Roof Framing and Sheathing

I really don't like being on a ladder. Having a loft provides really helps in this regard. Although I wasn't ready to put the loft floor down, I was able to put a few sheets of plywood sheathing across the loft joists. That provided a handy work platform that prevented a lot of work from the ladder.

The joists were temporarily supported by blocks underneath screwed to the studs, the joists screwed to the studs, and ultimately, two 3/8" galvanized bolts. In this picture you can see some of the metal bracing I used to provide rigidity. I don't know if it helps the finished product much, but it certainly helps stabilize the building before the sheathing and spray foam insulation are complete.

The ridge is too long for one board. At 22 feet, it is hard to find a single board to serve that purpose, and it really isn't necessary. I used two boards, and fastened them together with a couple of plates. The main purpose of the beam is to provide a good place to connect the rafters, and keep them in position. Ridge beams haven't always been used in house construction, but seem like the right thing to do and are required today.

My roof has two pitches. The front is 10/12. But over the loft, it is a flatter 4/12. Because there are two pitches, there is a center gable area.

The rafters aren't very long. Tiny houses on wheels are limited to 8'6" in width generally, so the building is narrow to begin with, and there can't be much overhang. As I recall the rafters were about four and five feet each - the longer ones on the steeper section. Figuring the angles on rafters can be a bit of an art. I doubt many modern carpenters often use the tables on the side of a framing square to determine these cuts, since most construction now uses trusses that are built at  factory instead of rafters. Since  my tiny house was designed on the computer using Sketchup, it was fairly straightforward to get accurate lengths and angles.

Normally joists would provide strength for holding the sides in at the roof. They prevent a heavy load on the roof from pushing the walls out. In this house, the only ceiling joists are those supporting the loft. And they are two feet below the roof line. The front has a cathedral ceiling, so no joists. To provide the needed strength, metal straps were installed where rafters joined the beam. Collar ties were bolted to the rafters of the 10/12 section. And in the loft section, metal straps were also used underneath to tie the rafters and beam together.

Sheathing above the loft was fairly easy. Panels were glued and screwed to the rafters. Being able to stand on the loft helped a lot, and the low pitch wasn't too bad to work on when that wasn't sufficient. But still, this is thirteen feet in the air, so need to be careful.

I needed some help on the steeper section. My son-in-law sat on the ridge, screwing down the top of the panels, and I worked from underneath, pushing the panels up to him, and screwing down the lower parts. I also built some temporary supports that I attached to the studs to keep the panels in place. The panels didn't slide off easily on the 4/12 section above, the could not stay in place by themselves on the 10/12 section without the supports.

Framing the Walls

The floor was framed, insulated, and sheathed, so was time to put up some walls. Moving and raising the long side walls isn't an easy job for one person. So rather than do them in a single 20" foot wall, I chose to build three smaller sections that I could handle myself. The downside of this was that it put more wood in the wall - which meant less insulation. The 3-1/2 inches of 2x4 stud doesn't help much, and takes away from the cavity to be filled with insulation.

This section holds the 36" doorway and a window. The header is made from 2x6s separated by 1/2" insulation. Headers built this way are plenty strong and provide more R-value than those made with plywood in the middle. I think that, in general, tiny houses are overbuilt. Nothing wrong with that, and probably a good thing since these things have to be able to go on the road. Most of the header charts I've seen don't cover the narrow roof spans of an 8'6" wide tiny house. Structurally, tiny houses have a lot in common with sheds. 

A lot of tiny houses use SIP (structural insulated panel) construction. These panels provide their strength without using studs. They get their strength from the wood sheets that are bonded to the sides of dense insulation. The building that results from using SIPs is strong and very well insulated.

I've wondered if similar advantages would come from running large headers along the full length of the sides supported by posts at the corners and a couple in the middle. The use of studs could be minimized and would allow more insulation.

