1 00:00:00,519 --> 00:00:02,501 Hey everyone., Rob Greenfield here, and 2 00:00:02,501 --> 00:00:06,531 over the next few days I am going to build a tiny house. 3 00:00:06,531 --> 00:00:09,398 From tree to tiny house. 4 00:00:09,398 --> 00:00:11,651 Yes, that's right, from cutting down the trees, 5 00:00:11,651 --> 00:00:13,961 to milling the lumber, to finishing 6 00:00:13,961 --> 00:00:17,228 a tiny house from scratch. 7 00:00:17,228 --> 00:00:19,639 I'm going to walk you through the entire process 8 00:00:19,639 --> 00:00:21,981 and then I am going to move in. 9 00:00:21,981 --> 00:00:32,730 (Music) 10 00:00:32,730 --> 00:00:35,241 This isn't just any tiny house though. 11 00:00:35,241 --> 00:00:37,580 This tiny house is going to be fully 12 00:00:37,580 --> 00:00:40,556 off the grid and built completely out of 13 00:00:40,556 --> 00:00:42,861 wood harvested on this property 14 00:00:42,861 --> 00:00:45,476 as well as second hand materials 15 00:00:45,476 --> 00:00:47,189 right here from the farm. 16 00:00:47,189 --> 00:00:49,093 So this is a tiny house that's designed 17 00:00:49,093 --> 00:00:51,394 to work within the land that it is being 18 00:00:51,394 --> 00:00:54,429 built on and not be a pain to the land. 19 00:00:54,429 --> 00:00:56,661 So where is all of this happening? 20 00:00:56,661 --> 00:00:59,087 It is at Le Reve de Gaia which means the 21 00:00:59,087 --> 00:01:02,666 dream of mother earth, here in Southern France. 22 00:01:02,666 --> 00:01:05,817 Now it's time to build the tiny house. 23 00:01:05,817 --> 00:01:28,977 (Music) 24 00:01:28,977 --> 00:01:32,228 Okay, so here we are at the wood saw now 25 00:01:32,228 --> 00:01:34,580 and this is where the tree that we cut 26 00:01:34,580 --> 00:01:37,347 down on the property actually turns into the lumber. 27 00:01:37,347 --> 00:01:39,797 He bought this land about 7 years ago and 28 00:01:39,797 --> 00:01:42,327 this has pine forests on it that have 29 00:01:42,327 --> 00:01:46,416 been used for forestry for decades now... probably centuries. 30 00:01:46,416 --> 00:01:50,309 And a lot of it was done in a very unsustainable way. 31 00:01:50,309 --> 00:01:52,387 Now he is transitioning this into 32 00:01:52,387 --> 00:01:55,850 sustainable forestry and just moving it 33 00:01:55,850 --> 00:01:59,876 back into, hopefully, a native forest that 34 00:01:59,876 --> 00:02:03,250 is a place for humans, other species, and 35 00:02:03,250 --> 00:02:04,959 the environment to thrive. 36 00:02:04,959 --> 00:02:07,397 So, he is working on managing it 37 00:02:07,397 --> 00:02:11,110 sustainably using this wood to build and 38 00:02:11,110 --> 00:02:14,345 then also it's his source of income. 39 00:02:14,345 --> 00:02:18,652 And behind me is his wood saw and this thing is incredible. 40 00:02:18,652 --> 00:02:21,461 This is the first time I have ever worked with a wood saw. 41 00:02:21,461 --> 00:02:23,900 He bought this for about $8000 prior 42 00:02:23,900 --> 00:02:27,183 because of his work as a forester and it's 43 00:02:27,183 --> 00:02:30,551 amazing what this could do in a community. 44 00:02:30,551 --> 00:02:32,953 Imagine if a community had this they 45 00:02:32,953 --> 00:02:35,053 could come together and build their houses 46 00:02:35,053 --> 00:02:37,370 out of wood, locally harvested, and it 47 00:02:37,370 --> 00:02:41,079 would pay for itself in no time, creating 48 00:02:41,079 --> 00:02:45,117 jobs and opportunity and working with the 49 00:02:45,117 --> 00:02:47,192 land rather than having things shipped and 50 00:02:47,192 --> 00:02:49,575 depending upon huge corporations. 51 00:02:49,575 --> 00:02:53,890 We are going to turn the tree into the lumber. 