Tiny House: Melissa and Andrew

Melissa and I have been on this building journey since May 15th, 2015 when we received the custom made trailer. We have run out of funds and have a little left on the house before we can finish and move in! Please support us and we will share the support by helping as many people as we can who want to live this way. Thank you!

Here is what we still need:
--- vinyl siding for house $900
--- corrugated metal roofing $300
--- wood stove $500
--- wood for kitchen cabinets $200
--- 2@ 100 watt solar panels $500 each = 1,000

--- total = 2,900

Melissa and I are both on a journey to eat raw vegan foods! Our stories are layed out below:

our website: thrivingvegan.org 

My name is Melissa Guadalupe and my raw food journey started in May of 2010. I had just graduated from Boston University, and my roommate and I thought it would be a great idea to do the Master Cleanse. I was eating extremely unhealthy large quantities and consuming alcohol on a regular basis. I definitely gained the “freshman 15.” Because I wanted to look amazing in a bikini, I thought the Master Cleanse would be a good start to clean out my body, which I managed to commit to for 7 days! During the cleanse I read the book Skinny Bitch, which convinced me to become vegan. Luckily, it wasn’t so hard for me to give up eating meat because my parents only gave us chicken and turkey growing up, and I didn’t even like to eat the meat because the bones grossed me out. In addition to poor eating habits I was also struggling with yeast infections and went to my gynecologist for treatment. Although I changed my diet, I was still consuming alcohol and found it difficult giving up cheese. Oh that cheese! Anyway as usual, my gynecologist prescribed me an anti fungal. After taking this, things got a little better but then much worse. I ended up getting spongiatic dermatitis on my southern region. When my doctor told me this, I asked “What is that?!” His reply was that it was chronic eczema, and I then asked him “How do you get rid of it?” He basically said that I couldn’t and that I should try a steroid cream to see if it helps. I honestly couldn’t believe this! Constant irritation on my private area that cannot be cured?! No way! I thought, “I’ve never had this before in my life! There has to be a way to cure this.” So I started to read more about veganism and raw foods. I read the The Raw Food Detox Diet, The Raw Food Revolution Diet, and juicing books. I found that when I was eating more raw fruits and vegetables, my skin would clear up and everything would get better. When I started to eat more cooked foods, on top of all the stress that I put on myself, the symptoms would come back. I then went to a seminar and saw Chris Karr speak. She was so inspiring, and I read her book, Crazy Sexy Diet. I realized that I had a lot of toxins in my system and decided to get colonics to help clean out my system! My colon therapist was impressed with all the life changes I was making and told me about the website 30 bananas a day. From this website, I found out about Dr. Graham’s book The 80/10/10 Diet and the Woodstock Fruit Festival. I was able to go that summer (2013) and this past summer (2014). I was so inspired by all the people at the Woodstock Fruit Festival, and I definitely knew that I had to make a change. It has been a struggle for me to eat raw and 80/10/10, but I know that by eating this way I am helping my body heal from all the things I put it through. Through our website , I hope to share the knowledge and experiences that I have on this journey, and I hope to help inspire others to take charge of their life and their health!

My name is Andrew O'Neill and my raw food path began before I was born in Florida. My parents were aware of the dangers of conventional foods and chose to raise me in a vegetarian household with organic foods. I have never intentionally eaten meat and I have struggled to understand why people are at peace eating dead animals. Growing up, I struggled to make the connection that what tastes good is not healthy. The importance of healthy food was never explained to me as a kid and so by the time I was a teenager, I was sneaking junk food. At Halloween, I would sneak a handful or two of the snickers bars we were handing out. My brother and I would bike to Stewarts and purchase doughnuts, ice-cream, cookies, and chocolate milk while my parents were away. Whenever I got caught, my mother would just get angry and tell me the food is unhealthy and punish me. Once my brother went off to college and I entered high school, I begin to rethink my food choices. As a vegetarian in high school, it was hard for me to fit in with anyone. Students and friends would always ask me "where do you get your protein from?" I would always tell them that vegetables, nuts, and seeds have protein and I don't ever have to worry about that. One of my professors in college opened my eyes to the impact I have had as a vegetarian my while life. He explained how being vegetarian is one of the most environmentally conscious decisions anyone can make. This made me rethink and appreciate where I was and why simply avoiding meat was so environmental. Later on in college, I began learning more about veganism and factory farming. I took a class on environmental ethics, which essentially taught me that eating dairy is just as ethically bad as eating meat. In January of 2012, I went vegan for a month and felt really great, but did not have the mental will power to stick with the diet. Early in December of 2012, I was talking on the phone with Naomi Call, a good friend from California. She shared a vision with me in wanting to end factory farming and also wishing everyone in the world would transition to a vegan plant based diet. This powerful conversation was the spark for the launching of the website ameatfreemonth.org and a free 30 day wellness program with daily recipes. Working with Naomi and eventually her son Loghan, I was able to stay vegan. Going back to college for the Spring semester, I was able to inspire many of my friends to let go of meat. One benefit I experienced at college was that my butternut squash, potatoes, and garlic were never stollen from the communal fridge because no one wanted such healthy food! For two summers managing at a small, farm-based camp near home, I continued as a vegan and encouraging interested people to sign up for our free wellness program. In the Fall of 2014, I met Melissa who introduced me to raw food. On October 26th, 2014, we both decided to go raw and support each other. As we continue our path on this raw food diet, we will be sharing our experience, knowledge, and research with you on our website! !

