Now, first of all, I want to put one notion to rest right here and now. This is something that I've come face to face with myself along my own journey. And, truthfully, this applies to pretty much anything in life. Do not confuse the idea of costing little to no money with being cheap or sub-standard. Is it true that you get what you pay for? Sure it is! But remember that money isn't the only means of "paying" for something. When you pour every ounce of blood, sweat, and tears into a project - every drop of energy, strength, and faith that it will work - the overwhelming cost can get quite staggering. You are paying quite the price in doing so. And yes, you will get what you pay for in that sense. Don't ever let the monetary value of something fool you into believing you're getting something of higher or lower quality. That is rarely the case. I'll get into resources in a later post. For now, let's focus on the basics of the build, itself.
Now before you decide to build it yourself, you kind of have to decide what it is that you're going to build, right? What are your specific skill sets? What can you learn within whatever time frame you're looking at? What are you legitimately going to be able to do, and feel safe living in, for however long it will take to make your homestead livable? Are you going to put it together and then move it to your site? Or are you planning to build it onsite? These are all things that need to be considered. But I say to dream, and dream big. The bigger the better. Amazing things can happen the bigger you allow yourself to dream, even if it's only meant to be your temporary home. Think outside the box. Or better yet, get rid of the box altogether. Do something unconventional. Let your imagination really go crazy.
Do you want to have a yurt, but don't want or have the money to invest in buying one? Go and do some research, and find out how the Monguls and Turks build theirs. If you are really enterprising (and have the extra time on your hands) felt your own wool for the walls. Even if you don't do it the same way, you can get some great ideas that have already passed the test of time. Or instead of fabric, use a method that is similar in style to building with cob, like here. Or if you want to make sure it remains easily portable, build it onto a small trailer, like here. While these are pre-made, a creative mind could easily build something similar.
If you have some seriously decent skills to go along with the time, try taking that small trailer, and transform it into an actual travel trailer (here), or go retro and make it into a teardrop trailer (here). I even found this one, which I think is absolutely genious. It works great for an individual, but maybe not so much for a family. Basically, it's a small teardrop trailer, built specifically to attach to a bicycle. Or maybe something like this. I really do love this idea! Or for something really "out of the box", check this one out. Ok, so it may not be truly functional. But it is seriously creative!
You could always find an old RV of whatever size that's in need of some rather major help, and transform into whatever you envision. You could even do it with a van, like this young guy did. Now, what I've chosen to do, is to go and get an old school bus to work with. Now you can find them in relatively good condition for a bit more money, like here or here, for example. Or, again, if you don't mind the work, you can get some really cheap from auction sites. See here. More often than not, they won't run, or at least not very well, thus, the lower the price. So some level of mechanical know-how will probably be needed. And, of course, as with any conversion, you can choose whether you want it to have traditional utility hookups, or alternative energy sources.
If portability isn't an issue, and you want to build your temporary home right on your property, then you can always do a small cob, cordwood, or earthbag home, literally, for dirt cheap. You could even use pallets for the frame, and then fill the walls with a cob or rammed earth type mixture. Just remember that with these options, ample time will have to be alotted for the cob to dry completely. Depending on how arid or humid your climate is, that could take days, or even weeks.
When it comes to building things yourself, there really is just about no limit to what you can do. Use any of these ideas, come up with your own, or mix and match however you please. And there are oh, so many other options out there that I can't even begin to cover them all. As with anything else, please do your homework, though. I cannot stress this enough. Even with smaller structures, many communities have various codes and restrictions. They can vary greatly from one area to another. Make sure you know. Beyond that, just have fun!
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