52 00:02:53,890 --> 00:03:25,382 (Music) 53 00:03:25,382 --> 00:03:27,776 We are working with the trees right now. 54 00:03:27,776 --> 00:03:31,009 Right here is a larger one and this will make 55 00:03:31,009 --> 00:03:33,759 the bigger planks. Behind me, he is 56 00:03:33,759 --> 00:03:36,489 working with about...closer to the size of 57 00:03:36,489 --> 00:03:39,330 the tree that we cut down today. And then 58 00:03:39,330 --> 00:03:42,949 that is going to be used to make the posts for the floor. 59 00:03:42,949 --> 00:03:46,699 So, the larger tree for the planks. 60 00:03:46,699 --> 00:03:48,936 Smaller trees are going to be used for 61 00:03:48,936 --> 00:03:51,990 basically like 4 by 4's. All of these are 62 00:03:51,990 --> 00:03:54,120 trees that were harvested from the land. 63 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:57,620 These have been curing for about 6 months 64 00:03:57,620 --> 00:04:00,250 to a year so that they have the right 65 00:04:00,250 --> 00:04:03,718 level of moisture to be easier to work with. 66 00:04:03,718 --> 00:04:26,349 (Music) 67 00:04:26,349 --> 00:04:28,640 Alright, so we have finished cutting. 68 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:31,819 Again, a lot of stuff was cut prior to today, 69 00:04:31,819 --> 00:04:33,780 but almost everything here is stuff 70 00:04:33,780 --> 00:04:36,700 that we cut today and I want to show you 71 00:04:36,700 --> 00:04:38,620 the different things. So, these wide, 72 00:04:38,620 --> 00:04:41,099 almost like 4 by 4's, these are for the foundation. 73 00:04:41,099 --> 00:04:46,009 And then these are for the foundation as well. 74 00:04:46,009 --> 00:04:48,170 And then these, what we are 75 00:04:48,170 --> 00:04:52,680 calling planks, are for the roof, slash, sides. 76 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:56,160 And then, these are the floorboards, 77 00:04:56,160 --> 00:04:58,430 which you can see are thicker. 78 00:04:58,430 --> 00:05:03,340 All of these came from the different sizes of the trees. 79 00:05:03,340 --> 00:05:05,540 And we started with the trees, 80 00:05:05,540 --> 00:05:07,840 now we've got the lumber and 81 00:05:07,840 --> 00:05:11,017 then it will go from tree to tiny house. 82 00:05:11,017 --> 00:05:27,355 (Music) 83 00:05:27,355 --> 00:05:29,740 Okay, so now we've got the wood milled 84 00:05:29,740 --> 00:05:32,630 and it is time to treat some of it. 85 00:05:32,630 --> 00:05:35,804 We are sanding and we are treating... 86 00:05:35,804 --> 00:05:38,540 staining just the flooring. The reason is 87 00:05:38,540 --> 00:05:40,880 that we want nice smooth floors for 88 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:44,000 walking on barefoot, you know, preventing slivers. 89 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:46,520 But the rest of the house we are not 90 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:48,830 going to sand and we are not going to stain, 91 00:05:48,830 --> 00:05:50,259 and the reason why is we are 92 00:05:50,259 --> 00:05:52,470 actually experimenting with a as natural 93 00:05:52,470 --> 00:05:57,812 as possible build here, and over time 94 00:05:57,812 --> 00:06:01,880 it's not going to last as long as if it was stained. 95 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:04,441 After the house is no longer 96 00:06:04,441 --> 00:06:06,470 something you could live in it's just 97 00:06:06,470 --> 00:06:08,500 returned back to the land. Whether it's 98 00:06:08,500 --> 00:06:11,550 wood breaking down in the forest 99 00:06:11,550 --> 00:06:14,830 or turning it into firewood. So the idea is 100 00:06:14,830 --> 00:06:17,260 that we are designing it extremely 101 00:06:17,260 --> 00:06:19,590 naturally with the wood right on the land 102 00:06:19,590 --> 00:06:22,529 and the wood can go back to the land. 103 00:06:22,529 --> 00:06:25,743 Alright, our last step before finally 104 00:06:25,743 --> 00:06:27,787 building the tiny house is to take some 105 00:06:27,787 --> 00:06:30,269 of these planks and cut them into the 106 00:06:30,269 --> 00:06:33,703 right sizes for the flooring, for the 107 00:06:33,703 --> 00:06:37,588 walls, and we are using, basically a table 108 00:06:37,588 --> 00:06:40,483 saw or a skill saw and if you really 109 00:06:40,483 --> 00:06:42,809 wanted to you could do it with a hand saw 110 00:06:42,809 --> 00:06:44,703 but we've got the tools. 