Here you can see more of the wall framing. This is the front, and bay windows will go in here. You can see the door from the above picture on the left here. I liked the idea of a side door. The ladder/stairway will land close to the door.

I haven't talked about the floor plan much yet. It's amazing how much has to be decided just to frame the walls. Kitchen and bath windows have to be placed pretty accurately, since there isn't a lot of room. You start to think about where a wood stove might go. Where will the table go? What other furniture will be in here?

In my plan,the door will hinge on the right, stairs or ladder on left. The bay will be a place to sit, with storage underneath. A table or counter extension will be in front of the picture window on the right of the picture. The kitchen is in the middle. The bathroom in the back. At this point I really hadn't finalized the floor plan.

Here you can start to see the bay window take shape, gable walls, and also the loft area in the back.

When I look at this framing now, I remember that I did redo some minor things. For example, I lowered the bay window section. And once I could get "inside" and envision the floor plan a bit, I realized that a window over the bathroom sink would prevent me from having a medicine cabinet in a convenient place. So I redid that, putting the window over the toilet.

The framing is all held together with screws and glue. I think this makes changing the framing easier than if nails had been used. Screws are easily removed, and the glued boards take a little persuasion to be separated.

When I started this project, I thought using screws was a no-brainer. And I don't regret it at all. But screws, it turns out, are more brittle than nails. If you bend a screw down once or twice it will break. A nail won't break as easy when bent. But, my philosophy is that a tiny house has to be a rock because it goes on the road on occasion. Don't let the tiny house bend, and the screws won't bend. At the same time, don't use decking screws to hold your framing together. I used a lot of GRK R4 screws. Not cheap, though. Also, use an impact driver. They are noisier, but they don't twist your hand when you putting a screw in. Almost no torque, since they use impacts to rotate the screw bit. I think this is less tiring, and safer.

Framing and Insulating the Floor

Once the trailer was leveled, front to back and side to side, it was time to begin construction. 

The first step was to put metal over the trailer frame. This trailer, by Tiny Home Builders, has angle iron running along the length of both sides, and runners going the length of the trailer on which to attach the metal and the floor framing. Other trailers, utilize cross members, and it's possible to use rolls of flashing to lay strips from front to back to cover the trailer. The recommendation for this trailer is to use sheets of roofing metal. I used 29 gauge pro-panel, which probably isn't ideal. It looks nice, especially underneath with the black side down. But, a lower profile metal sheet would flatten more easily across the front and back frame members.

I did the floor framing in three sections. The middle, between the fenders, was separate from the ends. I used 2x6s which provided two inches more space for insulation than 2x4s. Nice for cold weather, but it does reduce the potential height of the tiny house by the same two inches. The trailer has a drop axle to make up for the deep floors.

You can't really tell from the photo, but the eighteen inch section at the back end is cantilevered out past the end of the trailer. It was done that way to support a full width utility cabinet and add some length to the loft above.The joists in this back section run lengthwise to provide support for the cantilever.

Similarly, in front is a cantilevered bay window area over the tongue. The triangular shape of the bay uses the space well, but still allows for sharp turns. 

The frame was bolted down with 3/8" galvanized bolts running through 7/16" holes drilled into the 2x6 frame and the angle iron. The bolt head and washer were recessed below the surface, and filled with epoxy. Once the floor sheathing is put over the top, the epoxy around the bolt head will help keep it from turning if it should ever require tightening. But the bolts are long enough that you can get a vice grip on the end of the bolt while tightening the nut, and the nut is secured with Loc-tite thread sealant as well. 

To fill the cavity left by the 2x6 framing, 5-1/2 inches of insulation was required. I used R-Tech rigid insulation from Home Depot. It took two thicknesses of 2-inch insulation and two thicknesses of 3/4-inch insulation. That filled the 5-1/2 inches and gives the floor about R-21. 

Decisions, Decisions...and Finally a Trailer

It has been quite a while since I last published, but rest assured that I am well into the process of building a tiny house. After looking at the plans, and considering the advantages of each, and not really finding what I wanted, I decided to do my own design. No doubt the plans that I have reviewed will all influence the tiny house I build. More on this as I publish my progress.

