Materialism

Building Code Ontario and Tiny House Ontario

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Laura

OK you caught me, I am an artist and writer and some things simply don’t interest me that much, or hardly at all.  Also I like to think outside of the box, which is probably what lead me to the Tiny House Movement to begin with.

For example, my take on it is that the Ontario Building Code, is not very different from any other rule book.  Kinda boring.  Started originally with good intentions, like keeping people from burning to death, then it got signed on to by ever more groups, added onto over and over and over. Intuitiveness and sensible stuff gets shoved aside somewhere along the line and this rule book becomes as stagnant as the water in an old tire.  Inevitably, to make any changes to this or any other rule book you have to fight like a warrior and often times with no hope.

If you clicked on the OBC link above, or if you are one of those sorts who read the rules, then you will know that the OBC book is absolutely HUGE.  I have not read it.  GASP!  What I have done is that I have consulted with a few builder friends and relatives because chatting and planning are more fun and interesting for me.  I let the people in the know tell me what I need to.

There were some steadfast things that I learned, by osmosis and through these chats, and when I was pretty sure I knew what I was talking about was pretty firm, then I called the Township office and spoke to the building inspector in February of 2011.  I fortunately reached this inspector directly.  I gave the inspector my address and name and began to speak.

I told the inspector that I don’t live close and that I wanted to build a 108 foot structure (on my land) for me and my dogs to stay in when I visited home.  I also said that I might want to use this when and if I eventually build a home there.  I was told that I can do that.

I then told the inspector that I wanted to do it in straw bale and the inspector said that 108 square feet is the maximum for the exterior measure (new news), so if I build with straw I would have only about 40 square feet left on the inside.  I asked the inspector if there were any exceptions, I was told no exceptions.  This is when I knew that I would have to use 2×4’s so that I would have some interior space.  Oh well.

I told the inspector that I was planning on building a place which was insulated, 15 feet high and with lots of windows.  The inspector said that the details like this do not matter as long as it is up to code in terms of safety and that it could not be over 15.5 feet.  Good to know.

Thus Tiny House Ontario is a stick built house on a cement pad with a sort of verbal clearance from the inspector there.  As far as I know this inspector has not been in but the Road’s inspector has been in and seen Tiny House Ontario because this inspector has to approve (hopefully next time around) my damn culvert.  Two unsuccessful visits to date.  UGH!

A recent query on here makes me worried that someone in a government suit will pull in to my land and insist that I tear down Tiny House Ontario.  I truly hope that this is not the case.  With nothing in writing I guess you are always vulnerable.  Still I think that I did everything that I am supposed to.

Categories: Building code, Environmentalism, Materialism, Rules, Sustainable living, Tiny house, Tiny House Ontario | Tags: | 69 Comments

Surviving, The Artist’s Way

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Laura

In my real life, I made my living (mostly) in the academic world as a writer and a magician of sorts for contract after contract.  I am a creative, conscientious and organized person, which is why I was good at the work that I did.  Still, I found that once each of my jobs was done, that I often felt less than comfortable with the outcome; further, I always felt that I had sold my creative side for nothing and that I was only ever really being paid and recognized for the organized side.  Sadly, my creative self’s stuff was always being claimed by the people who I worked for; their idea, their process, their stuff.  Most creative people who work for others find this and I can tell you that this was not easy on me.

The consequence of all of this is that my creativity has a very difficult time letting itself out.  I am not just a blocked creative, I am a stomped on, squashed up, used badly, and dried up creative.

I belong to a writing group in Hamilton, Ontario and I spoke to the group about how painful it is for me to write and three of them suggested that I try The Artist’s Way program.  Sort of a 12 step – and 12 week program for blocked creatives.

I knew, before I built Tiny House Ontario that this was both an expression of creativity as well as a place for me to open up to creativity, both in myself and in others.  I worked The Artist’s Way program all summer and found that I accomplished a big boost in my creativity.  Still, I earned nothing at all, which is not so excellent!  So, how do I live creatively and make money too?  I learned this summer that eventually, Tiny House Ontario would allow me to live very inexpensively.  The question is, I could live an off grid life there without depending on the economy, or any real 9-5 or even part time gig?