111 00:06:44,703 --> 00:06:55,189 (Music) 112 00:06:55,189 --> 00:06:57,559 Alright, so we have the site. Now the 113 00:06:57,559 --> 00:06:59,819 first step is to create the foundation. 114 00:06:59,819 --> 00:07:02,079 We are having a little bit of a harder time 115 00:07:02,079 --> 00:07:05,579 than planned with that because we 116 00:07:05,579 --> 00:07:07,594 are on a bigger slope than we had thought, 117 00:07:07,594 --> 00:07:09,537 so we are having to raise it up. 118 00:07:09,537 --> 00:07:11,794 But first step is to create the foundation, 119 00:07:11,794 --> 00:07:13,810 level it, then we are going to put on the 120 00:07:13,810 --> 00:07:15,740 floor, then we are going to create the 121 00:07:15,740 --> 00:07:17,950 frame, then we are going to put on the 122 00:07:17,950 --> 00:07:20,745 sides and the roof. And then the last 123 00:07:20,745 --> 00:07:23,245 step will be to put in the doors and windows. 124 00:07:23,245 --> 00:07:26,280 So, we've actually moved the foundation 125 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:28,282 back a little bit so that we didn't have 126 00:07:28,282 --> 00:07:30,401 to put it up as high. And one thing that 127 00:07:30,401 --> 00:07:33,121 I want to mention is on the bottom we 128 00:07:33,121 --> 00:07:36,108 are using Douglas Fir which is more 129 00:07:36,108 --> 00:07:38,650 resistant to rot and will last longer and 130 00:07:38,650 --> 00:07:41,230 then the rest of the housing is spruce. 131 00:07:41,230 --> 00:07:43,445 So, a little bit of Douglas Fir on the 132 00:07:43,445 --> 00:07:45,550 bottom that is contacting the ground and 133 00:07:45,550 --> 00:07:47,120 the rest will be spruce. 134 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:49,390 We got the foundation pretty much set and 135 00:07:49,390 --> 00:07:51,960 it is time to start moving upwards. 136 00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:55,390 We just got this foundation set in really 137 00:07:55,390 --> 00:07:57,431 just about an hour, which for me, was the 138 00:07:57,431 --> 00:07:59,370 part that I was the most worried about 139 00:07:59,370 --> 00:08:01,347 because I am really bad at making things 140 00:08:01,347 --> 00:08:03,983 level or even. Angles, 90 degree angles, 141 00:08:03,983 --> 00:08:06,529 that's what I have a really hard time with. 142 00:08:06,529 --> 00:08:09,139 So, that went really, really well. 143 00:08:09,139 --> 00:08:11,099 Right now we are just putting these giant 144 00:08:11,099 --> 00:08:13,859 screws through and I should mention 145 00:08:13,859 --> 00:08:17,119 this is basically the one material that's 146 00:08:17,119 --> 00:08:20,499 not second hand or from the forest. 147 00:08:20,499 --> 00:08:23,346 These were bought new. And this is pretty 148 00:08:23,346 --> 00:08:24,999 much the main cost, right? 149 00:08:24,999 --> 00:08:27,269 Antoine: Yes, that's the only cost, yeah. 150 00:08:27,269 --> 00:08:28,930 Rob: And some gasoline. 151 00:08:28,930 --> 00:08:31,429 Antoine: Ya, for the chainsaw and the saw machine. 152 00:08:31,429 --> 00:08:33,399 Rob: How much gas do you think we burned? 153 00:08:33,399 --> 00:08:40,059 Antoine: Uh...in total, maybe about 5 to 8 litres. 154 00:08:40,059 --> 00:08:43,867 Rob: Okay so... Antoine: $16...about $20 in gasoline. 