Arnold, CA…Well today’s video isn’t very exciting. But is necessary…for the “facilities” we are going with a composting toilet. It is just a fancy word for a litter box for humans. This old fashioned method is all the rage in the tiny home world. Many use nothing more than a 5 gallon bucket with a toilet lid on top. For us though that seemed to be a little too up close and personal with our digested food so we are going with 20 gallon trashcan.

With our infrequent use it should last several months. Standard practice is after each use to cover said digested food with sawdust or other organic material. This helps not only start the composting process it eliminates almost all odor. In many ways this has become the modern outhouse. Even better though as there is no contact with your fecal material with your soil or your environment.

When the container gets full we plan on zip tying it closed, date it and then place it in a remote area of the property for two years which is long enough to safely compost human fecal material and render it inert and safe for use and compost.

Human fecal material is a real health risk and in projects like this that responsibility lands firmly in your lap. But is really isn’t rocket science. It just needs to be isolated for long enough to render it inert. It is certainly more sanitary that even our traditional garbage service where diapers, depends etc are usually mixed in the rest of your household trash.

When we start building our larger log cabin next year we plan on putting in a standard septic system. In the video today you will just see me clearing the path to the area for our composting toilet and outdoor shower.

About The Chainsaw Cabin
The Chainsaw Cabin is our first building, a small 120 square feet shed/cabin on Hewn Hill. All lumber will be hand milled with a small inexpensive electric chainsaw. This is to see if anyone can build a small functional building with literally tools you can find at a garage sale and our only costs will be roofing, fasteners & glass for windows.

Henry David Thoreau’s cabin was only 10 x 15 and not much bigger than you can legally build today without a permit in most counties. For the Chainsaw cabin while it will only be 10 x 12 it will have a sleeping/storage loft. So if you are staying for a night or two at least you will have separate work, living & sleep areas.

In 1854 is cost the tiny home pioneer $28.13 to build his modest abode.  With inflation that comes in at $962.80 in todays shrinking dollars.  That is our goal to build our small structure with doors, windows and roofing for less adjusting for inflation than Henry did many years ago.

We are starting with outbuildings to get the property functional. Places to store tools, a solar shed & a place to sleep if need be. This is phase one and we hope to get that done this year starting with the Chainsaw Cabin then learning how to build a log structure on our next shed.

Next year, Lord willing we will start on our main two story, traditional log cabin built with logs from the property and probably a few other locally sourced ones as well.

About hewn.co
At Hewn we are going take you on a journey to see if it is still possible to build a functional, small homestead that anyone, even someone making minimum wage can build and own. We are going to try this in California no less. Join us as we attempt to build an off grid, solar powered, rustic, pioneer style homestead.

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