A $2000 Two-Story A-Frame Cabin….

(update- we now have a full pdf framing-plan-set for this cabin- we'll have it on the site soon, but if interested, email us- newenglandrockpress@gmail.com or PM us through the "Derek Diedricksen" facebook page. Plan set is $25.00 and we'll send you an e-set of them). Also, check out our "Transforming A-Frame Cabin" plans- link to the left on this page).

Also, "Microshelters", my new book is out now! LOADED with ideas on super-affordable backwoods building, shelters, shacks, tiny houses, tree houses, and more.....

-----------

If you want to check out "The Transforming A-frame Vacation Cabin" we built in Tennessee, and a few pages from the plans- head to this link…. http://www.relaxshacks.blogspot.com/2014/02/deek-david-stiles-and-joe-everson-team.html

"The Dart" is a two-level A-frame, or "Half A-Frame" cabin that can be simply, and quickly, built for around $2000. I designed this cabin, and Sean Carey laid out the plans from my initial sketches and specs. The plans look GREAT and I can't wait to share them!

Anyway, here's a video sneak peak of Phase One of building this cabin while out at the "Southern Shows" Home and Garden Expo, where I co-presented on Tiny Houses with Lloyd Kahn.

-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen

Can a FAMILY live in a tiny house?? (guest video with Andrew Odom)

Thanks to Andrew Odom of www.TinyRevolution.US for doing this little video for our channel.

The possibility, or prospect, of living with a FAMILY in a tiny house, or small home, is a conversation piece, or worry, that often comes up in discussions, so I figured I'd pass the mic….er, video camera…. to Drew to let him talk about his tiny house set-up just a bit.

You also get to see some GREAT photo of his very cool tiny home as well!

-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen

Build a funky, funky TINY HOUSE by a "Bottle Tree"?? Out Next Workshop….

So, as many of you might know by now, we have a HUGE, FUN, DANG-EXCITING, HANDS-ON workshop coming up- one revolving around tiny house building, alternative-material construction, and well, funky art, and other experimental design and decor approaches. We'll build two, if not THREE, tiny structures near Memphis, theres camping, bonfire discussions, speakers, live demos, and….

We'll TOUR SIX TINY HOUSES- RIGHT on the premises….

Anyway, since post-workshop hours, the bonfire folks are welcome to b.y.o.b., we always end up with quite a few glass and plastic bottles on hands…. which we recycled, OR can do something else with….

So right next to one of the insanely unusual and colorful cabins we're gonna build, WHY NOT MAKE ONE OF THESE???

All we need is a post, a few dowels, and some nails, and long landscaping spikes…. It'll also serve as an introduction to mixing and setting posts in concrete- one of the 4,087 things we'll cover, and that you'll SEE at the workshop!

Check out this video- shot in an otherworldly locale- the Matlacha, Florida studio and shop of Leoma Lovegrove ( www.LeomaLovegrove.com ) . I have a full video tour on her place and art soon too!

-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen

A tiny house door made from salvaged TSUNAMI BOAT PIECES???

Check out the video below- this guy's a trip, and when I saw his art, the first thing I thought was, "What an AMAZING tiny house or cabin door these things would make!".

I stumbled into this guy- Kenny "The Tin Man" Hoff- at the North Carolina Home and Garden Show put on by Southern Shows this past weekend. Myself and Lloyd Kahn (Publisher, Builder, Jack of Many Trades) were flown out to Charlotte as stage speakers for the weekend, and this show was just great- good people, fun exhibits, and a friendly staff! In the coming days I'm going to post some photos, and maybe a video or two that I shot out there.

We also began building the prototype for a new cabin (future plan set to come) for a cabin design of mine called "The Dart"- it can be built for about $2000, uses much stock length lumber, and is simple and easy to build. Aside from co-presenting on the home-design stage, we gave a live building demo throughout the three day show- a "Deek Diedricksen and Lloyd Kahn" team-up of sorts….

Anyway, this salvaged material usage/layering technique is similar to something we'll employ at the upcoming Hands-On Tiny House Building Workshop near Memphis, TN- April 11-13th, 2014 in one of the cabins we'll all collectively be building! If interested, this one's filling up FAST!

