|
5) BATHING/TOILET SPACE. Out-houses 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 wont
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 and
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 your self 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 2-foot centers,
using standard joist hangers. I use off cuts from the 2x10 joists as
blocking between the joists, at least 1 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 and 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” 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.
-
Previous
1
2
3
4
Next
| 
