If you’re following the blog, you may have picked up on a noticeable lack of new posts. Folks, it’s the thick of summer here in Austin and well, it’s hot.

To qualify that statement I’ll say that while, yes we’ve had a far more mild summer than previous years (it’s was only in the 90’s all of July!!) the heat coupled with both of our current workloads , has certainly slowed our progress. That’s not to say that we haven’t done anything, but rather that we haven’t completed nearly as much as we intended.

For one thing, working inside of a large, metal box when it’s 98-102 degrees outside is pretty unpleasant. We sweat (a lot), bicker (some), and generally find more excuses to drink cold beer and eat sandwiches than is warranted.  Most frustrating of all, we’ve simply been inefficient. (Ryan recently named me “the worst construction worker ever” during a heat/sandwich induced bout of complaining on my part.)

All frustrations aside, here’s a recap of what we’ve managed to get done  recently:

1. Framing

We successfully framed the lower halves of the walls and even added some additional insulating panels to help with temperature control. This will also provide some backing to the paneling we’ll eventually use to cover the interior. For now we’ve left about 10″ clear along the bottom of each wall to provide a channel for eventual electrical wiring.

Likewise, we’ve finished framing the wheel-wells. These spaces will serve as a closet & pantry . We’ll store our refrigerator, dry foods, and other kitchen-y type things in the pantry on the left, while the closet on the right will house all of our clothes,  shoes, etc.

Building up the walls. We added foam insulation to the interior walls.

2. Shopping!

In addition to an RV toilet, we’re now the proud owners of a camp oven and new kitchen sink! The camp oven, clocking in at 20lbs  is lightweight enough to make sense in our mobile tiny home , but large enough that we’ll actually be able to cook some serious meals in it.

Next up on the grocery-list for our bus is a shower pan and water tanks!

Here are some more photos to satisfy your curiosity in the meantime:

Future home sweet home.

–Justine