5 ms·

I know lots about Tiny Houses, am currently designing one, ask me anything

by internaut 10y ago

asimuvPR 10y ago
What's the biggest challenge in terms of materials?
- internaut 10y ago
  Just getting solid wood is a challenge. Take a look. http://thecraftsmanblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/old-growth-wood-768x1024.jpg http://thecraftsmanblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/old-g... Item on the left is old growth, and is a century or more old. New growth is 'cheaper' but quality has gone way down. You also want to avoid buying any wood that could have come from South of the Equator, it'd be like handling conflict diamonds. Happily since a Tiny House requires 5x-10x less material than the average house, you get to pick and choose and the premiums are manageable. Another challenge is that many useful things in a house off-gas dangerous chemicals like formaldehyde. Woods natural and artificial, insulation, paints, plastics, chaulk, they all give off gas for years. It is widely acknowledged in the building industry that this is so, builders do warn their clients of this, but home buyers optimize for sq ft (making the use of superior materials much less likely) + time to move in. Now that regular houses are using passive house principals for air tightness this is going to be a big problem for health. Because a Tiny House is small, this is an even bigger problem. So you need to do your research on VOCs with respect to woods like MDF, insulation foam or chaulking. If you ventilate correctly or have a HRV and you wait for a month of venting before moving in, that would be an intelligent thing to do. Chances are that you'll live longer by at least a month!
jackyinger 10y ago
You should do a build log blog! Would love to see designs.
- gravypod 10y ago
  Yea I'd love to see something like this as well.
- internaut 10y ago
  I'll do what I can! I am trying something very unusual with respect to the roof that no Tiny Houser has done before, which is to use a metal mansard roof. They look elegant in metal if done correctly. My TH is following a Georgian design so it suits the time period. Also mansards were invented to avoid taxes so it is also about heritage and continuing tradition. Gambrel would also work since I'm going > 10ft wide, that is plan B. Am having difficulty finding good information on this subject but at least I have the Prince of Wales as my spirit animal: "You have to give this much to the Luftwaffe," Charles told the Corporation of London Planning and Communication Committee's annual dinner at Mansion House. "When it knocked down our buildings, it didn't replace them with anything more offensive than rubble." This is the basic problem with being reactionary, everybody cool is totally dead and then the living are like 'why don't you build a flat roof brah, everybody's doing it'. Never!
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
cagenut 10y ago
is there such a thing as multi-unit 'tiny houses'?
- internaut 10y ago
  Do you mean modular Tiny Houses where two or more Tiny Houses are attached together? Not yet, but I have been intrigued by the thought lately. That is because it may very well be cheaper to acquire two trailers instead of one long trailer, which would mean less of a weight restriction and much easier Tiny House moving management. I think you could have a clever design where you used vaccum insulated panels and some kind of seal at an intersection, I'm certain this has been solved by engineers before. We have to remember NASA was building Tiny Houses in orbit long before this became a terrestrial trend. I'm already using a material invented by them called aerogel (thin strips!) to thermally isolate the studs to prevent thermal bridging, it'll cost me just 1300 to raise the R (insulation) value by a min of 10% - 20%.
gravypod 10y ago
Where do you find a place to put a tiny house and how much does it cost approximately.
- internaut 10y ago
  > Where do you find a place to put a tiny house So this is a major bottleneck for Tiny Housers. It is easier in the countryside than in the cities. Understand that this is a quasi-legal kind of project. The local government usually does not care but they are obligated to act if somebody complains about your Tiny House. This means if somebody says scram, you got to move. So you need your Tiny House to look nice because it is not just decor, presentability matters a lot practically. Some places in the USA are making Tiny Houses legal but it is early stages yet. If you need to move around frequently (more than twice per year) then you shouldn't build too big (> 30 ft length). I intend to buy land in the countryside. On it I shall prepare a concrete pad, use 4 to 6 jack screws to hold up the trailer bed (which is also on blocks) and then use 15 - 20 scissor jacks to stabilize so it is rock solid. Then I shall skirt the bottom gap with stone such that it appears not to be on a trailer at all. Here is an example of that practice: https://i.reddituploads.com/303b76eaa06e495f8381f2bca3cf48f2?fit=max&h=1536&w=1536&s=db779a11fb72cbfe927a8c79ea0938ce https://i.reddituploads.com/303b76eaa06e495f8381f2bca3cf48f2... https://i.reddituploads.com/ff4dee466ad34517bf0c1149ac3ba934?fit=max&h=1536&w=1536&s=ab061fcc792522d3ceb3f503e4a12d08 https://i.reddituploads.com/ff4dee466ad34517bf0c1149ac3ba934... Other people choose the following options. Some rent land in the countryside. This is usually cheap, not more than few hundred bucks a year. In the cities some stay on 'friendly lots'. It is probably better to talk to Tiny Housers in your specific region or city, because the regulations and circumstances are all in flux, so local knowledge is key. > how much does it cost approximately. This is very variable. You can build a respectable basic Tiny House for 5k. This will probably be around 15 ft in length. People choose smaller trailers if they move often. The lower the price, the higher the risk any 'short-cuts' you take turn into 'long-cuts'. Then you have high end Tiny Houses that cost 50-70k. This is what I'm doing, my project is probably one of the most complex because this is not intended to be a temporary shelter and it has features you'd have to be a millionaire to afford in a average sized dwelling e.g. superinsulation, exotic roofing. Utility bills in a Tiny House tend to be $10-$50 per month if you're connected to utilities. If you are cash poor you can investigate the option of buying second hand materials and tools. You can basically build a Tiny House for $0.00 if you really needed to, but there is a catch. It will cost you time and effort to curate the correct supplies. Still, for some people this is the right option to get decent affordable housing. I advise you not to buy used framing materials such as studs, sheathing or strapping. If you are time poor, then pay an expert to build it custom made to your needs. This will roughly double the price of the Tiny House. Good labour costs real money. If you are a middle of the road situation I suggest you check out Dan Louche's Tiny Houses, he is a computer programmer who does really well crafted builds. https://www.tinyhomebuilders.com/tiny-houses/tiny-living https://www.tinyhomebuilders.com/tiny-houses/tiny-living If you can't afford his prices, build his design yourself, you can do it for about 16k-20k.

