Kent Griswold

Phase I: Subfloor Sandwich System

by

Todd Miller from the Oregon Cottage Company is building another cottage and is going to be sharing with us a series of the steps involved in building a tiny cottage on wheels. This is the first in the series and I hope I can assemble his information in an easy to understand way. This first phase is about assembling the subfloor sandwich system. I will turn it over to Todd now:

Once you have a design set, received your lumber, windows, doors, fasteners and updated and provided your proper tool maintenance you will be ready to get your hands dirty.

Custom 10,000 lb GVWR Frame

I call this first phase of construction a “sandwich system” because of the way the materials are stacked to get you to the wall framing phase of the project.

Simply put, the “Sandwich” is 3 ½” rigid board insulation layered between two sheets of ¾” T&G plywood.

Read more

Mark’s Tiny House Project

by

Mark Heffernan contacted me a while back to share his tiny house project. I’m going to turn it over to Mark to explain his plan.

A few years back, a friend of mine turned me on to Tumbleweed Tiny Houses, designed by Jay Shafer, and I fell in love with the idea of living small. I have always been drawn to the idea of low-impact living, having a lighter ecological footprint. I also think there is a fundamental appeal to a small, cozy living space, sort of a human nesting impulse that we lost from a childhood when we were happy to camp out all day in a cardboard box under the kitchen table.

For the past couple years, I have been turning design ideas over in my mind, and over time a design has emerged that I would like to build; I just needed the opportunity to build it.

Read more

SMPL Cabin #367

by

Joel Tanner who has shared plans with us before sent me these and I wanted to share them with you and get your opinion of his plan.

He calls this the SMPL Cabin 367 – with a price tag starting @ $62,000 USD + taxes and delivery.

This cost includes corrugated steel roofing, hardi panel siding, cedar soffiting, vinyl windows and doors, 2×6 walls with R21 batt insulation, 2×12 roof rafters w. R40 batt insulation, drywalled interior walls, bamboo flooring, solid maple cabinetry, solid surface countertops and Kohler bath fixtures.


This is a product that Joel has designed, and he is lined up with a modular home manufacturer located out of Idaho. They would do the construction of the building, Joel is simply the middle man, and designer. He does not mark up the cost of the home and simply charges a flat rate for the design.

Read more

House Plans Flexa Studio

by

Dan Gregory from HousePlans.com contacted me the other day to let me know about their new Flexa Studio, a modern, versatile, 120 square-foot prefabricated room. “It’s a way to add space without the expense and disruption of remodeling,” he says.

Award-winning designer Casper Mork-Ulnes, who holds a Master of Architecture degree from Columbia University and is creative director of Modern Cabana, developed Flexa Studio in collaboration with Houseplans.com.

The 10- by 12-foot structure comes pre-assembled or as a panelized kit-of-parts that you put together yourself. In both cases you build the foundation, then bolt the Flexa Studio to it.

The Flexa Studio has a simple shed-roof and crisp horizontal rain-screen siding — with glass entry door and fixed and operable side windows — give the structure a handsome contemporary presence to complement any garden setting. Place it in the backyard or side yard, to use as a home office, media room, or teen pad: or add a sleeper and turn it into an overflow guest room, or as many of us tiny house enthusiast would consider great for a retreat or tiny house somewhere.

Read more

Tiny House in a Landscape

by

With Spring starting to show itself in different places across the country and with the leaves breaking out in my own yard, this tiny house in a landscape photo seems just right for today. I like the light mist of fog and the reflection on the water, the birds flying … Read more

Free eBook: Minimalist Health

by

Since the release of Simply Car-free, Tammy Strobel has received an incredible number of emails from folks asking questions like: How can I improve my health? What are the best ways to lose weight? Where can I find real food? In response to the questions she has received, Tammy decided … Read more

Cadillac of Homeless Shelters

by

My name is Paul Elkins. I live in Stanwood Washington USA with my lovely wife Mary and our two dogs. In my spare time I play in my shop creating a host of toys and things that roll, mostly. They all start as and idea that gets transfered to paper. I’ve been doing this idea hatching thing since I was a kid. I recieving my first serious sketch pad on Christmas morning when I was 8 years old.

My original intent was to design and construct a simple, light weight, water tight insulated box on wheels geared for the northwest climate that an urban street person could reside in (with all the comforts of home of course) and have an area to display and sell handmade wares.

Wayno is demonstrating the proper way to push the shelter. All 225 pounds of it, empty.

Many homeless people are actually more creative than you might think, and not all want to beg or go rummage around in trash cans all day for a living. Homeless people have pride too! Also, this I think would make a better connection with the public.

So, what started as something that was suppose to be simple and cheap, well, let’s say I got a bit carried away…

What we have here is the Cadillac of homeless shelters…

Read more

A Tiny House Thought from Thoreau

by

Jesse Smedley has been reading Walden, by Henry David Thoreau and shared this with me. This past weekend I was re-reading one of my favorite books: Walden, by Henry David Thoreau. Many of your tiny house readers are probably familiar with the book, and I would urge those who have … Read more

Simply Car-Free

by

Though not directly related to tiny houses, Simply Car-free is right on when it comes to simplifying your life, which in my opinion is part of the tiny house movement. My friend and fellow blogger Tammy Stobel who publishes the RowdyKittens blog has written a wonderful ebook that I would highly … Read more

Tales of a Tiny Homestead

by

What began as a tug at the edge of our subconscious some years ago is finally starting to turn into a reality for us. While considering our options for life, and wondering why the heck we had to work full time at jobs that we hate for the next 30+ years, we started thinking that there had to be something different. And different, indeed there was!

While poking around online we happened to come across Jay Shafer’s Tumbleweed Tiny House website and the light came on in our heads! We would build a tiny house! A palace on wheels! We’d already rented out our home in the city and moved to the country in an RV, so why not build a small home, we didn’t need the space anymore, and wild horses couldn’t drag us back to city living.

Read more

Underground Micro Homes Part 2

by

Guest post by Walt Barrett

We have already established in a previous article for the tiny house blog that by building a home underground there are huge advantages when it comes to heating, and cooling. Starting from an average underground base temperature of 55° F it’s an easy jump to hold a small underground home to a temperature range of 65° to 75° Fahrenheit.

Now an underground home can be as simple as a pure survival model such as burying an old van, school bus, truck body or shipping container in the side of a hill or a hole in the ground with a combination stair well – light well, or it can be a well designed, and insulated modern home complete with all the necessary systems as a totally modern above ground home. One of the main differences is that the underground home design will certainly use far less energy, and it will be far less expensive to build if designed properly. If you miss the view of an above ground home, assuming there is a view to begin with, I suggest a TV wired to a web cam with a 360 degree sweep. Plus, you can always step outside to enjoy the view and contemplate the thousands of dollars that you are saving.

Read more

Underground Micro Home

by

Guest Post by Walt Barrett part 1. Here in New England it gets pretty cold in the winter, and the temperature hovers around the freezing mark. We have already built a 128 square foot micro home to use as a test bed for our energy saving products, and now we … Read more