The Rustic "Temporary" Microhouse

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Scrape the bottoms of holes level, using a plumb bob on the level line to get the bottoms of all holes on the same plane (so tops of piers will be level as well). Add 6 inches of gravel if you have it. Tamp well. Remove and replace the lines as needed to set your foundation blocks so the tops of piers are plumb and level with the string, outer corners just under where the twine crosses.

Now, place your sill beams and attach floor joists to hold them in place. Attach flooring to joists at least around the edges of the platform. Set in comers and wall posts so they are plumb all around. Tack angled scrapwood braces to the sill, as needed, to keep verticals plumb. Join (slipping tenons into mortises) and tack-fasten horizontal brace-beams between vertical posts. Then, fashion the upper plate beam all around. Set in and fasten ceiling joists and ceiling.

Put on the roof. Install pre-hung windows and doors. Finish up by installing siding and adding trim boards to cover seams at corners, around sill, fascia, and Scotia, to seal the eaves, and around doors and windows.

Expanding the Microhouse

From leftover wood, Thoreau built a woodshed. You'll need one too—place it between house and privy so each tripper out can bring in some wood on resuming. Put the compost heap on the path as well for easy disposal of kitchen scraps. Lean-tos are easy additions for a front porch or at the rear, as a summer kitchen where you take the stove during warm months. Build them with plank floors and tin roofing on 4 x 4 roof and floor frames on stone or concrete-block piers, the same way you built the house.

A Garret

To use the attic for living space or to add a story, first build a stair. Pull out the bed and cut a hole in the ceiling under the roof peak at the back wall, frame the opening, and build a ladder or stair up the wall.

To finish the attic, a narrow ceiling ran be made by adding short stump joists just under the roof peak. Short knee walls can be added a few feet in from the walls along the eaves, and dormers can be thrown out on one or both sheds of the roof to give a more expansive feeling to the garret. Add insulation, a vapor barrier, and fasten on T&G or half-lap boards or recycled paneling to finish the room.

To add a story, remove roofing and rafters (and pat yourself on the back for using removable fasteners). Build a replica of the first story atop the walls, using the top plate of your fast story as the sill plate of the second. Rebuild the roof.

A full two-story microhouse can look a little too much like a little tower. To create a structure with a slightly lower profile, build side walls that are only half-height. This will give you a more nicely proportioned story-and-a-half mini-home.

SOURCE LIST

Unless otherwise indicated, all textual quotes are from Walden by Henry David Thoreau, a book in the public domain.

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