My first purchase was a 20 foot trailer from Tiny Home Builders. It took just over a month for the trailer to get built, and then on September 1st I picked it up with my 2001 Mazda pickup in Logan, Utah. Logan is about 500 miles from my home in Arvada, Colorado.

Here is the pickup and new trailer just east of Logan. This was the prettiest part of the trip. My route home took me through southern Wyoming, across the continental divide, twice each way to be accurate. Much of southern Wyoming is in the Great Divide Basin, with the continental divide split on each side. Water in the basin normally stays there and can't flow to either the Atlantic or Pacific. The trailer was all my 4 cylinder pickup could handle on the long climbs. At 8 ft. 6 in. in width, the trailer was much wider than the pickup, and required some extra attention to keep it centered in the lane.

After getting it home, I managed to back the trailer into the work area, and start to level it.

So there it is, the foundation to my tiny house.

A Closer Look at the Tiny Living

I purchased the plans for Tiny Living with a 25% discount for buying their trailer. Even so, these plans cost $260. They came with a materials list, pdf, and Sketchup file.

I really like the appearance of this design. The framing design has some nice features. The loft joists actually lie on a lower plate in the walls, making for a very solid loft. But I wish they would include some possible floor layouts -  although there really aren't too many options I suppose. The materials list is thorough, although sometimes it isn't clear to me yet what various materials are for. I think it would be really helpful to say things like, 400 sq. ft. of wall, 200 sq. ft. of ceiling, rather than specify lengths of various material, so that the builder can choose a different material. Over time the SKUs change, so they are of limited use.

These plans appear to be made prior to Tiny Home Builders having their own trailers. The materials list shows lag bolts for attaching the house to the trailer, rather than the hex bolts and nuts shown in the drawing. The information sent regarding the trailer has detailed instructions on attaching the floor, but suggests using roofing material, rather than flashing, between the trailer and the floor framing.

 Having looked more closely at the design in Sketchup, I wish the entire end over the loft had dormers to provide a bit more head room there. It looks a little tight.

With the sketchup file, this design can be modified to put the door on the side and to extend the dormer completely over the loft. Modifications are necessary anyway, since the actual height of the house can vary depending on the axles used on the trailer. I'm told that the trailer bed height varies from 26" with 7,000 lb. axles, 24" with 5,000 lb. axles, and perhaps 21" with the 5,000 lb. drop axles.

My next step is to try my hand at Sketchup, to see if I can modify the Tiny Living plan to suit my needs, or perhaps come up with my own design based on ideas I've seen in other houses.

A Closer Look at the Talmage 20

I purchased the plans for the Talmage 20 for $29. Nice plans, detailed plan for framing and sheathing, and a good buy for the price. This one has the central kitchen and bath, but I think it breaks up the remaining space too much. There isn't much room for storage and a stairway. If I decide to run the stairs and a landing to the side of the bed, I doubt this plan would accommodate that at all.

As an off-grid house, I need a place to put a water tank inside. With the loft over the small kitchen are, there really isn't a good spot for one. Propane and electricity require a utility cabinet, and this plan uses the ends, one for the porch and the other for a bay window.

One really nice idea is that the walls are framed in small section which are easy to handle by one person.

This plan starts with the Tiny Home Builders trailer that I have ordered.

Recap of Designs

I've looked at six different designs so far. My criteria for finding the best design are the following:

1. fits on 8' x 20' flat trailer
2. has an interesting and practical roof line
3. has plenty of windows
4. bed on lower level, or accessed by stairs instead of ladder
5. plenty of storage for clothing and other items
6. has an entry on the side
7. some separation between bathroom and kitchen
8. room for a TV, desk, chairs, table, wood  stove, water tank, etc.

I've ruled out designs that don't meet the first three. These are all excellent choices, but none are perfect. All fall short in some area and require changes to meet my criteria.

