Four Lights Tiny House Company’s Workshop
A Tiny House Workshop Like No Other
Four Lights has taken Tiny House Workshops to a whole new level. Join seasoned tiny house builder and designer, Jay Shafer and construction expert, Daniel Bell in this ALL NEW tiny house workshop series.
The Los Angeles Workshop is coming up April 6-7! Tickets are already on sale for a $100 savings, but for a limited time Four Lights is offering an additional 15% OFF the ticket price! LEARN MORE
A couple of Sundays ago, I had the chance to stop by and visit Jay Shafer’s first workshop with his new company called Four Lights Tiny House Company.
Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the full workshop, but the half day I did get to spend with them gave me a good idea of what the overall workshop was like.
The first thing I noticed was that Jay no longer conducts the full presentation himself. He has brought in some professional help to explain construction techniques such as Daniel Bell, a contractor and instructor who explained the details of building a tiny home. While I was there I listened to the plumbing and electrical discussion and watched the demo. The day before my visit covered constructing walls, roof, etc. Continue Reading »
Healdsburg High Students build Tumbleweed Epu
Last Tuesday I had the privilege of visiting the local Healdsburg High School. Ray Holley had invited me down to see a Tumbleweed Epu being built by sixteen high school students.
A few years ago the industrial arts program at the high school was being shut down because of lack of funds. A group of business people including Ray Holley decided to step forward and not let this happen as these skills are really needed by the young people and allow them to get jobs after graduating. These business people raised enough money to continue the program and called the organziation CASA (Construction and Sustainability Academy).
The class building the Epu is the Advanced construction class of sixteen students. Their instructor Glen Schaeziein has an interesting challenge as he only has the students for five hours a week which is divided into three one hour sessions and one two hour session. They have made great progress as the construction has only been going on since early October. The plan is to have the house completed by this Spring.
Jay Shafer donated the Tumbleweed Epu plans and the class is modifying them a bit to take on the look of local structures. The class involves bringing in professional people like electricians, plumbers, and even a chef to help in the design of the kitchen. The business people advise the students and then the students go on and do the actual work. Continue Reading »
Four Lights Tiny House Company
Jay Shafer contacted me recently about his new website and new houses he is introducing today. He sent me the following press release to share with you.
Jay Shafer will be unveiling what he calls his, “best tiny houses yet”, at fourlightshouses.com this Tuesday, December 11 at 9:00 am EST. Jay has resigned from his position at Tumbleweed Tiny Houses to form Four Lights Tiny House Company.
When asked why he split with the business he founded in 1999, Jay says, “For some of the same reasons I started designing, building and living in small houses in the first place – for more freedom and more manageability. The message and design philosophy I’d built my original company on had become harder and harder to maintain as the business grew from a one-man operation into what it is today.” Continue Reading »
Austin’s Open House
Austin was only 15 when he started building his tiny house. According to Jay Shafer he is the youngest person he is aware of who is proving that anyone can build a tiny home if they choose to. Austin has completed building the Tumbleweed Fencl and he is scheduling an Open House for October 6th in Santa Rosa.
Austin has been very active and has shared his knowledge at several of Tumbleweed’s workshops. He is now 17 and a senior at the local high school.
The event is open to the public and is happening Saturday October 6th from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM in Santa Rosa, California.
You will need to get the address from Tumbleweed at this link as his privacy is important and we do not wish to publish it online.
Watch a video clip of Austin on “Extreme RV” below.
Tiny SIP House
by Art Cormier
My name is Art Cormier and I decided to build a tiny house this last fall. I realized I had been living in large space, but only using a small portion of it. I began to research floor plans online and decided to start with the basic layout of Jay Shafer’s Walden (Tiny Tumbleweed Houses).
The thought of framing up such a small space and subjecting it to the stresses of transport on a trailer seemed daunting. S.I.P. (Structural Insulated Panels, SIPS.org) panels seemed like a good option.
With the panels each surface would be one piece, making the construction easy. S.I.P.s allow someone without extensive building skills to put together a sound structure. This was my first experience using S.I.P.s and there is much detail of the process on my blog, tinysiphouse.blogspot.com.
Kai’s Weebee and Will’s Tarleton
Kai Schaede from Germany spent three months constructing his modified Weebee to meet his needs. Most Tumbleweed Weebee’s that have been constructed have been built on a trailer, but Kai wanted his on a permanent foundation so he altered it to work for him.
Kai hopes that his pictures will motivate other do-it-yourselfer’s to try what he has done. He is a dental technician with almost no building experience, yet he managed to build this Weebee and the windows on his own.
You can view all Kai’s photos on the Tiny House Journal. Tumbleweed is also offering the Weebee plans for $300 off the usual price until May 31st, 2012. If you have been thinking about buying these plans now is the time to step forward and do it. Click Here to Purchase Now!
Will Pedersen from Abbotsford, BC Canada has constructed a Tumbleweed Tarleton. His cost of materials is around $18,000 Canadian (about $14,500 US).
Will did the bulk of the work himself, but employed an electrician to do the electrical and had a friend who is a plumber assist him with the plumbing.
Will kept an extensive journal of his costs and what it was like to build a Tumbleweed Tarleton and you can download it at my other site the Tiny House Journal. Plus, you can view many pictures of the build and a video.
Tumbleweed is also offering the Tarleton plans for $300 off the usual price until May 31st, 2012. If you have been thinking about buying these plans now is the time to step forward and do it. Click Here to Purchase Now!
