Prairie Rose Tiny House
Did you know? While serving in the military and subsequently deployed to an overseas location – they will ship the tiny house for free to your deployment location. This is subject to case by case review, and a tiny house is treated like portable housing. Cool
This puts a whole new spin on our motto;
“Take your tiny green cabin…wherever life takes you!”
Pictured is our Prairie Rose Tiny House ready and waiting to be deployed.
Winter Morning Wildflower
What is a cabin? How do we distinguish it from a house, let alone a tiny house?
Dale Mulfinger lists four cabin characteristics. He did a speech on Cabinology 101 and he knows cabins, especially Minnesota cabins. And I suspect that anyplace that has cabins has the same four cabin characteristics.
Dale Mulfinger is a Minneapolis architect and author of 2 great books on cabins he has designed or admired: The Cabin and The Getaway Home. He describes a cabin as a place not to live, but a place to escape to them. Which is not far from what a tiny house is; a place to escape from the demands and monies that a large home requires, to a place to escape to so we can be able to “live like giants”
1. The site is chosen for its natural beauty.
One of the challenges is taking advantage of the views that some sites offer. With a transportable tiny house/cabin, the choice of views and directions faced becomes a non issue. As the seasons change, the views often reveal something new and a transportable tiny house is able to enjoy all the different views. Or maybe, you are a writer, and enjoy the sun shining on the windows. Mount the cabin on a turntable as George Bernard Shaw did and spin the house following the sun throughout the day. He even named it “London” so his staff could say he went to “London” and be able to say it truthfully. Shaw’s cabin allowed him to take advantage of the sun for passive solar heat.
2. A cabin provides simple basic shelter. It isn’t fancy. It doesn’t try to make a social statement, as houses often do. A small efficient floor plan is all it needs.
When I was growing up, we often saw tiny cabins dotting the roadside by farmer’s fields and along the rivers and streams. They were basic; a place to sleep, single pane windows, a small kitchen often with a water pump and small sink, wood stove, and a lofted area or small bedroom with bunks. The latrine was always outside, set back into the trees.
The tiny houses and cabins now often are quite larger than the cabins of old. When one decides get back to the basics, a lot of space is not needed. However, some things moved into the cabins; double and triple pane windows, insulation, and the latrine aka bathroom.
Tired of the distractions of modern living, Henry David Thoreau went to the woods to live a deliberate and simple life. He borrowed some land near a pond called Walden from friend Ralph Waldo Emerson and built himself a simple 10′x15′ shack for $28.12 and furnished it with a bed, a table, a desk, and three chairs.
Smaller cabins and tiny houses do make a social statement it seems even if not their intent; low carbon footprint, living sustainably, I don’t need a big space to live and more. The use of cabins are expanding; they are no longer in the mountains, found is hidden nooks or valleys, but coming into mainstream life. They are sprouting up like wildflowers in a spring time meadow as writer huts, sewing dens, garden retreats, hermitages, proverbial “dog house,” back yard offices, student dorm rooms, mother or father in law quarters, nanny quarters, or caretaker cottages. As times change, so will the zoning laws allowing for more uses in denser population centers.
3. Overlapping activities take place within compact quarters.
Living small means living smart and using space for dual purposes; great room becomes a study area, relaxing space, work space, eating space. The kitchen while its primary function is cooking – one can actually cook healthy in a tiny kitchen instead of running daily to the store, burger and noodle joints for fast food seems out of context for living small and in a tiny house. If one does not cook in, except for the occasional add hot water, the counter space can be used as a desk top for work, writing, or just pondering why I am living in a tiny house/cabin. The loft besides sleeping is a great place to read or day dream listening to the rain drop hit the metal roof or watching out through the loft window as wildlife plays just below you.
4. Everybody feels at home right away. A cabin furnishings are simple, often treasured family hand me downs. It is sleeping lofts, tucked under the eve, evokes memories of childhood. It fireplace or stove provides physical and emotional warmth.
