Tiny House Blog

Malcolm White contacted me about a new ebook he has written on how to build a new prefab he calls the TenYurt. I recently had the privilege of looking his plan over and it looks very doable for the average person. I am going to let Malcolm tell you more about it. (at this time this is only a concept, Malcolm is building a prototype soon)

For a long time now I have been interested in almost everything related to residential design and construction. If you looked at the bookmarks in my Internet browser you would find that category to have the most pointers by far. While most of my career has been in the semiconductor industry I have spent a fair amount of my spare time and occasionally my full time designing or building things.

More recently I have become increasingly interested in looking for ways to help ease homelessness both in this country and potentially abroad. Partly with that end in mind I have been thinking about how to build very simple structures that could be used for housing. I am also very interested in prefabrication techniques so I was naturally drawn to the idea of simple prefabricated structures.

My new eBook titled “TenYurt – A Simple DIY Prefab Shelter” details one such structure. A TenYurt is a simple 10-sided yurt like building that encloses about 118 square feet of floor space and is about 12 feet from side to side. In its prefabricated but unassembled for easy transportation in a pickup truck. I have included lots of drawings, accurate dimensions and complete how to build details. You can build a very simple basic structure or you can enhance it in most any way your needs and budget suggest.

For more information about my eBook and for information about how to order you own copy visit diy-prefab.com.

by John Hilmer

This is an upgraded version of the Chapman Ridge that was shown on the Tiny House Blog previously. It is located in Little Deer Isle, Maine. As requested by the customer, this one has 14 windows and an added room in the back to be used as a bathroom. It also has a steel bracket that all the structural hip elements are bolted to and a windowed cupola. The steel bracket creates a round void in the peak of the roof/ceiling that allows light and ventilation to access the room through the cupola.

The building is beautifully trimmed with white and red cedar and left natural. It uses minimal glue and no plywood or engineered lumber as to not release off gases. All the wood is harvested sustainably in or around Athens Maine by a friend or myself, the builder. It is mostly wood and nails except for the windows which are Anderson’s and the roof which is three-tab asphalt. The floor is wide pine, fastened using old fashioned cut nails and finished with boiled linseed oil. The board siding and roof sheathing leaves a nice feel to the inside while being inexpensive. The customer plans to use it as a guest house during the spring, summer, and fall. Eventually they plan on insulating it and drywalling the inside. The hip-roof design allows there to be a big open room with no interior walls and a high ceiling.

The customer will divide it up into four sections. A sleeping area, kitchen area, sitting area, and dining area as well as the room in the back to serve as a bathroom.

The building is 24′ x 24′ with a 7′x11′ bump out. The total square footage is about 670 square feet. It is built using only sustainable methods and genuinely sustainable building materials. It cost the customer $27,000. Visit Hilmer Building and Design for more information.

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The Stable Company designs, manufactures and installs high quality, timber frame buildings and serves customers throughout the UK and Ireland. They specialize in small garden rooms, equestrian buildings and other outbuildings. The Stable Company’s insulated Garden Rooms would be the best option for a tiny house. The Company offers three: the Mono, the Duo and the Eco. The Mono has a single pitched roof and a choice of three different depths and unlimited widths. The Duo has a traditional pitched roof and a choice of 12 sizes. The Eco has a single pitched roof that features sedum plants and rocks.

The company also offers a pad foundation, Thermowood® siding, cedar roof shingles or insulated metal roofs, French doors, skylights, exterior lighting and decking. Interior options include laminate flooring, electrical and lighting, heating units and blinds.
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This off-the-grid cabin in Northeast Oregon, named the Signal Shed, was recently featured in Sunset Magazine, and the couple who spent two years planning and two weeks building the cabin are now offering the plans and prefab models for sale.

Mariah and Ryan Lingard fell in love with the woods and lakes of Joseph, Oregon and purchased some partially burned, partially logged land after seeing an ad in the local paper. The 100×150 foot parcel of land cost them $47,000 and is located smack dab in the middle of hiking, skiing and snowshoe territory. The couple has a full-time home in Portland, but they make the 6-hour trip to the Signal Shed about four times a year.