1) Tiny Living - This one falls short on several criteria, but flexibility and a provided Sketchup file, along with the nice outside appearance keep it in the running. I would have to add a stairway, storage, and move the entry way. I also believe these plans to be very thorough.

2) McG - This one has been ruled out as a whole because it's seven foot width is too narrow. But it provides a stairway that runs along side the loft to a landing about 20" below the loft surface. This feature might be useful to other designs.

3) Moschata - The Moschata provides  a Sketchup file only for the framing, but otherwise these free plans are very complete and would aid in making modification. I would probably do something to separate the kitchen a little, perhaps putting cabinets outside the bathroom, shifting the kitchen down a bit, and putting in storage under a new stairway. The outside appearance isn't as nice as the Tiny Living, and without a complete Sketchup file, I can't document the needed changes.

4) Cider Box - This one probably comes the closest to addressing all the criteria, but perhaps not the best at meeting them. It has a side entry, stairway, and good kitchen bath separation, but still needs some tweaks. Lack of a Sketchup file is a shortcoming, but may be okay. I can't find a complete floor layout for this one, and a no return policy makes this plan purchase a bit risky.

5) Talmage 20 - On the outside, the Talmage 20 looks similar to Tiny Living with the large central dormers. The central bath and kitchen leave room at one end for a stairway and storage to be added. Some sort of fold down table would replace the dining room table in the bay window, and perhaps seating could be added there. The kitchen is small, but could be enhanced. Heating would be difficult since it could not be central. But the plans are cheap and come with a Sketchup file and materials list.

6) Cypress with Arise floor plan - This is another really nice looking house, especially with the dormers. The Arise layout provides good separation between the kitchen and bathroom, although I'm not sure how easy adding a bathroom sink will be. The kitchen takes up a lot of room, and there doesn't seem to be room to add a stairway.

At this point, I want to take a closer look at the Talmage 20 and the Tiny Living.

Cider Box Design

The Cider Box is a design built by PAD Tiny Homes. It has a good outside appearance, with plenty of windows, and a double shed roof. PAD sells the plans which are are originated by their partner, Shelter Wise.

The side entry doors, which are double french doors to boot, are a plus in this design. There are plenty of windows with the upper level clerestory windows. The overall appearance is fine, but not my preference. The design is described as flexible, and doesn't include plumbing or electrical, which is fine with me. A couple of suggested interiors are provided. I will probably want to change any plan I use, so options are good. A complete floor layout for the 20' is not shown, so it's hard to compare the various room sizes. A portion of one interior design is shown:

The flexibility of this design is a plus, but the plans don't come with a Sketchup file. This plan does not appear to include a bill of materials. Overall though, the plan seems to meet all the criteria, by including the stairs, storage loft, and side entry, and taking into account the flexibility. 

Cypress Arise Design

Another Colorado company, Tumbleweed Houses, has a home design that caught my eye. Actually, they have several nice designs with lots of floor plan options. None of the designs have a side entrance though, so I've discounted most of them. The Cypress model has a corner porch entry, similar to others I've seen. And although most Cypress photos show a gable roof with small dormer over the porch, this picture, from the cover of their study plans, shows a large dormer on the side, which I like.

The plans are for various length options, including the 20' that I am interested in. But there are four floor plan layouts! The one that caught my eye is the Arise. To the left you can see how the bathroom is in the middle. A wall separates it from the kitchen. The entry door is in the kitchen. I don't see a convenient place to put a bathroom sink, though. And I suspect the access to the loft is through a ladder as there really isn't a good place in this floor plan to work a stairway in.

Plans from Tumbleweed are very complete, but I don't see any mention of  Sketchup file.

There are three other layouts available, similar to other plans.

Talmage 20 Design

The Talmage 20 is a nice design by Tiny House Design. It has elements of other house plans I've looked at, including large central dormers and a corner porch entry.