Cabins are magical! Climbing into the loft each night became comforting and cozy. The Wildflower and the loft had become my nest and “safe Place’ to rest, sleep, and relax in. My pillow was at the awning window and I could look out into the night and see creatures of the night moving about; deer ambling thru the yard and cleaning up the seeds below the feeders; the skunk that found the ground bees nest and savory honey; to the owl and mouse drama that resulted in a flurry of wings; the dancing of the shadows of the moonlight dancing across the grass; the wind whistling around the eves at night; the rain drops pelting the roof all bring about childhood memories of sleeping in under the eaves in the old farm house of my parents.
Most of my days of childhood were spent outside the house, in the woods, haymows, and forts that I would build in secret places. The tiny house is similar to those places, a friend used the term to describe a tiny green cabins as a ‘power fort!”
For me, my cabin or cottage is about making a choice; living smaller and sustainably so that I can live large and enjoy the experiences that this new freedom form ‘stuff’ brings me.
Cedar-lined storage chests and closets have long been used for long-term storage of out-of-season clothing, in the belief that the cedar will deter moths from destroying the clothing. But does it really work?
The damage moths cause to natural fibers is caused not by the moth itself, but by the larvae that hatch out of the eggs the moth lays. Therefore preventing the damage can take two forms, preventing the moth from laying the eggs in the clothing, and killing the larvae as they emerge (or in the egg).
The heavy scent of the cedar is thought to mask the smell of wool, effectively hiding it from the moth seeking a home for her eggs. That is, it doesn’t repel moths so much as it camouflages the moth’s natural target. If the smell-disguise in fact does deter moths, then any masking smell would work as well, and people have packed old garments away with sprigs of lavender, tansy and rosemary tucked in them for literally centuries.
If the scent-deterrent works (and there’s only anecdotal evidence that it does), then it only works on the egg-laying moth. Packing away garments already hosting moth-eggs will yield a cupboard full of rotting wool. Since the larvae are repelled by strong light, shaking and hanging clothing in the sun for a few hours before folding for storage should ensure that what you are storing is larvae-free.
Mothballs have been used to destroy the emerging larvae, but this has fallen into disrepute. The smell that mothballs leaves on clothing is reason enough to avoid their use; further deterrent should be toxins they contain. These chemicals slowly vaporize, creating a toxic vapor that kills moth larvae, but which is also dangerous to people and pets.
A report from the University of California at Davis suggests that one type of cedar, Eastern Red Cedar (which is actually a juniper), does kill moth larvae over a period of time. The wood contains an aromatic oil that in sufficient concentration, as in an airtight cabinet, will kill small moth larvae. If there is too much air circulation, as in a closet, concentration of the vapors will remain insufficient to kill larvae, although the scent might deter adult moths.
My concern is that when building a tiny house with techniques used today to get the highest efficiency for minimizing heat loss and being air tight; have we not in all practicality built a cedar chest for men and women which some could say is very similar in building a cedar chest when cedar is used as paneling and interior mill-work. While a sauna is meant for use once in a while, living in a tiny house year around, and sleeping there could be putting oneself in an unhealthy environment, much like a moth larva in a cedar chest.
What do you think?
Tinyl house plans
We install windows at Tiny Green Cabins using the following steps for all of our tiny houses.
Tools Needed: Hammer, caulk gun, slap stapler, level, tape measure, utility knife, work gloves
Materials needed: Butyl Caulk, Dupont Flex Wrap, Dupont Straight Tape 4″ wide, Shims, Great Stuff Window spray expanding foam
Step 1; After the Tyvek house wrap has been installed and wrapped into each of the windows opening, cut
Wildflower Tiny House Bunkhouse Model
the Tyvek house wrap at the window rough opening top corner diagonally about 4″ upward and away from the window and tack back.
Step 2; Cut the Dupont Flex Wrap 12″ to 16″ longer than the window sill. Peel off the paper backer centering the Flex Wrap in the opening and full width of the sill. Press into place across the bottom and up the sides of the window – minimum up each window side is 6″.
Step 3; Peel the paper off the back of the flex wrap hanging outside the window and starting at each window corner, pull the corners outward and stretch while adhering it to the walls, then pull and press the rest of flex wrap into place.
