Yesterday morning Green Mountain Panel used their boom truck to drop the SIP floor into the O'Keefe tiny house trailer!
Yesterday we kicked off our second build morning of the O'Keefe Build Blitz in Brattleboro, VT by finalizing the detailing of our trailer and floor system so that the two were ready to be joined. Maile sealed the edge between the pressure treated undercarriage and the trailer with a sealant and Kevin and Peter installed lifting plates and put rigid foam around the perimeter of the floor system. (The floor panels were accidentally routed for wood framing so we had to fill this gap back in with insulation). The floor system was also the same size as the trailer and we knew we'd need some wiggle room, so Harold (one of Green Mountain Panel's folks) cut back the floor system in both directions with a massive chainsaw with a giant plate. Then we were ready for the real excitement to begin!
Harold then brought the boom truck around and picked up the floor panel with an aluminum bar and three neverending loops. He hoisted the panel over to the trailer and set it into place. It was quite a sight to behold! We then centered the floor system inside the trailer and spray foamed the perimeter as well as the seams between the panels. (Green Mountain Panel's system includes spray foaming a channel in the middle of each seam.)
That seemed as good a time as any for a lunch break, so we took lunch then came back to do more spray foaming in the voids that were left once the foam dried. We put down sill seal around the trailer perimeter so that we have a thermal break between the cold condensing and conductive metal trailer and the wall framing. Then we measured, marked, and cut our bottom plates, clamped them to the trailer, and Kevin marked the bolt holes. Peter drilled out two more bolt holes since we couldn't get 16' kiln dried 4x4 lumber for the bottom plate on the long side of the trailer. So we had to use two 8' 4x4s and needed one more hole to bolt down the end of the second board.
Then John drilled out the bolt holes and Peter and I ripped some PT 2x6s down to give us trimmers for the skirt that will go around the house eventually. John and Kevin came up with a clever system of marking the bolt holes on the skirt trimmers and they drilled those out two. Then we bolted our bottom plates down with this sandwich (a 1/2" carriage bolt with a carriage bolt lock on top of the bottom plate, then the bottom plate, the trailer flange, the skirt trimmer, a flat washer, then a lock washer, and finally a nut. John and Peter also ripped a 15 degree angle on one 4x6 bottom plate and a 23 degree angle on another 4x6 bottom plate for the end walls, which tip out.
Today we'll get those 4x6 bottom plates bolted down, move the trailer into a shadier spot, level it again, and start measuring, cutting, and installing wall corner framing. Then the first wall panels will go up, starting with a corner, and we'll work our way around from there. Wish us luck, safety, and speed!