The inside has some unique features, such as a central bathroom and kitchen, a loft open to the front and back. A living area and dining areas are at opposite ends of the house, with the entry in the living area. The loft is above the kitchen and bath, and as shown is open to both the living and dining area. The dining area has a bay window.

This design as shown is very open and light is plentiful. I prefer stairs to the ladder. One option would be to add a stairway where the storage room lies, and replace that storage with cabinets below the stairs.

With a stairway added, the other missing criteria are plenty of storage, and the proximity of bathroom to kitchen. The kitchen area is small in relation to the area devoted to the kitchen and dining rooms. This isn't a perfect design for me, but it has interesting features. The plan is inexpensive at $29, and includes a framing plan, materials list, and a Sketchup file. 

McG Design

The McG Tiny House is offered by Humble Homes.

It has a smaller loft, suitable for a full size bed, with a stairway along side. I really like this idea. The outside appearance of the house is fairly basic, with a porch across the end, and a gable roof with an off-center ridge line. The one thing that is a bit of a problem is that the design specifies a 7' x 20' trailer. A Sketchup model is available, but if I were to change the width of the design via Sketchup, it may be a lot of work, and prone to a lot of mistakes. I'm afraid I have to reject this house for now, but still, I really like the idea of stairs along the side of the loft.

This isn't the only place I've seen this idea. A local company, Mitchcraft Tiny Homes, shows a layout where they use a stairway along side of the loft. But they are a builder, and don't offer the plans for sale on their website.

The idea of a stairs to a landing below the loft isn't unique either. The Hope Island Cottage is built with a stairway to a landing twenty inches below the loft. It makes for a nice place to sit while you put the socks and shoes on, and I would think would make it easier to access the stairway from the loft.

Tiny Living Design

In an earlier post I listed what I thought were my priorities in choosing a design for my tiny house.

1. fits on 8' x 20' flat trailer
2. has an interesting and practical roof line
3. has plenty of windows
4. bed on lower level, or accessed by stairs instead of ladder
5. plenty of storage for clothing and other items
6. has an entry on the side
7. some separation between bathroom and kitchen
8. room for a TV, desk, chairs, table, wood  stove, water tank, etc.

My approach to choosing a house design is to search for houses that fit the first three criteria, and have available plans. So it needs to fit on an 8' x 20' trailer, and have an interesting roof line (not a basic shed) with plenty of windows.

I really liked the looks of the house on the cover of Dan Louche's book.

It is called Tiny Living, and meets the first three criteria being 8' x 20' and having various roof lines and plenty of windows. Below is the floor plan:

This diagram doesn't give a lot of detail, but is pretty basic. The bathroom design doesn't include a sink, but presumably a small hand sink would fit. The living room looks pretty spacious. No stairs though, it uses a ladder. Entry is from the end, not the side. And the kitchen is right next to the bathroom. Has plenty of room, but the plan would have to be modified to fit a stairway, a storage loft,  side entry door, A lot of changes, but the plans can be modified with Sketchup.

 It should also be mentioned that the plans sound very complete, are very detailed, and include a comprehensive materials list.

Moschata Design

Moschata is a free plan from The Small House Catalog.

It has a basic gable roof, with a small porch in one of the corners for entry. Since the plans are free, I have a downloadable PDF copy that I have viewed, which is especially helpful for deciding if it meets the criteria. Also downloadable is a Sketchup file with the framing for the Morschata with dormers. Adding the dormers really helps with the interesting roof line criteria.

The floor plan is as follows:

You can see the loft is accessed by a ladder rather than a stairway. And the bathroom / kitchen layout is the side-by-side version that puts the bathroom so close to the kitchen. The bathroom has no sink of its own, but perhaps a hand sink could be added under the bathroom window. A storage loft is included in the plan, The plan does include a bill of materials.

