http://www.tinyhousedesign.com/ebook/tiny-prefab-ebook/

The design, materials, and size were the result of a request and set of base requirements. I just finished the final design and will now send off a free copy of the Tint Prefab ebook to the folks that asked for this design. I have no idea if it will be built or if it will really meet their needs. I hope so… but I suspect someone somewhere will find this simple panelized building useful.

1) Khayelitsha is a windswept, flat and barren township situated only 3 miles inland in a winter rainfall area. High winds are a regular occurence and winter is both windy and wet. The township is very prone to flooding and is built on saturated sands that inhibits drainage. Whilst hail does sometimes occur it is not of the Highveld type as mentioned by Suzanne, large stones in high concentrations would be a freak event.

2) Shacks (as they are known here in SA) in these low-income (in reality for many; no-income) areas, are high density. The majority of residents use paraffin heaters and stoves (or even open fires inside!) and thus fires occur regularly, sweeping through the camps. Timber is used at the moment purely out of necessity, availability and ease of use. NOT SUITABILITY. Here in South Africa we don’t have an established timber building industry. In fact the majority of our local timber plantations produce Gum (Eucalyptus), Wattle and Pine. These are all fast growing trees In SA and are thus not really suitable for machined timbers. The graded structural timber is often imported and therefore more expensive.

3) The sleeping loft will not find favour with the majority: smoke, heat and other fumes rise. Furthermore there is a cultural resistance to sleeping high above the floor. Everyone will lift the bed off the floor because of the tokolosh [slightly colourful but still reasoned explanation here http://www.vanhunks.com/tokoloshe1.html but anything higher is frowned upon. Unless in a recognised multi storey building of course.

4) Maintenance will never be done, so any materials that require sealing, varnishing, painting, etc. will just be allowed to rot. For many people now living in these townships, there isn’t any history of ownership nor pride in such ownership. Furthermore there will be resistance to what are perceived as ‘poor mans’ houses. For the past fifteen years, the government has embarked on a massive house building programme and has proposed many alternatives to the masonry walled sheeted roof type. None of the alternatives have been well received nor form more than a tiny percentage of those built.

Your design is very elegant but is not a practical solution to Khayelitsha’s problems. All in my opinion of course.

What is the answer? If I knew I would have implemented it years ago.

South Africa is a land of contrast and anomalies and hope. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else

I really appreciate hearing about the weather issue. I had no idea hail storms could be do bad there. I had been noodling over adding top-hinged shutters/shades for the sun-side windows and it sounds like that would be a very good idea. I bet the height of the floor might actually give chickens and other critters a temporary safe place to hide.

Thanks again!

One thing that can be used for waterproofing is paint. Often a contractor, or a householder, has a small amount of paint left after a project, too little for conventional use. It might be possible for an enterprising person to contact the large firms and offer to dispose of their dribs and drabs free of charge. Mix them all together with due respect for the solvent, and there could be enough for a tiny house.

At Thlolego, cob walls and floors were waterproofed with a mixture of boiled linseed oil and turpentine. This might well work with paper too. The problem again is money. The periurban poor can be very poor indeed.
Here’s Thlolego. http://www.ehow.com/how_4477995_own-milk-paint.html

Another paint I remember reading about is made with sour milk and lime. Here’s a recipe http://www.ehow.com/how_4477995_own-milk-paint.html

Again, sour milk could well be collected free from supermarkets, cutting the cost way down as only small amounts of lime are needed – 1/4 cup lime to 1 gallon milk. Milk paint, according to the following website, is best used internally. It can be waterproofed to some extent for external use with oil. http://www.milkpaint.com/prod_bullet-mp.html I don’t know what that would do in case of fire.

I think though that prevention would be the best – a good roof overhang and a waterproof footing.
Roofs in South Africa are usually metal, on lower cost houses. Corrugated iron for the more upscale houses, flattened paraffin and other large tin cans for the very poor. Tiles are a definite step into the middle class! Corrugated fibreglass can be used, but it’s terribly vulnerable to hail damage. Khayelitsha is on the Highveld, and summer hail storms can be ferocious. I’ve seen hail stones the size of golf balls pelt the world for a good half hour, had my windows broken, and a flock of chickens literally beaten into the ground.

I’ll be sure to go look this up again but I think it you spray newspaper with a diluted borax solution it can help keep pests out too. I suspect there are water-proofing trick too. I’ll definitely do some more research.

Thanks Again!