We don’t need electricity, water, or propane. All we will need is a south facing location with proper grey and black water filtration system and a little firewood.

 

General House Specifics:

●      Flatbed trailer on wheels was purchased new and custom made by Heavy Hauler: http://www.heavyhaulertrailers.com/store/

●      8 feet and 6 inches wide (road legal)

●      20 feet long

●      11 feet and 6 inches high

●      About 130 actual square feet to walk around

●      The roof is a shed style roof with roughly a 1 foot drop from the high side to the low side

●      There will be at least 3 180 watt solar panels installed on our roof. Ideally the solar panels should face to the south.

●      On the outside of the house just before the hitch of the trailer, we have build a little shed. This holds:

○       2 deep cycle 100 mega amp hour deep cycle AGM 12 volt batteries connected in parallel https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00S1RT58C/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_yHBaxbND560ZT

○      Our 3000 watt pure sine wave DC to AC inverter

○      A battery charge controller

○      An automatic transfer switch between our solar system and shore power hookup

○      A 30 amp electrical hookup and an appropriate adapter to accept power from a regular extension cord.

○      Plus our tools.

●      The solar system we purchased is from this link: http://gpelectric.com/products/solar-extreme

○      The three 160 watt panels are connected in parallel giving us 480 watts total. We have the potential to add up to 25 more panels in parallel to reach 3000 watts. Our current electrical needs (computers, lights, dehydrator, freezer, and other gadgets) run fine off of the 480 watts.

●      The total weight of the house will not exceed 10,000 pounds

●      The house is insulated with roxul (roxul is non-toxic processed stone and comes in batts just like regular fiberglass insulation): http://www.roxul.com/products/residential/products/roxul+comfortbatt

○      All of our walls are insulated with roxul R15

○      Our floor and ceiling are insulated with roxul R 23

●      The bed of the trailer is lined with with sill gasket preventing the wooden 2x6’s from touching the metal and creating a tight seal.

●      The bottom of the floor is lined with aluminum flashing and glued together with ECO Bond an environmental glue.

●      The floor is created from 2x6 boards and insulated with ⅝” inch plywood nailed on top.

●      We are planning to install a light colored bamboo flooring soon.

●      The walls are created from 2x4’s are insulated with roxul and have ⅜” inch plywood on the outside and tongue and groove V joint pine paneling on the inside.

●      The roof is made from 2x6’s with hurricane brackets supporting the rafters on either end. The roxul insulation is in between with ½” inch plywood nailed on top. On the roof, we installed ice and water shield and will be installing a metal corrugated roof soon.

●      We have 6 ⅜” inch threading rods bolted from the roof top plate all the way down through the bottom of the trailer bed to help secure everything while on the road.

●      We will be installing blue vinyl siding with white trim.

Inside Our House Specifics:

●      Water tank and plumbing

○      Directly above the bathroom we have a 65 gallon water tank purchased from tractor supply. This tank will be filled with spring water that we gather either from the farm or from a spring and pumped with a water pump up to fill the tank. We plan on eventually setting up a rainwater collection system.

○      The water tank will be the supply of a gravity fed water system.

○      The whole house will be plumbed using ¾” inch PEX.

○      The water will be plumbed to the shower in the bathroom, the kitchen sink, as well as the water heater.

○      There will be no sink in the bathroom, only in the kitchen.

○      We will plumb a water hookup on the outside of the house near the shed.

