Tiny House Design

Jay Shafer and the team at the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company have just put the finishing touches on a great video that shows the construction of a Tumbleweed Fencl. I especially liked seeing details like how they connect the house to the trailer and all the details about the interior paneling and exterior siding installation.

Now here’s the video showing the building of the Fencl. Learn more about buying a set of Tumbleweed Fencl Plans.

It’s also worth mentioning that Jay will be teaching his building & design workshops in seven different cities in 2010.

2010 Tumbleweed Workshops

• Austin, TX – January 16-17, 2010 (just missed it)
• Durham, NC – March 20-21, 2010
• Boston, MA – May 22-23, 2010
• Toronto, Canada – July 17-18, 2010
• Portland, OR – August 7-8, 2010
• Boulder, CO – September 18-19, 2010
• Sebastopol, CA – November 6-7, 2010

You might also be interested to know that many of his plans have been reduced a little in price. Be sure to take a fresh look at the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company website.

As the weather begins to turn colder and wet in California the Urban Rancher is making steady progress on closing in his tiny house. Instead of using the same type of siding all around his house he’s mixing it up a bit, partially for cost savings and partially for aesthetics. I’m looking forward to seeing how this atypical approach works out. The dark siding in back of the house are stained low-cost fence boards.

See the latest progress at The Urban Rancher.

I’ve been watching the Urban Rancher’s progress online and look forward to every new post. This past weekend he installed his roofing which should help keep his brand new tiny house nice and dry as the wet season hits the mountains of southern California.

He chose to use some Galvalume panels which installed within just a couple hours. I’m certain one of the reasons his roofing went up so easily was that he made the wise decision to build a simple shed roof without a steep pitch. Those steep 12/12 gable roofs are really nice but much harder to build. If you don’t have a lot of snow load to worry about and you’re looking for a lower-hassle, lower-cost, longer-lasting roof consider a simple roof like this tiny house.

Next up on this tiny house construction project is the exterior siding. He’s posted some ideas for this in past posts but it seems that the jury is still out on the final choice. Ipe (aka Ironwood) is one of the favored leaders but he’s looking into more economical options too. Stay tuned to the Urban Rancher’s blog for all his updates.

Your house is looking great E! Congrats on getting so far so fast. Hope your hands are still on the mend… sounds like the new toys (tools) are helping in that area.

There is an incredibly captivating story unfolding in the mountains above Los Angeles of a man building a future of freedom through simplifying his life. Although as you’ll see when you read his latest tale of finding a way to lift a heavy framed wall into place by himself you’ll realize that a simple life doesn’t necessarily come easy. But I suspect for the Urban Rancher (a.k.a ‘E’) his dreams will soon be materializing… just as soon as he gets his tiny house built without dropping part of it on himself. Be carful E! Read more about this project on the Urban Rancher’s blog.

Oh and this is why I drew up the plans for the Tiny Prefab. You see small 4′ by 8′ wall sections are actually pretty heavy but nothing like the weight of a complete framed wall. If you’re building something by yourself consider breaking the structure up into smaller pieces. Unfortunately for E my ebook wasn’t ready by the time he got going on his house… some of the ideas in there might have been able to save him a little time and effort.

It looks like a tiny house village for the homeless isn’t such a crazy idea. Here in Sacramento a collaboration between several homeless advocacy groups had come together to make it happen. The group includes Loaves & Fishes, Safe Ground Sacramento, Francis House, Sacramento Homeless Organizing Committee, and Volunteers of America.

The proposed new Safe Ground site will be called “Eden” or “a Stepping Stone to Home” and will be located behind the Union Gospel Mission and Bannon Street shelters. The community will consist of 60 Tuff Sheds setup for overnight stays. A central bathroom and kitchen facility will also be provided.

I’m extremely hopeful that this will be a success and serve as another example that the real value of a home doesn’t necessarily increase as the size of a home increases. Shouldn’t the true value of a home be measured by the happiness and security it brings instead of its size and cost?

For more information about this project start at Sacramento Loaves & Fishes website. Thanks for the tip Julia!