First Night in the Tiny House

Okay, I still haven't completed the story of the trip down, and the next few posts will probably involve a LOT of catching up and disjointed, chronologically out of place updates until I'm all caught up to speed on this blog, but oh well. Eventually I'll even it out...

I guess the biggest update is that I slept in the tiny house for the first time last night. Well, it was more of a camp over than a move in type situation, but I spent the night in there nevertheless.



It was actually really great. Because the house has very little weight in the bottom of it, every time I moved the slightest bit, the house would sway back and forth. Even breathing seemed to make it more like sleeping in a boat than sleeping in a house. Still, I got to see the stars as I slept, wake up with the sun streaming in that window behind me (it faces directly east), and it was a lot cooler out there than in the much bigger house I usually sleep in.

Speaking about not a lot of weight...



We weighed the house about a week ago. 2580 pounds. Taking off the 900 pounds that the trailer weighs, that gives me 1680 pounds of tiny house. The trailer can only take 2600 pounds total weight, so I've got a little less than half a ton to work with. I'm not entirely sure that's going to be enough (I'm pretty sure it won't be), but I should be able to get some new springs in the trailer to beef... er... tofu it up to 6000 pounds.

Other than putting up some Strong Ties in the rafters and cutting out hundreds of Jenga-esque blocks to help the future insulation stay in place, that's what's happened with the house in the past week as far as physical action is concerned. My mom and I have spent a lot of time in and around the house just looking at it and brainstorming ideas. I think we came up with some really neat ones last night (such as how to merge the ladder to the loft with a bookshelf we'll eventually build.) The first item on our agenda, however, is to get some siding on and give the house a much needed departure from the Tyvek Box I've grown accustomed to staring at.

Okay, I think that's it. To close, and for seemingly no reason, here's a picture of me learning how to use a bench grinder...



- N

On "On Tiny Houses and Revolution" - A First Post

Hello there potential blog viewers and mostly close friends at this point!

I've finally gotten around to beginning the blog in which I will chronicle the construction of my tiny house as well as provide some political commentary and share information, theory, and ideas that I come across in books and from communications with friends about anarchism and political economy. As far as the title of the blog: I couldn't think of a really witty or catchy name but I did think I like tiny houses, I like revolution, I'm working on building a tiny house, I'm working on building a revolution, and I'd really like to see both happen. So, that's the name.

There will be pictures, stories, and (if the past few weeks are any indication) a lot of knowledge that I am acquiring on this building's construction process. Though it's been mostly what WON'T work up until this point, I have at least two solid pieces of wisdom that I am now working off of:

1. Nothing is as easy as it will seem at first.

2. Everything is more expensive than it will seem at first.

Okay, I promise I won't be too much of a downer during the rest of the posts :P

Before I begin, I'd like to express the utmost and continuing gratitude to my Mom and her boyfriend Andy, with whom I am living at this time and are contributing heaps of indispensable assistance, knowledge, and work to this project. Also thanks to Dee Williams, my tiny-house-dwelling friend back home in Olympia who got me running on this project and still contributes awesome real life experience from building her own tiny home. I'm also grateful to Alex and Ashlea who helped me get the house ready to drive down to Arizona. (The epic journey down here, The Odyssey-esque in it's story-telling grandeur, is a forthcoming post)

To those who may see this blog and have experience building homes/tiny homes: If you see a picture where I may be making a fatal error or you are curious why I am choosing a certain route, please don't hesitate to say so in the comments section. My mom and Andy both have some pretty impressive skills and experience under their belts, but I am about three inches away from clueless and none of us have ever undertaken a project like this before. As such, we welcome the opportunity to listen to any suggestion you may have.

To sign off on my first post, here is a picture of my mom and I in front of the creation so far...



Wish us the best of luck!