Tiny House Blog

Dave one of the Tiny House Blog readers has consistently sent me some great articles and I don’t always manage to fit them in. Here is one he sent recently that not only could help the world but I think could be used in a tiny house situation or help the homeless as well.

“On the outside, it looks like an ordinary sports bottle. On the inside, there’s a miracle: an extremely advanced filtration system that makes murky water filled with deadly viruses and bacteria completely clean in just seconds.”
Allison Barrie, FoxNews.com

Too much of the world lacks access to clean drinking water. Engineer Michael Pritchard did something about it — inventing the portable Lifesaver filter, which can make the most revolting water drinkable in seconds. Continue Reading »

Jay Shafer from the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company has just announced his schedule for his Building and Design Workshops for 2010. He is offering a special discount if you purchase your tickets between now and the new year. You can bring a friend for free. The usual cost for an additional person is $99.

Be sure and Register Now and take advantage of this special offer. I have been to one of his workshops and highly recommend them if you are thinking of building a tiny house someday.

Building Workshops

On Saturday, Jay Shafer will explain how to build a tiny house. The language will be clear and easy for everyone to understand. He will start at the foundation with a look at different types of permanent footings and a detailed description of how to build on wheels. Explanations of how to frame, sheath, insulate and finish will follow. Particular attention will be paid to the best way one can easily guard against the condensation that small spaces are prone to. The merits of different trailers, heaters, kitchen equipment, windows and building materials will be assessed. There will be plenty of time for Q&A.

Design Workshops

On Sunday, you will be taught how to design a small home that meets your personal needs and those of your family. You will have a chance to talk with Jay Shafer, national expert on small living, about the best ways to meet your domestic needs without waste. You will be presented with seven principals along with several strategies for good design before you are asked to develop plans for your own little home. The class is open to beginners, professional architects and anyone curious about how a tiny house is created at the drafting table.

Click here to Register Now

Walt Barrett who developed the Micro Home has a new invention called the Barrett Solar Pump that will be developed to help bring water to Cambodians and others around the world.

The unique design allows solar-power to harness the stiffling midday heat and generate kinetic energy and draw water from shallow wells.

The water will also be used to bring water to homes. “We can use the pump to draw water from the wells into a water tower, where it can be treated. The water is than distributed to households for their daily use,” says Mr. Perrin, a full-time executive member of the Green Earths Concept.

Walt is very excited about this and says it is in the process of going into production. He will supply pictures and an update in the near future. Congratulations Walt!

Alice sent me this listing of a quaint little log cabin on an island in British Columbia, Canada. Built in 1986 this 241 square foot cabin with loft on a small piece of property and a very good price of $89,000 Canadian dollars is a dream cabin which I wouldn’t mind if I could make it my own.

If your dream is to live on an island do some research on Galiano Island in British Columbia. Below is the listing and a few more pictures.

RUSTIC LOG CABIN WITH LOFT ON GALIANO ISLAND serviced with power and phone. The property is a small lot (plus or minus 0.1 acres). Located adjacent to Bluff Park. Court Ordered Sale (foreclosure). Separate small bath house with a shower, toilet, and sink serviced with water, and septic. Telus high speed internet is available at the property. To view the listing and more photos go here. Continue Reading »

Sandi Wheaton of Windsor, Ontario recently lost her job in Detroit. Instead of looking for a new job, she decided to use the  time to fulfill one of her dreams: traveling and photographing Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles. Sandi is living this dream in an Aliner pop-up trailer. She decided to document the famous highway using a digital camera, a camera with infared film and another camera which follows her route with a shot every few seconds. She hopes to have her photos published in a book and a DVD or website.

Sandi Wheaton, her Aliner and her Campfire in a Can

Her trailer is a 1998 Aliner which she bought specifically for the trip. She initially wanted to travel in a T@B, but her Jeep could only tow a low-profile pop-up design. She is thrilled that she does not have to unhitch every time she sets it up. She also mentioned that she likes the Oliver trailer, like the one owned by Cherie and Chris of Technomadia.

“I love this trailer, especially for this purpose,” Sandi said. “Since I am traveling alone, unhitching is a pain. With the Aliner, I don’t need to unhitch in order to put it up. Plus it is up literally in a minute!” Continue Reading »

Phil was one of the first people to buy the Sonoma Shanty plans. He has been building a shanty as a way to learn basic construction skills.

This first Sonoma Shanty is a simple shed, Phil’s next one will be more detailed. This one was built in Southern California.

For his second shanty, Phil plans to build on the Northern California coast in the Shelter Cove region.

Continue Reading »

This weeks Tiny House in a Landscape is of a neat little red house with a living roof nestled in the hills with the sun rising in the background.

I like the simplistic design of the house and the location is very peaceful and inviting. It looks to me like a European setting with the living roof, but the person who submitted the photo was not able to give a location. As usual, any ideas or suggestions are welcome in the comment section below.

Shelley recently sent me this link about Rima and her horse truck hermitage. I really like the rustic look of this home and you could spend hours just viewing everything in Rima’s blog.

Rima is a traveling artist who with Tui her partner have built this unique home to travel around the country selling her artwork.

These pictures will just wet your appetite for what Rima has on her blog.

Rima’s curiosity leads her through the many worlds of words, languages and lettering, books and stories, puppetry, nature and interesting people, music, superstitions, folklore and fairytales, and most of all the otherness that can be found on the periphery of our lives, the strange and grotesque, the absurd and unnerving … that topsy turvy in between place where things are not quite what they seem… Continue Reading »

I wanted to give you an update on Bill’s Solar Tiny House. You can view the first post here. Bill is constructing Michael Janzen’s free plans of the Solar Tiny House pretty much by himself.

Bill just completed installing the windows with some help from his father. He was able to complete the installation one day. Below are some updated pictures of the house with the sheathing completed. The house wrap in place and the roof installed.

Windows Installed

If I have done a post on your tiny house that you have started and you have an update for me, please let me know. I get rather back logged with all the great ideas and projects coming in and I am unable to stay on top of all the projects at times. Please send me an email with pictures and I will do an update on your project too. Continue Reading »

Craig one of our readers had the opportunity to go to the Solar Decathlon in Washington DC. and wanted to fill us in on this exciting event. Here is what Craig has to say about it.

Sorry to take so long to get back to you on the Solar Decathlon houses on the mall in DC.

I’d taken pictures, but they didn’t turn out so great what with all the crowds. As it happens, the solar decathlon webpage has some great videos for each house on the front page that do a far better job of showing off the houses than I could.

Team Germany was just announced the winner, though my favorite was Team Louisiana’s Beausoleil house. They plan on marketing the houses as modular homes in the next couple of years with a price around $120,000 including the solar panels.

The maximum size limit for the houses was 800 square feet and they all had to be off the grid/independent. Continue Reading »