Building a "Lean-To" Shed

As you may have surmized by now, I plan to learn how to build a small house from scratch. Part of my plan includes a series of smaller, light-weight projects where I can "get up to speed". Today was one more step along that path.

This afternoon, I met with Andy Compton, our very capable Maintenance Man here at our Condo Association in Wilmington, NC. I asked him if he would act as my consultant as I begin a series of ever increasingly complex construction projects. He said he would and we immediately began to modify some plans I had purchased over the Internet for a "Lean-To" Shed. Within a few minutes we had modified the plans to suit our particular situation (and to please my wife with special design doors) and Andy made a list of the required materials. I hope to purchase them this week and get started very soon thereafter.

With Andy's help, this project appears very "do-able" and a great preparation for the next and BIGGER project. I will keep the blog posted.

Habitat for Humanity; Wilmington, NC

Today I signed up for Habitat for Humanity. I was told that I will be assigned to a construction crew on Wednesday (and maybe Saturday) and I have to report at 8AM - they will tell me where. This will be a very interesting experience. I suspect I will receive much more benefit from the venture that I will give.

Quite frankly, at this point I know very little about building houses but I am looking forward to learning.

Visit to the Wimbush farm

Yesterday I visited my wife's farm in Vance County, NC on Kerr Lake near the Virginia border. http://picasaweb.google.com/greenshelters1/Wimbush_FArm#

I wanted to walk the new survey line to better understand where her property stopped and the Corp of Engineers property started. It was drizzling rain, it was a little cold but I had a great time.

This is a beautiful piece of property which has been in her family since before the revolution. In the 1950's the US Government decided to build Buggs Island Dam across the Roanoke River and thus create Kerr Lake. My wife's father lost lots of property and an ancestral "Home Place" with that transaction but on the upside, my wife's farm is now "water front property" within 1.5 hours drive of the Research Triangle.

What does this have to do with 'GreenShelters" you may ask. In my walk around the property, I was also looking for a place to build a small Green Home. Probability no more than 400 sq ft - but something I can use as a test for some of the Green Techniques that are being developed. I think I have found the spot. It is about .4 of a mile down State Road 1353 just off to the left on a small pond. I flyfished that pond briefly yesterday and caught several sunnys and one VERY SMALL large mouth bass.

Shetch Up Models

I spent most of the day continuing to experiment with 3D Construction Modeling. I continue to be amazed by the power of this concept. It is possible to build COMPONENTS that simulate 2x4's; 2x8's, 2x12's; walls, foundations, floors, windows, doors, MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing) Systems etc and then assemble them into a completed House MODEL on the computer screen.

One of the things we learned at the Shelter Institute was " What takes one minute to fix in the office (on paper) will take 10 minutes to fix in the field (before assembly) and will take 100 minutes to fix once construction has begun.

This 3D Modeling Process can be used to force the designer to identify every item and every step necessary to construct the proposed house. What a potential savings in time and money!

Sketch Up 3D Construction Modeling

Last night (Tuesday; Oct 24) I bagan to play with a planning process developed by Dr Dennis Fukai of the University of Florida (www.insitebuilders.com). The process uses Google Sketch Up to plan and actually layout the construction of small homes - step by step. By pre-building a range of construction "components", it is possible to actually map the building process on the computer screen.

This is a very important technique; much more on this later. Sufficent to say at this time --- it is potentually a very powerful tool in our quest to pre-plan and improve the efficiency of building 'Small Homes".

I've got "PLANS"

Yesterday I went to Garlinghouse (www.garlinghouse.com) in Chantilly, VA. I did not have to go (their Web site is quite complete) but since I was in the area I visited their headquarters.

This is a company that has literally 1000's of complete house plans for sale in their warehouse. As I understand it, they have professional relationships with many architects and they provide a distribution center for all manor of blueprints.

The plans are organized in such a way that within a few moments it is possible to zero in on the size, type and layout that might interest you. In most cases, a complete set of plans is less than $100 and (even if you do not use them for final construction) it seams to me to be a great way to "jump start" your thinking.

I plan to start small so I bought two plans 1) 4 x 6 lean-to shed and 2) 16 x 20 hunting cabin. They will give me plenty to "chew-on" during those long winter nights - waiting for the spring building season.

Visit to the National Building Museum, Washington, DC

This Sunday, October 22, my wife and I went down town Washington,DC and visited the NBM ( www.nbm.org) . I know it is fashonable to complain about "government spending" but I must say this is an amazing building and it currently houses an amazing exhibit - The Green House: New Directions in Sustainable Architercture and Design.

There is almost too much there to describe in detail, but of particular interest is an entire, physical house (The Glidehouse - http://www.mkd-arc.com/whatwedo/glidehouse/index.cfm) designed byMichelle Kaufmann in California and available now on the market (10 houses so far starting at $130/sf). It is representative of some of the most creative work being done today by using powerful design software, the latest "green" materials and prefabricated/modular construction. These techniques allow individual designs to be combined efficent production and low-impact construction.

Classes at Shelter Institute; Woolwich, ME

Early in 2006, I had lunch with an architect friend of mine and he described how he was designing a small cabin for his author son in the Maine woods. He described how the simple design and minimalist requirements permitted a solid structure to built "off-the-grid" with a maximum of utility and a minimum impact on the evvironment.

The discussion caught my fancy and I began to read-up on sheds, cabins, cottages and small farm houses. I soon realized that, if I was serious, I could use some "hands-on" training.

Sooooo, from September 18th to 23rd, I attended a Small House Design/Construction Class at the Shelter Institute in Woolwich, Maine (www.shelterinstitute.com) . For five days, our class of 12 students learned how to design, build and assemble a 12' x 16' loft-cabin from scratch. Our instructor was excellent and I believe we all left there excited about the prospects of putting our new skills to use. Take a look at this: http://www.shelterinstitute.com/timbergallery/SmallHouse/fall06/