○      Berkey or multipure water filters will be installed on the shower and kitchen sink to ensure the water is safe.

○      We will not drink the water from the tank, we will have a separate travel berkey water filter for drinking water.

●      Laundry washer and dryer

○      We will washing and drying our clothes in a hand crank washer and a small low energy electric plug in dryer spinner from this site: http://www.laundry-alternative.com/

○      We plan to hang the clothes outside on a clothing line we create in the warm months and during the colder months we will have an indoor fold out clothes drying rack that will fold out over our tub in the bathroom.

●      Kitchen

○      The kitchen features a full size double sink with a rough edge pine countertop purchased from New Britain Log and Lumber: http://www.manta.com/c/mtmyvmf/new-britain-log-n-lumber

○      Cabinets and shelving under the counter will store kitchen appliances and accessories.

○      We plan to have a small electric cooktop for cooking.

○      Our diet consists mostly of raw fruits and vegetables and so our meals mostly do not involve cooking anything.

○      Under the counter is also a 7.5 cubic foot freezer to store lots of frozen fruits and veggies.

○      All the drain pipes are 2” inches in diameter.

●      Bathroom tub and composting toilet

○      In our tiny bathroom we have a 2’ ft wide x 2’ ft high x 4’ ft long metal trough from tractor supply for our tub.

○      Everything in the bathroom is supported by 2 2x6 rough cut pine boards with ⅝” inch plywood.

○      We have a diverting composting toilet with a black plastic bucket with sawdust to help decompose the stool. A diverting toilet means that the urine is immediately separated from the stool at the toilet seat.

●      Heat, hot water, and our wood stove

○      In the corner of the house, opposite the kitchen, we will have a small cylinder stove from a small company out in colorado: http://www.coloradocylinderstoves.com/Mesa-Stove-Package-MSP-17111G.htm
○      The stove comes with a 1 gallon water heater.

○      The stove would only burn small branch size pieces of wood.

○      For plumbing the hot water line, we are planning to have the first 3’ ft be copper before we switch over to ¾” inch PEX with a recirculation pump to push the water around to the kitchen sink and the tub.

○      We will be placing tile under the stove and rooking metal around the wall for protection from the heat.

●      Clothing storage

○      Since reading Marie Kondo’s book titled: “The Magic Art of Tidying Up” Melissa and I have significantly downsized our clothing and are planning to attempt one more time before fully moving in.

○      Our clothes are going to be stored under the stairs once they are completed.

○      We will have space for both hanging clothes as well as baskets for folded clothes.

●      Stairs

○       The stairs are 2’ ft wide rough edge pine from New Britain Log and Lumber with pine shelving for storage underneath.

○      We will have a live edge branch railing with a guard rail/fence at the loft edge.

●      Smoke and carbon monoxide detector

○      For our safety we have installed a smoke and carbon monoxide detector with a 10 year battery.

○      The detector is installed on the ceiling slightly off from the edge of the loft and easily reachable from the loft or stairs.

●      Computers & internet

○      For internet we are planning on investing in one of verizon or AT&T’s mobile hotspot’s.

○      Melissa and I both have laptops and we currently share a cell phone.

○      Right next to the front door and behind the tub in the bathroom we have a standing computer station.

●      Freezer and food storage

○      Currently we have a 7.5 cubic ft chest freezer and we currently are going back and forth on whether or not we need a fridge at all.

○      Most of the fresh veggies and fruits we eat immediately and everything else we just freeze.

○      The freezer runs well on our solar system.

●      Electrical breaker panel

○      We have a 7 circuit breaker panel clearly labeled located above the kitchen counter and behind the bathroom.

○      The panel also features a main power shut off breaker switch.

○      The 7 different circuits allows us to completely control the amount of power running through the house and save on energy.

●      Grey and black water

○      For grey water coming off from our kitchen sink, bathroom tub, and washing clothes, we were thinking of having a simple filtration system like this: http://inhabitat.com/everything-you-need-to-know-to-build-a-backyard-greywater-wetland/

○      We will only be using natural biodegradable soaps and cleaning products.

○      For the urine, we were thinking something similar to the grey water system without the wetland. Just a gravel stone pit to help it all filter back into the soil.

○      We are completely open to any other ideas about dealing with the grey and black water (urine).

○      We will have to properly dispose of the stoll in our bucket every month or so. I know the field camp has a composting toilet so perhaps we could find out how they dispose of their waste.

○      We are open to other ideas and are still learning about all of this as we are diving into the lifestyle.