Week 5, Day 5: The Last Day

Posted on July 17, 2015 by tinyhouseadmin

July 17th, 2015

Today was our last day working on Phase I of our Ekahi model Tiny House. It has been such a pleasure working with all the campers and faculty of Indian Creek Middle School for the summer. The kids were amazing workers and their hard work really showed, Tiny House Ekahi looks amazing! Today was a relaxed one, the kids just touched up on some of the details of the house; tightening up bolts, nailing in extra trim, and painting the windows and door. We cleaned up and organized the job site and then had a celebratory job well done party with pizza and cupcakes. This project has been a great experience and it’s sad to see it come to an end, but there will be more to come in the future. From here, we will continue to work with our partners at the Indian Creek School, Colonial Electric, Standard Solar, and and Resource Furniture to finalize the build schedule for Phase II of the project during which we will complete the finish work, install appliances and furniture, and get the house ready for someone to move in!

I hope you continue to follow along with us!

The Crew

Painting the windows

Josh painting the door

Just hanging out

Week 5, Day 4

Posted on July 17, 2015 by tinyhouseadmin

July 16th, 2015

The morning started with a lecture from Elizabeth Kinney, a guest speaker from the Lighthouse Homeless Prevention Support Center in Annapolis. She spoke to the campers about homelessness issues in the county and how tiny houses can be a part of the solution. After the campers went to work nailing the rest of the trim in around the house’s walls, re-secured the house’s insulation to the bottom of the trailer, and installing stairs for the house’s front door. Once lunch was over Alexis and Christian from the Tiny House Expedition gave a tour of their own tiny house to the campers, which they all enjoyed very much. Tomorrow will be our last day on the job site and the house is looking great!

Stapling in the insulation

Installing the stairs

Precision drilling!

Week 5, Day 3

Posted on July 16, 2015 by tinyhouseadmin

July 15th, 2015

This morning Wade Boarman came in to talk to the campers about aquaponics,a method of growing vegetables and fish together at the same time. After Wade’s lecture was over the campers went to work putting the final coat of paint onto the Tiny House and nailing furring strips along the houses outside walls. We had a roofer come out today to install a water proof roof onto the house so that we now no longer need to cover the house with a tarp after each work day. As well we were lucky enough to be visited by a couple doing a on the road documentary called the Tiny House Expedition. Their names are Alexis and Christian, and they have a beautiful tiny house of their own that they live in. I have linked their website to this post if you are interested in reading more about their project!

http://www.tinyhouseexpedition.com

Completing the roof!

It is looking good!

A hello from Alexis & Christian of the Tiny House Expedition

Week 5, Day 2

Posted on July 14, 2015 by tinyhouseadmin

July 14th, 2015

The kids started the day with a lecture from Brian Levy, a current owner and resident of a tiny house. Brian talked to the kids about what it is like living in one of these houses, from his personal point of view. The campers then painted the Tiny House, it was an all day job that they all did together. Along with the painting, we worked on adding some reclaimed cedar boards as exterior trim pieces. It was a pretty simple day with very high heat so there were a lot of water breaks. Tomorrow the kids will add another coat of paint to the house to complete the paint job.

Brian Levy talking to the campers

First coat of paint going up!

Week 5, Day 1

Posted on July 14, 2015 by tinyhouseadmin

July 13th, 2015

Today kicked off the first day of our last week on the Tiny House build, and it is going to be a busy one. The campers started out their day on the job site by building the last of the walls for the inside of the house. They then screwed in the front door for the Tiny House, a tasked that involved a combined team effort. After the front door was installed the campers put in the last two walls that they built, then we broke for lunch. After lunch the campers began installing the windows for the house and started bolting in the ledgers that would hold the battery shelf in place. Four of the five windows and the front door were installed by the end of the day! The bolting of the ledgers will be completed tomorrow. We are very happy to be working with all the new campers and the returning ones too, it is going to be a good week!

Building the last two indoor walls

Installing the front door

Front door installed!

Whoop! Whoop! We have windows!

Bolting in the ledgers

Week 4, Day 5

Posted on July 10, 2015 by tinyhouseadmin

July 10th, 2015

Today was a beautiful day with perfect weather at Indian Creek Middle School! The campers started the day with a movie called More Than Honey that shared with them information about the important role the honey bee population plays in our lives. The campers installed the rest of the hurricane clips onto the rafters of the house. They also installed three walls inside the Tiny House for the bathroom and utility closet. The house has came a long way and it was a pleasure working with this weeks group of campers, we are going to miss them and are very thankful for their hard work on the Tiny House project, and for those campers that are coming back again for the final week of the Tiny House build we can’t wait to finish it strong!

Toe nailing nails

Doorway installed!

Week 4 finishing strong!

Week 4, Day 4

Posted on July 9, 2015 by tinyhouseadmin

July 9th, 2015

Today guest speaker Karen Mullin came in to teach the kids about sustainable landscape designs and then the campers designed a sustainable landscape of their own for the Tiny House blueprints that they created yesterday. After that we all took a field trip to Second Chance again to give some of the new campers a chance to have a tour of their warehouse, which is a outstanding place! We also picked up some hinges for the doors and windows while we were there. When we came back we had lunch and with the remaining time we had left in the day the campers organized the job site and nailed in half of the hurricane clips onto the rafters of the house. It was a really fun and relaxing day for all.

Guest speaker Karen Mullin

The campers getting a tour of Second Chance

“This is a nice place they got here”

Second visit to Second Chance!

“Look at this funky thing..?”

Installing the hurricane clips so that the roof won’t blow off

Hi Olivia!

Week 4, Day 3

Posted on July 9, 2015 by tinyhouseadmin

July 8th, 2015

Today the campers installed the ledgers that went along the LVL(laminated veneer lumber) and the header above the door for the utility closet and bathroom. Installing those involved a lot of careful measurements and were a challenge for the kids to hammer into place, but eventually they figured it out and made it work. The scaffoldings were put to good use today along with the camper’s hammers as they have now finally nailed in the last of the plywood surrounding the house! The Tiny House can now officially keep you dry inside now that all the walls are up, which is such a relief given all the rain thats came our way during the course of the camp.

Careful up there Mr. Franco!

Butterfly selfie

Week 4, Day 2

Posted on July 7, 2015 by tinyhouseadmin

July 7th, 2015

The kids started their morning with a drawing charrette, in which they all broke up into groups and constructed blueprints for their own Tiny House designs, a activity they all had a lot of fun with. On the job site today the campers were split up into three groups. Two groups were inside, one working on framing the windows for installation, and the other nailing in the furring for the bathroom wall. The other group was outside of the house working on installing the rest of the plywood around the houses walls. It was a really hot and humid day so we had to make sure we made time for plenty of water breaks but even though the temperature was up it was still a good day of hard work!

Designing their own Tiny House blueprints

Nailing in the furring

Yes..that is a dianosour playing the keyboard. Artwork by Liam.

Plywood, plywood, and more plywood!

Week 4 underway!

Posted on July 6, 2015 by tinyhouseadmin

After a nice holiday weekend, a new tiny house crew was back at it for another week of fun. We have a full camp this week with 5 first-timers and 5 returnees. It has been such a joy to see the group bond each week, with our returning campers building upon their friendships and quickly welcoming in new folks.

SONY DSC

The beginning of this week will be focused on finishing the exterior plywood which requires a good bit a teamwork, hoisting the higher pieces into place and some brave campers climbing atop the scaffold to hammer away.