I have been a follower for many years now and wanted to take the next step and contribute. Around the same time I stumbled across your blog, I began experimenting with shipping pallets. Being a carpenter by trade, I already possessed the skills to build, but pallets are a whole different ball game. When building with pallets, one cannot just draw up plans and expect everything to work. Pallets need to be looked at as building blocks, like Legos for example. Drawing up plans is still a good idea, but the dimensions and structural integrity of pallets needs to be the main factor in design.

Before, I started building; I needed to find sources to obtain my pallets. The most common pallet can be found behind almost every store and it measures 4ft by 45 inches. It consists of 3 parallel 2x4s with 1x planks running perpendicular. These pallets are normally reused over and over and are riddled with nails. The wood is grade “d” lumber at best and is hard to drive a nail into. However, there are treasures out there; I have found many mahogany pallets and oak pallets. With some dedication, the wood can be reclaimed.

There are also pallets that I call, “one time use pallets.” These have all different dimensions that are based on the product that is being shipped. For instance, Motorcycles, Tractors, wood stoves, windows, furniture…etc, all have unique pallets. A lot of these pallets are constructed out of premium 2x4s and 2x6s, all held together with screws and bolts. This lumber can be reclaimed much easier and even hardware can be reused. At a local glass company I can gather 8ft x 12ft pallets, all made out of southern yellow pine. NOTE: Always get permission before taking pallets, some have deposit costs attached to them.

After collecting a dozen truck loads, I had enough pallets to begin experimenting. I took an inventory of what I had and recorded the individual dimensions of each pallet. I also took note of which direction the 2x4s ran, being that they are the main support. I had seen a couple people attempt to build chairs out of pallets online, so I started with that. The first one I built was just to get an idea of what I could do with the least amount of work. The next involved a little more effort and the third was actually built by deconstructing pallets and reusing the wood.

From what I learned in making chairs, I took my new knowledge and attempted to build a small structure. At a Harley Davidson dealership I found a 4 ft x 8 ft pallet made of 2 x 6s and heavy 1 x 6s. I used this as my base. I covered it with a sheet of plywood and leveled it on top of cinderblocks. Then I began to frame the walls. For the back wall I used another 4 ft x 8 ft pallet made of 2 x 4s. I cut a 4 ft x 45 inch pallet in half and stacked this on top. The front walls were constructed out of two 2 ft x 6 ft pallets with a door opening between them. The side walls were made of heavy duty 3 ft x 3 ft pallets that had 4 x 4s holding them together.

I added some reclaimed 2 x 4s to finish the rough framing. The roof was made of three 5 ft x 45 inch pallets, and then covered with plywood. The roofing is actually made of sheet metal from a newspaper printing facility. A raw piece can be seen in front of the door opening on the ground. I constructed a door out of reclaimed 2 x 4s and added a recycled window. From a demo job at work, I got a truck load of foot wide pine floor boards. They were already stained and had a nice weathered look to them. I nailed these to the frame as siding. Since pallets aren’t perfectly square, neither was my structure, so some custom skill saw rips were needed to make the siding work.

I then attached some more 5 ft x 45inch pallets as a second foundation to the back and leveled them on cinderblocks. Using more reclaimed lumber I built another frame. Then roofed with more pine floor boards. At this point, I decided to make my structure into a chicken coop. This new section would act as a covered run for my chickens. I built a larger run out of more reclaimed 2 x 4s and wrapped everything in chicken wire.

Other than some hardware and two sheets of plywood, the entire structure was made of recycled materials. This was last spring’s project and since then I have been collecting more raw materials. This spring I am going to attempt to make an 8 ft x 8ft structure out of mostly pallets. As soon as I have something made, I plan on showing it to all of you at tinyhouseblog.com. If you have any questions or want to talk pallets, feel free to contact me at artcalderone@hotmail.com.

Thanks,
Doug Calderone
Pootatuck Pallet Projects
Sandy Hook, Connecticut

Eric Rochow of GardenFork recently spoke with Deek Diedrickson, microhome builder and author of the new “Humble Homes, Simple Shacks” book in an episode of GardenFork Radio.

Deek and Eric (two men cut from the same cloth) discuss the merits of publishing your own book, using recycled and curbside found materials for tiny homes, how to build and anchor a treehouse and how Deek is able to make a living with his various building, music and drawing hobbies.

They also talk about Deek’s future plans which include teaching a few of the Tumbleweed Tiny House workshops, building a houseboat, a treehouse workshop and writing and publishing another book.