I know lots about Tiny Houses, am currently designing one, ask me anything

asimuvPR 10y ago

What's the biggest challenge in terms of materials?

internaut 10y ago
Just getting solid wood is a challenge. Take a look. http://thecraftsmanblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/old-growth-wood-768x1024.jpg http://thecraftsmanblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/old-g... Item on the left is old growth, and is a century or more old. New growth is 'cheaper' but quality has gone way down. You also want to avoid buying any wood that could have come from South of the Equator, it'd be like handling conflict diamonds. Happily since a Tiny House requires 5x-10x less material than the average house, you get to pick and choose and the premiums are manageable. Another challenge is that many useful things in a house off-gas dangerous chemicals like formaldehyde. Woods natural and artificial, insulation, paints, plastics, chaulk, they all give off gas for years. It is widely acknowledged in the building industry that this is so, builders do warn their clients of this, but home buyers optimize for sq ft (making the use of superior materials much less likely) + time to move in. Now that regular houses are using passive house principals for air tightness this is going to be a big problem for health. Because a Tiny House is small, this is an even bigger problem. So you need to do your research on VOCs with respect to woods like MDF, insulation foam or chaulking. If you ventilate correctly or have a HRV and you wait for a month of venting before moving in, that would be an intelligent thing to do. Chances are that you'll live longer by at least a month!

jackyinger 10y ago

You should do a build log blog! Would love to see designs.

gravypod 10y ago
Yea I'd love to see something like this as well.
internaut 10y ago
I'll do what I can! I am trying something very unusual with respect to the roof that no Tiny Houser has done before, which is to use a metal mansard roof. They look elegant in metal if done correctly. My TH is following a Georgian design so it suits the time period. Also mansards were invented to avoid taxes so it is also about heritage and continuing tradition. Gambrel would also work since I'm going > 10ft wide, that is plan B. Am having difficulty finding good information on this subject but at least I have the Prince of Wales as my spirit animal: "You have to give this much to the Luftwaffe," Charles told the Corporation of London Planning and Communication Committee's annual dinner at Mansion House. "When it knocked down our buildings, it didn't replace them with anything more offensive than rubble." This is the basic problem with being reactionary, everybody cool is totally dead and then the living are like 'why don't you build a flat roof brah, everybody's doing it'. Never!

