Building a Tiny House?

[John Mc]

Has anyone on here had experience building a Tiny House? My son is interested. We're looking for a good place to find out more about the subject.  Recommendations on a good forum to join or workshop (preferably not too far from Vermont) to attend would be greatly appreciated.

[Dave Shepard]

I've been following the movement for years now. The tiny house blog would be a good place to start.

[Kbeitz]

Yep... I did...



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 



 

[tule peak timber]

Looking good! Very nice ! 8) 8) 8) 8)

[TKehl]

For living in or for more like RV usage?

I'm all for small houses.  These (link below) are bigger than tiny, but small, beginner buildable, and has a good user forum with many owner build threads.
http://www.countryplans.com/

If planning to live in it, I suggest trying it before going all in.  Live in a camper or something similar for a while to understand space and flow.  After living in a bus for a year and a half, I found that tiny is not my style. 

The good news is  building a tiny teaches a ton of skills with pretty low risk.  They can be transformed or added onto if needs change.  I wouldn't mind building something like that for a "guest house".  A "shepards wagon" would also be interesting.

[Ljohnsaw]

I think the lure of the tiny house is that, since it is on wheels, you don't have to have a building permit or pay property taxes on it.  And since it really isn't road worthy, you wouldn't need to license it, either.  Though I have seen quite a few traveling down the road lately - perhaps being delivered.  For that, you just ask DMV for a one-day move permit to bring it in for inspection (but never take it in).

Kbeitz,
It looks like you built with conventional (2x4) lumber.  Did you even think about using 1x4 or 1x3 to save weight?  I know that campers used to use 1x2s. 

Seems like with a plywood sheathing, it would be plenty strong with thinner lumber.

[TKehl]

ljohnsaw, maybe that's were I'm missing the boat.  I'm rural:  no permits and tiny property taxes.  (Cars, equipment, house, everything but the land was $326 last year.)     Not much advantage looking for a loophole.   :D

A note on license, I just found out today that Missouri offers permanent license for ALL trailers (all trailers, not just commercial semis).  $56 covers as long as you own it.  Something to look into in your state if planning to be on the road at all.

[Kbeitz]

I think the lure of the tiny house is that, since it is on wheels, you don't have to have a building permit or pay property taxes on it.  And since it really isn't road worthy, you wouldn't need to license it, either.  Though I have seen quite a few traveling down the road lately - perhaps being delivered.  For that, you just ask DMV for a one-day move permit to bring it in for inspection (but never take it in).

Kbeitz,
It looks like you built with conventional (2x4) lumber.  Did you even think about using 1x4 or 1x3 to save weight?  I know that campers used to use 1x2s. 

Seems like with a plywood sheathing, it would be plenty strong with thinner lumber.

I used 2x4's because it was all free machine crating from Grizzly tools.



 



 



 

[Peter Drouin]

I see all the talk on them. But I'm thinking going down the road all the time the wooden box on a trailer would fall apart or rack over time.

[fishpharmer]

I like the idea of "tiny houses," not sure I could live in one.  Around here, in MS, there aren't to many "tiny houses" built on trailers like that.  I see more people are living in the small shed type buildings. 

[John Mc]

For living in or for more like RV usage?

He's 15. He thinks he's going to live in it. I think he'll get tired of it, and it's going to end up as a guest cottage, or possibly something he could rent out to families in the area when they have more company than they can accommodate in their house.

If planning to live in it, I suggest trying it before going all in.  Live in a camper or something similar for a while to understand space and flow.  After living in a bus for a year and a half, I found that tiny is not my style.

His experience so far is our camping trips in a pop-up camper. So he's not totally new to it, but has never done this long-term. I'm not too worried about how much it gets used. If it doesn;t work out, we'll sell it.

The good news is  building a tiny teaches a ton of skills with pretty low risk.

This is the main reason we're supporting the idea. In addition to the building skills, he's going to have to do the planning, come up with a budget, and make ongoing decisions that keep him within that budget.

[John Mc]

I see all the talk on them. But I'm thinking going down the road all the time the wooden box on a trailer would fall apart or rack over time.

For now, this one would be moved only occasionally. Something that is used more as an RV would have to be built with that in mind.

[John Mc]

I think the lure of the tiny house is that, since it is on wheels, you don't have to have a building permit or pay property taxes on it.

Our town (and a lot of towns in our area) have tried to close that loophole: IT has to be easily moveable (no attached deck, porch, etc.), and it has to actually be moved every so often (I forget the time frame, but it's months, not years). If it doesn't meet those criteria, it is taxed as a permanent structure.

[gspren]

  From a purely financial aspect you can buy a nice older travel trailer remarkably cheap but they don't have the "quaint" look of the tiny house.

[John Mc]

  From a purely financial aspect you can buy a nice older travel trailer remarkably cheap but they don't have the "quaint" look of the tiny house.

I agree, however in this case, our primary goal is not finding the cheapest lodging. It's the learning experience that organizing and building something like this would provide.

[TKehl]

Sounds like a great father/son project to me!  Looking forward to progress updates!

[John Mc]

Sounds like a great father/son project to me!  Looking forward to progress updates!

It may end up as more of a mother/son project, since he and I tend to spend way to much time arguing about the best way to do something when we work together. (Mom's main issue is that she tends to do her design work with a saw, rather than with pencil & paper first, but since we'll probably be building this from purchased plans, this may not be such an issue.)

[Kbeitz]

You can spend days lookin at this...

https://www.google.com/search?q=Pictures+tree+houses+and+cabins&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwic77-Qj6zUAhXKllQKHeYlCBM4FBD8BQgLKAI&biw=1079&bih=506