The
rest of the story....
My two sons and I built a 10' by 14' teenagers cottage out on the back
of our five acres (scroll down for step-by-step pictures). We worked
part time for three weeks and spent about $1,400. The little house uses
standard construction materials, is well winterized, has lots of sunny
windows and could easily last 50 to 100 years with normal maintenance.
It was built using a simple post and pier foundation.
This
is an updated Thoreau type of house — sufficient for
basic comfort and shelter, but simple enough so as to leave you living
in nature rather than detached from it. Since the foundation required
so little work, we were able to do the clearing and build the
foundation in one day with only hand tools. Pretty low impact. I think
Henry would have liked it.
Our
little cottage, when done, will be set-up to be totally self-sufficient
with a rainwater collection system (and drinking water filter), tiny
wood stove and a composting toilet. It will also have a 12-volt solar
and battery powered electrical system for lights and a few small
technology devices. If all the computers go dead on January 1, 2000 as
some people predict we might all be moving in!
This
type of house makes a great getaway cottage or wilderness hide-a-way.
And it's a fine family building project since anyone between the ages
of 10 and 70 can work on it and kids don't even get bored since nothing
ever lasts very long!
Below
are some of the features of the place.
- The structure is easily modified for different
sizes and types of roofs
- Very low impact construction. No digging. No
poured concrete. Everything can be done with hand tools.
- All materials can be hand carried to the site.
(No road needed. We can carried everything down a narrow trail.)
- Advanced framing uses standard 2x4s and 2x6s to
their resource-efficient best.
(This easy to build construction system also increases the energy
efficiency and cuts costs since there is less wood. Use this on your
"big house" too.)
- All materials can be purchased at any local lumber
yard.