Starting out, the pictures tell the story better than most of what I can write. Lots of lumber, lots of sawing, and lots of assembly. But in the end..... something that's starting to look like a house.
The mess of supplies and other stuff, aka "Base Camp." Lovely Harbor Freight solar panels (not the best, but they work). Used a set of three car batteries for temporary power, which is a bad idea (and I should have realized it had I thought about it) since they only fully discharge a couple of times they have a real hard time holding power. Golf cart batteries are the way to go if you can't afford the real thing.
The pile of all my building materials. This took 3 days of back and forth to town to accumulate. My poor truck, but it made it. I've got a bunch of 2x4s, 6x6 weather treated lumber, pavers and cinderblocks, as well as the laser level in the case on top. The laser level is again from Harbor Freight, all I have to say to anyone considering getting one there is don't, it was pretty useless.
A nice rig to make fairly precise cuts on long 2x4s without the proper equipment. Everything held in place by 500lb toggle clamps from Harbor Freight which actually worked really well, wish I had discovered them years ago, it would have saved so much time.
The beginnings of the foundation. Leveling all this was a bitch, even if everything is relatively flat. Fortunately I'm not expecting perfection, and there won't be drywall or plaster to crack. I've talked to two people who built house foundations like this out here so I'm confident this will work fine.
The cinder block pylons to hold everything up. Even a landscape that appears to be totally flat has a slope. And digging is a pain, doing the greenhouse is going to require a better technique than just a pick and a shovel. Good thing I at least have a wheelbarrow.
Putting down my 6x6 beams for the base of the house. I held these all together with rebar as was recommended by a few people and it's as steady as a rock.
Starting to put up the walls. For a first time putting up walls, I have to say that this is actually easier than I thought it would be. Even in wind. But definitely leveling is the hardest part, especially for one person.
A different angle, showing the impending rain storm.
Roof truss time. Actually built these out here with a friend before I even laid the foundation, and they've been sitting under this tarp since. Should have taken photos of them being built, but there was so much sawdust that I didn't want to bother. But they came out great, and I think they look lovely.
If there were someone else out here, there might have been an intermediary series of photos of my falling off the ladder or dropping roof trusses, thankfully there were no witnesses. After I finally figured out a method that worked, these all took me an afternoon to put up.
Another angle. The trusses are scissor type, and I really like the look. The center rail underneath the base of all the trusses will be gone in the end, it's only there to make sure that I can align and bolt down the roof beams.
Starting to put on the plywood outside at sunset. The ends of the house will be mostly windows when this is finished, so I'm looking forward to this view when it's complete. The plywood will help it last through winter, but I don't expect it to be completely weatherproof.
More roofing at sunset. Fantastic view from the top of the ladder, even if I'm afraid the wind might blow me to my death.
The empty inside, with all the reinforced rails for putting up the roof removed. Pretty wide open with the high roof, should be fun to furnish the space.
And that's the basic structure of my house! From start to finish ~ 4 weeks, with a fair number of lazy days, and an even larger number of days trying to figure out what I was doing. But very exciting, and easier than I though, particularly for someone without much carpentry knowledge. Now that it's May, I'm back and the real fun can begin! More photos to come soon!
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