Posted on 10/15/2019 6:14:09 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
When Amy and Brady King started experimenting with how to build durable, reusable temporary housing that would be easy to transport and assemble, they were imagining a product to assist people after natural disasters such as hurricanes and floods that usually struck far from the Northwest.
But their first big customer ended up being close to home and for an ongoing, social emergency — the Northwest’s homelessness crisis.
Three years ago the Kings launched Pallet, an Everett, Wash. company that sells temporary shelters made of hard, plastic panels.
Brady King, a contractor and trained firefighter, was inspired to tackle the problem after seeing the mediocre shelter options available following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Alternatives such as tents are prone to getting mildewed and don’t perform well in extreme temperatures or heavy snow. Wood-constructed mini homes can be hard to transport and are also at risk of mold and rotting.
(Excerpt) Read more at geekwire.com ...
K, where’s the toilet?
A while back I saw some 400 square feet houses in Panama City. They are still recovering from Hurricane Michael.
They were cute and also had smaller but still usable appliances. They were technically mobile homes but I think they were intended to be placed permanently. They looked like regular houses.
I think a young couple could live fine in one at least as a first home. I have claustrophobia so count me out.
Ok then...
“It takes 20 minutes and no tools to assemble one of the buildings. Smaller units measuring 64-square feet that sleep up to four people cost $3,500-to-5,000, depending on which options are included. The 100-square-feet unit is $5,500-to-7,500.”
Some of my barracks in the Army had a separate latrine in another building. Didn’t hurt me.
Do you know about the Sears houses? Tiny, efficient cottages, You could buy them as a kit from the Sears catalog in the early 20th century. And now the few that are left are worth the big bucks!
I think Sears sold large houses too.
You may remember this Iowa company which has done something similar, using their prefab metal buildings for emergency housing, at roughly the same price:
https://www.sukup.com/Buildings/144/Safe-T-Home
“And by hiring people who can struggle to find work — including former inmates, military veterans or people eligible for food stamps”
You know, as a military retiree and veteran, I just don’t consider myself in the same category as former inmates or people eligible for food stamps. I find that a tad offensive.
My parents wanted to be able to visit where they grew up so they purchased 7 acres in a rural area. They planned to eventually build a house there.
Daddy decided to build a cabin so they could spend a few days visiting relatives, then go back home. Daddy and I built everything except the septic tank. The exterior and interior were 8X10 pieces of plywood.
I would guess around 15x25 feet. The bathroom was small with only a shower, no tub. It was basically one open room, very sturdy but plenty of room for them and if I wanted to use it too but not for both. After a year we added on a laundry room so they could stay longer.
If a person had to just survive in that cabin it would have been fine. Also had a sink, small refrigerator and stove. Also two nice windows.
That is just too small. You wouldn’t be living just surviving.
Sears sold other designs, but they sold a lot of cottages. These were often 2-bedroom cottages (considered a generous space for the time) but a lot were only one bedroom.
They were very popular in the South and were actually pretty well constructed, so some of them (now about 100 years old) are still with us.
They sleep 4? People?
Have you ever heard of Jim Walter Homes? They were only finished on the outside. The assumption was the owner would finish it on the inside.
They were pleasant little houses but they had a very distinctive look and everyone immediately knew you had bought a Jim Walters home. They eventually changed the design so they didn’t stand out like a sore thumb.
Actually it was a good idea for people who could not afford anything else.
That’s hideous and is not a home for anybody, even one person.
I worked with a Catholic organization on the Bowery when I was a teenager, helping the washed-up derelicts (mostly family-less, older and sometimes alcoholic merchant marine), and they stayed in what were then referred to as flophouses.
These were basically large dorms with cubicles fenced off from each other with chicken wire, not only around the sides but across the top. This was mostly to keep the influx of young junkies from stealing the little the old guys had.
This doesn’t look a lot better. In fact, it looks worse and even more dangerous,
As close as the nearest curb, I suppose.
Yes. My daughter worked with Habitat for years, and the houses are more or less identifiable. They were simple, efficient but livable.
Some people did things with them, some people didn’t, and some people didn’t even pay their mortgages and lost them. This was because they were so accustomed to living in “government housing” that they didn’t realize people had to pay for their housing and do things like change the lightbulbs and buy a screwdriver to fix things.
Home Depot has all sorts of classes for first time homeowners, obviously directed at people who are becoming responsible for their own homes, and nobody ever went to them. Very frustrating!
LOL...Ha, ha, ha. Amy, you just don't understand people.
Nice warehousing of bums.
That wasn’t a problem for us. Daddy could do anything mechanical. He was a certified car mechanic, a carpenter, an electrician and a plumber. He could get by as a mason.
I was far inferior but if I had him to show me how I did a lot including swapping out a transmission, and an engine. When I swapped out the motor I was amazed how easily Daddy found top dead center by attaching a 12 volt bulb to number one plug wire.
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