in which we move in to the recycled house, and are pleased

Posted on August 10, 2009 - Filed Under alternative building | 6 Comments

We have completely, and thoroughly, moved in, FINALLY, to the Noah House!
[cue cheering!]
That is to say, we haven’t moved out of the yurt, we’re just…spreading. And in case you don’t know what I am talking about, here is the beginning of the story of recycling a tiny house, the tiny house my cousin Noah built, [...]

poof, another room

Posted on July 27, 2009 - Filed Under alternative building | 1 Comment

We are in the process of moving into the Noah House. I don’t mean moving out of the yurt, just adding the Noah House as another room in our weird, Tiny House Compound. As I mentioned here, Paul finished the interior trim last weekend and, although there is still a punch list of thing to [...]

recycled playground

Posted on June 8, 2009 - Filed Under alternative building, kiddo life | 4 Comments

If you’ve been hanging around a bit, you know we are bootstrap builders, putting together our country estate (cough), on very little cash, by building with junk recycled materials. (And if that’s news to you, but sounds fun, look over there in the tag list and you’ll find recycled building has its very own tag. [...]

some principles of recycled building

Posted on March 25, 2009 - Filed Under alternative building | 5 Comments

We build with junk. Or, rather, Paul builds with junk, and I (1) complain about the mess in the yard, and (2) enjoy the results of his hard work. It’s called ‘consulting’ and it is integral to the creative process. First you put your hands on your hips, and then you point at things….
But I’m [...]

calcifer the waterstove

Posted on March 9, 2009 - Filed Under alternative building | 1 Comment

Two years ago, we ran across an old Taylor Waterstove for sale (great heater, really awful website). Heating with propane that first winter in the yurt broke the bank and we were looking for a wood burning option that didn’t put a wood stove in the yurt. (The reasons for that were (1) we didn’t [...]

how to recycle oak flooring

Posted on February 7, 2009 - Filed Under alternative building | Leave a Comment

We floored the yurt with recycled oak flooring. We paid $800 dollars for 800 square feet of the stuff (its sells for $3-$5 / square foot, new), and since the yurt wasn’t ready for it, we lived in our old farmhouse with metal bound bundles of it filling our living room knee deep for about [...]

how to recycle a tiny house, day five

Posted on January 23, 2009 - Filed Under alternative building | 7 Comments

After taking a day off for the big snow, the guys were back at work for their fifth day recycling our new, tiny house (see the last few posts for details if you are new to the story). They arrived just about the time I was going out to the barn. Here is Fancy saying [...]

how to recycle a tiny house, day four, afternoon

Posted on January 20, 2009 - Filed Under alternative building | 2 Comments

Continuing on in the amazing process of recycling an entire house. Here we are after the guys came back to work after lunch.

Monty started working inside, making the door between the two sections, putting up the loft, putting in the electrical outlets, etc, while Matt and Jose worked on the siding on the little side [...]

how to recycle a tiny house, day four

Posted on January 19, 2009 - Filed Under alternative building | 2 Comments

After taking the weekend off, the carpentry crew was back at eight this morning, slamming it into gear with their incredibly loud music and their hammers and full on get-it-done work ethic. I’ve been staring through the window in awe at their industry.
They’d been here about 45 minutes when it looked like this.

It’s just amazing [...]

how to recycle a tiny house, day three

Posted on January 17, 2009 - Filed Under alternative building | Leave a Comment

The guys brought the Noah House to its new home the morning of the third day. This the first load, pulling up to the yurt at 8:30 in the morning. Be glad there isn’t a picture of pre-coffee me, staggering outside to answer questions about where to put stuff. Scary.

The sun is coming in from [...]