Tiny House Design Ideas

There really aren't a lot of ways to squeeze a bathroom, kitchen, living room and bedroom onto 160 square feet. But it is a tiny house after all. And then, the trailer that serves as the foundation limits some choices. For example, generally a door can't be placed at the hitch end. And the location of the wheels affect the placement of doors as well, and possibly other interior features. 

The kitchen and bath present the greatest challenges. In general, it makes sense to put the bathroom and kitchen near each other. Even though people prefer the bathroom not be close to the kitchen, the plumbing is just easier that way, and the rooms just fit together pretty well in the limited width. A lot of designs place the bathroom across an end, and the kitchen next room in. 

Sometimes you see the bathroom and kitchen across from each other, perhaps with the bigger kitchen area being an ell shape. Sometime this gives the area a galley look, with a solid wall along the bathroom, and cabinets to the ceiling on the other side. It seems dark and closed in to me. 

Putting the bathroom and kitchen at opposite ends is a possibility as well. This opens the house up, squares the living area up some, but its not common, probably because it presents some plumbing challenges. It's more efficient to have the water heater near both the kitchen and bathroom which isn't possible when the rooms are at opposite ends.

Putting the bathroom along a wall in the middle with the kitchen on the opposite wall is another idea I've seen. This leaves an open area on each end. This is probably the ideal arrangement to keep pipes from freezing, having everything in the middle. But, it might be better to have the heat somewhat centralized. This layout allows for a separate dining area or lower bedroom, and a loft above the kitchen and bath.

The challenge of the bedroom design in a tiny house is its size. An 80" long queen mattress barely fits lengthwise across the width of most tiny houses so typically people want it to run lengthwise. It's nice to have room on the sides to set your feet down and to make the bed. In a home twenty feet long, there's only four feet of living room space after taking out three feet for a bathroom, six feet for a kitchen, and seven feet for a bed. So the bed needs some special handling. Usually this involves putting the bed in a loft. But a Murphy bed, pull out couch, or custom bed/couch combination are possibilities. I've even seen plans where the bed pulls out from below a low loft holding the bathroom and kitchen.Some designs gain floor space by extending the floor out at the ends.

Ideally this house will allow a real bed, or at least a real mattress. So I don't particularly like the idea of sleeping on the living room furniture. The Murphy bed idea is worthy of consideration, but like the pull out bed idea, you still have to free up space in the living room area. That might require other furniture to be moved aside or stowed away every night. The pull out bed deals with this by using the partially extended mattress as a couch, reducing the need for furniture in the living area. But I'm not convinced that a mattress makes a good couch, or that a couch makes a good bed.

The loft is the obvious solution, and is pretty common. Access is usually by a ladder or stairs. The stairs are typically narrower and steeper than residential code would allow. Even then, the stairs take up a lot of floor space. Fortunately, the space under the stairs can be used for much needed storage.

A loft with a landing running along side the mattress has a lot of advantages. The landing would be 2 or 3 steps down from the mattress, so getting in and out of the bed would easier than from the loft floor. The stairs would take up less space, since they don't go as high, have fewer steps, and could even extend into the loft area with a shortened landing.  Also, you could put a tall closet on the landing, providing a better place to hang clothes. A major downside is that its more difficult to frame since the location of the stairs / landing prevent joists from being run across the width of the house to support the loft. And there isn't much room for a queen size mattress with no easy access to the other side.

I'd venture to say that every design I've seen would work better with a full size mattress, but perhaps a queen size should be the goal.

I'll start looking at specific plans next.

Foundation for a Tiny House

The internet is amazing. So much information out there. More than one can take in. It's no different for the tiny house movement. There are a lot of different tiny house ideas, but the one thing these houses have in common is that they are not permanent structures - at least not in the sense that they are fastened to the ground. Typically they are on wheels so that they can be treated by local authorities as an RV, and not as a house. This also gives them mobility, so that they can be built in one spot, and moved to another, or even treated like an RV and taken across country.

