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mikec
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# Posted: 20 Sep 2010 09:19pm
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After watching this site for many months and using your collective wisdom, we built our little hide away in the woods. It's very small, 8X8 with a loft. We also have a cistern and outdoor shower.
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tony
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# Posted: 22 Sep 2010 02:20am
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Really cool!! Any interior pics?
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mikec
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# Posted: 22 Sep 2010 09:06am
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Thanks Tony, no interior pictures yet, just insulation and OSB. We will begin on the interior this week and will post the progress as it occurs. We have 12 volt lighting system with two 110 outlets for a very small window unit in the loft (we are on the Texas Gulf Coast) and need relief from 100 degree, 100% humidity weather. Plan to catch rain water in the cistern and have an RV pump (12 volt) and accumulator which moves the water perfectly. 45 watt solar charger for now but hope to add another 45 soon. Composting toilet soon. That's about it, simple and hopefully functional. We enjoy the heck out of it.
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Kithera
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# Posted: 23 Sep 2010 08:57am
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Very cool and a very nice construction job
What are you planning to use to power that air conditioner? even 90 watts of solar really isn't going to cut it.
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Gary O
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# Posted: 23 Sep 2010 09:15pm
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Yery nice construction.
Your own plans?
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mikec
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# Posted: 24 Sep 2010 04:53pm
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Generator to power AC unit, we are too old to fight heat and mosquitos. The house actually belonged to a friend who was going to burn it to get rid of it, we moved it to our place, pulled the roof off, added a second floor, pony wall and the loft. I'll try to post what we started with and thank you for your very kind words.
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mikec
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# Posted: 25 Sep 2010 09:33am
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This is a picture of the little shed as we got it. 8 by 8, moved in on a trailer.
We removed the roof and went from there, no plans other than a loft to sleep in. I have spent two nights in the shed, lots better than I expected but still needs work.
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Kithera
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# Posted: 27 Sep 2010 01:31pm
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That is one nice little homestead.
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bugs
Member
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2010 07:22pm
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MikeC
Now that is what I call a small cabin. Really looking forward to seeing how you adapt/cope with the size. We learned from our tiny shed that it takes a lot of thought to use the space effectively.
Please keep us posted.
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hattie
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2010 09:58pm
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Adorable place....Would love to see inside pictures if you have any.
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mikec
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# Posted: 30 Sep 2010 09:18am
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Bugs, Kithera and Hattie, thanks for your comments. Bugs, we have been watching your posts for ideas inside, you have done a great job of utilizing a small space and we love your outside arrangement. We learn so much from all of you, thank you!
The inside has proven to be the most perplexing of this entire project, we come up with an idea and then one of your posts shows us a better way to go. So, we are still mulling it over. Inside we plan to use beaded board on the walls, then on the ceilings we found pictures of a builder that had used plain pine 1X4's boards, not painted and it looked really cool. We are considering that.
Interior layout, will, as you all know, be very tight. Small bar sink, two burner cook top (for coffee), we must have. Pullout bench seat/bed and hopefully very small bathroom, with only the toilet (composting). That's about it.
Our property is 50 acres on the Texas Gulf Coast. We are about 12 miles from the water in a very agricultural area. Our place is very dense with vegetation, some 200 year old live oaks which we love and lots of wildlife. The little shack is simply a dry cool/warm place to spend the night on the weekend. We live 85 miles from the property and having a place to spend the night saves us a 3 hour drive there and back so more can get done faster.
We have found this site and all your hard work inspirational and as with most of the members, can't wait to check it daily for new projects and ideas. So if you are looking at the pictures we will post in the future and see something that is very similar to what you have done, rest assured we stole the idea from you!
Thank you all for your input and we will be watching.
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Kithera
Member
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# Posted: 30 Sep 2010 10:30am - Edited by: Kithera
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How big of a bed/couch do you want? Let us consider than the couch eats up a full wall, and extend about a 3rd of the way into the living space when open, or 2/3rd when folded out. Of the remaining two corners, perhaps a single large cabinet would make since.
It would make sense to try to double up on the cabinetry. Perhaps a single 2'x2' cabinet (taller than a traditional kitchen cabinet), with the stove on top , with a slide out cutting board/prep surface immediately below it, a sink with flexible hoses in a drawer immediately below that, some storage, and a place to slide your composter toilet below all of the above.
That should still give you a bit of standing space in the other corner.
Storage space under the couch, and eye level shelving should be used all around to maximize your storage space.