155 00:08:43,867 --> 00:08:47,870 Rob: Okay. So, 2 gallons about, less 156 00:08:47,870 --> 00:08:50,720 than $20 worth of gasoline, some screws, 157 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:52,640 and then the rest is from the forest and 158 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:55,670 stuff that was laying around in the barn. 159 00:08:55,670 --> 00:08:58,390 So, it's looking pretty good. 160 00:08:58,390 --> 00:09:00,530 Aright, the foundation is done and we used 161 00:09:00,530 --> 00:09:04,252 about 18 of these and that's it. 162 00:09:04,252 --> 00:09:07,132 Wood, 18 of these with the foundation and 163 00:09:07,132 --> 00:09:09,622 now we are putting on the flooring. 164 00:09:09,622 --> 00:09:13,262 Which is pretty simple. 165 00:09:13,262 --> 00:09:14,752 We just have to line that up to 166 00:09:14,752 --> 00:09:17,341 make it even and then we'll have the flooring done. 167 00:09:17,341 --> 00:09:19,231 Alright, so we have the foundation set 168 00:09:19,231 --> 00:09:23,298 and I am pretty amazed. It's basically 169 00:09:23,298 --> 00:09:27,271 2 ingredients, wood and screws. 170 00:09:27,271 --> 00:09:37,286 And it's solid. It's feeling good... yup, it's 171 00:09:37,286 --> 00:09:41,206 looking solid and that only took probably 172 00:09:41,206 --> 00:09:48,900 2 hours and next step, building it up! 173 00:09:48,900 --> 00:09:51,140 So we are putting up the frame now. 174 00:09:51,140 --> 00:09:53,470 The frame is about as simple as can be. 175 00:09:53,470 --> 00:09:55,350 Antoine said this is the simplest 176 00:09:55,350 --> 00:09:57,680 structure that he has ever built. 177 00:09:57,680 --> 00:10:00,460 And so the frame is just the 4 beams. 178 00:10:00,460 --> 00:10:02,110 We have one up and we have one 179 00:10:02,110 --> 00:10:04,328 sitting here that's going to go up right now. 180 00:10:04,328 --> 00:10:06,680 And then in each of them there are about 181 00:10:06,680 --> 00:10:08,870 16 screws...these heavy duty screws, 182 00:10:08,870 --> 00:10:11,220 both at the top and at the bottom. 183 00:10:11,220 --> 00:10:14,041 So total, for the frame, we've got about 184 00:10:14,041 --> 00:10:17,612 30 of these big screws and then the next 185 00:10:17,612 --> 00:10:20,633 step will be to put the planks right on to the frame. 186 00:10:20,633 --> 00:10:22,472 And we are getting pretty close. 187 00:10:22,472 --> 00:10:26,922 (Music) 188 00:10:26,922 --> 00:10:28,802 Alright, so now we are putting up the 189 00:10:28,802 --> 00:10:30,772 walls which is super simple. We're just 190 00:10:30,772 --> 00:10:34,642 taking these planks that we cut with the 191 00:10:34,642 --> 00:10:37,052 machine and then we are just screwing 192 00:10:37,052 --> 00:10:39,232 them on with a couple of screws. 193 00:10:39,232 --> 00:10:42,047 And they have an overlap, and the overlap 194 00:10:42,047 --> 00:10:44,842 keeps the rain running down the sides so 195 00:10:44,842 --> 00:10:46,582 moisture doesn't stay on there. 196 00:10:46,582 --> 00:10:49,892 And that's it. About as simple as can be. 197 00:10:49,892 --> 00:10:53,363 We are going for simple and natural. 198 00:10:53,363 --> 00:10:55,413 We are putting in the last screws to have 199 00:10:55,413 --> 00:10:58,623 the sides and the roof done. On the top 200 00:10:58,623 --> 00:11:01,443 there is just a little overlap to keep the 201 00:11:01,443 --> 00:11:03,953 rain from coming in and now we just have 202 00:11:03,953 --> 00:11:05,827 to do the front and the back. 203 00:11:05,827 --> 00:11:08,662 Alright, once we finished up the sides 204 00:11:08,662 --> 00:11:10,302 then we went ahead and put on the 205 00:11:10,302 --> 00:11:12,642 front and the back in pretty much the 206 00:11:12,642 --> 00:11:16,122 same method. It was just the overlap 207 00:11:16,122 --> 00:11:17,922 and making sure we had enough overlap 208 00:11:17,922 --> 00:11:19,762 to make sure that rain couldn't get in 209 00:11:19,762 --> 00:11:21,362 and it would go down. 210 00:11:21,362 --> 00:11:23,782 The other thing that I didn't mention was 211 00:11:23,782 --> 00:11:26,051 the doors. We have the door in the front 212 00:11:26,051 --> 00:11:28,221 and then door, slash, window in the back. 213 00:11:28,221 --> 00:11:31,111 And we had to put in framing for that as well. 214 00:11:31,111 --> 00:11:33,351 Just some really simple framing 215 00:11:33,351 --> 00:11:35,682 that Antoine put together in order for 216 00:11:35,682 --> 00:11:37,742 those to go in. A little spot left up 217 00:11:37,742 --> 00:11:40,142 there to do, and once we've done that 218 00:11:40,142 --> 00:11:42,761 we'll have built out the entire house, 219 00:11:42,761 --> 00:11:45,802 itself, and still a little bit to do on the inside. 