I need to build a Tiny Home thats MCS and EMF safe

[integral]

I have chemical sensitivities (MCS) and need to build a 355 sq ft tiny home on my land in Quebec where I can control every single material going in. The goal is 100% clean air, zero VOC, and EMF friendly.

I'm planning to use solid wood throughout, wool insulation, metal roof, no glue, no spray foam, no petroleum products. I want to do wood-to-wood joinery as much as possible and minimize fasteners.

I have zero building experience. I'll be learning from YouTube and AI as I go. Quebec building code requires permits and inspections so there's no room for mistakes.

Budget is tight. Around $70K for the build itself.

@Natasha Tori Maru what do you think? 🤔😭 Is it realistic to pull this off on my own? Anyone done something similar?

[Leo Gura]

What is wrong with using nails and screws?

I think you are being overly paranoid.

House frames are usually nailed and screwed together.

Solid wood is very expensive. That's why houses are usually built of two by fours nailed together. It's the cheapest option.

I suggest you rent a small eco-friendly place first to test whether this plan of yours will even affect your health. Rent a small place and live in it for a month to see if your health improves or declines, before you throw all your money into this quixotic project.

The notion that some wood glue is gonna affect your health is kinda silly. You are not a seahorse.

Edited 15 hours ago by Leo Gura

[Elliott]

That's easy, you can do it. Don't sweat the inspection, just fix something if they want something changed. Draw a detailed plan how you're going to install everything; to submit to the plans examiner.

[Natasha Tori Maru]

Damn bro - this is a lot.

You need to caulk joints - will you use caulk? Wood to wood like Japanese style joints? Takes a seriously skilled carpenter - and even then it won't stop air.

What sort of mechanical system?

We talking like, physical containment level air filtering / sealing? Negative pressure? I've only done labs to PC2.

Not sealing the wood joints is going to be your biggest contaminant leak. 

This is just off the top of my head...

$70k??? Flat no

Edited 14 hours ago by Natasha Tori Maru

[Natasha Tori Maru]

Also what type of air monitor you got? I have a Qingping which is very good. VOC's are the hardest thing to minimise imo.... 

[mmKay]

May be stoopid idea but have you considered wearing a full face respirator mask? 

https://308industries.com/products/mira-safety-cm-6m-tactical-gas-mask-full-face-respirator-for-cbrn-defense?utm

Can't think of a quicker cheaper solution

Edited 14 hours ago by mmKay

[Elliott]

You don't need to get it air tight, you just need to filter make-up air and slightly 'pressurize' it. Remember to seal the ground/floor, for radon from the ground. Use metal clad electrical cables for reducing emf.

Edited 13 hours ago by Elliott

[Natasha Tori Maru]

You might want to research what processes are involved with treated pine, as modern building materials are usually bathed in chemicals. Not sure how wood off-gasses at all tbh. I only have experience building with steel/plaster for commercial application - never done resi. Most modern pine is treated to resist rot, decay and termites. The extent of my work with wood is on joinery and that is typically ply - if that. Most builds are MDF for joinery.

But your budget isn't going to allow for much... you don't know what you don't know. Mistakes are very costly. An experienced carpenter or builder would be an asset. Labour is always the really costly part - so anything you need to subcontract will destroy budget.

[Leo Gura]

Sub-contract your lumber to beavers. Free and all-natural.

[Leo Gura]

Why do you just invest some money is good air filtration and buy lots of house plants. They absorb and clean VOCs and toxins.

[Natasha Tori Maru]

3 hours ago, Elliott said:

That's easy, you can do it. Don't sweat the inspection, just fix something if they want something changed. Draw a detailed plan how you're going to install everything; to submit to the plans examiner.

There is a bit more to it.

[Rigel]

I hope for you that the wool trick works considering our winters.

Edited 3 hours ago by Rigel

[Ulax]

8 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Why do you just invest some money is good air filtration and buy lots of house plants. They absorb and clean VOCs and toxins.

I will add that you also have to water the house plants.

Don't make the same mistake I did. RIP Jeff

[Elliott]

25 minutes ago, Rigel said:

I hope for you that the wool trick works considering our winters.

Its not a trick, wool is a normal insulation used, it's better than standard fiberglass even.

https://havelockwool.com/products/r13-batt-insulation-16-o-c

 

[Elliott]

There's no way any purification system or house plants will clean all the chemicals from the air in a normal house. Everything painted and finished, every synthetic material off-gasses. The interior of a normal house has worse air quality than Times Square or downtown L.A., often 100 times more polluted than outdoor air.

