Flow's Zen Buggy

Hey now. Lloyd and friends,

Here’s a bit more on my Zen Buggy:

Designed and built in northern California, it started out as a cardboard model and then I went out a bought a 5×8-foot landscape trailer. We put down some sheet metal first so critters wont get in through the bottom, and then my builder buddy, Tim, then welded up the supports and brackets we thought we needed.

We just made it up as we went along, as neither one of us had ever made anything like this.

We then monkeyed around with some plywood and a pencil and some chalk and got half our basic shape jigsawed and sanded, then mirrored it. Then we glued three of these shapes together to make each rib which we then bolted to the frame.

All the plywood was certified sustainably harvested, and most of the wood was reclaimed from Bug at Heritage Salvage in Petaluma and Almquist Lumber in Humboldt County.

Floor was high school bleachers made from Doug fir; the door is 100% reclaimed redwood from an old barn, made by Imperial Door in Sebastopol; cedar from I don’t remember; and the interior benches were naturally felled old-growth redwood from the Humboldt forest, with birch ply for ceiling.

Lots and lots of planing, cutting, screwing, sanding, and staining with Penofin Verdé, she came together.

Insulated with eco-bat and interior end-walls were painted with Bio-Shield clay paint.

It is heated by an under-carpet, radiant floor-heating system called a “rug buddy,” and is perfect for such a small space.

The carving in the bed frame is called a ranma and was carved in 1910 in Japan, and my closet is a shamisen case also from Japan made in 1920.

The outer roof/shell is made of Galvalume, which I was told was the only Energy Star–rated metal roofing. It keeps the inside cool when it is hot out. Scott, the owner of Northern Pacific Sheet Metal, worked out the edging detail in his free time.

The feeling inside is very peaceful and my sleep and dreams have never been better.

I want to thank every one who helped make this dream a reality, and even Bloomfield Farms in Petaluma where we built her, and thank you for letting me share my Zen Buggy.

Peace from,
–Flow