Finally have a trailer

I bought a trailer yesterday! I have spent the last few weeks tossing around designs and getting frustrated over the cost of raw steel and parts. I have been finding rusty old trailers on Craigslist every morning that just weren't right. Finally, one of them was just right. This trailer is an older construction trailer with a 10,000 lb GVW, more than enough for my house. It has wide axles, good tires, electric brakes, a sturdy but light frame and a rotted out wooden deck (which I would remove anyway). The length is perfect but the deck is only 6'6" wide. All I need to do is throw three steel beams across the bed to provide support for the sill under the posts. This will bring the house to the correct height to clear the tires. I am so glad that I don't need to worry about finding the trailer anymore. Now if I don't get the house outside for the winter it is not due to lack of funds, but only laziness.

The other day I made some custom moulding for the salvaged window and nailed up the siding on the West side. All I have left to side now is some of the back side. Then I will cut the main rafters, build removable panels for the gable ends and the roof and move the house!

Dutch Door

Yesterday I hung my door. It is a salvaged door that my father found back in PA. The door is very thick (about 2 1/4" thick, exactly the same as my jamb and trim) and made of Bald Cyprus. It was too short and too wide for the opening but it is so similar to the one that I wanted to build that I decided to modify it to fit. When my dad brought it up, he cut it in half so that it would fit in the car, knowing that I wanted to make a dutch door anyway.

Trimming the door down was easy. There was enough stock on the stiles that it was not a problem to cut about and inch and a half off of each one. I planed the hinge stile square again and restored the 5 degree angle on the lock stile. Next I cut the mortices for the hinges and hung the door. After a little more tuning with the plane, both halves swing very nicely and do not bind. All that is left now is to build up the center of the door to make up the vertical dimension.

Every day this thing feels more like a house!