After riveting the sheet metal to the trailer frame, we attached the floor joist with large bolts in several places. The L-brackets we had welded to the frame provided the perfect mounting surface. The subfloor was built on 18″ centers, and insulated with rockwool. We sheeted on top of the joist with 3/4″ plywood, attaching…

Framing was a new experience for me. Luckily I had my father there to coach me through it and my brother lended some additional muscle. This phase began with an enormous load of lumber dropped off in the driveway and a sucking sound proceeding from my bank account. I picked up a nail gun on…

2014 the project begins with the demo of an RV trailer purchased for $400 off Craigslist. The trailer is arguably the most important portion of the tiny house, and is typically the most expensive. Dad calculated the anticipated weight of our materials to ensure the axels could handle the weight. After plenty of sandblasting and…

This is my first update since moving across the nation to Huntsville, Alabama aka the Rocket City (note my appropriately themed hoodie). One thing pretty popular in this town is a boutique popsicle shop called “Steel City Pops.” I wondered how a popsicle shop like this could stay in business in a rather upscale area,…

You try to get every last drop of honey out of the jar but its stuck to the side and refuses to flow downward. Even after heating up the container, it still moves slower than people walking in front of a Walmart. You give up, and go to toss it in the trash… but then…

Bees are fascinating creatures. Once you realize they aren’t out to sting you, beekeeping gets much more fun. All of my hives have windows on them so you can see the bees in action. One thing you’ll notice when getting up close, is that some bees look drastically different than the others, mainly in their…

Take 4ft wide hardware cloth and make it into a large loop. Zip tie it together at the ends, forming a large cylinder with open ends. Place it on the ground, or a piece of cardboard if it is located on the pavement. Fill it with your food waste; moldy leftovers, coffee grounds, paper towels,…

I like making fire using more primitive methods. I have a great flint and steel kit that was gifted to me from my parents as a kid, but I’ve always wanted to make my own. I have some flint from a previous adventure. Now I just needed to craft the striker. After recently purchasing a…

Every beehive only has one queen. She controls everything; the productivity, the location, even the overall mood. But in nature, there are predators; hungry birds, rival hornets, spiderwebs… So what occurs if the queen gets killed or dies? Bees create special elongated cells for creating a new queen. These cells are filled with a substance…

With the tiny house being complete I finally had some spare time to just make something for fun. I’d seen some variations of viking mugs online, and what could go better in a tiny house than a HUGE mug… I started by selecting a limb I’d removed from a Black Walnut tree last year. Using…