Tiny Free House » craigslist

Construction Progress Report – Framed Eaves

Michael Janzen — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:38:55 +0000

It was a bit hot this past weekend but I got to spend a couple days working on the house. I had planned to put more boards on the roof but realized that I needed to first finish the eaves. They took a bit of time to build but I think they look pretty good, so even though I didn’t get as much done as I’d hoped I’m still happy with my progress. I came up with the 16×16 diamond window in both eaves on-the-fly and plan to make little opening windows for ventilation.

I also realized the side windows were too high and needed to be lowered so I threw a temporary support in, unscrewed a couple pallets, cut them up and reframed. I only got one window lowered before I called it a day on Sunday.

Next Steps:

Lower other side window.
Finish putting boards on roof.
Finish filling in pallet boards on sides so I have something to screw the milled pallet boards onto.
Finish roof (roofing felt and shingles (The jury is still out on the final roofing material)).
Mill up a bunch of pallet boards for the siding.
Wrap it up with house-wrap.
Screw on the milled pallet board siding.
Install the windows I got free off craigslist.
Mill up pallet boards for trim around the windows and door.
Build the door from pallet wood, and install.
Seal the exterior with some kind natural free finish. (I’m open to suggestions.)

At that point I’ll be ready to move to working inside the house. My plan is to get all this done before the rain starts. At my current slow pace I think it’s possible. Here are a few more photos.

Free Housing Example On Craigslist

Michael Janzen — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:42:24 +0000

Sacramento has a very active craigslist and I spot free mobile homes on there regularly. They are usually in pretty rough condition and to haul one of these away would require a bit of work and a large truck. But for the right person this could be a really turn out to be a great opportunity. If the condition is too far gone imagine the tiny house you could build on a 14′ by 60′ trailer frame.

Slim Pallet Pickings

Michael Janzen — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 05:58:36 +0000

It’s been a rough couple weeks looking for long pallets. Very few have been posted on craigslist and our usual lucky spots have been dry. Julia and I went out today and found lots of small and standard pallets but only one 6-footer. We also spotted a stack of really decrepit ones but decided there wasn’t one good 2×4 in the pile.

I need 16 more 6-foot 2x4s to finish the roof framing and I can get three 2x4s out of each pallet so I need to find about 6 more pallets. I think I have enough standard pallets for the wall sheathing stacked up at the farm so I’m going to keep an extra good look-out this week for at least six more long pallets and skip picking up the small ones. If I can’t find enough by the end of the week I might break down and spend some of the money made by selling free stuff found on craigslist and buy a couple 2x4s.

I’ve spent very little money on screws and saw blades so far; money very easily recouped by selling the free stuff I’ve already found free on craigslist. I figure that since 2×4 studs cost less than $2.00 each it might make more sense to get these last few pieces of lumber at the store instead of burning up gas looking for the free variety, as much as I hate to do that. I’ve used some pretty scrappy looking, yet solid, wood in the walls but I want to make sure the roof is sturdy enough not to come down on our heads. So in a way it seems like cheap insurance if I have to break down and spend $30 on 2x4s.

Julia snapped a photo of me loading the one good pallet we found. It came with a very nice piece of masonite attached to it. I’m not sure how I’ll use it but I’m certain it will come in handy. Below that is a photo of the pallets I left behind.

Now that’s a lot of pallets!

Michael Janzen — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 02:24:00 +0000

Thunderstorms and lack of long pallets for framing the roof will keep me from working on the tiny free house this weekend but I’ll definitely be out looking for the last few long pallets I need to complete the framing.

On another note, Julia just spotted this about 150 miles away from us. Too far for us to go on a three hour drive Freemont but if you live in the SF South Bay and want to build a whole town of tiny pallet houses you might just be in luck. Take a look at this craigslist post. Makes my mouth water.

2500 Free Pallets In Brooklyn

Michael Janzen — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 01:10:19 +0000

Actually the craigslist ad says that they will pay you to take these 2500 pallets off their hands, so these pallets are more than free. Now Brooklyn is a bit of a drive from Sacramento, 2,823 miles to be exact. So I won’t be rushing out to get these 2500 pallets. But if you’re in the Brooklyn area, want free pallets, have a place to store them, and like getting paid, you might want to take a look at this craigslist ad. Thanks for the tip Vanessa!

Another Free Trailer Example

Michael Janzen — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 16:22:36 +0000

I just spotted this on craigslist but I be I’m too late to get it. I’ve noticed that competition for the free stuff on craigslist has been increasing, and this trailer was posted four hours ago, a lifetime on craigslist. I’m thinking that if it’s not a good renovation candidate that I’d be able to use a trailer for raw material for the tiny free house and the trailer for a future tiny house.

I see a sawdust toilet

Michael Janzen — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 02:40:42 +0000

My wife sent me a link to this bedside commode with a note telling me she’d found the perfect toilet for the tiny free house. She was kidding of course. But when I saw it all I could see was a lot sawdust toilet potential energy. What do you see?

Cheap stuff example on craigslist

Michael Janzen — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 01:10:14 +0000

Just a heads up to anyone in the Sacramento region. This was recently posted on craigslist under ‘garage sales’. If you’re looking for cheap stuff or even building materials like I am you might want to check this out. If you don’t live in this area keep tabs on your local craigslist. Watch the ‘free’ section as well as ‘materials’ and ‘garage sales’.

Free Trailer Example (Portable Poop Coop)

Michael Janzen — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 02:34:53 +0000

There are three free trailers on craigslist right at this moment in Sacramento. I keep my eye out for them but not racing out to pick one up. They all seem to come without any DMV paperwork which can be tricky when trying to reuse the trailer for a tiny house or utility trailer. It’s not impossible to say the least, just more work than having a title in hand. Here’s the funniest one. It sounds like total loss as a travel trailer but might be perfect for a small tiny house. I just had to share.

Almost Free Nails

Michael Janzen — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 03:31:01 +0000

I was looking for lumber but ran across this post on craigslist for 50 pounds of nails for $5. It’s really amazing what there is to find on craigslist. Most of it goes really fast, at least here in Sacramento, but there’s always something and sometimes you luck out.