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

cagenut 10y ago

is there such a thing as multi-unit 'tiny houses'?

internaut 10y ago
Do you mean modular Tiny Houses where two or more Tiny Houses are attached together? Not yet, but I have been intrigued by the thought lately. That is because it may very well be cheaper to acquire two trailers instead of one long trailer, which would mean less of a weight restriction and much easier Tiny House moving management. I think you could have a clever design where you used vaccum insulated panels and some kind of seal at an intersection, I'm certain this has been solved by engineers before. We have to remember NASA was building Tiny Houses in orbit long before this became a terrestrial trend. I'm already using a material invented by them called aerogel (thin strips!) to thermally isolate the studs to prevent thermal bridging, it'll cost me just 1300 to raise the R (insulation) value by a min of 10% - 20%.

gravypod 10y ago

Where do you find a place to put a tiny house and how much does it cost approximately.

internaut 10y ago
> Where do you find a place to put a tiny house So this is a major bottleneck for Tiny Housers. It is easier in the countryside than in the cities. Understand that this is a quasi-legal kind of project. The local government usually does not care but they are obligated to act if somebody complains about your Tiny House. This means if somebody says scram, you got to move. So you need your Tiny House to look nice because it is not just decor, presentability matters a lot practically. Some places in the USA are making Tiny Houses legal but it is early stages yet. If you need to move around frequently (more than twice per year) then you shouldn't build too big (> 30 ft length). I intend to buy land in the countryside. On it I shall prepare a concrete pad, use 4 to 6 jack screws to hold up the trailer bed (which is also on blocks) and then use 15 - 20 scissor jacks to stabilize so it is rock solid. Then I shall skirt the bottom gap with stone such that it appears not to be on a trailer at all. Here is an example of that practice: https://i.reddituploads.com/303b76eaa06e495f8381f2bca3cf48f2?fit=max&h=1536&w=1536&s=db779a11fb72cbfe927a8c79ea0938ce https://i.reddituploads.com/303b76eaa06e495f8381f2bca3cf48f2... https://i.reddituploads.com/ff4dee466ad34517bf0c1149ac3ba934?fit=max&h=1536&w=1536&s=ab061fcc792522d3ceb3f503e4a12d08 https://i.reddituploads.com/ff4dee466ad34517bf0c1149ac3ba934... Other people choose the following options. Some rent land in the countryside. This is usually cheap, not more than few hundred bucks a year. In the cities some stay on 'friendly lots'. It is probably better to talk to Tiny Housers in your specific region or city, because the regulations and circumstances are all in flux, so local knowledge is key. > how much does it cost approximately. This is very variable. You can build a respectable basic Tiny House for 5k. This will probably be around 15 ft in length. People choose smaller trailers if they move often. The lower the price, the higher the risk any 'short-cuts' you take turn into 'long-cuts'. Then you have high end Tiny Houses that cost 50-70k. This is what I'm doing, my project is probably one of the most complex because this is not intended to be a temporary shelter and it has features you'd have to be a millionaire to afford in a average sized dwelling e.g. superinsulation, exotic roofing. Utility bills in a Tiny House tend to be $10-$50 per month if you're connected to utilities. If you are cash poor you can investigate the option of buying second hand materials and tools. You can basically build a Tiny House for $0.00 if you really needed to, but there is a catch. It will cost you time and effort to curate the correct supplies. Still, for some people this is the right option to get decent affordable housing. I advise you not to buy used framing materials such as studs, sheathing or strapping. If you are time poor, then pay an expert to build it custom made to your needs. This will roughly double the price of the Tiny House. Good labour costs real money. If you are a middle of the road situation I suggest you check out Dan Louche's Tiny Houses, he is a computer programmer who does really well crafted builds. https://www.tinyhomebuilders.com/tiny-houses/tiny-living https://www.tinyhomebuilders.com/tiny-houses/tiny-living If you can't afford his prices, build his design yourself, you can do it for about 16k-20k.