When we arrived at Tiny House Ontario yesterday it was grey and cold. Too with all the leaves now on the ground the trees reach up to the sky silently. It felt very barren certainly when compared to the fall with all its deep colours and noisy fluttering. It is the first time back after the very rushed cloth porch roof job so I had worried when Hurricane Sandy came. I thought that we would find a lot of fallen trees and debris blown away because my building supply pile was not put away very well.
There were no trees uprooted; not even the huge Tim Burton tree, Clyde, was harmed at my place by Sandy. But, there was a huge mess around the East side of THO. Today the weather was absolutely gorgeous so Hj and I worked out there getting tidied up. He brought in a number of wheel barrel loads of gravel and I levelled it out. Then I moved the barrels, and storage boxes into the corner, together we relocated left over building supplies. It looks much tidier, but still it looks like like a lot of stuff against THO!
I really dislike the look of the tarp too, on the cloth porch – It is ugly and tacky. Still, it is entirely practical! It is open enough to cook with the BBQ there but dry as a bone!
I would like to be able to tuck things away a lot more unseen at THO but sadly, I don’t think a shed is in the cards for next year either. Perhaps I will find a use for all of my left over materials next spring so I won’t need a pile?
Tiny House Ontario 
A white tarp will let the light in and two tarps one left to right… one front to back may also be better in regards being sightly.
You can buy gromits and a gromit kit at canadain tire to put thru tarps and keep them tight which is also more tidy looking.
Years of camping and keeping my home pile of wood dry has given me a bit of tarp experience.
The gromits work great but get the plasic kind… the metal ones rip and tear easily… the plastic one snap together and are great to work with.
If you follow my idea make sure there is a slight gap between tarps to let air flow through…otherwise you will have a moisture problem and perhaps mould or rot.
The tarps must be taught or they will rip and shred in high winds.
If needed you could use light nylon rope as a tie down and there are adjustible little plastic tie downs that are easily adjustible…i cannot describe over the netty… they are solid with a space on each end to put your ropes thru and the slip back onto themselves for very easy adjustment. They are found in the camping section of Can.Tire and are usually yellow.
As opposed to draping… think like a big tent. Tie downs can stay a little bit away from the sides at a slight angle so you have no worries about water accumulating… however… you might want to dig a small trench around where your tarps will runnoff and fill with gravel… should be cheap.
I have literally camped thru a tornado… seriously… and when I woke up… all the tents around me were all smooched… but my little tent stayed steady and sound…. and I woke up warm and dry.
A few questions… how do take care of your water needs and what about your potty?
I am asking because I may well be homeless soon and need a cheap and cheerful solution for my living needs.
I live in Ontario Canada so have cold cold winters to contend with.
My thoughts that are hopefully helpfully for now.
If you would like to communicate you may reach me at ……..
Good luck with your adventures!
gabe.
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All for now and good luck with our adventures!
Hi Gabe,
Thank you for the thoughtful answer to my tarp problems!
As for your questions:
You did not ask, but I want to let you know, while some do live in their Tiny House all the time, I do not yet live at THO year around. This is because I have yet to decide on a heat source. I will make that decision this winter and install it before it gets cold next year.
I don’t have water but I have found that neighbours are more than willing to share a few litres of water for me. I find that for personal washing, dishwashing, cleaning house, food/tea/coffee prep and drinking I need about 30 litres a week. This amount is easy to carry by hand or bike. I also find that I need to shower about twice a week which I do at the homes of friends and family up until now, but in the spring I will start to use the rain water that I will catch and if this does not get me through I think I will get a delivery to fill five barrels. My goal is independence, but I am still not there.
As for the potty… in the first year 2011, I had no bathroom but 10 acres of forest. Last year I built an in-house. This is a 4 x 4 room with a sink and toilet. The sink will be hooked up to rain water this year so I will actually have a functioning sink! The toilet details can be found here. It works great. It was not too costly to build this addition, but worth it because the coyotes and even a bear, are too close to the house for me to be going outside at night and pull my trousers down! It does mean that I have a bucket to empty about once a month. There is no smell! It is surprising and I would not believe it myself, if I did not know. But it is no more of a nuisance than digging in the garden.
I hope this helps!
As for making plans because you are concerned about pending homelessness, there are people who have build Tiny Houses on wheels for less than $5,000. I know if you don’t have $5,000 than this can still seem out of reach. They build these ones on wheels. Find a place to park the trailer bed and start working on them a little at a time. I hope that you will be able to find/build yourself a roof over your head before you loose your home.
With kind regards,
xo
Laura