Sitting out in the cold and wet while listening to the uncertainty of the future in the news and at work, I started debating new choices. It was time to consider better housing and crunch the numbers to see what was viable. First I had to consider what my time was worth. If I had learned to consider that years ago, my bank account would be fatter and my piles of stuff would be significantly smaller. As I researched different shelter types and costs for the finished product purchased outright, I would calculate the total minus material costs and figure how many hours that would be at my current net hourly pay. Of course there are other factors, but this narrowed it down quickly if I was realistic about the time possibly required. My available space and the hill that is my parcel in the world dictated a lot already.
Living in Floyd County, alternative options are a common feature. There is a yurt company that always looked interesting and had several examples around. I thought about where I could build a raised round deck to put one. I have a brush- and briar-choked pile of leftovers from my addition that was the only place with potential. First the spot would need to be cleaned and prepped, which would be a major job unto itself. Accessing the spot was an issue because it would be uphill across grass and bare muddy areas that wouldn’t tolerate the traffic for long. Only my lawn tractor could get to the spot, and it has its limits if there’s anything heavy to haul. Materials would have to be purchased, and a round deck or a deck with 6 or more sides would have to be built. A square floor seemed like it would allow too much water to collect and possibly enter under the edges.
Earlier in life I worked with a guy putting up Deltec round houses. They came in prefab floor and wall panels with appropriately sized trusses nailed to a heavy metal cylinder suspended in the center. He always had someone else do the foundation so learning how to calculate for the shape was not my problem. Appraising round houses later on was a tribulation because they’re difficult to measure and almost impossible to draw on the software I used back then. Those houses were built on the coast a lot because they could withstand a hurricane when properly anchored. The wind flowed around them better.
The cost for both deck and decent yurt was still prohibitive. A lot of yurts advertised were made of materials that don’t breathe and require some sort of air system to avoid moisture accumulation. I had more than enough experience with that. I wasn’t feasibly going to have electricity at that spot anyway. After I moved back in, what would I do with it? Location, cost, time and future utility edged it out of my mind.
An RV was the next thought. I tend to run vehicles into the ground because I hate the purchase process. I’m not good at nor fond of wheeling and dealing. The idea of buying a low-cost used RV on short notice made me turn a little green. We didn’t have a significant amount of available funds for anything that would be big or decent and didn’t want any more debt than we already had. Sure, an RV has waste and water tanks as well as electrical fixtures for modern convenience. But where would I dump it? Then pumping it up the hill to the septic tank and installing the fittings for that are additional expense. A really cheap used unit might need repairs to be functional anyway. Buying something like that in a hurry under duress just didn’t make good sense to me.
Constructing a building was the next logical idea. I sat around with a ruler and graph paper drawing and calculating sizes that would fit my current spot. Pricing materials, with some wiggle room for added expenditures, made me start seriously thinking this could be it. I began mulling the construction process over in my mind and what style building would be most efficient and useful both now and later. I imagined it sitting on posts just past my tent spot in the yard, partially where my chicken tractor (moveable chicken house) currently sat. The problem was, my lowest septic line ran across the hill just above that spot and tended to make the ground really soft from there down. I could build where the tent sat, but this was going to take time. And I would be out of a place to live in the process. Having plenty of construction experience in the past taught me that there will always be unexpected problems and delays.
For grins I started looking into prefab buildings. I found the surrounding dealers and researched online and in person. Some companies will put all their models with retail prices online with deference to the dealership. Others give you nothing at all. The cream rose to the top in the form of G&G Sales in Christiansburg after scoping out what was available. I took pictures and noted the posted prices and went home to mull it over. Being built inside and mass produced allowed their retail price to beat my overall time and cost after even minimal time was considered. It would be better built than I could accomplish anyway.
I had already started discussing the fact that I needed better digs with Lydeana. Of course I overdramatized the hurricanes, floods and similar natural disasters that plagued the tent on a daily basis. She agreed, and we looked at the finances to assure we could make it happen. We had each just received our $1,200 stimulus checks and that helped pay for over half of it. We mulled over pictures and options and narrowed it down to two based on what I found about minor specifics from the dealer. That day I went back and picked one out. The dealer was a nice guy, and as we talked about the process I told him what I was doing. Delivery timing was an unknown factor because his guy had several in progress over a broad area. I had to tear everything down as close to the delivery time as possible to avoid several nights in the little cat fort I transitioned through at the start. It was Saturday, and he thought it would be Monday at the earliest but probably later. We sealed the deal and I went home to start breaking camp. That evening there was a rainbow after a brief shower. A sign from God that my ark was about to land.
It came down faster than it went up. I of course made piles in front of the garage with a tarp over anything not fully waterproof. The weather was slightly cool and the wind did kite some of the walls a little if I didn’t maintain a good grip until they were folded away. All the boards and strips of wood were carefully stacked aside for their next life. The spot was swept clean and allowed to dry. I took my camp chair and sat in the middle of the spot for a period of reflection and appreciation.
I set up the cat fort and put in the bare necessities consisting of a sleeping bag, ground pad, shave kit, head light, bottle of water and a fresh change of clothes. The cats were perturbed to say the least. I wasn’t sad to be sleeping on the ground. The raised bed I had made was terrible to sleep on. I’m 6’2″ and the boards were 6′ so I would stagger pulling the boards out lengthwise to make a compromise. The middle board was out under my head with six-inch spaces on either side to the next. The two adjacent boards were pulled out the other direction and landed under my feet. My feet always stayed in place because the cats liked to lay on the bag in between my legs, effectively pinning them down. I lost a lot of sleep when a cat was at the very foot over that space between boards, and I would shift, dropping them on the ground before they could rouse from their kitty dreams. I would lay there chuckling for at least another hour.
I went to work Monday morning and felt like an expectant mother praying for a fast delivery. As I started home, Lydeana called and said the delivery guy was a few minutes away. I took off, hoping to be there to make sure it was placed right where I wanted it. I passed him just after he left, only half a mile from the house. He was fast and set it perfectly. The ark had hit dry ground.
Back Yard Shack 