Edited 2 hours ago by Elliott

[integral]

13 hours ago, Natasha Tori Maru said:

You need to caulk joints - will you use caulk?

Yes i have non-off gassing caulk, so thats possible.

13 hours ago, Natasha Tori Maru said:

Wood to wood like Japanese style joints? Takes a seriously skilled carpenter - and even then it won't stop air.

It doesnt have to be air tight, im building in a location were the out door air is high quality. So the HRV is going to pull out door air into the house anyways.

2 hours ago, Rigel said:

I hope for you that the wool trick works considering our winters.

Wool insulation is R21, its as good as fiberglass insulation. Top stuff, but more expensive.

2 hours ago, Ulax said:

I will add that you also have to water the house plants.

People dont realize but when you water the plant the ground soil releases mold and other contaminants being absorbed by the plant or living in the soil. So wtv the plant is absorbing is getting released every time you water it.

14 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

I suggest you rent a small eco-friendly place first to test whether this plan of yours will even affect your health.

I have the effect is life changing. I experience sickness or fatigue or stimulation or agitation depending on what is in the air. A candle causes massive brain fog for example.

So glue is a real problem.

These chemicals affect everyone, some people yeah have better genetics towards it. 

13 hours ago, Natasha Tori Maru said:

$70k??? Flat no

lmao well im willing to push the budge up to 110k if i have to. 

12 hours ago, Natasha Tori Maru said:

You might want to research what processes are involved with treated pine, as modern building materials are usually bathed in chemicals.

That is a problem that I'm going to have to look into more deeply. It's probably going to be really expensive wood. Actually I've solved this once in the past, there is a sealant paint that I used that once it dries it seals off the material. So I might have to repaint the wood with this sealer first. And at that point it won't off gas anything.

11 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Why do you just invest some money is good air filtration and buy lots of house plants. They absorb and clean VOCs and toxins.

The issue is my tolerance near zero. Air filters work well at the particle level but not at the molecular level. A t-shirt sprayed once with perfume sitting in a room in a closet some somewhere contaminates the air more than what a air purifier can remove. And that's just a random item that was hidden in a closed space.

Air purifiers just can't handle the toxicity at the molecular level happening in indoor air.

 

So this is like LEGOs for housing, the wood joins togetter and you can put up a house in a few days. (no insulation, electrical, plumbing)

Using LEGO wood, using kits.

Edited 37 minutes ago by integral

[integral]

2 hours ago, Elliott said:

There's no way any purification system or house plants will clean all the chemicals from the air in a normal house. Everything painted and finished, every synthetic material off-gasses. The interior of a normal house has worse air quality than Times Square or downtown L.A., often 100 times more polluted than outdoor air.

This guy gets it  

[Elliott]

@integral you probably know to not do LED lighting fixtures. If you're doing solar/wind, low voltage d.c. lighting is more efficient(barely any emf with d.c. too), but you'd probably want to do that after inspections. As extreme as you are though, maybe just battery lights! And a solar/wind charger, at least temporarily. 

Have you ever operated anything like an excavator?

Your costs if you can do it yourself will be substantially less if you do your foundation, septic(if applicable) and plumbing from your well(if applicable). I had to get a well license and take septic courses in the u.s. to do mine, but it was simple, couple hours online, and buy a bond.

Edited 24 minutes ago by Elliott

[integral]

13 hours ago, mmKay said:

May be stoopid idea but have you considered wearing a full face respirator mask? 

https://308industries.com/products/mira-safety-cm-6m-tactical-gas-mask-full-face-respirator-for-cbrn-defense?utm

Can't think of a quicker cheaper solution

The primary filter is activated carbon, and it releases a byproduct that I'm allergic to . So it's going to filter a lot of stuff out, but then in the end it releases a little something that defeats the purpose.

[integral]

14 minutes ago, Elliott said:

@integral you probably know to not do LED lighting fixtures. If you're doing solar/wind, low voltage d.c. incandescent lighting is more efficient, but you'd probably want to do that after inspections. 

Have you ever operated anything like an excavator?

Your costs if you can do it yourself will be substantially less if you do your foundation, septic(if applicable) and plumbing from your well(if applicable). I had to get a well license and take septic courses in the u.s. to do mine, but it was simple, couple hours online, and buy a bond.

For sure I'm going to avoid LED because I dislike the effect on my nervous system. Going to go with some healthier lighting approaches.

Yeah for the septic tank, Plumbing, electrical and the well all of that I have to contract out. By law only a master electrician is allowed to do my electrical work and so on. But the total cost of all of that is around 25-30k because of the eco residential zoning laws. But we will see.

Edited 22 minutes ago by integral