Pearl Sutton wrote:My first thought is what are you trying to do? Build a house? A watertight structure? Or a pretty gazebo or fence?
And what does it need to withstand? Goats and deer? Windstorms? Snow load?
Hi Pearl. Thanks for helping me think about this.
I live in a semi-arid, pacific northwest, coastal area, so Gale force winds during the late fall, some snow but not tons of it, lots of rain in the fall and winter, spring is soggy and cool, but the summers are hot and dry. It gets about 16 total inches of rainfall per year. Because there is drizzle for most of the year, living outside most of the time without cover isn't an option.
Water is abundant, sun is not. The lot is surrounded by trees over 30 feet, so the sunny areas are limited and very valuable. I absolutely don't want to introduce more shade if I can help it.
Walkways/Dog Run
Because it rains and because I have a little dog that the eagles, hawks, and cougars would love to snack on, I need to build walkways with "roofs". Right now, I have to keep her on a leash when I go from building to building. She is a very fast little runner. You can't catch her. Her recall is good, but not guaranteed.
Deer Deterrent
At the moment, I am using the fishing wire method to deter the deer from the kitchen garden area. It worked great at first, but they have figured it out. I'd like to keep using the fishing wire, but I think I might have to make netting out of it. I accidently bought too many spools of it, so it needs to be used. Perhaps it can suspend other materials.
Barking neighbor dogs
My neighbors have dogs that bark at me when I am near the property line. These are large, loud dogs. I need to build a privacy fence that they can't see through. Their lot is at a higher elevation than mine so there is an extra challenge to get the fence high enough. So perhaps a way to build a "barrier" with an alternate use that is very tall and isn't a fence?
She-shed addition
That area is also where my she-shed is, and I want to add a bathroom (composting toilet, bathing area) to it. Unfortunately, it is also where the septic field is. (The entire property is awkward. Whoever placed the things wasn't thinking about utility or traffic patterns.) I do need to map exactly where the septic field is so I don't accidentally build over it. Maybe it isn't unfortunate.
Ground floor bedroom
The main house needs a ground floor sleeping area. It doesn't count as a tiny house as it is over 500 square feet but there is no bedroom, just a sleeping loft. There is an RV 50 amp hookup and septic next to the back door of the house. This is on the north side of the house. A yurt type structure? A geodesic dome? I don't want to buy an RV and a tiny house shell will set me back at least $20k. I don't want to deal with building inspectors or HOA architectural persons. This HOA is pretty relaxed but there was still some objection to the yurt that was built on a property down the street, but I don't know the details. I didn't want to live in an HOA, but why I purchased here is another long story. You would think a rural area wouldn't have HOAs but they do.
I kinda like the idea of living in a greenhouse. That gives you protection from the rain, preserved sunshine, additional space, all the things...BTW, I put this in the natural building topic...perhaps it goes somewhere else.
I do have access to a lot of free wood pallets. The local Coastal hardware is awesome like that, but again, they are heavy.
What do you think?
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