You can download the episode from iTunes or you can listen to it on the GardenFork website.

Photos courtesy of Relaxshacks.com.

By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]

Cae Mabon’s principal creator is Eric Maddern, who was inspired to create the community after spending time with the Aboriginal people in Alice Springs, Australia. He wanted to create a place that was not the ostentatious beauty of the wealthy but the humble beauty of the simple and natural. The buildings he created are mostly made from timber, stone, reed, straw, grass, lime and clay and they blend in with their surroundings.

The Cae Mabon (Mabon’s Field) community consists of several different types of alternative buildings including a geodome, a Mongolian yurt, an Iranian shavan, cob cottages, two roundhouses, a straw bale hogan, a cedar cabin, a thatched shower hut with river water heated by a wood stove, a “loo with a view”, a sweat lodge and a wood-burning cedar hot tub.

People who live in Cae Mabon take part in working, building and gardening parties, and yoga and meditation retreats are regularly held here. The philosophy behind the community is to create a place of creativity and healing as well as a model of low impact, sustainable living.

Photos courtesy of Cae Mabon

By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]

Straw Bale construction is an old technology that has grown to become a respected and viable building option in most locations and climates. Not only is it beautiful and energy efficient, but it is also three times as fire resistant as a conventionally framed home and does extremely well in natural disasters such as earthquakes and extreme wind conditions. Straw bale and tiny house enthusiasts have a lot in common in that both are invested in being responsible earth stewards, want to reduce their living expenses, aren’t afraid to try something new and do things on their own, and are committed to creating a new model of sustainability by living within their means financially and from a resource stand point. Here are 9 reasons why we think you should consider building with bales:

Reason #1 Energy Efficiency.

A well built straw bale home can save you up to 75% on heating and cooling costs. In fact, in most climates, an air conditioning unit is not needed in the home as the natural cooling cycles of the planet are enough to keep the house cool all summer long. In addition, a simple heating system, very often radiant floor heating, can inexpensively supplement a passive solar design to keep a house warm all winter long.

Reason #2 Sound Proofing.

Straw bale walls provide excellent sound insulation and are superior wall systems for home owners looking to block out the sounds of traffic, airplanes, or other urban sounds. The assembly itself, a rigid skin of plaster sandwiched around a softer core of bales provides excellent sound absorption.

Reason # 3 Fire resistance.

Straw bale homes have roughly three times the fire resistance of conventional homes. Dense bales mean limited oxygen which in turn means no flames. Now wrap the dense bales in over an inch of plaster and you have a superior fire wall assembly.

Reason # 4 Environmental responsibility.

Building with straw helps the planet in many ways. For example, straw is considered a waste product that is either burned or composted in standing water. By using the straw instead of eliminating it, we reduce either air pollution or water consumption, both of which impact the environment in major ways.

Reason #5 Natural Materials

The use of straw as insulation means that the conventional insulation materials are removed from the home. Standard fiberglass insulation has formaldehyde in it, a known carcinogen. Bales also eliminate the use of plywood in the walls. Plywood contains unhealthy glues that can off-gas into the house over time. By building with natural materials, a healthy home is created from the start.

Reason #6 Aesthetics

There is nothing as calming and beautiful as a straw bale home. Time and time again I walk people through homes and they are immediately struck by the beauty and the “feeling” of the walls. I really can’t explain this one, you’ll just have to walk through your own to see what I mean. There really is nothing like it.

Reason #7 Minimize wood consumption.

If built as a load bearing assembly, the wood in the walls can be completely eliminated, except for around the windows as necessary to attach them to the structure. The harvesting of forests is a global concern and any reduction in the use of wood is a good thing for the long term health of the planet. Even framed walls with infill bales (bales as insulation) can reduce the use of wood by using engineered lumber for the posts and beams. The engineered material uses smaller, faster growing trees in place of larger, slower growing species. In addition, even a standard post and beam frame can use smaller timbers on larger spacing, thus reducing the amount of wood in the home and also working with the faster growing, more renewable wood resources.

Reason # 8 Built in window-seats/niches/storage

For space conscious builders, the options for creating wall niches and storage into the bale walls are pretty much endless. Because the bale walls are so thick, there is plenty of depth for people to essentially carve out niches for storage. Further, one can create window seats with some simple modifications during the construction process which creates space saving seating. The end results are beautiful and timeless.

