Focus on Flashing

 We've been planning this awhile, so a mistake this early on was a bit hard to take, but will serve as a learning experience.  Here we flashed the underside of our frame and flipped it back onto the trailer bed, only to realize, we didn't flash far enough.  Only part of the cedar section is the porch and the other portion needs water and rodent protection from the underside, as it's part of the home.  We carefully propped it up and worked in the flashing under the missed portion.  The plans called for staples but we mostly used nails.  MEAN GREEN is our adhesive of choice.  It has (practically) no VOC's or odor, however after 4 hours of working with it, even outdoors, it had a slight effect on this Canary.  Most adhesives would be impossible for a person with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity like me to be around, so I would still argue it's the best adhesive we could find after lots of looking,  and it works in many applications.  To avoid disappointment, the supplier informed us it's not actually green in color anymore, but tan:)

Getting Started

We bought plans from Jay Schafer at Tumbleweed Tiny Homes for a 117 sq. ft. home called The Tarleton, built on an 18x8 ft flatbed trailer.

My husband, D K is standing in front of  the framework for the foundation of our new home to be, but he's the real foundation of this plan.  I cannot begin to explain all that he does for me and to help me deal with the daily management of this illness.   And if you don't know someone with MCS really well, you probably wouldn't believe it.   So, the decision to build this home was mutual, because it was crucial to my health, and because we both think they are super cool.
The first step is to be sure the trailer is a flat surface on which to build. Olympic Trailer removed an existing lip from ours. Then we removed about half of the planks from our flatbed trailer. This decreases weight and the possibility of water pooling up under the foundation.
The frame for the foundation is built in 3 pieces, one fits snug, between the wheel wells. Then one widens out, (closer to the real width our house will be, as the frame is built over, and partially supported by the wheel wells). The section farthest away is cedar and will be the porch.

Foundation For A Better Life

pics:  our home so far, our garage sale, us at Dee Williams'


We decided we needed to make some big changes this year in order to improve my health. Lifelong physical ailments, the worst of which being migraine headaches, were always a mysterious fact of life. Anyone who has had one knows that one thing you do when you experience migraine pain is question , WHY? I always wanted answers.
My work schedule changed from 5 down to 4 days a week a couple years back. I was concerned about finances but soon discovered I was about to get an answer to my question. I was experiencing an impromptu clinical unmasking of sorts.

Our home environment had, by preference, become mostly chemical-free and preferred activity took us to the woods or the beach. Spending more time in less chemical helped uncover my bodies' adverse reactions, exposing my sensitivity to chemicals and giving this mechanism a name, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.

Through my own research I'd already learned that the pesticides I'd been exposed to as a kid had likely wreaked havoc on my system. I turned to a friend who is a toxicologist, another who studied and understood Eastern Medicine, and one who worked as a health coach and nutritionist.

Our home was becoming unlivable. The scents of neighbors' laundry, household and personal products were creeping in. We had to move. But, where? Then I thought of Dee.

A few years back I proclaimed Dee Williams to be one of my heroes. She built a tiny home on wheels and was featured in the local paper. I was impressed with her tiny carbon footprint and honest intent to live in harmony. This was our answer.

So this year we started super downsizing. We had a huge garage sale in April. We gave a lot to Goodwill, books to the library, and specific items found appropriate owners on a website called 2good2toss.