The Simplest House of All By Mark Stephen Chenail 

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4)      CLOTHES STORAGE.  I don’t have much use for closets, particularly in a tiny shelter, where square footage is at a premium.  You probably won’t have brought your Chanel evening gowns or your Versace suits, so you really don’t need hanging space. A better and simpler solution is to store your clothing in drawers, or bins, built in under the  bed.  Face it, your wardrobe is going to be fairly simple and sturdy and won't need careful storage.  If you can’t manage under-bed storage, invest in a good chest of drawers or chest on chest.  They provide plenty of storage and take up a minimum of floor space. And stay away from chests or trunks.  Invariably what you want will be at the bottom of the chest and the flat top will attract all kinds of stuff that has to be moved before you can open the chest and start hunting for your wooly socks. A good chest of drawers is a godsend. Why do you think so many came west on the back of a covered wagon?        

5)      BATHING/TOILET SPACE.   Outhouses and outdoor showers are perfectly reasonable solutions to this daily need as long as the weather is pleasant, but if you can manage a little indoor space, that doesn’t require a jaunt through sub zero weather, I urge you to do it.  A space as small as 5 x 5 will give you room for a sawdust toilet and a simple washstand.  A floor drain, that will send the gray water outside, will let you take a primitive bucket shower and a thick mat over the drain in winter, will keep the cold air out.  If you want something a bit more up market, buy an invalid potty chair.  It’s a rare general auction that won't have one of these “barely used” on offer and you often see them at yard sales or at Goodwill.  One size generally fits all and when you’re done, you just empty the pot into the handy slit trench you dug way out back, give the pot a rinse and return it to the potty chair.  If you are the fastidious sort, you can make a slip cover for the potty chair and a matching cushion like I did and the necessaire becomes a charming piece of bedroom furniture.  It’s a good thing. 

6)      WORKSPACE AND TOOL STORAGE.  Your little house should definitely include a covered work area and a place to store all your tools and other equipment in a way that is handy, but not necessarily in the living space.  An attached tool shed with an outside entrance and a door into the house space will make a handy mudroom and allow you to keep your living space relatively neat.  Closed and secure tool storage is a given and if you can manage some covered work space, do so.  A good wide porch or open-end dogtrot will suit the purpose.  Either will make a shaded place to work and live in warm weather, as well as keep you dry and out of the cold and snow in the winter.  It will give you a place to store dry firewood, hang the wash and do all the messy jobs involved in homesteading.  And don’t be skimpy. There is nothing worse than a narrow porch.  In my book, 8 feet wide is the minimum.  Give yourself room to work and a space for a bench or rocker where you can enjoy the view and the good clean air.  You’ve earned it.

Now that we have a list of basic necessities, let me show you a few simple plans that will fill your needs. These houses can all be built using ordinary carpentry tools and require only the most basic skills.  You can build on a foundation, or piers if you want to, but the easiest way will be to use a modified pole building method.  Pole building is about as basic as it comes and you really have to try hard to screw it up. If you can dig a hole, set the posts and square up the four corners, you’re pretty much home free.   Pole buildings are fairly forgiving of small mistakes in laying out.  The whole thing won’t come tumbling down if the corners aren’t quite square.  Remember the first rule of Do-It-Yourself:

                     DON’T WORRY, THE TRIM WILL HIDE IT

The building sequence is pretty much the same for any of the plans I will show you. Essentially, you are going to build a deck supported on posts and then build conventionally framed walls between the posts.  The posts and walls will support the rafters for the roof.  Single sloped shed roofs are the easiest to build, but it doesn’t take much expertise to build a gable roof.  Anything fancier is just showing off. 

1)      Lay out the building on the ground, marking the position of the corners and all the posts.  Dig the holes deep enough to be below the frost line if you have one or at least deep enough to support the pole safely or until you hit the first really big rock.  It really is amazing that you can stand a 14 foot, 4x4 post in a hole that is less than 3 feet deep and keep it plumb, square, and secure enough to support your building. Remember you are not building for the ages here. 

2)      Set the posts in concrete or dirt, which ever method you prefer. The posts should be treated, unless this is a very temporary structure.  4x4 posts are the easiest to use and are sufficiently strong for most applications.  5x5 posts are nice if you are planning a second story or very high ceilings, but the larger posts are extremely heavy and hard to move without a few extra hands.  Only use the big posts if you need them for structural strength.        

3)      Attach the rim joists to the posts with lag screws or 16-penny nails, suitable for use in pressure treated lumber.  I generally use pressure treated joists because I build close to the ground.  If you build your platform more than a foot off the ground, you can probably get away with non treated lumber, which will, of course, be cheaper.  Most of these structures are so small they won’t need support beams under the floor joists.  I always use 2x10 floor joists and they can usually manage a span of less than 14 feet without a beam underneath.

4)      Hang your floor joists on two foot centers, using standard joist hangers.  I use off cuts from the 2x10 joists as blocking between the joists, at least one block every 6-8 feet, staggered for ease of nailing.  The blocking keeps the joists from twisting or bouncing.

5)      Lay out your plywood sub-floor; glue and nail it down securely.  I always use ring-shank nails.  If you are using planks, instead of sheet goods, for your sub-floor, make sure to stagger the joints and forget the glue.     

6)      The rest of the method is basic conventional framing.  Lay out the sills and mark them for studs on 16 inch centers.  Frame the wall sections to fit between the posts.  Frame the usual openings for doors and windows.  Sheath the exterior walls with plywood, OSB, or sheet siding.  Sheath over the door and window openings and cut them out later.

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