After two years of planning and extended weekend camping trips to their land, the couple built the 130 square foot cabin over a two week period with friends and family. The materials cost about $10,000 and the cabin features several recycled windows, IKEA cabinets and laminate flooring. They found the barn door hardware and the woodstove on Craigslist. The cabin rests on a floating pier to minimize impact on the land and cedar screens used to lock it up when Mariah and Ryan are not around. The Signal Shed has no running water, no electricity and the couple uses the woodstove for heat and some cooking. Continue Reading »

Sunset Magazine’s Celebration Weekend in Menlo Park, Calif. was held at the beginning of June, and one of the stars of the show was the cargotecture c-series Sunset Idea House by HyBrid Architecture. The c-series represents a group of pre-designed, factory built units made from recycled cargo containers that can be combined or customized as desired by the owner.

Hybrid coined the term cargotecture to describe any structure built partially or entirely from recycled cargo containers. The c-series consists of five models ranging in price from $29,500 to $189,500. The home featured at the Sunset show was the c192 nomad which costs $59,500.

The prices of the c-series include:

• Recycled ISO cargo container with new paint
• Soy based spray foam insulation
• Aluminum clad wood windows and doors (one 10 feet long opening and one side door)
• Bamboo finish floor
• 5/8 inch drywall ceiling and walls
• Panelized wet room bath with redwood decking.
• Duravit bath fixtures
• IKEA cabinets and kitchen fixtures and lighting
• Summit appliances
• 30 gallon electric water heater (gas if available on site)
• Convectair Apero heat
• Factory plans, State L&I permits and inspections

Green and off-grid options are offered including solar panels, composting toilets and “green machine” sewage treatment and roofwater harvesting.

All the models are insulated about 15 percent above IBC and UBC building codes in the floors, walls and roofs. The building can be placed in cold climates as well as moderate to hot climates. The recycled plastic and soy sprayed-in insulation creates R24 walls, R44 ceilings, and R32 floors. The roofs can handle 60psf snow loads.

The HyBrid homes are shipped complete. A local contractor will need to be arranged for electrical and sewage hook-ups as well as foundation work. In many jurisdictions, if your project is less than 200sf there is no permitting process required. HyBrid has completed residential and commercial cargotecture projects in California, Oregon and Washington and has designed over 20 projects on 5 continents. They will ship their cargotecture homes worldwide. Continue Reading »

Thinking big and building small is the philosophy behind the company BuildZing, located in Dripping Springs Texas. BuildZing builds small homes that are eco-friendly, affordable and can have customized exteriors and interiors based on the owner’s budget.

The company builds what they call “flex rooms” that can be used for offices, studios, workshop, retreats, rental properties, and cottages and tiny homes for a simplified lifestyle. Their designs can also be adapted to be ADA compliant to house disabled persons. The designs are energy efficient and specific to Texas climates.

Their 12 foot by 16 foot model costs $13,750 including sales tax. BuildZing can build directly on-site and will consult with you on foundations and utility and sewer attachments, or the building can be delivered ready to move in.

Photos courtesy of BuildZing

By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]

The modern prefab cabin company, Cabin Fever, in partnership with award-winning architect, Ed Binkley, has designed a new series of homes called the Shelter Series. The basis of these homes begins with the question: “We don’t buy cars by the pound, so why should we buy homes by the square footage?”

This series of homes meets all of the fundamental criteria in a house. The space is sized to be functional while also allowing flexibility. The uses for these homes include high density small lot urban and suburban infill, relief housing, student housing, auxiliary dwelling units, and specifically, affordable housing.

The Shelter Series homes range in size from 340 square feet to around 1,400 square feet and are also designed to meet a variety of green certification programs with the real emphasis being on energy and water savings along with a superior exterior shell.

Available now is the Shelter 640. This small home features 2 bedrooms, a full bath, generous kitchen, and ample storage/closet space. The interior is filled with light from the standard and clerestory windows. The lot for this design may be as small as 30 feet by 60 feet, and the 640 can be built on a concrete foundation or a raised floor system. The Shelter 640 is priced at $47,300. Continue Reading »