Sorry I'm late offering the links to my favorite tiny home/deployable permanent/temporary

[IrishAyes]

shelters.

Here's a list of my 4 favorites. I think the first one can be set up by a couple people in a very few hours and either left temporary or continued to a permanent phase.

The second appeals to me most of all. I'd want 2 larger arched cabins or at least a smaller and a larger together. Might not want to heat the entire area all winter. The extra insulation and prefab end caps are economical too. Looks like they can take on an eco village charm of their own.


http://www.deployablegeoshelters.com/
http://archedcabins.com/
http://www.tinyhouseliving.com/aspen-series-house-box/
http://domesheltersystem.s3.amazonaws.com/index.html
http://www.simplesolarhomesteading.com/bandito.htm



There are plenty of others; if you don't see something you like, let me know and I'll share more urls.

[PoliticAverse]

1. I encourage you to post any links you have that contain free, complete, plans for tiny homes.

[IrishAyes]

7. Might take me a few days because I'm old and slow,

but I'll get there. I had allowed my favorites list to become a tangled rat's nest from too often forgetting to be sure a bookmark went to the right folder. So I had a ton of sorting to do and I'm still not entirely done. I did notice a couple places that offered free plans for the true DIY-ers. If you have the time and manpower, a basic concrete dome home is not that hard to accomplish. Lots of rebar, chicken wire and then troweled on slurry in several well-cured layers. That is, if you don't have too many regs to worry about. Some people blow up a huge bladder like a balloon and spray/trowel crete over that. I've also read arguments in favor of fly ash over portland cement, too.

If I had all the $ in the world, I'd go for a Dome King with 2 or 3 interconnected bubbles around a semi-enclosed courtyard. They can be designed for the convenience of elders as well, with sloped foundations, wide doors, and even built-in flowerbeds all around. That really appeals to me.

Anyway, look for a third OP within the week more or less. It should be titled 'Even More Tiny House Urls' although of course most are not technically the Tiny House brand, just the general style.

[NYC_SKP]

2. Always a fan of tiny houses, I just bought a tiny condo...

...and now I get to redesign (over time) using as many space-efficient design features as possible.

I know condo is not tiny house, but tiny is still tiny.

If I could legally put a tiny house right on the ocean with a glorious view, I would.

But building permits and lots and water service costs are prohibitive, so I bought the little 1-bedroom condo, ~450 s.f.

[cbayer]

4. I think you will love your small space.

Do you have any pix?

You can legally put a tiny house right on the ocean, my friend. It's called a boat, lol.

[NYC_SKP]

5. This all started, actually, with my looking at boats and slips.

Several shopping trips to look at harbors and liveaboards for sale, starting in the SF Bay, then over to the coast where there aren't many places.

IIRC, Half Moon Bay, then nothing til Santa Cruz, then Moss Landing and, finally for me, Monterey.

I'll send you details by PM.

[cbayer]

6. Half Moon Bay is a great harbor and very friendly towards liveaboards.

San Francisco is much less accommodating and much more expensive.

But I think you will be happy in your condo.

Simple is great and having little room for "stuff" is a wonderful thing.

[IrishAyes]

9. Nowhere on earth lovelier than Monterrey.

[IrishAyes]

8. Same difference, just about. Tiny is tiny. I still love my rambling old Vic and will never

leave voluntarily. But life doesn't always give us a choice, does it? Potential horrors no longer haunted me once I realized how comfortable I could make myself on that little dab of insurance $ if I had to. Started thinking back to my NYC and L.A. days and the tiny apartments there. One of my techniques had been to stack a chest of drawers on one end of a triple dresser, then fill in the remaining top space with a bookcase. Looked like a single huge wall set if you didn't mind a little whiff of Bohemia in the air!

Anyone interested can also subscribe to apartmenttherapy.com and tinyhouseblog.com. Besides googling, that's where I find a lot of the samples offered. Since my FB page serves more as a news feed, I enjoy a little break now and then from all the political stuff.

[NYC_SKP]

11. I'm familiar with both apartmenttherapy.com and tinyhouseblog.com!

My architecture background makes me fond of cottages, I've got several books from the early teens and twenties on cottage design. American home design used to be very modest, often.

I work with two schools who are building tiny houses, and I discovered apartmenttherapy while shopping for solutions for the condo.

I thought that IKEA might offer solutions but a lot of their stuff just didn't fit physically. I finally found used contract furniture at an office liquidation place that was the perfect size, and I had a bed custom built-- full size but tall with large drawers below the mattress platform and further space below them. The high bed allows one to lay in bed and see the ocean.

