Upcoming we have some cool guest posts and interviews from the likes of Gaby Sunheart, Tammy Strobel, and Andrew Odom (from tinyrevolution.us)- I just have a ton of catching up to do! I've also been prepping for the Tumbleweed Miami workshop I'm hosting, planning a potential "Shoft" (Shed with a Loft) build for someone in state (a micro guesthouse more or less), AND pecking away on a 14' shantyboat-like structure for a future video. All in time...all in time.....
Oh yeah, I'm also working towards that July 6-9th Vermont Workshop on Tiny House/Cabin Building- WITH some building, speaking guests, tours of tiny houses, and more. We already have some interested parties- and again, the first FIVE in, get a free copy of Lloyd Kahn's book "Tiny Homes, Simple Shelter". We'll also be doing some solar cooking, a little demo on log cabin notching and more! This workshop is going to be great. "TINY HOUSE SUMMER CAMP" is what we're calling it. Kidcedar at gmail dot com if interested. Full roster is coming soon. Sleep space/lodging (either tenting it, or staying in one of our cabins) is included- first come, first serve (those who sign up earliest), and a couple of meals too...
ABOVE- One of the cabin's (mine)- we'll see- and that you can stay in for the weekend!
ANYWAY..... since many of you know I love scavenging for materials, here's a solid idea from one of our blog readers.....
Hey Deek,
Bought your book, follow your blog, always accumulating stacks of rescued boards and lumber in the back yard for projects.
A great place to dumpster dive: boatyards, especially now when guys are taking off the winter covers and getting ready to put the boats in the water.
Stuff I have actually found in boatyard dumpsters:
* Lots of 1x2 lath (used as supports for winter covers).... I built a tree house out of this stuff, and an arbor for my back deck.
* Plastic shrink wrap material ... a substitute for Tyvek?
* Copper wire
* left over, partially empty cans of paint
* various boat fittings (hinges, latches, other nice chrome plated bronze thingies)
* quality lumber, especially teak, oak and mahogany. I just finished building a really nice sofa table out of thrown out oak lumber and the top is a couple of mahogany boards that were the back seat of an outboard boat. Little useless chunks of oak board make my Sunday barbeque smell like a fancy Italian restaurant.
* electronics (marine radios, cd players, speakers etc.) Some broken, some not.
* other scrap metal- sold by weight
* rope, cord, fishing line
* many unused first aid kits
* And tons of recyclable bottles and cans = $$$ (a couple of hours netted me over $30 in beverage units- all while I was looking for other stuff in the meantime).
My goal with some of this material is to build a tree fort so that I have a small sanctuary to sit and read and nap, and when the grandkids come over, they think it's their treefort to play in (so it gets by under the wife's radar!). Plus, 100% all scavenged materials, including the screws and nails. The door hinges came off of a foldable boat captain's chair I pulled out of the boatyard dumpster. The roof is going to be a sheet of clear corrugated plastic material my son pulled out his work dumpster at Hart Supply in Hingham (they deal in all kinds of plexi products.... I love their stuff called containment-grade-
I'll send you pics when it's up against the tree and operational.
Ps... Thanks for the tip about the Stanley Fat Max hand saw a while ago. Last month, Lowe's had them on sale in the discontinued section for $8. This tool is way sharp and crosscuts faster and easier than any electric saw I have ever had.
Mike from North Weymouth, MA
