Posts Tagged With: Environment

The inside of my Tiny House got a lot more comfortable this summer.  Not bad for a few months of work!

Getting a solar light installed was a great thing!  Hopefully next spring I can get a little more power going for a little fridge, lights and also to plug in my iPad.

My dogs and I were happy there but we stayed only until early fall, because there were other things pressing me – both financially and family wise – in Hamilton.

This is the first house I built… My Tiny House is fantastic but, still lacks a few things… Here is what I don’t have yet.

No main source of power (except the small solar light).

No heat source.

No running water.

No garden.

No indoor toilet facilities.

No exterior board and batten…

but all the same, for 100 days this summer.  I painted, had friends in, worked, pursued The Artist’s Way, wrote and enjoyed my life. I learned that it is surprising what you can do without, really!  My friends Liisa, Lydiah, John and my cousin Vernie helped me with computer use, water and laundry.  Next year I hope to be even more independent.

Yes, 2012 is another year…

For any of you who are interested in actually pursuing this sort of life style, the costs will be looked at in a future entry or entries.

With the above said, I have a disclaimer, I made a fatal error that cost me exactly $2800 extra – this number is one I recall quite readily.

Here is what it looked like in August 2011

There was nothing that made my life as comfortable at my Tiny House, as the cloth porch!  I build this from a cheap screen door, 7 left over boards, $20 worth of deeply discounted ugly fabric, a few screws and and two boxes of staples… I think this was money, and time, really well spent!

No black flies, deer flies, horse flies and a semi private place to bathe.  Also it is a pretty big room to have a party in!  Big!  9×12!  It is really a matter of perspective.

Here is what it looked like in July 2011

I had to get into the tiny house on June 15th because my husband would leave for business trips all summer before then.  Because I only drive a motor cycle I was dependant on him for getting me in there!  Also, I did not want to be stuck in the downtown of Hamilton all summer alone while he was doing his thing abroad.  Better to be home, home, home where the people know my name.

My initial days were pretty rough, for me and the dogs.  Though I did have a clean king sized bed, lots of water jugs, a bbq to cook on, and a little outdoor kitchen set up, I did not have an enclosure for the dogs and the deer flies were just wicked!

June 15 2011

Due to the fact that the cement phase of this job put me way behind schedule, I basically had to move in and finish the inside as much as I could and move in while the job was still underway.  The building of the stairs was a pain in the caboose!  Leo was not available and this little mathematical wonder was left to me.  The stairs were put in, and I moved in about five minutes after the fact.  So here is what I came up with along with the help of my husband.  Thankfully he is better with numbers than me so the ladder stair is very equally spaced.  Nearly professional… depending on your perspective.

Early June 2011

The windows and doors, Typar, vapour barrier and insulation.  We put some extra Typar on the roof because the steel roof did not arrive yet.  This was not water proof!  What a mess.  If you have to wait for your roof, buy a tarp!

Early June 2011

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Due to the fact, that the building code in Ontario is followed in my area, I was restricted to build a place which is under 108 square feet (exterior measurement).  It also cannot be over a 15.5 feet in height.

Since 108 (exterior) is very small I realized that I could not go with straw bale as I had hoped.  Thus I decided on a stick build with an additional 1/2 story loft which is under 6 feet tall so that it does not count as part of the square footage.  Still the 1/2 loft would add the sleeping space which is required so that I would not be stuck pulling a bed out of a sofa every night.  The second floor, meant of course, that I would lose a lot of the main floor square footage to stairs.

Still, the 1/2 story option was sensible for my specific needs.  You see, I have little dogs that insist on sleeping with me and dogs can’t climb ladders.  Also, I recognized that I would have to carry them up because the stairs would have to be very small and narrow in order so that they did not fill the whole Tiny House.

In putting the second floor up, I very nearly met my end falling off of a ladder.  Nearly took Leo with me too.  Very thankful that we got another day!

If you have ever built, you may notice the plywood.  I decided on plywood as opposed to particle board for sheathing both because I liked the idea of having better quality building materials as well as the fact that I am planning on using a local mill for the board and batten and I am not sure if this little mill will get the materials made this year before the snow flies.  I felt that the small additional cost was worth it because of not being able to secure a solid date for the board and batten. In retrospect, I am glad I did because the mill was not able to fill the order this year.

May end 2011

By late May
I had been planning out my Tiny House all winter, so I was feeling pretty prepared with what I wanted to do in the spring.  At least, I had the visual idea for the house, but not really knowing much about framing a house, I brought the pictures I

had drawn with the measurements with me.  First, I brought my plan to Gananoque Home Hardware; Rob who works there, looked at the plan, helped me pick out the windows and doors and had $4872 worth of material delivered.  Rob was very skilled at putting the materials together;  I was very few pieces off!

Woodchuck’s brother-in-law Leo, was hired to get the tiny house up and I worked along with him.  Well, actually, he worked and knows what he is doing.  I got in the way, learned a lot and got in the way even more.  Leo is a brilliant guy and very patient too.  He is also pretty easy on the eyes, so being out in the woods with him for a few weeks was not all together an unpleasant experience…

*** photos by Liisa.  Thank you!

I know that cement is not exactly the most environmentally friendly material.  Still, I am planning on actually keeping this house standing for a good many years, so, I decided on an 11’10″ by 8′ cement pad to build on.  I also put in an adjacent one of the same size in as so that I would have an exterior space to hang out on too, where my feet would not get dirty and I could wash my dishes.  There were multiple issues that came up during this.  Issues that I would prefer not to discuss because I am building in a small community – but I will say that this part of the job was annoying and cost me well over double what it should have.  The concrete was $835 delivered and my awesome cousin Kenny dug me the hole in order to bring the ground down to the bedrock.  This cement pad is NEVER moving!  Well drained and I really appreciated having Kenny’s expertise on the land there!  Kenny was also there when the cement truck came and used his bucket to bring the cement in through the woods.

Here is what it looked like in Early May 2011