Tiny House on Blocks

Chris is an ex van and box truck dweller who is currently building a tiny house for himself, his girlfriend Kristin and her small dog, Daisy. Influenced and inspired by Deek Diedrickson’s , Lloyd Khan’s and Jay Shafer’s books, Chris has decided to chuck a “normal” life and live in the 8 foot by 12 foot structure on his parent’s wooded suburban land.

In a humorous and grating way, Chris is documenting the trial and error he goes through while building his  abode. He knew that he didn’t have any prior skills before starting the project, so he doesn’t sugarcoat it and describes both the progression and the frustration in frank terms.

“Whenever something seems pretty straightforward, my brain translates that to “quick” and/or “easy.” I bet there are carpenters who could have gotten this job done in a couple hours. Maybe quicker. That’s not a realistic goal for me. What I need to focus on is staying sane and not ramming a screw through my eyeballs with an impact driver. Today was a success because I made progress. Let’s not talk about how much progress, but rather reflect on the fact that I’m a reasonably sane man with vision in both eyes.”

Chris decided to quit living in his van and build the house after seeing Jay Shafer’s Epu design.

“The Epu is the house that generated so much widespread interest in tiny houses, and if not for Jay Shafer and his Epu, I’d probably be improving the inside of my van for better living, and Kristin would have left me. Living in a van is awesome and affordable, but doing anything without Kristin is the abysmal loser of all options.”

Chris decided not to build his design on a trailer since he found out that even a used trailer could set him back $1,500. So, he decided to place his new home on six deck blocks. The budget for the house is around $7,000 and will have a loft bedroom. You can read more about his project on his blog.

Photos from Tiny House on Blocks

By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]