3 ms·

I want to do this as well for a Tiny House (320 sq ft + 160 sq ft loft). I think the physical building part will take six months (assuming I take part-time work

I want to do this as well for a Tiny House (320 sq ft + 160 sq ft loft). I think the physical building part will take six months (assuming I take part-time work with my day job). I estimate I will save hundreds of thousands in the end when compared to the traditional route. It is the legal, planning and design, all the research, which is the invisible cost that takes at least as long as the physical building activity. Even non-Tiny Houses have a cost which is mostly paper. I'd like to see a breakdown of costs excluding labour and materials across the world. I don't think people realize how much of a house price is arbitrary. High house prices aren't necessarily a sign of a wealthy neighbourhood, it could be just the opposite e.g. new regulations made it cost prohibitive for new builds, which makes everybody look good on paper. And now the average person can't buy the average house. > The real time consumption is all the little things Yes! The impressive part, the framing/sheathing/cladding is instantaneous in comparison.

gregpilling 10y ago
You should do it! I don't think it will take 6 months if you are only working part time. The house I built was 1600 sq ft, 3 bedroom and I was working 60 hours a week while I built it. I found working all weekend on the house re-charged me for the job during the week. A tiny house should not cost hundreds of thousands - wood is just not that pricey at Home Depot. You should start pricing it out and give it a shot. It is a tremendous feeling of accomplishment to live in a house you built yourself.
- internaut 10y ago
  > I don't think it will take 6 months if you are only working part time. It wouldn't take very long but I have some special features in my Tiny House design nobody else has. Here are three examples: I am using a spiral staircase of 3 sq ft. Marvelous design! http://www.eestairs.com/en/36_1m2_by_eestairs_%28efficient_stairs%29.htm http://www.eestairs.com/en/36_1m2_by_eestairs_%28efficient_s... Then I am creating a space illusion using a special one way mirror. I can place two one way mirrors with a terrarium (a small indoor garden) between them. This way two different rooms (bathroom and stairs) can see the terrarium reflected but neither space can see the other. . Normal one way mirrors require one side to be light and the other dark. With this one way mirror I can have light on both sides. http://www.okaluxna.com/products/viewblock/ http://www.okaluxna.com/products/viewblock/ I also hope to use natural daylighting with a solar collector and fibre optic cable. This will require some experiments so I am going to do those first. I'll put all this up online for HN when things get interesting. In particular I'm looking for a cheap way transmit daylight (I have fibre cable but the normal kind is very thin). > I found working all weekend on the house re-charged me for the job during the week. I hope that happens to me! ;-) > A tiny house should not cost hundreds of thousands - wood is just not that pricey at Home Depot. You should start pricing it out and give it a shot. Looks to be 50k - 75k so far. You can build Tiny Houses really cheaply, even for 5k, but I'm optimizing for longevity (like a custom built stainless steel trailer foundation) and have unusual design features so it will be at the higher end.

gregpilling 10y ago

You should do it! I don't think it will take 6 months if you are only working part time. The house I built was 1600 sq ft, 3 bedroom and I was working 60 hours a week while I built it. I found working all weekend on the house re-charged me for the job during the week. A tiny house should not cost hundreds of thousands - wood is just not that pricey at Home Depot. You should start pricing it out and give it a shot. It is a tremendous feeling of accomplishment to live in a house you built yourself.

internaut 10y ago
> I don't think it will take 6 months if you are only working part time. It wouldn't take very long but I have some special features in my Tiny House design nobody else has. Here are three examples: I am using a spiral staircase of 3 sq ft. Marvelous design! http://www.eestairs.com/en/36_1m2_by_eestairs_%28efficient_stairs%29.htm http://www.eestairs.com/en/36_1m2_by_eestairs_%28efficient_s... Then I am creating a space illusion using a special one way mirror. I can place two one way mirrors with a terrarium (a small indoor garden) between them. This way two different rooms (bathroom and stairs) can see the terrarium reflected but neither space can see the other. . Normal one way mirrors require one side to be light and the other dark. With this one way mirror I can have light on both sides. http://www.okaluxna.com/products/viewblock/ http://www.okaluxna.com/products/viewblock/ I also hope to use natural daylighting with a solar collector and fibre optic cable. This will require some experiments so I am going to do those first. I'll put all this up online for HN when things get interesting. In particular I'm looking for a cheap way transmit daylight (I have fibre cable but the normal kind is very thin). > I found working all weekend on the house re-charged me for the job during the week. I hope that happens to me! ;-) > A tiny house should not cost hundreds of thousands - wood is just not that pricey at Home Depot. You should start pricing it out and give it a shot. Looks to be 50k - 75k so far. You can build Tiny Houses really cheaply, even for 5k, but I'm optimizing for longevity (like a custom built stainless steel trailer foundation) and have unusual design features so it will be at the higher end.