Spring is just around the corner and Tumbleweed Tiny House Company have put their XS House Plans on sale. Normally $399 they are now on sale for $99. The XS-House is the smallest green home design Tumbleweed offers. The “XS” stands for extra small and excessively efficient. It is very light, and easy to tow, and great for one person. It is also the most affordable home to build in Tumbleweeds catalog. Tumbleweed founder, Jay Shafer, built his own XS-House and lived in it for one year before selling it.
I have seen these plans and have seriously considered building an XS House. Maybe one of these days. For now if you have been thinking about getting the XS House plans, now is the time to do it. You can purchase the plans here for $99.
Not to knock Jay, I can’t fathom why someone would pay $99 for these plans, regardless of discount. If you have the skill-set to build a house, plans like these would be more of a hindrance than a help. It’s simply not that difficult, and if you have plans you’re going to have to modify them for windows, etc. My house was built with literally less than napkin-sketches and turned out perfectly. Buying a copy of Reader’s Digest DIY would be more much better spent.
The other thing that consistently bothers me is that Jay’s designs are almost universally fire hazards. The only access to the loft in all his designs is a small opening over the kitchen. I’ve had motorhomes burn to the ground because of fridges shorting out… if anything happened in that kitchen you’d burn with the house. The windows in the gable ends aren’t big enough to escape… you’d simply be done for. I’ve emailed him this concern before and received a reply saying “Sorry, however, I am currently too busy to reply to your email.”
So, from my experience, his designs are poorly thought out and he’s not willing to return emails. I hate to go on a tirade, but I get a really bad taste in my mouth from the whole thing. I would hate for expensive plans and a bad experience to turn someone off from the great tinyhouse movement.
I’m going to respectfully disagree with Ted. The value of a good set of plans is the money and time it saves. Bids, material lists and organization is a lot easier with a set of plans than it is on a napkin sketch. I also believe that for those who lack experience a detailed set of plans will pay for themselves many times over.
There are enough pictures and details out there for folks to decide if the XS is for them or not. My experience in the building trades has taught me not to inflict my own bias’ into a client’s project. It is their dream and it’s my job to make it happen. They’re the ones that know what they like and will have to live with the choices/specifications, and pay the bills…
I would agree an additional egress is a good idea.
I think there is a lot of “room” in the little house movement for a wide variety of techniques and styles. I have enough faith in my fellow man to be able to make his own choices, even if I don’t agree with them.
I would encourage Tiny House enthusiasts to explore the market before they commit to buying any stock plans. $99 may seem like chump change but you may think otherwise after gaining more insight after a comparative cost-analysis.
Go to your public library and check out titles from Lloyd Kahn and Les Walker for starters.
The internet is filled with free information and plans. For more comprehensive designs, there are companies which offer plans for as little as $50 a pop.
These homes are basic in design and function. It could easily be replicated through Google Sketch. Examples of first-time builders abound on this site along with others.
You should also consider the built-in restrictions that come with Tiny Homes, depending on where you live.
A second means of egress is imperative for the reasons mentioned above. I have given this matter some thought but not much research. Some ideas include roof hatches, egress skylights, or gable ends that can be swung open (fold down) in an emergency.
I came really close to buying these last year but never did. Last year this one when on sale first and then ended and another one of his went on sale and cycled through a few houses like this. I might risk it and wait for one of his other houses to go on sale.
I do wish that Jay had Google sketch up plans though, I got the plans from Dan Louche when they went on sale and the Google sketch up files are amazing. I think 3d cad might be the future for small markets like this.
Could somebody really live in only sixty-five square feet? Surely in an emergency or temporarily it would be just fine. What about long term? Somewhere I read that Jay lived in an XS for a year.
I know that some people live in vans and I bet that the interior of a long wheelbase van with a high top would be just as big as the XS. It wouldn’t be as beautiful though. It would certainly be much more convenient to move around.
In some of Jays other plans the side walls are over the wheels of the trailer. If the XS were designed that way it would add perhaps twenty square feet of space. Percentage wise that would be a huge difference. I wonder if Jay could do that for the XS. It would probably sell better with more square footage.
maybe I’d be willing to spend $50, $29.95 most likely. Problem is Jay houses are lovely, but as he points out, spendy. You’d actually spend as much building something that met minimum 300-500 square foot standards.
maybe I’d be willing to spend $50, $29.95 most likely. Problem is Jayz houses are lovely, but as he points out, spendy. You’d actually spend as much building something that met minimum 300-500 square foot standards.
Very late comment here…Jay has moved on to fourlights as we know. Tumbleweed plans are indeed pricey, but, you get what you pay for. I’ve seen and purchased cheaper plans that are basically just google sketchup “pretty picture” books. As for the fire hazard, sure, the house COULD burn down, and a second egress is never a bad idea. That window up front is probably too small, a skylight would be better. You could burn to death or die from smoke inhalation in a larger house too, there are plenty of people who do that every year.
Today I saw some small pre fab 200 sq ft cabins for sale on the side of the road, un-insulated, no interior finishes, on skids for about 4,000 dollars. Put up a small solar system, vapor barrier, insulation and sheet rock, a simple kitchen and bathroom set up and you have a tiny house. Could be done easily for about 8,000-10,000 total. If you can get around zoning this seems like a great option. There would be no housing crisis or homelessness if we’d all be a little les s greedy. My very small house in Phoenix sold for 2,250 dollars in 1931. Adjusted to todays dollars that would be 34,500. I won’t say exactly how much but I paid substantially more than 34K.