Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Micro Home Ridge Board And Rafters by Walt Barrett









Well it rained again for the best part of yesterday so I took a 2" x 6" board into the shop and made the ridge board for the gambrel roof. I like to think of the ridge board as kind of a spine that ties the roof rafters in a sturdy and solid fashion together at the peak of the roof.


The metal clips are on sixteen inch centers to match the spacing of the vertical studs below in the building walls. The rafters in the roof transfer the weight load directly down onto the double plate and studs, and from there to the foundation sill. There are also metal clips that tie the base of each stud to the building. I will post photos as soon as we install the roof rafters, which will be today if the rain ever stops!


We have put up a Micro Home/Micro Apartment page on our own server and will welcome and publish any material on the Micro Home subject including construction, alternate energy power and heating systems, solar hot water, and passive solar heating etc. Te site is http://www.micro-homes.com/ , and the material submission address is wbarrett1@aol.com. Photos are also welcome if pertinent to the micro home and alternate energy . We sincerely hope that many of you will be willing to share your ideas and photos with us.


One other thing before I sign off this morning. Yesterday I was browsing the Internet and found a company selling a sixty-four square foot micro home with a low profile roof which doesn't leave much room for a sleeping loft, if there is one. They didn't say. The price was in the $16,000.00 range. Personally, I think that kind of pricing is a total turn off to the general public. That is $250.00 a square foot! My calculations based upon the present construction of our test model is that a completed 64 sq ft model with the sleeping loft which effectively takes it to 128 square feet with a solar lighting system included should easily sell for about $10,000.00 If we mass produce it. That includes four high quality windows and a steel door with a sliding window and screen. at takes us to about $78.00 a square foot, which is our target price counting the loft. Our figures are based on the current costs of building materials. Oh well, we are going to know very shortly if the rain ever stops!
Stay tuned,
Walt

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