian's famous popcorn and the ever-popular Heady Topper from local brewery, The Alchemist. The brew was courtesy of the tiny home's owner Day Benedict, who is a former Yestermorrow Intern. He came to meet everyone and see his little house. It was fun to get to know him and learn more about his plans for the tiny house. Between Dave Warren, Yestermorrow's Facilities Manager, and my co-instructor Patti we had a stand up bass and two guitars. We scrounged up some copies of Rise Up Singing and most of us sang along at some point to some good old folk songs (including one of my favorites: I'm My Own Grandpa). What a fun night!