Tiny House Design

The internet is a great way to get connected to other people. I personally like to think of the Web as a microscope on the world, you can find almost anything through your microscope’s monitor. You can remain anonymous or reveal your true identity.

A few of us northern California tiny house nuts decided a little while back that we should make time to meet in person. It began with Steve, Jay and me, then added Kent and Bill, and finally Stephen. We had no agenda, we just wanted to finally meet each other.

We all crammed into Jay’s 89 square foot tiny house and spent two hours sharing ideas and stories. For the most part we were all familiar with one another but it was nice to actually meet and get to know the person behind the emails. I personally found it really inspiring to sit and chat with three very active and experienced tiny house builders, Jay, Bill, and Stephen. Continue Reading »

Steve over at the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company just published a great write-up on what to look for in trailers when shopping for a tiny house foundation. He describes the size, weight, height considerations as well as the need for trailer breaks and where to buy trailers. New trailers are fairly expensive; they generally cost between $1,500 and $4,000 depending on where you buy them and what the trailer is equipped with. If you’re looking for a less expensive option keep tabs on craigslist for free trailers.

I’ve bookmarked a “Free Trailer” search on my local craigslist. Try setting up an RSS bookmark with the same search and get the updates pushed to you through your favorite RSS reader. If you’re unfamiliar with RSS take a look at Google’s RSS Reader. I won’t get too technical here but RSS is basically a way of formatting content, like craigslist posts, in a way that makes them easy for RSS software to pull in just the content. Instead of having to revisit a website to see if there’s an update, the update is pushed right to you in your RSS reader software. You can bookmark any RSS enabled website in your RSS Reader and stay up to date with multiple websites. This is basically how I keep tabs on craigslist for free stuff for my tiny free house. The RSS link on craigslist is at the bottom right corner of each page.

But I digress… free trailers on craigslist often get nabbed quickly so you have to move fast. You may also need to be prepared to deal with frozen wheels, flat tires, and unlicensed trailers. Once you get the trailer home you’ll need to put more sweat equity in by stripping the trailer down to the frame. Once you’ve uncovered the frame be prepared to clean up rust and repaint. Even an ugly paint job will give your trailer years of service and if you’re building a house you may never see the sloppy paint job again.

Also keep your eyes open for tongue and axle weight ratings. Trailers with only one axle often can only support the smallest tiny house so keep your eyes open for two axles. But remember two axles doesn’t guarantee that they’ll be strong enough to carry the weight of the house but it will increase the chance you won’t need to upgrade the springs.

The most important things to watch for are a strait frame and rust. A crooked frame, like the one under my tiny free house makes it much more difficult to build the house. I’m learning that lesson the hard way. Rust will reduce the longevity of your tiny house just like any bad foundation under any house.

One tiny house builder went this route and found a great trailer under an old travel trailer. Check out Zoey’s blog for details. Photo credit to Zoey.

Bill & Sharon Kastrinos and Jay Shafer are on CNN today talking about their tiny houses. Bill and Sharon downsized from a 1,800-square-foot home and now live in a 154-square-foot Tortoise Shell home. Bill is a contractor and as the housing market imploded Bill & Sharon traded in their big house for a tiny one and started a tiny house construction company called Tortoise Shell Home. Jay Shafer is of course the founder of the well known Tumbleweed Tiny House Company.

See the video at CNN.com

I was just checking in on Zoey’s tiny house project and found she’s making great progress! A while back she bought some of Jay Shafer’s tiny house plans and on the top of an old travel trailer frame is building her own Tumbleweed Tiny House. Zoey is doing a great job of finding good stuff on craigslist too like windows, roofing, flooring, etc. She even make a trip out to meet with Dee Williams, who lives in her own Tiny Tumbleweed, and got some great advice. Be sure to check out Zoey’s blog.

Photo credit Zoey & Friends.