Sliding into Island time while I wait for my jacuzzi...

Almost a year since my last post.  Still haven't started building, but lots of experience in tiny living, and getting to know what it is like to live on an island in a rain forest.

The winter was long and wet, followed by a cool wet spring, much needed after several years of summer drought in BC.

In late April I was able to return to my land after spending the winter in a small loft apartment, and over the past two months have been enjoying warmer weather, lots of intense gardening, and making myself more comfortable here.

A couple of weeks after returning home, my water pressure dropped, meaning that my on-demand hot water heater no longer worked.  So cold showers for almost three weeks while I figured out what was happening.  The solution was to install a cistern, which I was going to do next year anyway, and connect to the well so that the cistern always remains full while preventing the well from running dry in the dry summer months.  After three weeks of cold showers you cannot imagine the pleasure of a hot shower!

Other improvements include:

• installing some used kitchen cupboards in the shed (hard to find - I actually had to remove the cupboards from a kitchen under renovation and pay for them as well!).  This meant I could put my dishes and glasses in a cupboard, freeing up the 4' counter space for meal preparation.
• upgrading from a plastic basin and hose for washing up, to hooking up a small outdoor sink to the hose (inspired by a stainless steel outdoor sink that Lee Valley has in their spring/summer  2017 catalogue), with a bucket underneath to catch the gray water, some of which I use to water plants.
• concerted effort (with my cat Monkey's help) to stop mice from entering the shed by plugging up a hole with steel wool, and setting out mouse traps.
• moving the sink into the shed - the downside of the outdoor sink was trying to wash in the rain or at night in the dark.  I also plan to install a drain pipe from the sink to my gray water pit, eliminating the need to empty buckets.  I can still catch rinse water in a basin and reuse it for watering my garden.

Then I decided to look for used tubs and found a beautiful jacuzzi tub that someone was offering for free.  Installing that in my outdoor shower room has created completed chaos.  We had my neighbour come in with his backhoe to dig a trench from the shed to the tent (some 150 feet) to lay piping for water and electricity. To refill the trenches I am putting in a layer of sand first, and removing the many rocks that were dug up.

Then I removed one wall of the shower room to accommodate the tub and slightly expand the space.  We will install a clear roof over the tub, leaving the shower part still open, hardwire the jacuzzi tub, connect it to my water heater, and run a drainpipe out to another gray water pit.  Having electricity there also means we can install a plug for my tent, and no longer have a very long extension cord lying outside to my tent for my light and for charging my laptop.

So later this week I will have the pleasure of having a soak in my outdoor jacuzzi!

Small is good...

Notwithstanding my last post, and after many more hours of drawing house plans, I have come to the conclusion that I would be happier in a slightly bigger house, especially for the winter months when more time is spent indoors.

While it is fascinating to read the inspiring stories of tiny house living, it is not for everyone. There are also stories - though perhaps more word of mouth rather published for the world to see - of those who abandon their places after a few weeks or months, finding living in such small spaces too confining.

For the past six weeks I have been living in my temporary tiny house summer retreat on Gabriola Island, a 12' x14' expedition tent that I have installed on a platform, with a small outdoor shower.  I also have a shed which I have set up as my summer kitchen, while outside an old green garden cart serves as my wash station.

Living in nature has been wonderful.  The early morning concert of birds, the stunning night sky with a myriad of constellations I have yet to identify, the hoots of the owls at night.

My latest house plan has expanded to just over 800 square feet, a small home that will include a guest bedroom and loft area.  This feels right - now we can finalize these plans and professional drawings in order to apply for the building permit.

Search for greener building materials - Hemp "Lego" Building Blocks

Recently I have been researching greener alternatives for building material such as drywall.  I was very interested to discover the company Just BioFiber which is located in Calgary.  It manufactures hemp building blocks with an R27 to R 40 insulation rating.  Curiously enough, I also stumbled upon on article that said Lego is considering making greener lego blocks by using hemp.

Views of Gabriola

My property on Gabriola Island

Here is a link to a short video on Gabriola Island:

Coming full circle

It has been several months since I have shared anything about my tiny house design progress.

Last fall we started working on house plans for a modified version of the Marmara tiny house, once we discovered that there are no restrictions on Gabriola Island on the minimum size of a house.  My idea was to have an L-shaped house built on a foundation, basically the Marmara design with a small yoga studio on one side, that would double as a guest bedroom, using a murphy bed.

Devlin's Design

While we completed the design in November, it wasn't until our draftsman Devlin started drawing up the plans that we realized that the design I wanted did not comply with seismic code requirements for the island, and possible solutions interfered with the open concept I would like to have.  We started exploring other designs, in particular an intriguing looking house Devlin thought up that was like three small rectangles joined in the middle.

A few days ago, after playing around with the layout of this house for quite a long time, I decided that  it really didn't work as an open concept home with a loft.  I was also concerned that the house was getting too big and expensive - close to 800 square feet and almost twice the cost I had originally budgeted for.

Coming full circle, I wanted to go back to basics, which was to build a small but elegant tiny house that would not be very expensive.  So I looked at all of the options I had considered previously and a few new ones including:

- The Marmara tiny house from Four Lights

- Norse log cabins, from a company located in Nanaimo, especially one called the Eagle Point, a two-story log chalet that was too large for me but had a unique hexagonal living room.  

