So we last left off with some trailer issues. No VIN or Title means no registration.
So I went and bought another trailer! And it has a VIN and title (at least it came with one, not really sure if it actually belongs to this particular trailer).
I then called up the RMV to ask some more questions to make sure I take the proper approach with registration and confirm that I have what I need.
But upon further inspection of the title and some quick googling, I notice that the 2 names on the title are the original owners who have died a decade ago. And the signatures on the back are their son and daughter. As someone who went through similar issues with transferring title ownership of my first Saturn, I knew this wasn't going to work. I would need to track down the son and daughter and request copies of death certificates for both their parents.
But I figured maybe I could get the trailer registered with only the VIN, stating that the title was lost. Maybe I'd still have to track down the original owners, but maybe not.
So I call the salvage inspection, leave a message, call back every day for 3 days. A trooper finally returns my call. He informs me that the state is working to implement new regulations for inspecting and registering tiny house trailers. He says the guy in charge will be in on Monday and he will get the necessary information then and call me back. He never calls back. Many e-mails and calls later and I can't get a hold of this trooper.
So it was time to give up and just build the damn house!! After all, winter is coming...
Christian and I kick it into high gear and start throwing some walls together. We framed them out on a workbench and added some of the sheathing because it's easier to add when the walls are laying down.
Luckily and thankfully Christian's family as well as Keira were over his house for the day so we had many hands to help us raise the walls. They went up surprisingly easy (Thanks Lynn, Peter, Wid and Keira!).
It was very exciting to finally be building vertically. It was the first moment that felt like we were actually building a house.
And of course, if you live in New England you're very well aware of how much it has been raining for the last 3 months (it's raining as I'm typing this...).
Now that we have untreated wood installed I'm becoming very paranoid of the rain and how much damage it could potentially do. Ain't nobody wants mold or rot in a brand new house!
The huge tarp is helpful, but it's riddled with holes and the rain was still getting in with ease. I tried lighting a small fire inside to try and dry it out. It didn't help and all and made a lot of smoke. But it was worth a shot.
With luck, we got a couple sunny days and worked quickly. Some more good timing with Steve coming over to use Christian's wood shop. We borrowed his muscles to help us install the absolutely massive ridge beam. Weight is a slight concern with this monster, but it's just too damn beautiful to leave out.
The roof rafters were a bit of a pain and made us very aware of how warped and out of square the frame is. Should be sturdy enough with those brackets and ties installed.
But look at those pegs! A nice timber frame touch to the tiny house.
And with beams so large, sometimes the tool of choice is a chainsaw.
With some more impending rain, we felt the pressure to finish installing and protecting the roof. Once again, we felt the pain of dealing with an out of square frame. But it's good enough!
Looking like a home.
With Christian gone for 4 days on a work trip, I'm on my own attempting to seal this bad boy up. Another 12 hour day (we've had several of those so far) and I trimmed the sheathing, installed the fascia board, drip edge and ice dam underlayment. It was too cold for the adhesive backing to stick but at least the roof is protected.
And that brings us to today. Another 12 hours of rain. The roof is staying dry but the wind is blowing some of the rain in through the window openings.
Once the wood dries out, I will finish the sheathing on the front wall and then install tar paper. One step closer to a weather-proofed house.
Also, Camille arrives in 8 days!