-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen

Hanging/Presenting on Tiny Houses with Lloyd Kahn in Charlotte, NC

Here's a great/fun photo of Lloyd Kahn and I from today- from his blog (well worth a look)- www.lloydkahn.com 

So I've been hanging in Charlotte, NC with Lloyd Kahn (author of "Tiny Homes, Simple Shelter") the last 2-3 days, and having a great time hanging out at the Southern Shows Home and Garden Show- they really know how to put on a heck of an event. Some of the garden displays here are just incredible, the people are very friendly, the vineyards are sampling some great wine (Duplin Vinyards especially!- who proposed the possible idea of me building them a tree house down the road), and Lloyd and I have had fun talking to people about tiny houses, salvage-construction, and presenting together on stage. Its just an event loaded with great displays, talented people, and great presentations too- FOUR stages of them! I even bumped into a guy I know- Roy St. Clair from Tuftex and Ondura roofing, who is running a booth as well- Roy will be one of the speakers at our upcoming hands-on build workshop in Memphis, TN on April 11-13th.

I've also been taking a ton of videos, doing a few interviews with people as well- and I'll post them soon- alongside another mini-guest-video from Andrew Odom of www.tinyrevolution.us  (not from the event)

Anyway, we were supposed to be displaying a new mini-cabin called "The Dart"- VERY TALL, easy to build, affordable (under $2000 in new materials) at the event, and it was supposed to be built for me by a crew and ready for our arrival to showcase for interviews and tv. Well, things didn't work out that way and we arrived to find the thing FAR from done, so after borrowing what tools we could, Lloyd and I have been doing double duty working on the structure the last two days.

It won't be done by the time I leave, but the event continues next week (and I believe its only $7.00 to get in- very reasonable) and a local carpentry crew will finish up some minor things for us. We are truckin' along though, and getting quite a bit done.

I'll update you all later on things, but I'm now off to walk around the area to look for some good pizza.

-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen

Teenagers BUILT THIS off-grid log cabin (tiny house) in the woods of Connecticut

I actually shot this little handheld video at the spur of the moment two years ago while visiting relatives in Connecticut. My two cousins, Neil and Kurt Malek, built this log cabin, all with hand tools, over a summer, when they were teenagers. Its basically a rustic, pioneer-style tiny house deep in the woods- where the duo, alongside a few friends, had to drag in any extraneous supplies they needed- including a  200+ pound Yotul wood stove.

While the video is lo-fi and hokey (shot on an old flip camera) I still wanted to chronicle this little log cabin in some way, and to make sure there was record of it before it became too damaged over the years.

As it stands now, its been left alone in the woods for almost 20 years now.

Travel Trailer Tips for your Tiny House! Safety First!

Here's a simple video I recently shot showing one often-overlooked prep-step in getting ready to take your tiny house on wheels, or even just your utility trailer, out on the road. You're hauling a HOUSE on wheels on the highway, so be sure to play it safe….

PS- MORE guests, and another guest tiny house or two has been added to the HANDS-ON TINY HOUSE BUILDING and DESIGN WORKSHOP that we're hosting in the Memphis, TN area- April 11-13th. Its going to be incredible!

-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen

A $10 bucket washing machine set-up for your tiny house, rv, or camping?

Here's a fun, short, little video from my friend Steve Harrell over at www.tinyhouselistings.com, who built this simple, dual-bucket, clothes washer for just $10.00. This would be great in off-grid applications, for tiny house or rv dwellers, or anyone who is just looking to keep life simple, save some money….and get a heck of an arm workout!

It does work….

Steven is also one of our speakers/co-presenters/hosts at this workshop below, which is filling up fast, and has even more speakers and demos that have been added (that are not listed on the flyer).

If you want to actually BUILD and DESIGN a few tiny cabins, sit in on our bonfire discussions, see a ton of demos, tour 5/6 tiny houses, and more, this is going to be one heck of an event! 

-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen

Deek, David Stiles, and Joe Everson team up on a "Transforming A-Frame Cabin"

"Affordable, Transforming A-Frame Vacation Cabin Only Costs $1200 to Build"

Details on the full plan set for this cabin is below… BUY THE PLANS HERE (click here)

Above: (A Rustic Version) The A-frame in "expansion mode"- without its rolled mosquito nets dropped yet. 

We'll have a few photos here, but Steven Harrell of www.TinyHouseListings.com will have MANY more soon...

So, quite a ways back, since I had befriended the NYC author/architect duo David and Jeanie Stiles ((who have written countless books on building sheds, cabins, tree houses, tiny houses, and forts), and who later went on to write the foreword in the re-released version of my book "Humble Homes, Simple Shacks")), I approached David with the idea of a cabin-design, or plan-set, team up.

"David, I'll design the cabin, give you a bunch of specs and the layout details in my sketch work, and you give it the Stiles' artwork touch and make it into a more readable plan set. How 'bout it?" I asked.