- Hummingbird's Cowboy tiny house on wheels

- Other tiny house designs, such as one by David Vandervort, an architect in Seattle, which is charming but too small.  Here is a link to it: Woodland Cabin

- At the Ottawa Home show I explored the Zen design for a modular home built by the Quebec company Maisons Bonneville, which was lovely and spacious, but with a flat roof, and a modern look that was beautiful, but not my style.

In the process I also discovered another tiny home builder located in Nanaimo, Rewild Homes.

And so we have come full circle, and today's plan is to build the Marmara, either on a foundation or on wheels, whichever works out best for the design and cost.  At a later date, if I wish I could easily build a small yoga studio and guest cottage, that could be located elsewhere on the property.

More on the Nicaraguan Seed House

To give you a feel for our build site, here is a short tour.   Worksite Tour

On the first day, we were given instructions on how to mix the concrete and mortar. We were then instructed to mix only half that amount and sometimes got confused.  We soon became more efficient hauling filled buckets by hand or using a wheelbarrow.

Each of the building sites had an oil drum filled with water, and there was a water truck located on a site three houses down from us where we sometimes had to go to get more water.  We would fill our buckets and walk back to refill the water drum.  Surayda easily carried a full bucket of water on her head, while I found it easier to carry two buckets, each about two thirds full.  At one point during the week, we ran out of water and several of the team went to the river for more.

We completed the walls of the home in three days.  The house was slightly higher in the back to accommodate a flat, slanted roof,  which was installed after we left.  Then we laid the foundations for a small sidewalk in the front and back of the home.

Jeff taking a much needed break

Kari and Jeff tamping the floor

Finally, we brought in many wheelbarrow loads of dirt into the house, and tamped the floor down, spraying it with water at the same time.  Then we formed a line and passed in bucket of concrete to pour the floor.

At the house dedication ceremony, we presented Surayda and Cesar with a bible, and we all placed our hands on the house as they said the Lord's Prayer in Spanish. Surayda made a tearful and moving speech of her gratitude for her new home. Surayda's Speech

Completion Day!

Building a seed house

Our Canadian Habitat for Humanity team of twelve met in Managua, where a team from the Netherlands, a closed team from Philadelphia (i.e. the team knew each other) and another team from all over the US also gathered.

Our team represented Canada from coast to coast, with volunteers from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, and we ranged in age from early twenties to sixties, from a variety of backgrounds, with one person from the construction industry (our masonry expert) to a stock trader.  For some it was our first build, and for others they had travelled the world doing builds in many different places, each of which, apparently, had their own particular methods of construction. In addition to our team leaders Bob and Joan from BC, we had an energetic Nicaraguan coordinator Tagni to keep us in line.

On our first day together in Managua, Habitat Nicaragua provided us with an orientation, before we headed to our respective buses and made the 1 - 1/2 hour drive to Pochomil on the Pacific coast, where we stayed for the week of the build.  Our motto, emphasized our Nicaraguan counterparts, was to be flexible.

The seed house is 162 square feet, made of concrete blocks, with a front and back door, two windows, tin roof, concrete floor, and concrete sidewalk on the front and back.  It costs $5000 to build, with a combination of volunteers, a skilled local mason, and an electrician.  As volunteers we cover the costs of our trip, plus a contribution to cover the cost of materials for the house.

The reason it is called a seed house is that it is built with half of one wall covered in a piece of tin, which can be lifted to form the roof of another room, when the homeowners have the funds to expand their house.

To be eligible for one of these houses, a person needs to own their land.  A number of other selection criteria come into play, such as monthly household income of under US $200 per month, households led by a woman, health issues, and the presence of a home-based business.  For example, one home we visited had a large clay oven in a separate structure where they baked bread.

We spent five days building the home.  When we arrived at our site, the foundation and first two layers of blocks were already in place.  Each day we had construction goals to meet (day one was to add four more layers of blocks) and there was friendly competition amongst the teams to see who progressed the fastest.

For our build, it was for a couple; she was already a grandmother in her forties, who had diabetes, and her husband worked cutting sugar cane, both of whom helped build their new house.  In addition there was a construction supervisor for the five sites, to make sure we built to code, a skilled mason for each build site, and a few local volunteers.

They already had an Eco bathroom unit, but no running water, and were living in a small wooden home with dirt floor at the back of their property.

We quickly learnt the various tasks needed to build the house, although at times we had to wait for the mason to make progress, and were not always shown what to do.

In addition to moving the bricks to the house, we needed to haul gravel, sand and water to mix mortar and cement on the ground, by hand.  This we did in teams of 3 or 4, finding a dance-like rhythm as we moved around in a circle.  Because of the heat, the mortar and concrete would dry out quite quickly, so we needed to keep it damp using wet empty bags of concrete, or adding more water to prevent it from drying out.

The house also needed two strips of looped rebar which was placed horizontally, the first about halfway up, and second closer to the roof, to strengthen the structure so that it could withstand earthquakes and tremors, Which happen fairly frequently in Nicaragua. These were built by hand, first by bending small bits of rebar into a C shape, then fastening these connectors to two long strips of rebar by twisting wire around them on both sides.  These lengths of rebar were then placed inside a  layer of bricks that had a channel inside of them.

Recently I was told that here in Canada often plastic are ties are used.  That would have been much easier - one person spent almost two complete days bending rebar into C shapes, another 2-3 women spent a similar amount of time attaching them to the rebar strips. While a couple of the people on the team brought tools with them, we didn't know ahead of time what exactly we would be doing.  For those with experience on other builds, they discovered that each country, even within Central America, has their own method of building.