Reason # 9 Perfect for the Do-It-Yourself builder

Building with bales is frankly, quite simple. If you’ve spent time building with legos, you already understand the basic principles of baling! The baling process goes very quickly and is extremely fun and rewarding to be a part of. Working with a natural material is also a wonderful way to connect with responsible building practices. It doesn’t take long to learn. In fact, we can teach people how to bale their own homes including the electrical and plumbing and plastering systems within our 7 day workshops (www.strawbaleworkshops.com).

This is just a short list of reasons to build with straw bales. This construction technology is widely accepted in nearly all building municipalities in the US and other countries around the world and many locales even have their own straw bale code for straw bale. You can run electrical wiring through the bales without any problems and have plumbing in the house as well. It is possible to get insurance and bank funding. This technology has really come a long way from when it began in the mid-west in the late 1800s!

If you are interested in learning more about straw bale construction, please visit www.StrawBale.com for tons of free information. We also offer instructional DVDs showing the whole process step by step at www.LearnStrawBale.com.

Andrew Morrison
Consultant, Teacher, Inspiring Change

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Learn the Secrets to Successful Home Construction:
www.BeYourOwnContractorTraining.com

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Get Your Straw Bale Construction Questions Answered at:
www.StrawBale.com
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Sign Up For a Seven Day Straw Bale Construction Workshop Near You at:
www.StrawBaleWorkshops.com

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Work Directly With Me at:
www.StrawBaleConsulting.com

Follow Me on Twitter: @StrawBaleTeach

*Note if you purchase the DVD’s or workshops through the links above  a portion goes to support the Tiny House Blog.

Case de Barro

Cob Together

Meka Cottage

Cob Cottage Company
Photos by Marisa Pereira

Photo by Kristi and/or Jimbo Diebley.

Other tiny cob home links:

Cob Project

The Natural Tiny House Top 10

By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]

For only a week out of each year, Black Rock City, the home of Burning Man, is the fourth largest city in the state of Nevada. While the festival participants’ camps are only temporary, a lot of work goes into creating a comfortable, beautiful tiny shelter. These tiny “houses” have to be able to withstand up to 80 mile an hour winds, have to protect their inhabitants from the desert heat and cold, and the notorious dust storms of the Black Rock Desert. It also helps if they are colorful and attract attention. It makes them easier to find in the mass creativity that is Black Rock City.

Our neighborhood of 3:15 and Inherit in Black Rock City, NV

While at Burning Man, you “live” in the city. When someone asks you where you live, you say something like, “On the corner of 7:00 and Chaos, right next to the giant spaceship.” (referring to the horizontal “C” street and vertical number street of the Black Rock City map). This year’s city was 9,460 feet in diameter and included 44 miles of streets. It helps to know exactly where your tiny house is located.

To the un-Burned eye, Black Rock City looks a little beat up and run down, but when you are in one of the most inhospitable places on earth, any little bit of comfort is appreciated. The inhabitants of Black Rock City are an amazing group of people with extremely creative ideas and skills who create little laps of luxury in the desert.

These are some of my favorite tiny houses of Black Rock City:

Hexayurts were quite popular this year

So were tipis

I even found a half-finished gypsy wagon down the street

A very well insulated yurt

This structure has a central living area and a loft for sleeping

A beautiful, handmade truck trailer

This geodome uses solar panels for power

The Oliver trailer owned by Chris and Cherie from Technomadia

These tiny houses were built for storage and sleeping

The trailer of the Hollywood Death Squad

Our neighbor converted a toy hauler into a tiny shelter with French doors

This dome was used as a steam room

A lovely pink setup at the entrance to Kidsville

This mutant vehicle, also a shelter, was towed by a tractor

The inhabitants of the VW Bus Camp travel in groups

You can even have a white picket fence in Black Rock City

And my all-time favorite…

The Neverwas Haul, one of the best known mutant vehicles on the Playa

Because of the lack of space in a tiny house, a separate bathhouse can be built nearby to hold a bathing area, hot tub or sauna.

This is not only for necessity, but as a tranquil space for relaxation. On my search for tiny bathhouses I kept running into these examples built from natural materials that I thought looked so beautiful in their environments.

One of my favorites was this cob bathhouse and its accompanying yurt created by Oasis Design.

Oasis Design is a family owned, home-based design consulting and publishing business near Santa Barbara. They’ve been developing original designs for living better, cheaper, and more ecologically since 1980. Their focus is mostly on water, wastewater and energy systems.

This bathhouse at the Chinati Hot Springs in Marfa, Texas is made of adobe and dates back to the 1930s.

