Said his mother.
Cheryl Cerk said her son didn't even know how to drive a nail into a piece of wood before he began researching tiny homes, but hundreds of hours of YouTube-watching walked him through the entire process....Here's the Daily Mail version of the story — that is, less text, more pictures (and — I know — man in shorts).
The house, nearly finished but in livable condition, has steel double doors at the entrance, a compostable toilet, a shower and two 100-watt solar panels, which will supply enough power to charge his cellphone and laptop, light the home and provide fuel to power for his cook-top in the kitchen.
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YouTube tutorials are one of the greatest things to come out of this century so far. I'd wager that as the century goes on, they remain in the top 100 and probably play a part in some of the other advances.
"(and — I know — man in shorts)"
Tiny pants.
In a fair and just world, good-looking, sexually available women would be lined up at the door of that place, each one waiting for her turn.
Eric the Fruit Bat said...
In a fair and just world, good-looking, sexually available women would be lined up at the door of that place, each one waiting for her turn.
The kid calls it the "Stabbin' Cabin"....but not in front of his mom.
I used to recruit on campus. All other things equal, this kid goes to the top of my list.
The house is not "a trailer;" Cerk just moved it on a trailer.
The cities of Seattle and Berkeley could use several thousand of these - strategically placed throughout their cities. Call them inner-city condos for the homeless.
It's pretty clear to me that a bureaucrat in Ann Arbor will have his or her panties in a big old bundle over this ingenious student. What if everyone who wanted to live somewhere just brought in a tiny house they build themselves, after all? Why are the bureaucrats employed, after all, if not to say NO EFFIN' WAY!! to people like this?
BTW -- I knew before reading that the guy was not from a city.
This man's time is short. In a world where they are arresting 10 year olds for running their lemonade stand how long will it be before code enforcement show up to demand the structure be demolished? (it may be the same people)
They'll probably seal the door with an orange violation sticker. The plebs cannot be allowed to live as they please. Who would then need the bureaucracy?
The city workers of A2 will be looking everywhere for this noncompliant house. Maybe the city council members from Madison (who have presumably allowed those near east Washington) should put in a good word about tiny houses.
Youtube is the best. Seriously.
Kudos to this kid too.
I take that back after looking at the pictures. That house apparently is built on a trailer, so that it can be moved, if or when code enforcement shows up, which they may not, since this rig looks to be parked on a farm in the county.
The house is not "a trailer;" Cerk just moved it on a trailer.
Yes, please, let's not confuse TINY HOUSES with those awful prole TRAILER things! Trailers BAD. Tiny houses GOOD. It's better to have a tiny house, and then get a trailer to move it.
Poor people live in trailers. Hipsters live in Tiny Houses.
Got it?
Beefcake.
An "Airstream" trailer is not exactly a humble abode for the proles, Carol.
But shovels and mattocks are different things, though both are used for cultivating the earth.
A friend of mine lived on the Stanford campus while he was in medical school camping out at night in a sleeping bag and storing it in a tree during the day. That was back in the late 50s and he played hide and seek with the campus police for two years. Finally, in his third year, he married a woman who was a stripper in San Francisco. They were still married after 30 years when I knew them. He would shower in the gym.
When I was in medical school in the 60s, I knew a guy who lived in the County Hospital for a year, sleeping in call rooms and eating off the hospital food carts. Of course security was casual in those days. I knew of patients who camped out in stair wells in the hospital after they were discharged.
Sounds like thesis material should he choose to pursue it. Nice job.
So, umm, did he do "all the research" on the "ambiguous" housing laws?
"acm said...
YouTube tutorials are one of the greatest things to come out of this century so far. I'd wager that as the century goes on, they remain in the top 100 and probably play a part in some of the other advances.
9/6/15, 7:39 AM"
I wonder if he'll look back in ten years and realize he learned more from free YouTube tutorials than from an education that cost as much as a real house.
"In a world where they are arresting 10 year olds for running their lemonade stand"
Every time I read those first three words, my inner reading voice immediately shifts to dramatic movie preview mode, with Don Lafontaine doing the voice-over. It really does add a lot more drama and looks forward to the explosions and overthrow of our pernicious bureaucrarchy.
Ann Arbor winters, with a propane heater? Plus you're off the grid, so no water to put out the fire, no landline phone to identify the location (which is presumably well concealed from zoning enforcement). Hopefully this is just a PR stunt, and he's not actually planning on living there through the year.
Ann Arbor winters, with a propane heater? Plus you're off the grid, so no water to put out the fire, no landline phone to identify the location (which is presumably well concealed from zoning enforcement). Hopefully this is just a PR stunt, and he's not actually planning on living there through the year.
Oh for God's sake. Don't infantilize this adult. He seems perfectly capable of handling just about anything thrown his way -- he built his own house after all.
Anyway, it's an El Nino winter -- AA will be warm.
Robother would not have enjoyed life with our grandfathers, surviving the winter in a dugout on the prairie.
Every leftist to the student: You didn't build that.
Where does the water for showers and washing come from?
I may reach out to him and help him construct a better heating solution than a propane heater, IF that's really what he's planning on using. I lost a couple of Soldiers because they used propane heaters to warm their cold tent while they slept, the flame went out and so did their oxygen supply. I'd hate to see something like that happen to this kid- America needs more like him.
Why in tarnation would anyone want or need a landline? Unless, of course, he really is outside cell range.
Every leftist to the student: You didn't build that.
Yeah. Somebody else made that happen!
It's not a bad idea and I appreciate the initiative and hard work involved. The cost-benefti claims, though, are a little suspect--I doubt he included the cost/opportunity cost of his own labor and time, nor the "free" land rent, use of amenities, regulatory risk, etc.
" may reach out to him and help him construct a better heating solution than a propane heater, "
Yes, that struck me, too. After all, it is Michigan.
A local landowner is letting him live there and provided water, etc. Good job, but nothing without that charity.
Here's my favorite DYI. Australian building a shelter with just his bare hands and what is available around him.
...more pictures (and — I know — man in shorts).
How thankful that viking warriors and hunters in loincloths didn't have Althouse around to judge their masculinity. Or Apollo.
This guy is in pretty good shape, young, building his own dwelling, showing uncommon action, initiative and resourcefulness, etc., etc., etc. If all that doesn't make him masculine enough to avoid being judged on as ridiculous a basis as having legs then who knows what would.
13,000 seems a bit much, it's cute though and he learned some framing skills. Why use Cedar siding it's expensive? Why use that huge glass door? No matter how efficient it will suck the heat out. He probably won't be spending much time there.
-- he built his own house after all.
You mean he built a shed. A nice shed, to be sure.
But where is he going to put it? Whose land will it sit on? It sounds like he is bumming of another property. Which is fine if that's the agreement he has, but would't it be even cheaper to stay at home? (I know, I know). But the cost of living includes things like water, sewer, electricity and the land you occupy. The 4 walls aren't necessarily the big cost.
Truly attractive people can wear whatever they damn well please. The rest of us....
Hundreds of hours of YouTube watching? How did he keep up with his academics?
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