Your idea of combining pieces is brilliant and reminds me of things I saw on http://www.ikeahackers.net

[IrishAyes]

13. Don't you absolutely love how some cities are starting to set up Tiny House villages

for the homeless, either temp or permanent? Turns out it's even cheaper to house and feed the needy than to deal with attendant problems otherwise. Of course that shouldn't be our only or even main purpose - to save $ - but I thought any potential Republican lurkers out there should be exposed to the truth. They won't accept it, but they can't claim nobody ever told them, either. And since this is not a political debate forum, I'll invite any challengers to look it up for themselves. Easy enough to find if they avoid wingnut sites.

[NYC_SKP]

14. Any one of Romney's homes could house several dozen homeless in tiny houses.

If we used the same resources.

And, in point of fact, those like him are hoarding the wealth that we all create and need to be relieved of all that responsibility so that more people can have a minimally healthy and safe home.

I am familiar with some of the proposals, they need to stop tearing down tent cities (Fresno, Sacramento) and provide some dignified and sanitary permanent housing for folks.

[whathehell]

15. It's a great idea...The only one I know of, though, is Madison, Wisconsin..

Where are the others? Inquiring minds want to know.

[IrishAyes]

16. Sorry I can'r relate specifics to something I read months ago. Seems like it was at least

more than one city, however. Perhaps others have smaller projects they might later expand, and others are seriously considering it. I damn sure wouldn't look for any in red states, though. They don't care about what's most efficient and better for everyone - they're out to freeze the homeless to death in the dark if they can't starve them first. In so many places it's against the law to feed the homeless! Many places they aren't allowed to sleep in their cars, if indeed they have any such 'luxury'. So if they can be accused of vagrancy, they can be thrown into for-profit private prisons. Damn the whole conservative movement to everlasting hell.

[whathehell]

17. That's fine, I'll just google it. n/t

[whathehell]

20. What part of California do you live in?

Loooove California, and lived there for a little more than a year,

Back in The Day, but it's become too expensive for me now.

Would you mind if I asked you how much you paid for your tiny condo?

[NYC_SKP]

22. Between Santa Cruz and Monterey.

Auction, more than 300K but less than 400K.

Full ocean view, overlooks beach and coastline.

[whathehell]

27. Well, aren't you a lucky #!!@ ?

still a bit high for a studio, but when you add in the views, and such,
It sounds like a nice deal.

Do you have any pics? Would love to see them.

[cbayer]

3. This is great. Thanks so much.

I am not at all interested in the ones without windows, but some of the others look wonderful.

I generally live in a very small space, but it's on the water. If we transition onto land, I would also want a small space.

[IrishAyes]

10. Lots of the tiny places that show up on my FB news feed have huge amounts of window space.

I also subscribe to apartmenttherapy.com and tinyhouseblog.com for a much needed break from the politics.

[Little Star]

12. Thanks!

[PoliticAverse]

18. Daily Mail article on the tiny house movement...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2716297/Have-house-travel-Inside-Tiny-House-Movement-growing-number-Americans-rejecting-traditional-idea-home-living-simpler-cheaper-lives-result.html

[IrishAyes]

19. Thanks!

[whathehell]

21. Hi..I went onto the "Arched cabins" link...So cute, but I have a question

Are they normally used for living or just artist studios?...Most seemed to

be the former.

One thing I could not live with which seems part of many tiny houses,

is a compost toilet ....That's just a tad too "basic" for me.

[Starboard Tack]

23. I have several friends who have compost toilets

Every one of them loves it. We haven't made the leap yet, but getting closer. They really do make a lot of sense, either on land or on the water.

[whathehell]

24. Why do they "love" them?

Yes, they may make environmental sense, but disposing of one's own waste seems

gross -- I'll stick with indoor plumbing, thanks.

[Starboard Tack]

25. Why do they love them? Lots of reasons.

No smell. Environmentally sound. No wasting of water. Those on land harvest the end product as fertilizer. No chemical treatment necessary.
For those of us who live mostly on the ocean, it makes a lot of sense. We normally store our waste in a holding tank (similar to an RV) and dump when offshore, or suck it out at a marina pump-out station, which is on line with local sewage system. So, when anchored or in a marina, the holding tank fills, necessitating chemical additives.

Check this link if you have doubts
http://minimotives.com/2014/02/13/how-my-composting-toilet-actually-works/

[whathehell]

26. Thanks for this information..

I clicked the link and yes, it does seem far less gross than I imagined..I'd definitely put
It on the "consider" list now.

[IrishAyes]

28. They're not like old-fashioned outhouses at all.

You might also want to check a book called 'Humanure Handbook' or some such. That's what it's about anyway.
After one year it's safe to use on ornamentals. IF I recall correctly, after 2 years it's safe to fertilize food plants. The best compost toilets have a built-in separator for liquid and solid waste so they never mix. When it comes to that, fresh human urine from a healthy person is pretty sanitary on exit - it can be caught in a container and well diluted with water to make an excellent fertilizer you can use immediately.

