03 Mar 2008 04:18 pm
Proposed Bunk Houses
Posted by Pastor Don A. Elbourne Jr.
As we make plans to continue increasing our sleeping capacity for volunteers, we have run out of room on our own property. Our neighbors have graciously given us permission to creep onto their land with temporary facilities for the duration of the relief, recovery, and rebuilding efforts. We would like to build some more bunk houses on this property, but in order to do this, they will need to be small and potentially portable.
I’ve designed a rough draft of a 8 X 12 bunk house (the same size as many of our sheds) that would sleep 4 people. We could hoist this size structure onto a trailer if the need arose. I used the free Google Sketchup application to render a 3D model of something like I’m thinking about. You can download my 8 X 12 Bunk House Cabin from the 3D Warehouse. The model shows store bought bunk-beds, but we would probably want to build our own out of lumber. Let me know what you think. I’m open to suggestions.
Once we solidify the plans and get a material list together for these, I’ll post an update and perhaps we can have folks adopt a bunk house to fund the micro-projects.
| Filed under: General
That’s a cool idea - something that definitely needs to happen given the sheer number of people that I hear have been there lately. I did have a few questions about them, though:
How many would you build?
To most efficiently use the limited real estate that you have, would it make sense to place the units directly side by side, as opposed to having the significant space between them as in the rendering shown above? If so, the side window(s) on each of them may need to be removed, which will save money!
Would they have a sink, mirror, electricity, or small HVAC window unit like the current ones do?
Overall, I think it’s a great idea! I hope that it works out to build a bunch of these and use them for housing volunteers!
Hi Stephen, Great to hear from you.
We would definitely need to put a small air conditioner in each unit. The downloadable 3D model shows one poking out the back, between the bunks. We probably would not include plumbing. We would locate them near the bathrooms.
Someone has already donated us a few dozen small windows that we could use on the project. So that will save on that expense.
I’m not sure how many we would build, probably as many as people would be willing to donate money for. We have access to 21 acres now, so spacing wouldn’t be that much of a concern.
I would also like to consider the possibility of popping a solar panel on the top and running the small AC unit and light off grid. What do you think?
The solar panel idea is a cool idea, but you have to keep three things in mind: how much the panels cost (sometimes they can cost quite a bit), and how many watts they can generate and making sure that the total power consumption inside is less than what the panels can produce. You also have to worry about how they will be powered when it’s raining or nighttime - so they will still have to be hooked up to the grid.
Where are the 21 acres that you’re using now? That’s a lot of space to use!
Hi Pastor,
Greetings in Jesus’ Name from Simon. Hey that is a really neat idea. Let me know how much a mini-bunk house would cost. I would like to raise funds for this very worthwhile cost. Since coming home, I have been speaking almost non-stop to people about what is happening at Lakeshore and what I experienced. God is so gracious and mighty.
Tonight, our team will be having a get together. We will commit the bunk houses project to prayer and thank the Lord for the use of 21 acres. It all belongs to Him!
Britt updated me with tidbits about your visit to the Necaises and how Sherman appreciated our visit. It has blessed us. Tonight we will be writing them a card with encouragement. We are so blessed.
Have a wonderful day.