Very low cost housing is easy to make. The difficulty is of course zoning ordinances. Approaching the legal criterion is of course different than that of practical housing. We shall assume that all of us would be dissatisfied with a cardboard box home unless the climate is especially arid. Wee can then move on to basic shapes and materials for construction beside chicken witre and paper mache covered with liquid epoxy.
Of course one shouldn’t quickly speed beyond chicken wire, tubular metal bent with pipe benders to make dome and quonset hut shaped frames covered then with lightweight plywood with pipe clamps through bolted. many frames may be the bases of added on materials such as the kind of fiberglass used in boat building. Some stores sell fiberglass resin and hardener for less that 40 dollars per gallon, and when rolled on to thin plywood it makes a fairly instant waterproof material. Plain resin and catalyst without cloth will keep things dry a while. Sunshine is the primary problem for fiberglass-it breaks it down-so its a better choice for cloudy, coastal rainy regions than it would be for Arizona.
Since most people are comfortable working with wood, consider building lightweight shapes such as Euclidean solid’s. Think small and square square feet as a factor of weight of materials and cost.
Gusseted building frames are rather easy to build with power tools.You need a forty dollar chop saw and maybe a jig saw to make gussets and cut two by fours at an appropriate angle. There are a number of free plans out there on the Internet describing how to build one of those large barn shaped sheds sold everywhere inn America now days. You may start your own business. Modularlize the structures and build a few.
It is a little difficult for novice builders to realize that most structures can be scaled from small to large size. You might make a gable roofed building with four foot high walls, or one ten feet high. The fundamental issue is in load bearing capability when buildings get too large for the materials and design, or when heavy winds or snows can pile up on a structure not strong enough to survive. You may want want to build small to get aq little experience before constructing a larger building. The foundation could be a concrete footing or concrete pier, and then again it might be treated four by fours stacked up or even logs. It is helpful to practice and to remain within practical social criteria of a silk and mass production era such that everything is hunkie dorrie.
I have discovered the worldflower geodesic dome plans are fairly practical. They can be scaled up and recursively duplicated to make a lot of tetradomes for instance. Needless to say you should buy an electric or propane toilet as soon as possible, and conserve water that you make tring in plastic containers occassional.
If you are able to get title to a right property, and can clear the building code, you ought to have a home built for less than five thousand dollars within a couple of months that will keep you through both heat and cold. Spend some time on landscaping so the wild quality values are high…many plants can be relocated for virtually nothing. Plan for a garden space if possible. Think about a a couple of solar panels and a battery. Use a self-priming lifetime paint from Lowes such as Duramax.
A number of books have been written on the topic of building low cost shelters with dirt walls, concrete blocks and plastic sheets. With a little time the imagination can make these structures elegant. Just keep them safe and don’t make anything that can fall in adverse conditions.
Learn more about this author, Gary C. Gibson.