MICROBARNDO ~ The In Between Ranch

So in a attempt to build my house I realized that it was going to be difficult to build it if I actively lived in it. What I needed was a temporary place to live while I was building my tiny home. This was a free plan that I downloaded from Lamar on YouTube. This guy built his own cabin off grid years ago and a original YouTube creator. I invite you to go visit his channel. There is even a modular trailer type modification for this build!

He provides this free on his website so I wish to return the favor (CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD) the plans.

I consider myself at the time of writing this houseless not homeless... I am living out of my truck for the past two years while I have had to dig myself out of a messy divorce and finical ruin.

What is the Micro-barndo? It's a eight foot by eight foot structure a total of 64 sq. feet. It is minimalist living at its peak.

Lamar (the designer) works with the homeless and this was designed to get people with the basic need of shelter. He himself at one time was homeless at one point. He is working with the homeless to create temporary shelters.

There is no frills here just a small insulated structure that provides shelter and the basic needs of the occupant.

Could I have bought a RV or travel trailer, sure... some flimsy piece of crap. Could I have converted a school bus yes (still planning on that). But that's a project for a later time.

The plan long term is to build it quickly and move into the emergency shelter while I build my tiny home.

Eventually it will be a guest house for my friends that come to visit. I want to have a couple maybe make them rentals 😁

I started this project December 20th 2026. The cost from start to finish will be about a thousand dollars ($1000.00) for just the outside. So enjoy the build below. The hardest thing was putting in a hour here a couple of hours there. I don't want to rush or do a sloppy job. At the same time I am a impatient person and I want it done yesterday. I hope to get it finished in a short couple of months. I will build a compost toilet structure next to it...

One thing I did not want to do was grub the surrounding land. I wanted to live in the desert... natural. I only removed dead brush while keeping the surrounding landscape intact.

BEFORE

I picked a site next to a cats claw... this is a thorny bush / tree that grows naturally in the Mohave desert. This one has seen better days with the mistletoe killing it... I made a point to save this tree from certain death by removing the bad parts and give it a chance to survive.

AFTER

These trees are hard to kill but I have several on the property and left unchecked the mistletoe will kill the tree.

My entire property is on a downward slope but I picked a spot that was able to get access to with a couple steps of where you can park your vehicle.

I measured out the spot and started digging with the pick ax. No large boulders... its hit or miss on the property (literally). I planted a mesquite tree at the front. The cabin roof will face the southern sun so I can mount the solar panels on the side.

In one day I had leveled the ground and put the 4x4 wood beams that I would eventually lay down on the ground for the skids. You are looking at the front with a window facing that will face the mountain.

The property is big hill I could get some crazy speed !!!

Putting down the pavers for the base. The bottom skids were coated in a asphalt sealer paint. The frame was 2x4x8 with joists 16 inches on center. I put corner brackets and attached it to the bottom skids.

Cutting up the free 1/2 inch plywood and putting it together like a jigsaw puzzle going to have a 6 foot deck out the front door

I got me some walls! Whoo Hoo! now need to do the front back and roof and we got ourselves a structure!

I added 2 more walls now ready for the roof to be put on... made it out of 2x4 frames regardless of the plans which called for 2x3! Next comes the frame for the roof. then I can start framing for the roof.

Cutting out the door and the rear window.

Liking it! I will be making a custom door... I put up a temporary brace across the top to steady the walls before I continued on.

The rear window outlooks the mountain once I clear out the creosote bushes it will be epic...

Been a uphill struggle was supposed to get 8' foot 2x4. Instead got some that were shorter... 😣 What did I do??? Instead of going back to the hardware store and get the correct length. I decided to make a extra frame in the middle to (This was not on the plans!) Took a whole day and got half of it done not the most efficient use of a entire day! The project is going to be officially re-named from the STEALTH 64 PROJECT to MICROBARNDO Micro= Tiny Barndo= Barndominimum 😁.

Got the joists for the roof framed in finally... this did not follow the specs of the original plan. 😐

Now the roof gets to go on! I added a extra overhang to the back and the front by 6 inches. Got to grab just one more sheet of OSB at the hardware store so i can finish the roof off...

So I managed to rush home from work and paint the outside of the tiny home with some primer sealer. It took one whole can to paint the outside. I plan to do the roof in asphalt sealant (black betty). Now got to start caulking the seams. I did not notice and maybe you didn't either but I got paint on the tip of my beard 😅.

OUCH!! When you live off grid you got to take care of any and all illness and injury immediately! That scrape is a infection that is waiting to take you out without proper treatment every time you work outside. I had gloves (didn't use them) and got a huge sliver deep in the meaty part of my thumb. I was grabbing 2x4's to finish up to roof joists. I got tweezers and pulled out a long piece. Little did I know a week later it became tender and hurt to grab items. I reopened the wound with a needle and pushed and pushed and pop another wooden sliver about as big as the first one came shooting out. Instant relief! Moral of the story... ALWAYS WEAR GLOVES!

The yuccas are in bloom and it looks great on the homestead.

I have scouted and found potential locations for the other two sites for the other cabins. A total of three are going in This could change... Trying not to obstruct the view of the mountain by putting them in front of each other.

I look forward to having my friends come over and stay and possibly have rentals in the future?

So far its been about three months since I started. I sealed the floor of the minibarndo with some asphalt paint and started on the roof... It's thick and absorbs into the wood instantly... One can only managed to cover the floor and one panel of the structure. One can costs like 30 dollars!