220 00:11:45,802 --> 00:11:47,990 One thing that I do want to mention is 221 00:11:47,990 --> 00:11:50,100 that I did lay things out in a specific 222 00:11:50,100 --> 00:11:52,580 order, but after everything, there was 223 00:11:52,580 --> 00:11:55,731 a lot of back and forth. We had to go back 224 00:11:55,731 --> 00:11:59,260 to the saw and cut a few new planks. 225 00:11:59,260 --> 00:12:02,851 We ended up cutting the sizes of things 226 00:12:02,851 --> 00:12:06,091 many times throughout these couple of days. 227 00:12:06,091 --> 00:12:08,931 Here is the very basic framing that we did 228 00:12:08,931 --> 00:12:11,161 in order to be able to put in the doors, 229 00:12:11,161 --> 00:12:13,830 slash, windows in the front and back. 230 00:12:13,830 --> 00:12:16,340 And you can see the frame here. 231 00:12:16,340 --> 00:12:19,021 Just a very simple structure using the 232 00:12:19,021 --> 00:12:22,211 same wood from the trees, right here, on site. 233 00:12:22,211 --> 00:12:24,541 So that is the inside of the house. 234 00:12:24,541 --> 00:12:26,080 The house is complete. 235 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:29,434 It is quite small, as you can see. 236 00:12:30,394 --> 00:12:32,021 So there you have it. 237 00:12:32,021 --> 00:12:34,260 From tree to tiny house. That is the 238 00:12:34,260 --> 00:12:37,501 whole process of building this very simple tiny house. 239 00:12:37,501 --> 00:12:39,701 Now, I want to say that this is designed 240 00:12:39,701 --> 00:12:41,981 just to be used during the spring, summer 241 00:12:41,981 --> 00:12:43,961 and fall here in southern France and 242 00:12:43,961 --> 00:12:46,150 it's for woofers or volunteers who are 243 00:12:46,150 --> 00:12:49,081 learning organic farming here at 244 00:12:49,081 --> 00:12:51,451 Le Reve de Gaia. So it's not designed as 245 00:12:51,451 --> 00:12:54,862 a year round structure for one person or 246 00:12:54,862 --> 00:12:56,621 a few people to be living in. 247 00:12:56,621 --> 00:12:59,201 And the key is, whatever you are building, 248 00:12:59,201 --> 00:13:02,514 to design it for the use and the purposes 249 00:13:02,514 --> 00:13:04,754 that you have. 250 00:13:04,754 --> 00:13:07,451 I hope that this video has been helpful 251 00:13:07,451 --> 00:13:12,810 in realizing how simple it can be to build a tiny house. 252 00:13:12,810 --> 00:13:15,609 Now, in the next video I am going to walk 253 00:13:15,609 --> 00:13:18,399 you through the rest of the processes that 254 00:13:18,399 --> 00:13:20,880 I did with the compost toilet and the 255 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:23,662 compost bin and the outdoor shower and the kitchen. 256 00:13:23,662 --> 00:13:25,790 I'll walk you through that in 257 00:13:25,790 --> 00:13:28,060 the next video and give you a tour of 258 00:13:28,060 --> 00:13:30,120 this place as well. 259 00:13:30,120 --> 00:13:32,320 If you got a lot out of this video then 260 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:34,760 make sure you subscribe for more videos 261 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:38,530 to come and like and comment to help this 262 00:13:38,530 --> 00:13:41,730 video get out there into the YouTube world. 263 00:13:41,730 --> 00:13:45,381 I love you all very much and I'll see you again real soon.