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lukabrazi
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# Posted: 27 Feb 2011 03:34pm
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Mike I would love to see more pictures of this. How did the interior go? This is exactly what I want to build. I am thinking of building 8x12. Please post more pics if you have them. Looks great!
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lukabrazi
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# Posted: 27 Feb 2011 03:34pm
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Do you heat this?
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mikec
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# Posted: 16 Mar 2011 05:09am
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The interior has been slow, life is getting in the way. We have put up beaded board on the inside and now need to trim, picture will be coming as soon as I figure out how to post them. Yes we heat with Mr Buddy? heater, the small one, we are very snug, in fact had to shut it off and leave the pilot on to keep warn.
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bugs
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# Posted: 16 Mar 2011 08:51am - Edited by: bugs
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Hi mike
Enjoying your post. Us REALLY tiny cabin folks have to stick together!!! We have some different issues to confront compared to the big boys and girls luxuriating in their 300 square ft or bigger mansions of cabins. lol
Looking forward to seeing some more pix and comparing notes with your experiences of how to cram all the necessities in .
Regarding coffee: You are more advanced than us. We just have a coleman camp stove under the cook shelter. The lady wife has decided it takes too long on cool mornings to heat water to get her coffee and hot water for oatmeal to start her day. So we are going to try an electric kettle. We went with a Russel Hobbs 1500 watts. It will boil 1.7 litres of water in about 5 minutes. It works great at home but will see how our solar power setup likes it. It should handle it.
Beds: Starting to wonder if the stacking plywood frame and thermorest pads are the best way to go. I came across some solid surplus folding army cots at Quinn the Eskimo. They look like they may fit in our space and be a lot more comfortable. I suspect our resident mice would appreciate some more bedding material too.
Ummm for posting images. I found using jpgs works best. About 600 px largest dimension, about 130 kb's in size (for us slow access types). Put the images files on your desk top. Click on the Upload file(s) just below the Your reply text box and a screen will pop up with four places for image files. Click browse, navigate to your desktop and find your image file. Click on OPEN (no drag and drop allowed) and the file will be put into the #1 slot. Give it a title. Repeat. It seems only four images are allowed for each post.... Maybe a good thing.
Cheers
bugs
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cabingal3
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# Posted: 16 Mar 2011 01:53pm
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thats just so cute.love it so.thanks for sharing.
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mikec
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# Posted: 16 Mar 2011 04:40pm
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Recent pic. with porch overhang, gutters to cistern and shower.
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mikec
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# Posted: 16 Mar 2011 09:04pm
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We're with ya, Bugs! "Micro Abodes" rule! Thanks cabingal3 and I will post interior pictures soon, but I'm not very handy with this computer, the last picture I added was pure luck, really. Lukabrazi, this is a very simple building, just an 8 x 8 platform shed. I like the way that gentleman in Vermont builds his tiny houses, they look like balloon frame, which seems very efficient. I'm not sure this is ok to say on this site, so if it isn't, I hope the mods delete it, but there were free plans on "The Tiny House Forum" for an 8x8 that is pretty much like our place, except that we added a second floor loft. Bugs, can you say which part (in general) of Canada you are in? I've been there four times and love it! You have a truely beautiful country but the looneys, doonies and leters mess me up. We are on the Texas Gulf Coast, near Palacious, Tx.
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bugs
Member
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# Posted: 17 Mar 2011 11:47am
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Mike
We are in Saskatchewan.
Rather than hijack your thread here is the link to our OP with a map etc:
http://www.small-cabin.com/forum/6_202_0.html
Your water system/design looks great. My construction skills are such that if I can get the eaves trough up so water flows to the down spout there is much rejoicing.
Are your treating your cistern water to keep down the algae/bacteria etc?
The key, I think, to one room micro/tiny cabins is to use the upper wall space as much as possible with shelves and keep the floor as clear as possible. If the shelves are hi enough on the wall the space under the shelves can still be used for seating, beds etc. Also duel purpose and use folding things as much as possible. I like your two burner stove top idea. One day maybe we can incorporate that into our set up.
Developing an out door room ie cook shelter and/or porch really increases the space and essentially turns the little shack into a decent sized bedroom. Looks like you have a really nice yard. For us, at least, other than sleeping, afternoon naps and meals when the weather does not cooperate we are always outside doing something or sitting watching nature go by.
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bushbunkie
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# Posted: 17 Mar 2011 12:46pm
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Two more "small space" bed ideas...A friend with a small space designed his two beds really well...basically two steel cots on hinges that fold down from the walls and are simply held by two chains each that are bolted to the wall...when he get's up...he simply folds them up against the wall.