One thing you'd want to consider is burning the paper, though. Saves on work.

I understand the gross-out factor for those who've never experienced the system. But once you get over modern western social taboos and look at it scientifically, you might even prefer it. After all, today's West and Southwest are going to become basically unihabitable shortly. Municipalities will have to figure out how to process urine into safe drinking water. I've never seen them here, can't find them online, but I know in Israel and probably more of the Mideast they have high tech toilets that already process urine into drinking water cleaner than you'll find in most cities worldwide including America.

Funny thing. When I bought a place in one of the oldest settlements in the Louisiana Purchase, I knew the main house was almost 100 years old which it is now. But I also knew exactly where the outhouse had been not only from studying customs of the era but also because that's where the tall lavender grows. People used to plant that to help check odors in the outhouse. They would've been better off with a good composting toilet!

[whathehell]

31. Funny you should mention that -- When I was a very little kid, we lived

in an old section of Philadelphia (Much of Philly is colonial..Our house was built in the early 1800s) we actually HAD an outhouse in our yard..We
also had indoor plumbing, of course, the outhouse was a left-over, that
the kids used once in awhile..I really don't remember much about it
except that it was dark -- What happened to outhouse waste, I have no
idea -- Was it a bit like "compost" toilets?.

As to your other point, yes, it does sound sensible, especially for the West and Southwest which is so dry...Do you have any idea how much water
these would save?

[IrishAyes]

33. The old outhouses had to be dug out periodically. People also sprinkled wood ash to

keep down the smell and flies.

As to how much potable water the super tech toilets would produce, I have no idea except it would be related to input. I've also bookmarked an article about a new water bottle that draws moisture from the air; haven't had time to read it yet, but when I do I'll send you a link. I'm sure they'll have to step up desalinization of sea water too. I just hope we don't have to revive the Saturday night bath tradition.

[whathehell]

34. I can assure you that ours wasn't used enough to necessitate that, lol.

Last edited Mon Aug 11, 2014, 10:58 AM - Edit history (1)

I would imagine that if things get too bad -- in drought stricken areas

especially -- that super tech/compost toilets will become a necessity.

[IrishAyes]

29. Almost forgot about the arched cabins.

Probably one thing that charms this old Army brat/Army wife (former) is their close resemblance to Quonset huts. I suppose you could use the arched cabins - a much better PR term, don't you think? - for whatever purpose you wanted. But even with the 2-window end caps and extra insulation, they're very cost competive. And I just plain like them. Put in window boxes and built-in planters on the plain sides, and you could wind up with something quite beautiful for pennies on the dollar.

[whathehell]

30. They are uber-cute!

and you say they are maybe a bit cheaper than the regular "tiny houses"?

I love the way they look!

[IrishAyes]

32. Especially for prefab, they certainly do seem less expensive than the others, while

offering a bit more space. Glad you like the way they look. You can always build your own Tiny from scratch, but single little old ladies don't have that option. If anything ever happens and I need to re-shelter quickly, so far I prefer the arched cabins. We have many excellent Amish workers in the area to do the installation for a reasonable price.

For the amount of insurance I do have, I could easily get a 12x24 super-insulated, with all mechanical systems done, and nicely furnished (to my tastes anyway) yet still have a bit left over. You know how some people claim they can never find anything at rummage and yard sales etc.? I usually have to stay away to keep from coming home with another houseful of good stuff. I can't even walk/ride down the street on trash day w/o spotting goodies. Where do you think I picked up 4 perfectly good vacuum cleaners? Two for upstairs, two downstairs. All they needed was a little cleaning and oiling, maybe a new belt at most. 'Stuff' has always damn near followed me home.

[whathehell]

35. About how much do they cost?

I read your profile, and it looks like we have a number of things
in common -- I am also from an ardent, yellow dog Irish-Catholic family -- born and raised in Philadelphia, with much of my family still there.

I now live in the Chicago area..I noticed you said you were retired in the Midwest (yup, I'm getting to that age, too)..Where do you live now?

P.S. If, for some reason you don't want to make the information public,
please feel free to pm me.

Thanks.

[IrishAyes]

36. As to cost, any exact info relayed by me at this hour after a short night and no nap

would be highly suspect. But the website gives great details including price, which I've found highly competitive.

[edwinston]

37. Here is my list

I'm following Tiny House Living and Simple Solar Home Steading too. They are one of the best websites in this niche. I recently found this new guy tinyspacesliving.com, he's doing the guide on tiny house living, container house living, and green living as composting. He is not the best but I did spend time on research and collecting information, I found it helpful to me.

[gopiscrap]

38. welcome to DU