PAD Workshop Review *Squee!*

The Portland Alternative Dwelling (PAD) Tiny House Workshop in Portland, Oregon from March 4-5, 2017 was amazing! I squealed with delight as I pulled up to the Historic Kenton Firehouse because there was a beautiful 20 foot Iron Eagle trailer parked out front. Rob Mandzij explained the different features, including perimeter flanges (wide flat edges to build on), anchor holes (to keep the house attached to the trailer), and fender flashing (to prevent water from getting under the siding). I can hardly wait to have one of my very own!

Most beautiful trailer ever!

Dee Williams is a really dynamic presenter, and greeted us with a hands-on demonstration that illustrated how destructive the earthquake- and hurricane-like conditions of hurtling down the highway can be to a tiny structure that isn’t properly reinforced and/or correctly secured to the trailer. It was really empowering to hear Dee talk about how she built her own house without prior experience, and how in the process made connections to the people living around her build site, who volunteered both time and supplies to help her succeed. This workshop was very much aimed at DIY (do it yourself) builders, and there were no sales pitches save a quick mention of a discount on building plans to PAD Workshop graduates.

Dee authored an eBook (that I received as part of my workshop registration fee) called Go House Go, and I would have to describe it as nothing but the best $20 you can spend if you want to learn about tiny house construction techniques. Her background in architectural design shows through in the simple pencil and paper illustrations, and all the building jargon is defined in plain English which, for the layperson, is really refreshing. Between this book and the content covered at the workshop, I feel confident that I too can build my own tiny house on wheels – and that it will radically change my life in very happy ways.

Dee’s co-presenter, Joan Grimm, is a pocket community creator and an engaging environmental educator who knows a shit-ton (pun intended!) about composting human poop (sometimes referred to as “humanure”). Flush toilets, though a marvel in engineering, require connection to a sewer which can really limit one in finding a permanent home for their tiny house. They are also heavy, require (additional) internal plumbing, and contaminate a whole lot of clean water that then requires treatment. Composting toilets, which range from $50 home-constructed seat-and-bucket-based contraptions to $1,000+ commercially available models, seem to be the most popular option among DIY builders. They perform well both on and off-grid, but do require the user(s) to, at some point, deal with the contents. Joan devised a compost finishing system using 50-gallon barrels, and is able to use the compost on her non-edible backyard plants in about a year. I think composting toilets are fantastic, and I promise to devote a whole post to tiny house toilets in the future.

We also had a visit from Derin Williams of Shelterwise, a tiny house design and building company, who gave us his top ten building tips and generously agreed to answer one email question from each workshop attendee, but also has a reasonable consulting rate and lots of experience to draw from. I’m sketching out a layout that includes a wood-burning stove on the loft along with a couch that pulls out into a bed, and look forward to getting his opinion when I have a to scale drawing.

Outside the gate to Caravan

Dee, Kol and I pose in front of Kangablue

The absolute highlight of this workshop (apart from the joyful crowd of soon-to-be-builders) was the trip to the Caravan Tiny House Hotel founded and run by Kol Peterson and Deb Delman. All of the houses here are gorgeous works of art with full indoor plumbing. I really recommend looking through the website at all of the photos. We were able to explore four of the six houses currently available to rent on a nightly basis – the other two were occupied. I arrived at Caravan convinced that I was going to build my tiny house with a sleeping loft over the kitchen accessible by ladder, but after climbing up and down and crawling into and out of the lofts a couple of times, my back was already starting to ache. (I had emergency surgery two and a half years ago for a ruptured disc in my lower back, and though I’ve mostly recovered, I don’t have the same shimmying along the floor ability that I used to.) I also noted how long it would take me to climb back up/down if I forgot something on the other level, and knew I definitely needed more head clearance than was available in the Rosebud. What to do..?

The Rosebud storage loft fits a suitcase…

But the loft in Skyline is ready for a party!

But then I opened the door to Skyline and fell in love! Instead of a sleeping loft it has a sleeping nook underneath a raised living room accessible by a staircase. I love sleeping in enclosed spaces, and the nook will be less noisy than a loft when it’s raining down onto my metal roof. The living room will also easily convert into a comfortable guest sleeping area. I think I would like mine to be a bit different, to accommodate a wood stove, a larger closet area, and a bookshelf staircase, but I’m thrilled to have found an option that fits me. Also, if I put a retractable screen on the far wall, I can have all my friends come over to watch a movie on a projector. Perfection!