But that is the starting point for a tiny house - wheels - or more specifically, a trailer. There are a few different types of trailers. Gooseneck trailers can be used and the area above the hitch can be a loft as with the MiniMotives design by Macy Miller. But more commonly a flat trailer is used. Some trailers have the bed raised over the tires, which makes for a nice wide area to build on, but the downside is losing some house height. The raised floor takes away from the 13'6" or so that is the typical limit for vehicle height on roads. The most common trailer to use is a utility trailer, with the house attached to the bed, and working around the fenders. You lose a little bit of space inside the house over the fenders, but you gain several inches in house height.

Most commercial trailers need some modification to provide a good foundation. Side rails, gates, front bars, and sloped rear ends give the builder some extra challenges.  The trailer has to be able to support 10,000 pounds or more, so axle capacity is a major issue. A custom trailer is another possibility.

Yesterday, I confirmed my order for a trailer from Tiny Home Builders, Dan Louche's company.

I chose one of these trailers because it is designed for a tiny house. The sides are built out with angle iron, and instead of wood decking, it has two steel beams running the length of the deck. I like the idea of drilling through the floor framing into these beams and side angle irons to bolt the floor down to the trailer. I chose an 8' x 20' trailer. Unfortunately, it won't be ready for a couple months. But then again, I probably won't be ready until then either. I don't even know the floor plan yet. But I do know that it will have to fit on an 8' x 20' trailer.

I had hoped to discuss my options a bit more in this post. But for now, let just say that my criteria for a tiny house are:

1. fits on 8' x 20' flat trailer
2. has an interesting and practical roof line
3. has plenty of windows
4. bed on lower level, or accessed by stairs instead of ladder
5. plenty of storage for clothing and other items
6. has an entry on the side
7. some separation between bathroom and kitchen
8. room for a TV, desk, chairs, table, wood  stove, water tank, etc.

Those are my priorities, somewhat in that order, for now. Certainly, there won't be a perfect design. These aren't all black and white choices. And I have to keep in mind that aesthetics is important, but this house must be practical to be viable for off-grid use.

Floor plan ideas next time.

Deciding to Build a Tiny House

I needed something to do. Last winter I built a teardrop camper, a Wyoming Woody. It was a challenging project, and I enjoyed it - and the end product.

I thought about building another camper, but can only use one and would lose money if I sold it, especially considering my labor.

Before I decided to build the teardrop, I had bought a book called "Tiny House Design & Construction Guide" by Dan Louche. I glanced at it at the time, but didn't have a good reason to build one. The camper, we could use. But that's done now. And, again, I need something to do. Can I build a tiny house, sell it, and make some money?

Are there markets for this type of home? Tiny homes are hot right now. They certainly aren't for everybody, myself and wife included, at least not as a replacement for our house. But there are several companies making tiny homes. They are for people wanting to get into a starter home without being tied down to a hefty mortgage, people who want freedom and mobility but yet live in more conventional construction than an RV, people who are downsizing, people who want to go off-grid, and people who want to own a vacation retreat.

For various reasons, I have decided to focus on the off-grid tiny house. I like the challenge of providing the services that an off-grid house needs. My degree is in electrical engineering, and I wrote software for several years. I love technology, and to go off-grid requires some significant technology. People need hot and cold water, and sewer, for kitchen and bathroom, a way to heat, cool and ventilate their house, a way to power a refrigerator and stove. And besides those necessities, its nice to have a washer/dryer, computer, internet, television and other things. Being off-grid means having no water or sewer pipe connections from the city, no gas or electrical connections from the utility company. A tiny home owner will have to spend more time to get those services. They'll probably have to store water and propane, make electricity, properly handle the grey water from the sink and shower, and waste from the toilet. Planning for all that is very interesting to me. Similar to the planning for the teardrop, but on a bigger scale.

But that is all a bit down the road. First things first. What is this house going to look like? How big is it? What is the floorplan? What materials should it use? Next post will discuss the trailer I plan to use as a foundation, and considerations in picking out a floor plan.