Our bunkie is 10 x 10...we choose to build two beds in an "L" shape around the perimeter of the room...leaving the centre open.
We maximized storage by using wheeled tupperware containers under the bed. When we get up...we have throw cushions which make the beds into "day beds" or couches...we sit, read, relax, etc.
Just a couple more ideas...BTW...your bunkie looks excellent!
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bugs
Member
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# Posted: 17 Mar 2011 04:46pm
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Bushbunkie
I mentioned the "L" design/layout to the lady wife and her comment was "Nice, but no snuggies." It would have the same "problem" (or advantage depending how you look on such things) as a bunk bed!
The wheeled tupperware or something similar sounds like a good idea.
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mikec
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# Posted: 17 Mar 2011 05:44pm
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Thank you Bushbunkie, we had considered the hinged cot idea but the effort wasn't worth the space so we decided on cheap alum. cots from outdoor store. They are great, they fit nicely, fold up small and are stored collapsed. We have an opening in the loft floor for access, one bed on each side of the opening which also lets treated air (A/C, heat or open windows) circulate upstairs. I will post a pic. the next time I'm there. We do use a container to store our bedding there, less to haul.
Bugs, we agree with your thinking, everything is done outside when the weather allows, with the inside reserved for sleeping, getting out of the rain and a small amount of cooking. The weather here allows for almost year round outside activity, with rain being the biggest element of concern. I recently put up to zip-lines that have been a tremendous amount of fun for us and our visitors. The kids love them. I have a couple of videos of that but my posting ability is very limited (operator ability). Bugs I also like your bench positioning at various places, good thinking. We have been to your neck of the woods but not that far north, we went to Calgary then to Banff and south on our motorcycle. In fact I've ridden the bike to Canada 4 or 5 times, but my goal was to ride across your country from one side to the other, then to the Arctic circle. Might still get around to it one of these days.
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bushbunkie
Member
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# Posted: 17 Mar 2011 06:00pm
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Hey Bugs....that's funny...I had the same reply from my wife...the other way!
She loves her sleep...she says I get enough "snuggies "at home...the cabin is her time...thus the final bed design!
mikec...zip lines are a great idea...My boys want a tree house...I guess a zip line could make for a quick trip down.
One other option for extra space...we made our "Loo" 4 x 8 (humanure / compost)...this leaves lots of shelving for storage of our outdoor stuff when we're not around. Like Bugs...I have winters to deal with, so stuff needs to be stored.
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mikec
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# Posted: 17 Mar 2011 06:03pm
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Sorry Bugs, yes we will dump a little bit of bleach in the tank occasionally if needed. We had a similar house (but bigger) on a bay here for 20 years that was, as they say now, "off grid". We caught rain water in a white plastic tank, big mistake, that thing was always needing bleach. The current system is a 275 gallon tote, wrapped in metal, with a wooden top, so far we have not added bleach. The sunlight is the key, cisterns have been used here for over a hundred years with out treatment. We don't drink the water we catch but you could filter it with sand, charcoal and shell to make it drinkable. We average 45 inches of rain annually, so with our roof size should catch about 3000 gals. per year. We do need a level indicator on the tank, but started with about 50 gals. when it put up and it's now full. The new black water tanks I've seen advertised should all but eliminate the algae problem, but the totes were free.
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mikec
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# Posted: 17 Mar 2011 06:08pm
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B/B you are reading our minds, we have just recently decided to add a 4x8 shed for toilet/battery/controller/storage. The composting toilet in the little palace is just too tight for the wife. We both like the idea of a separate little shed for all of that business.
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bushbunkie
Member
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# Posted: 17 Mar 2011 06:14pm
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mikec.....that's funny.
My wife quite enjoys her private loo space away from the bunkie and her husband and two boys. Poor girl...she lives in a sea of testosterone :)
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Erins#1Mom
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# Posted: 17 Mar 2011 07:27pm
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Question:
What are we talking in square footage for a "micro shack", "small cabin" and cabin?
Bugs, I have looked over all your post regarding your place in the country. I loved the story of your build and the photos of wildlife are amazing.
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mikec
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# Posted: 17 Mar 2011 07:42pm
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We just call it a micro shack for fun, not sure if there is a rule or strict equation for Squ. ft. = name. Ours is 8x8 down stairs and about half that in the loft, maybe with a tail wind 100 squ. st.
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dk1393
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# Posted: 23 Mar 2011 12:16pm
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Sure is a pretty cool place you have
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