"Lets do it", he replied. (Check out the work of David and Jeanie Stiles at www.StilesDesigns.com- GREAT stuff!)

Below: One of the later pages of the plans, showing a cutaway for bed, sink, and rainwater catchment placement….

Months and months later, as, well, we're both just a little bit busy with other projects, the plan set is now done, a prototype/1st version of the cabin has actually been built (in fact you'll see it at our Memphis, TN-area HANDS-ON, three day tiny house building and design workshop- April 11-13th), AND we shot a full video tour of that very cabin, which we'll have very soon on my youtube channel. www.youtube.com/relaxshacksDOTcom

Meanwhile, here's a glimpse or two of the plans (11 pages in all- with another SIXTEEN full page photos to help you along too), which are now up and available as a downloadable version. We'll probably have a print version available too, or if you want one, email me at kidcedar at gmail.com.

"The Transforming A-Frame Cabin"- Plans/Design by Derek "Deek" Diedricksen, sketches/renderings by David Stiles. 

The idea was to keep it AFFORDABLE to build, EASY and QUICK to build, and to have it so that it could be altered for different uses, or added to, rather effortlessly.

The total cost for a cabin like this, soup to nuts, is right around $1200- and that's using city lumber pricing, meaning, elsewhere, it'd cost less to build. Add in some salvaged, free, or recycled materials, and you could EASILY build this under $1000.

The plans, should you choose to pick up a set, also recommend, and explain, some other versions, or changes that could be made, so as to include more space, a bathroom, a larger loft, an easy addition/extension, and so on.

The cabin's main base is 80 Square Feet (10' wide, by 8' deep). When its roof opens up and its legs are dropped down to transform one end of it into a porch with roll/drop-down mosquito nets that velcro in place, the cabin increases to 110 square feet.

The standing room under the micro loft is 6' 5", and while the loft is mainly intended for storage, you can fit/sleep one person in it if you like- I've done it.

If you'd like to support us and pick up a plan set….

-Downloadable PDF version- 11 pages of plan sets and instructions, and 16 full page photos to help you along your path. You also have an open link to ask us questions during your build. 
$29.95

-PRINT VERSION of the plans- mailed to your door….

US mailed- $40.00
Canada- $45.00
No Overseas for Print Versions- sorry…. its just too expensive to ship, and requires too much paperwork

A BIG THANKS, I might add, goes to Joe Everson, of www.TennesseeTinyHomes.com and www.TinyHappyHomes.com. This is the very first time ever that I designed a cabin and didn't actually build it myself- I just didn't have the time. Joe and his crew built this cabin, in record time, did a fantastic job, and have allowed us to leave it on site of his tiny house workshop/compound in Tennessee, so that students at our April workshop (2014) will be able to see it- alongside 5/6 other cabins.

Again- this cabin will be one of SIX or so that you'll get to see/tour at our HAND-ON TINY HOUSE BUILDING AND DESIGN WORKSHOP near MEMPHIS, TN- April 11-13th. We'll build THREE STRUCTURES together, hear from some incredible speakers, authors, bloggers, builders, architects, and designers, AND take a field trip to Beale Street one night!
There's LIMITED SPACE- so before April 11th, 2014, sign up at the banner on the top of ANY page on www.relaxshacks.com

-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen

This Rhode Island School Teacher lives in the TINIEST of houses….

Rhode Island School Teacher's Customized Tiny House On Wheels…. A Video Tour

Doug Immel's a great guy- just loaded with enthusiasm on tiny house living, and well, just about everything. He recently decided to downsize his life, and in a big way, by moving full time into a tiny home on wheels. This Tumbleweed Fencl model (now their "Cypress") was modified and extended to fit Doug's particular tastes and needs, and has been serving him very well. It has a full shower, a Nature's Head toilet, Dickinson Boat/Marine stove (heater) for warming the place up, and a decent sized kitchen with a good deal of storage.

He came out, with the house and all, to our last Hands-On Tiny House Building Workshop in Massachusetts, where we had a chance to film this interview and walk through.

Our next workshop…. April 11-13th, 2014, Memphis, TN- 3 days of ACTUAL BUILDING, speakers, camping, demos, SIX TINY HOUSE TOURS, and much, much more. You can sign up before that date by clicking on the banner up above on our site…..

We also have Steven Harrell's new Van Dwelling showing up, a rocket stove build, and a solar shower set-up activity….

AND we'll be erecting a 16' Yurt on site too!

-Derek "Deek" Diedricksen