Tiny House Blog

The wonderful thing about building your own tiny house is that by-in-large the basic construct is the same as any other building. There are a series of tried and true steps that hold fast for your tiny house trailer, your small home, and the McMansion down the road. You want to decide on your foundation, set the subfloor, frame out the house, add windows and doors, put on your sheathing, etc. Now notice I said add windows and doors.

Windows are one of the most predominant features of a tiny house. Buy using them strategically you can help heat and cool your home (think passive solar and cooling), make the space appear larger, and properly ventilate for appliances and heating units. But how do you do this? Do you put up sheathing first and then cut out for windows? Or do you hang the windows and frame around it? The following is my method and what I have found to be most successful.

1. Rough it up. In order to rough in your window you first need to measure the width of the rough opening at the top, middle, and bottom and the height (at both sides and in the middle). If you come up with a difference in the three width measurements you may need to fill the opening with some stud material to level or plumb the opening. You also want to make sure you follow the directions on the new construction window which will more than likely call for the dimensions of the window to be 3/4″ narrower and 1/2″ shorter than the smallest width and height measurement.

2. Insane in the membrane. Rain is NOT our friend when it comes to installing a window (or even a door). That area where the window meets the wall can be a nightmare waiting to happen. To combat any leaks you should cut a 6-inch-wide strip of self-adhering waterproof membrane about 20 inches longer than the window’s width. Center the membrane under the rough opening and adhere it to the existing house wrap. Make sure its top edge doesn’t go past the edge of the rough opening. Then cut two more strips of membrane a foot longer than the height of the opening. Center and attach. Make sure to overlap the strip under the window. Now deal with the width by cutting a strip of membrane about a foot longer than the window is wide. Center and attach it so it overlaps the two side strips. By now you should have four strips of membrane around your window with the top and bottom strips overlapping your side strips.

3. Install. This is perhaps the most gratifying step as it is the one you see the most immediate result. Pick up your window and insert it bottom first into your rough opening. You want to first fold out the window unit’s nailing fins for proper tacking. When you see the gaps between the sides of the window and the jack studs equal on both sides tack the nailing fin to the sheathing at one upper corner with a common roofing nail being sure not to drive it all the way in.

4. On the level. Once you have tacked your window into the rough opening use a 4′ level to note the window’s high side. Then hold the level against the jamb on “the high side” and nudge the window until it appears plumb at that jamb. Tack the fin at the lower corner on the same side of the first nail.

5. Drive it home. Measure your frame diagonally from corner to corner to check for square. You should find that the window is within 1/16″. If not, you may have to adjust the frame. When the sill is level and the frame square, drive it home by nailing the sides, top, and bottom of the nailing fin. I find that driving one nail through every other pre-punched hole is plenty.

6. Is this record skipping? Repeat step 2 on the outside of the window.

At this point you may or may not have to deal with flashing or other sealing strips provided by the manufacturer. If this is the case, directions should be included with the window. The advanced installer may even have to use a siding break to bend a piece of flashing for superior protection against leaks.

FOOTNOTES: You simply can’t depend on just the trim and the housewrap to stop water from leaking in. Take the extra time (and money even…..remember, it is your HOUSE after all) to seal the perimeter of the opening with sticky sheets of self-adhering waterproof membrane, strips of metal flashing, and liberal amounts of window & door caulk. I dare the rain to try and penetrate!

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Bigger does not always mean better. Progress does not always mean forgetting our roots in order to forge a new future. Blogger, photojournalist, and hobby farmer Andrew Odom has spent much of the last few years rediscovering the lost art of living, growing, and being truly happy. Visit him online, find him on Facebook, or follow him on Twitter.

Recently I showed you Jenine and Amy’s Open House and also a couple of posts about the construction of Jenine’s home and one on their new modern home. Good News! Jenine and Amy found a buyer for their new home and Jenine is off to New York for a semester of art school and sculpturing.

Jenine let me know about these three great video interviews she had with a website called faircompanies.com and I wanted you to see them and share them with your friends. They speak for themselves so spend a few minutes and watch them today.

Jenine Alexander built her own home using reclaimed materials she found at the dump or off craigslist. Total cost: the price of a used trailer and some fasteners.

Her tiny home on wheels was such a success she decided to build a second one, this time for sale, with fellow tradeswoman Amy Hutto.

Continue Reading »

I discovered Louis Johnson’s yurt on facebook and contacted him and he agreed to let me share some of his photos of his home. Louis will tell you a little bit about living in a yurt in upstate New York. Their yurt is built by the Colorado Yurt Company.

This winter has proved to be a cold one as well, but we had a better handle on our wood harvesting this year and are in good shape. We estimate that we will use between 3 and 4 cord this year… only one more really cold month to go.

Our PV system is small and has a generator plug in to supplement power when needed. We have not used a generator yet however ~ we choose to reduce our usage instead. We only use our microwave and toaster on very sunny days and supplement our lighting with a propane light and candles if necessary. We save a lot of energy by cooking on the wood stove.

This past year we have made a couple of low tec improvements to the yurt. Earlier last fall we finally got our mulch pit (for gray water) in place, that has been a very big help in getting water out of the yurt, and that enabled us to get an operable shower in the yurt. It may just be a bucket with a bulkhead, but it’s strangely empowering. We continue to heat our water in small batches on the wood stove. (In the summer we heat it in black shower bags and we shower outside.) Continue Reading »

Alternative Energy, Passive Solar House for Sale

The house is located in Tres Orejas, a small off-grid community one-half hour west of Taos, New Mexico.

Situated on 3/4 acre of desert oasis with outstanding 360° panoramic views of the Sangre de Christo (Rocky Mountains) and Picuris mountain to the east and southeast, with BLM National Forest to the west.

Casa Juan Galan- a beautiful, small (one-bedroom), green solar-home.

Operates on sustainable energy: passive solar heating, off-grid electrical system with solar panels (photovoltaic) & wind generator electricity.

It’s an energy efficient, energy independent home.

Rain and snow water harvesting-catchment system provides water (about 4500 gallons of storage).

Heat is by passive solar and a wood stove. There is a small propane heater in the new bathroom. I have left for extended times in the winter and the house plants have survived on the passive solar alone (temperatures around 0 F).

The house is almost 800 square feet.

There is a tank house and next to it, a covered pavilion—which would be fairly easy to convert to a studio/office, maybe a bedroom.

The house has one bedroom which is a combination studio/bedroom with a queen size loft and a small Mexican chimenea (freestanding fireplace). It has a space to hang clothes. A clothes closet is being built as part–but separate from–the new bathroom. There is another small sleeping loft (or storage space) next to the kitchen.

The bathroom is “in process” and the septic system will be finished in the spring (or ASAP, if sold soon). I have been using a “sawdust flush” composting toilet. The bathtub is large with a shower. All greywater is designed to go to trees and plants

The hot water heater is an Aqua Star propane on demand. I have installed an efficient propane refrigerator. The kitchen stove is a small trailer-type propane 3 burner with oven. The kitchen and dining space are separated by a bar. The living and dining area are separated by a partial wall with an arch.

There are two water holding tanks. One is about 3000 gallons and is in the tank house. The other is 1500 gallons and is freestanding. Roof collection for snow and rainwater is about 890 square feet.

A solar haven with High-Speed Internet, Internet Phone and good Cellular reception available.

A great recession-proof, real estate deal!
For sale by owner Asking: $115,000
email: JuanGalan(at)TresOrejas(dot)com

Visit website for more photos and details.

by Kent Griswold (Tiny House Blog)

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