“ALWAYS LAUGH WHEN YOU CAN. IT IS CHEAP MEDICINE.” Lord Byron
Sometimes the only thing to do is laugh at yourself, get over it and keep moving. Last week I finally got the first triangle for the A-Frame together and immediately knew it wasn’t going to work. The numbers were wrong and I was seeing all 16 feet of a future disaster as I struggled to set it upright. When I eventually got it standing it was super dangerous and as that feeling of dread crept up my stomach into my throat instead of tears I started laughing - this entire scene was ridiculous. It took all day just to build the jig to get the damn thing together so I was definitely feeling defeated and stupid. Why didn’t I see it until I was actually seeing it? Why is my brain this way?
Now I was seeing all the negative wasted space. It was too tall and not tall enough. The sleeping loft was going to be so small I’d been practicing sleeping diagonally knowing that my bed was going to get weirdly spaced up there and telling myself this would all be fine.
Without missing a beat I grabbed my circular saw so I wouldn’t have to look at my mistake for a minute longer. Cutting the tip off as a trophy I sat down in the middle of the big platform deck to think this whole thing thru one more time.......
A-Frame houses can be incredibly affordable and fast to build. This was why I was so focused on this design for my future house. I wasn’t expecting to be building so soon after setting up in the bus but here we are. I can’t do another winter in there and this summer almost killed me roasting in a 102 degree metal house. For these reasons the triangle seemed obvious and right. Quick and easy and cheap. There’s a saying in the trades that goes something like “if you want something made you only get to pick two of three choices Cheap. Fast or Good. - because you can’t have all three”
I have used this adage countless times as The Mad Framer. This is a universal truth and I was ignoring it. I think I just wanted to live in an unusual house.
In the end I’m a square builder. Re-crunching the numbers I landed on the smallest space I can both handle and afford. I’ll add on to over time. 8 feet by 10 feet with a regular sleeping loft. My platform is 12 x 16 so there’s room to expand right away. Smaller than the triangle but without the wasted space.
This feels right. I picked up materials for the floor last night and today I’ll insulate the underneath and lay down the sub floor. Full speed ahead and not looking back.
