by Andrew Monie
I’ve been following your blog for years and tinyhousenews.info since its inception. I work full time so my project has been slow with lots of down time for other projects. It would have been nice to blog about progress along the way, but that’s just not something I’m good at (good communication that is).
I’ve been working on my tiny house for the last three years. My new year’s resolution for 2013 was to finish it. On December 31st I had my final inspection and it is now a legal residence. Albuquerque has many very small homes, but I think mine is probably the smallest (legal) one.
It is 160 square feet (not including the attic). The main part of the house was previously an office at a lumber yard. I purchased it and had it moved to my land. I then re-wired it, added plumbing, raised the roof 18 inches and completed all the finishing touches.
I can say that all in one sentence, but it was a long, often frustrating process. It would have been more expensive, but probably faster and easier to have started from scratch. The porch was a major splurge, but outdoor living space was important to me and it’s comfortable to be outdoors for much of the year here. A critical element in completing this legally in the middle of the city is that Albuquerque has no minimum square footage requirements other than those in the International Building Code, and their interpretation of the code allowed me to have my bedroom and kitchen required square footage within the 120 square foot living space requirement.
Pictured with the building on the trailer is my wife Lorraine.
This was definitely a lot more expensive than building a tiny house on wheels, but I like being in one place and paying my taxes to support my community (The new account fee for water/sewer and setting the water meter was over $5,000, and that didn’t include actually connecting the house to the meter or the required sewer grinder pump, an additional $20,000 – definitely things to consider before deciding to go with a foundation or in a city).
I’ve posted a tour of the place after finishing it and before moving in.
I’d love to answer any questions or provide any more information. Ask anyone I know, they’re all sick of hearing about the tiny house.
I purchased the initial building (previously a site built lumber yard office and not intended to be portable) off eBay for $1500. It was already in Albuquerque, but it still cost me almost $1300 to have it moved to my site (pilot cars required because it was over 15 feet high).
The inside of the front door and the cabinets it came with.
The upper shelving was added and after things were moved in. And a picture of the final front.
An additional note about the kitchen cabinets, my wife and I are both 6 foot plus, so I built them to be taller and less deep than standard kitchen cabinets. The granite counter top is made of remnants that a local granite countertop company gives away and I cut to size with a diamond blade on a circular saw.
The sink hole I cut with a diamond blade on a handheld grinder. The cabinet doors are framed with old oak flooring around a panel of pallet wood, cut in strips and glued (like making a cutting board). The cabinet doors and drawers are all inset (versus overlay) so nothing sticks out from the cabinet framing except the handles.
I used smooth handles instead of knobs so there wouldn’t be anything for cargo pockets to catch on.
The building with the porch concrete poured and the roof raised 18 inches.
The bathroom addition framed in.