Step 4; Using the shims, lay a shim at each window sill corner for creating a space to insulate used in step 10
Step 5; Caulk up the sides of the window frame, across the top of the window rough opening and down the other side to the sill. Warning, DO NOT CAULK ACROSS THE BOTTOM OR WINDOW SILL – EVER
Step 6; Insert the window into the rough opening, center the window on the opening, and nail at one top corner of the window flange. Level the window and after leveling nail the other top window corner.
Step 7; Plumb the window sides Tip: Square the window and check the reveal spaces where the window meets the window jamb. To square, using a tape measure, check the measurements diagonally from each corner to the opposite corner – they should be equal. Also check the window edges from other features of the wall, such as wall corners or fascias to make sure things are set correctly. On a tiny house, since other features are close to the window, this is a check that everything is spaced correctly. After this check nail the window in place and around the window perimeter, nailing through every other hole in the flange.
Step 8; Install the corner flaps at each corner of the window.
Step 9; Cut the butyl tape for each side of the window and across the window head. Each piece should be cut 8″ to 12″ longer than the window. Install each side, and then install the top piece of Butyl tape.
Step 10; Pull the Tyvek that was tacked out of the way, fold it down, and tack in place, cutting just short of the window head. Tape to the butyl tape and Tyvek together to seal them tight.
Step 10; insulate the window jambs cavity to wall opening. We recommend Great Stuff as the expanding foam seals the cavity better than a stuffed fiberglass can. Plus the foam does not allow mold to grow if the window leaks.
Here a good video that follows our best practices
By Guest Blogger, Annie Blair from Tiny House Wisdom
It is an unfortunate reality for so many families these days that rates of Autism and other Spectrum diseases are incredibly common. Many children suffer from a host of other physical and mental ills that leave families grasping at ways to cope and do the very best they can for ailing children.
Tiny Houses are not only cute, but they are inherently adaptable to a variety of circumstances. Much has
The new home and landscape of the Wildflower II
been said about the use of these homes as a way to help the aging. Many place them in the backyard of relatives and this practice has been discussed at length on other sites, so I will not address that here. They have also been used for therapy cottages for children who need stimulation and productive play. But the possibilities do not end there. These diminutive structures are easily used to meet the needs of children with physical and mental handicaps, or even mental illness.
First of all, for a family struggling to house, clothe and feed children of special needs, tiny houses are a financially excellent choice, costing pennies on the dollar when compared to traditional housing. Many families chose not to send their kids to live in institutions due to high rates of abuse and rape. They often find that the cost of dealing with a host of ills at home is beyond the scope of their resources, both financial and physical.
Secondly, tiny houses are frequently mobile. This helps to ensure the flexibility of environments should parents need to change environs or climate to meet the needs of a sick child without having to buy or sell anything. You could live in Florida for two years, and then return to Wisconsin, for example, and instead of rent, etc, you would only have the cost to tow it. The child could stay in his or her own environment for stability. Think of how that could help in a situation where a family lives a good distance from institutions that specialize in their type of disease. This would enable the family to travel for an extended stay somewhere else, in order to see specialists or participate in studies before they returned to their home state.
Thirdly, Tiny Houses are flexible in terms of structure, or what you chose to include. As previously noted here in Tiny House Myth #1, these can be used as “PODS” with plug-in sections that can change and grow with the child and needs of the family. For example, you may have a child who would benefit from a therapy room outfitted with various tactile stimuli, or activity of daily living play areas. Sometimes children with severe early onset types of mental illness become so violent, parents find they need to keep other children in separate quarters for their own safety. This could be built fairly inexpensively, and removed or re-designed as the need changes.
Tiny Houses are not all about lofts. For the elderly or mentally handicapped, one level care cottages are popular, and these can be used in a grouping. Mentally ill children and their families could live in a communal lot where each family had its own Tiny House. In the middle of the shared land, there could be a center where the kids receive therapies and other specialty learning geared toward them. This could also include areas for animal therapies where that would be appropriate. The families could pool resources to pay for respite and other types of interventions that could be provided by professionals that are too costly individually.
