share your non-dome shelter blue prints

[diane o'thirst]

Not exactly on topic, because it comes prefabbed, but thought I'd make a little noise about something I saw at Costco tonight...

I spotted it on my way from the dairy case and it was inspiring enough to make me stop and turn on a dime with a muttered, "Are you pondering what I'm pondering, Pinky?"

It was a playhouse. Plastic, of course, but the sexiest playhouse I've <i>ever</i> seen. It had functional flower boxes, gable windows in the roof, a front porch, two multi-paned bay windows, one with a window seat, and an arched double-door in one side. My guess is that it measures 8x8' and the colour scheme was a fairly dowdy light brown with white trim, but a few cans of Krylon Fusions would address that nicely.

Not a bad price either, $1700.

This is not the Alpine Chalet on the Costco.com site, it's about the same size but has more architectural features, like the bay windows and dormers, and it's plastic. The Alpine Chalet was wood.

Upsides:
- Windproof,
- Easy to sweep out and keep dustproof while on the Playa,
- Cuter than hell — okay, scratch that, with the bay windows, dormers and arched double door it's jawdropping gorgeous,
- Doors can be opened so as to create a Bernoulli effect for ventilation,
- Flowerboxes can be planted (they have drains), fresh herbs for your kitchen!,
- Tough material, you'd probably have to attack it with a herd of flame-throwing art cars to permanently wreck it,
- Construction is virtually MOOP-free,
- The structure itself could go a long way in containing day-to-day MOOP,
- Since it's pre-molded plastic it'd stay a comfortable temperature at night and wouldn't require a space heater or extra insulation,
- Lightable with solar lanterns and taplights,
- Hose off to clean once you get back to Defaultia.

Downsides:
- About the same amount of space as your average simple dome camping tent, but spendier than even the plushest multi-room dome tent,
- You'd have to drill holes in the floor to secure it against the wind,
- Would get stiflingly hot during the day, being made of plastic — opening the doors would let in dust, if you get a hot/dusty day you have to choose between being dust-free and roasting, or cool and dusty (unless you located it under a shadecloth canopy which would impact the aesthetics, which would be a shame),
- For about the same price you can get one of those pseudo-Moroccan tents from Oakland and those trump everything in terms of beauty, plus they'd be easier to transport, give you more space and are only a little trickier to clean,
- Knowing how kiddie structures are made these days and given the amount of architectural detail, would probably take several hours to put together,
- I didn't see how big the box/boxes were, but I'm willing to bet you'd need a trailer to haul it.

Summation:
If you have a theme camp that calls for a cutesy, cottage-y/village-y campscape, yeah, I'd say go for it. Putting up a nice little row of these guys in different colours would be a lot easier than hauling lumber to build the same thing, and would be flat-out <i>Adorable</i>. I'd heartily recommend it to anyone camping with Kidsville, you'd probably be voted Coolness Incarnate if you showed up with this.

There are other options in this price/size/logistical category, but I'd still consider it a good option nonetheless, if only for the aesthetic and maintenance factors. If you don't mind camping in an 8' tensegrity dome tent, and would like something a little more durable, prettier and easy to maintain, I'd consider this an upgrade with an acceptable investment incline.

[diane o'thirst]

Double-post!

Found the Cottage online. Here's the link, check it out if that be thine interest:

http://tinyurl.com/evkay

[geekster]

If it only came in fluorescent green with fluorescent orange trim ... I guess a guy can dream.

[diane o'thirst]

No, the Cottage doesn't...

But Krylon Fusions spray paint does

[geekster]

Yeah, Fusion is good stuff. Hints for the fluorescent:

1. Use a WHITE undercoat.

2. Dont spray the fluorescent until about a week before display and try to keep it out of direct sunlight until it is ready to display because the sun fades it quickly ... noticeable fade in a week or two in direct sunlight. UV blocking clearcoats can help but they also make night illumination with black light impossible because they ... block the UV!


So ... paint with white. Allow to COMPLETELY CURE, might take a week! Cover with the color coat, keep out of sun until completely cured or until just before display.

[robotland]

Rubbermaid, I think, makes a garden shed with optional greenhouse section, skylights,workbenches and various handy fittings- Like THREE GRAND, but Oooooooh.