From there to here

The weather is starting to get better, snow is starting to go. Soon I will get to start building my new home. I wasn’t sure where to start with my floor joists. I have been trying to figure it out for a few days. Then late last night I woke up with a clear idea of how to lay it out.

I immediately started to build it in 3d so I could see and understand it better. I still have to repair the rust out behind the wheels. Not at the six hundred dollars I was quoted. I took a hammer out there and checked the metal on the back of the rust out. It was fine. What was needed was a simple weld of some plate metal across the box beam on one side.  This will reduce the cost of the repair. If I clean out the rust and cut out the cancer myself it would help more. So I picked up a grinder and some wheels and in a couple of days I will be out there removing the cancer.

Then I will be loading up the trailer and finding someone to weld it. I noticed the trailer frame is slightly bowed. Again not a problem. I can adjust for the bow when I place the floor Joists. I will make provisions for rear jacks. I will make them heavy enough to lift the trailer so I can remove the wheels.

Which brings me to another problem to solve. The lack of trailer brakes. This means a replacement of the hubs with braking units. A problem that I will deal with in the future.

I need to build walls and a roof because I do not have a shop tall enough to build it inside. At the same time I can’t fill in the floor because I need to run plumbing, gas lines, sewer ,grey water, and electrical.

The new width actually helped me. I can put down a ten inch plywood perimeter that I can build my walls on, and leave the center open.

The bottom. I was going to put pressure treated plywood on the bottom at almost $50 a sheet at todays prices. I found a different way. I am going to use regular sheathing and then cover it with a rubber membrane and cloth mesh.

This is a roll on rubber membrane you can buy at home hardware, with a mesh tape applied at the seams. I plan on continuing the rubber membrane up around the floor joists. The only  problem is the weather, some rain at the wrong time will create a rolling swimming pool. I will have to lay under the trailer and roll on the rubber after the roof and walls are done. If I could, I would flip the frame over and do the bottom. If I had a winch on the jeep, and four people with guide ropes maybe that would be the way.

The membrane supplies can be found at Home Hardware under the Flex Coating name. Along with the reinforcing fabric and seam tape. If you hunt around there is a website with instructions on how to lay it out, prepare the surface, and do the corners, seams and edges.

I am sure that being cheap trying to save buying the treated ply wood will actually will cost me more. But I know this will be a better system. And I may use it to cover the roof and maybe even the walls, either a short term or a long term solution.