I suspect that once everything is bought and paid for, (I still have credit line debt on my land) I could live well at Tiny House Ontario for $5,000 a year, but realistically I think that $8,000 a year would allow me to have a little wiggle room, for art supplies, travel, vet bills, clothing and extravagancies.

My aim is to figure out exactly how to make this $8,000 without actually having a job.  Paintings are difficult to sell.  There is no guarantee that someone will actually publish my novels, or my Tiny House Ontario book; even if they do publish me, will my books sell?

I intend to start a small bee colony, but who knows if this will make any money or if it will simply be another fun little creative hobby for me?

I am a wicked good seamstress, but I actually hate to sew and with no electricity as well as very little space, a treadle, seems both huge and dreadful!

I plan to put in a few hundred asparagus roots, which is a good crop, but I am also not sure if this is feasible in the forest, or if I can actually produce enough crop to make this investment pay for itself, let alone pay for future living costs.

I have great administrative, computer and organizational skills, as I already mentioned, but this stuff typically means job, transportation, clothes, heels, make-up, being away from home.  I don’t mind getting all gussied up but the idea of a job; simply put, I would really rather not.

So, here it sits!  I am person with many talents and many skills.  Still, I have not figured out if I can make $8,000 by either earnings or trade, and live without a job.

I strongly hope that time will tell me more!

Categories: Art, Dog, Environmentalism, Materialism, Money, Off Grid, Sustainable living, Tiny house, Tiny House Ontario | 8 Comments

Great Uncle Frank’s Tiny House

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Laura

I went to Tiny House Ontario over the weekend and drove in to see my grandma Violet Rickards.  Grandma is approaching 90 and recently, feeling slowed down and tired.  On the route in, I took Rideau Street, ironically, where grandma’s brother, Frank Compton (Punky) lived in his Tiny House when I was a young girl.  Great Uncle Frank worked on the big ships and due to this work, he grew accustomed to small spaces and when he finally hit land he never changed that way of living.  He bought a Tiny House and lived there until the end of his life.

When I was young, I loved to visit Great Uncle Frank.  He allowed me to open the cupboards and look around.  Not only that, he encouraged me to explore.  He would say “there is a treat somewhere, and you will have to find it”.   Or, go lift up the latch in the closet and see what is down in the cellar.  In retrospect I suppose that this allowed him to have a grown up visit at his Tiny House, but when I was a kid, I did not see it like that.  What I saw was that I was allowed to to exactly what I wanted to do when I visited him.

This Tiny House at 371 Rideau Street in Kingston Ontario, sits empty.  It was never what one would call a fancy house but all a single person needs to live comfortably.  It had a quirky but functional bathroom, a decent sized kitchen, a small bedroom with a closet (where the basement entry latch was in the floor), and a little sitting room too.  The coolest thing about this tiny house is that it also has a really good sized shed and a back yard that is a great size and which overlooks the Rideau Canal, he kept his horse there.  It is a great, conveniently located, spot except that the street is somewhat busy and there is an industrial welder who is housed across.   Still, it sickens me to see this Tiny House sit empty in a world where so many people are homeless.  No reason why this could not be tidied up again and made into a house that someone could call home.  When I was a young single mom, I would have loved to have had this tiny house to live in, still would!

Today, when kids in the neighbourhood of Tiny House Ontario come to visit, and they do come… I do just as Great Uncle Frank did.  I tell them to look around, open things up, go upstairs and see what I have done up there.  I encourage them to look for hidden treats and also to tell me about themselves.  I very rarely have grown ups there when they come, so I don’t really care about adult conversations, and maybe Great Uncle Frank did not either.  Perhaps, just perhaps, it is just as it should be and he was truly Great Uncle Frank, just as he was called.  

Categories: Building code, Materialism, Rules, Stuff, Sustainable living, Tiny house | 1 Comment