Fourthly, Tiny Houses are often low toxicity. For children suffering from allergies, tiny homes are frequently made from reclaimed wood with little to no off gassing or other types of pollutants that most try to eschew when building tiny. It is possible that even milder forms of childhood onset mental illnesses could be lessened by the tiny house with lower environmental toxins,
And finally, financially strapped families of children with special needs would benefit from being free of rent and mortgage. Having more free time to spend with the children instead of devising ways to bring in more and more cash as prices rise would be the greatest benefit of all. These parents are often so exhausted trying to make ends meet and still “be there” for their kids that they are worn out from the “lifestyle”.
As you see, the possibilities are endless and do not require government grants to achieve. Tiny Houses can be built by hand, (a learning experience in itself for those children to whom it would apply), and adapted on a case by case basis. They are affordable and flexible, and I think are a great potential to address needs of the children who are not being helped by existent services
For more articles by Anne Blair, visit Tiny House Wisdom
The following pictures are from a client that is building a meditation retreat. We asked to provide the plans for this project and we had great fun creating them. It is always nice and feels good to see the project as it is being built. Click on the pictures to enlarge them.
Meditation Chapel Site in Southern California
Meditation Chapel Floor Framework
Meditation Chapel Wall and Roof Framing
More Meditation Chapel Wall and Roof Framing
Side View Meditation Chapel Wall and Roof Framing
A Tiny House Security
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.
Helen Keller
Can one live safely and feel secure in a tiny house? This week, will be an exploration of the positive aspects and challenges of living small in a tiny house.
Last week started with our laptop compromised by a hacker and malware program. I was surfing “stumbleupon” and a website started opening and our security essentials program, alerted me to the site that was trying to open. The next instant, what appeared to be the “recovery” window of Security Essentials opened and said to run an immediate scan, and started automatically. The next page, a millisecond later, so it seemed, another page opened confirmed that I had a malware program, and asking for credit card numbers the program could download the “fix” By that time, I knew this was just plain wrong and shut down the computer. On restarting the laptop, it was discovered that all the files were “gone!” So, it off to “Chips” to see if they could recover the date and fix the laptop, which they successfully did. The malware program hid the files and password protected them, so that the technician had to hack his with pass the program.
So, we got the laptop back on Thursday, and started to catch up on admin work. It started raining around 11PM when we closed up the shop and headed for the loft. The next morning, on walking from the cabin to the shop, I noticed that the car doors had been left open. Left Opened!???
To be continued….
Pictured is the Break Away Hitch and Safety System. All of Tiny Green Cabins trailers have this brake away safety feature, so just in case, the trailer breaks free from the tow vehicle, the electric assist brakes stop the trailer from becoming a runaway tiny house. The electric assist brakes also aid in transporting the tiny house as this feature assists the tow vehicle by applying the brakes in normal traffic when the tow vehicle applies its brakes. Tiny Green Cabins orders these safety features as a standard package of a tiny house to make the tiny house experience a wee bit safer for our customers. We consider the tiny house as a major investment by the customer, so we want to provide the best product available for the customers safety and investment security.
Steel Frame for Breathe Easy Cabin
Love Shacks? My daughter came up with a use for Tiny Green Cabins, and its’ use could be as a private get away “love shack” and a nice private fun “retreat” to get away from the noise and routines of daily life and just have “fun!”
In the spirit of that “having fun”, we are offering the Breathe Easy and Wildflower tiny houses as a welded 18 gauge steel frame on a Felling trailer for the drive way and back yard enthusiasts; a head start on building their own Breathe Easy or Wildflower Cabin. That way, you the buyer, can purchase the cabin and finish it at your pace, with your choices of finish material at a significant savings over a completed “turn key” product.
The Felling trailer is rated for 10,000lbs and comes with a break away hitch safety feature.
Breathe Easy Love Shack shell price; $12,500.00
The Breathe Easy is 8×15′ with an expanded loft area.Wildflower Love Shack shell price; $11,500.00
The Wildflower is 8×16′ and does not include the deck area. The trailer is sized to accommodate the deck at a later date. The loft is conventional and is not expanded.
To expand the loft of the Wildflower, add $1,699.00 to the price.