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

tiny house frustrations

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Plan F

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I'm on Plan F. Lina planing the curved ends of the roof box, photo credit Angela Ramseyer

Over the past three years I've considered dozens of different ways to build my vardo roof, with its exposed rafters and skylight box. This weekend I found myself working on Plan F. Fortunately, I had some great people by my side.

Because My Curved Rafters are exposed to the interior my roof system needed to be constructed on top of the rafters. This has left my roof vulnerable during several Portland rain showers, so I've been eager to get it closed up.

I was already on Plan D when I had Eave Caps for My Vardo Roof fabricated by Vinje & Son Custom Sheet Metal earlier this week. But yesterday morning when Christian, Angela, Karin and I went to install the eve caps, we realized that the top part of the skewed U-shaped metal completely interfered with our ability to anchor it to the rafters. (I have since learned about right angle drill attachments, but did not know about them yesterday morning!)

I was pretty frustrated that Plan D hadn't worked. So we took a little break and muddled through Plan E. Fortunately, I had a great group of Tiny House Helpers by my side, including my oldest friend Christian, Randy (who had braved Hail & High Water with me last weekend and was back to sort my trim (again!) and pick the best pieces to stain), and two women who have built their own tiny homes: Angela of Mighty Micro Builder and Karin who built Serenity.

Plan E: a 2x4 flat in the eve cap

Angela suggested that we install a 2x4 flat against the rafters as a nailer so that we could attach the 2 x 4 to the rafters and the eve cap to the 2 x 4. Furthermore, it would create an outrigger to which I could attach my barge rafter, which was something I'd lost when I ditched Plan A. The trouble we found was that if we slipped a 2 x 4 into the bottom of the bent eve cap it would be at a completely different angle. If the wood wasn't in contact with the vertical metal surface of my eve caps we wouldn't have very good attachment. So we decided to rip off the corner at 26 degrees so that our nailer would slip into the eve cap and give us a proper attachment surface.

I cut a sample piece to try it out and we realized that by the time we ripped off the corner at 26 degrees the board wouldn't be much longer than the flashing and it would once again be tricky to attach it. So Karin suggested we head to the hardware store and pick up some 2 x 6s. Voila, Plan F.

Karin did a great job of cheering me up, telling me about some of the frustrating moments of her build and assuring me that it's okay to be upset and that My Tiny House Helpers will still love me even if I fall apart. She pointed out, that in fact it's a good experience for others to see what sort of challenges I encounter and to learn about the problem-solving process. She reminded me that those who have been there before can relate. I know all this, but let me assure you after several weeks of working 10 hour days either at the Breathe Building or on my build site, I was having a hard time with logic. When I thanked Karin for her patience and kindness she assured me that I'll be returning the favor someday. I have no doubt. No doubt at all.

We swooped into the hardware store, picked the four straightest 2x6s in the pile, and headed back to site where Christian ripped the corners off of the boards and nipped an inch and a half off the end of each one.

And then I made an unfortunate discovery. Read on to learn all about Plan F: Take 2.