And this bathhouse has a living roof and is located at the Center for Whole Communities in Fayston, Vermont.

A natural bathhouse can be a celebration of tranquility and privacy, but also can make us more aware of where our water is coming from or where it should be going.

By Christina Nellemann

Copyright © 2009 Tiny House Blog

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Some people have found that feeling in a cob house. A hand sculpted structure that curves and comforts like the earth it is made from. The House Alive! company is offering workshops for 2009 on how to create your own small structure.

House Alive!, which was started in 2001 by Coenraad Rogmans, James Thomson and numerous volunteers, teaches workshops about natural building, natural design and appropriate technology. They also offer consulting services, do presentations and seminars and work to promote natural building as a real alternative to conventional construction methods.

Cob is a building material that is made of a mixture of sand, straw and clay. The materials are mixed wet, by foot or with a tractor or mortar mixer. The word “Cob” comes from an old English word meaning “Lump” or “Loaf.”

The wet cob mixture is used to build thick earth walls; the building technique is very similar to sculpting with modeling clay. Because cob building requires no forms, you can build your walls into any shape you choose. Curves, niches, arched windows and built-in furniture are common features in cob buildings.

Because cob can be labor intensive, it is best if a cob structure be kept on the small side.

House Alive! will be offering a workshop in May of 2009 on how to build a complete shelter. Participants of the workshop will leave confident that they can design and build their own natural home. The building techniques will include:

• Making cob by foot
• Rubble trench foundations
• Stem walls out of recycled concrete, earth bags, and stone
• Natural sub-floors for earthen floors
• The materials sand, straw, and clay: How they work, what to look for, where to find them
• Wall building: tapering, keeping it plumb, trimming, shaping
• Electricity: How to put in wires, how to build a circuit
• Plumbing: Water and gray water systems
• Windows, doors and hanging cabinets and other things on cob walls
• Hybrid buildings: The interfaces of cob with other materials
• Earthen floors
• Earthen finish plasters

Lectures and demonstrations will include

• The economy of building
• Passive solar design
• Natural design
• Composting toilets
• Solar hot water
• Solar electricity
• Codes, hybrid buildings and natural renovations
• Straw bale construction
• Light straw clay, adobe brick and waddle and daub.
• Roofs and roof insulation
• Simple living and community

One thing that cob building lends itself to is cohousing. Cohousing communities attempt to be as self-sufficient as possible, by building their own homes from sustainable materials like cob and straw bales and by growing their own food. The Emerald Earth Sanctuary in Mendocino County, Calif. makes decisions by consensus, and they value direct, open communication and conflict resolution. They also offer work parties, natural building workshops, and a work trade program.

If you are interested in learning more about cohousing, the 2009 cohousing conference will be in Seattle, June 24-28, 2009.

By Christina Nellemann

Emerald Earth Sanctuary

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There is something feminine about straw bale homes. The warmth, curves and color of these natural spaces act like a hug when you walk in the door. While these profiled straw bale homes are small rather than tiny (most are around 400-800 square feet) they were envisioned, designed and built by women that I feel epitomize the beauty of the straw bale house.

Most followers of strawbale building and other natural building techniques know of the Canelo Project and Athena Swentzell Steen.

She and her husband Bill run this small non-profit organization that is dedicated to the exploration and development of living systems, including growing food and building homes that creates friendship, beauty and simplicity.

Straw bale cottage at the Canelo Project

Interior of straw bale cottage at the Canelo Project

Their latest book is Small Strawbale, which covers everything from building walls and open shelters to small and exquisite homes built out of straw bales.

Carolyn Roberts also wrote a book detailing the trials and triumphs of building her own straw bale home outside of Tucson, Ariz. A House of Straw: A Natural Building Odyssey profiles the challenges of passing her county inspections, the issues of building a house as a single woman while trying to raise two children, and the wonders of creating her own space and the friends she made along the way. Her website breaks down the cost of each part of the building process, and her total for the home (land not included) came to approximately $50,000. Because of the thick walls and use of passive solar, her electric bills average about $35 a month.

Interior of Carolyn Robert's straw bale house

Caroline Coalter Wilson built her house, Paca de Paja, to also serve as a small bed and breakfast. She works at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and runs the B&B part time. She was previously a park ranger and naturalist with the National Park Service and has written several publications on natural history.

Paca de Paja

I really admire these women who have tackled the building process from the ground up and utilize the beauty of natural products in their homes. More information for my fellow female dreamers and builders can be found in the book
The House That Jill Built.

By Christina Nellemann

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