How to Build a Tiny House
People have asked for a simple answer to the question, “How to Build a Tiny House,” or How to build a tiny house for under $30K.
I know you just want to see a 10 minute YouTube® video, grab a hammer and nails and start pounding away.
You’d like to finish in an afternoon and you’d like it to be better than what your living situation is now.
Lets finish with zero mortgage, zero bills, and situated on a secluded beach somewhere. Yes, the dream is alive.
It can happen but it’s a lot more work than you might have thought.
Living the dream
Building a tiny house that will last and be a healthy environment for many years is neither simple or easy. This website has hundreds of pages full of resources about how to build a tiny house.
Pulling The Tiny Trigger on tiny house living
1. The first thing you need is money
Start Saving. You know, without a doubt, you’ll need money so start saving now.
We all find it hard to save. Luckely, there are many money saving apps that make saving automatic and painless.
Improve your credit score
You may need a loan. A good credit score goes a long way in getting you qualified. See our blog post: Getting People to Lend You Money
2. The next thing you need is a plan
Make a list of your needs and desires. Put everything on this list. How many bedrooms, farm house sink, claw foot tub, you name it. You might not get all of it but you never know.
Make a Pinterest account and start saving images of what you like.
Try drawing your tiny house on graph paper. This will give you an idea of how large it needs to be.
You might want to look for a tiny house building plan that an architect has already made. This will save a lot of time.
Visit this page for more information: Designing a Tiny Home That Meets Your Needs
3. Start Making Decisions
There are literally thousands of decisions that need to be made. Like:
- What type of heating system do I need?
- How will I frame the walls? Wood studs, steel studs, or something else.
- Do I want a TV?
- Do I build on a trailer or a permanent foundation?
I could go on and on but we’d run out of room and you’d run out of patience and time. But, guess what? You are not the first person to go down this road.
Get help make these decisions from the resources on this page: Decisions
The Good and the Bad Of Building Codes
We’ve been publishing page after page about building tiny homes correctly. People have been demanding that tiny homes be recognized and allowed for in building codes and it’s starting to happen.
That’s a good thing. There’s a path to living legally in a tiny home. The bad thing is you need to follow these codes. It may also be more expensive to build to these new codes.
Visit these pages to familiarize yourself with tiny house building codes:
2021 International Tiny House Provisions
How to be Proactive with Building Codes and Zoning Laws
Building and Living Legally In Tiny Homes
Tiny House Certification Companies
Building or Buying a Tiny House
Your vision of a tiny house is solidifying in your mind. You might have even drawn a floor plan.
Will it be strong enough to withstand being moved?
Does it meet building codes?
Do you have the skills to build a tiny house?
Be honest with yourself. Would it be better for you to buy a tiny home or have one built for you?
Visit these page of the Tiny Life Consulting website for more details:
Buying a Used Tiny Home What To Look For
4. Start Downsizing and DeCluttering
No matter what direction you take on your path to tiny house living you’ll need to downsize and de-clutter.
For more on downsizing visit this page of the Tiny Life Consulting website: Downsizing, A Journey
5. Time To Start Building
Choose a direction. Will you be living on your own land or will you be renting a space in a tiny home village or RV Park.
Building on a trailer
Having your home on a trailer gives you the option of moving from place to place. Picking a trailer on which to build is the most fundamental decision to make.
Here are some pages we’ve written to help you with that:
Moving wider tiny homes no big deal
Building on Your Own Land
If you are going to stay in one location you need land. When ever you are looking at a piece of property check with the counties zoning and build code enforcement office to see what infrastructure you’ll be required to install. If you are nice to them you’ll find most of them to be very helpful. Read our page: How to be Proactive with Building Codes and Zoning Laws
In some cases we’ve seen the owner be required to install a septic system within 10 days of moving in. In other cases owners were required to have a least one flushing toilet before being allowed to have a composting toilet.
Installing the required infrastructure could easily double the cost of your build.
Tiny House Foundations
If you’re not planning of moving around building on a foundation might be best. This would remove the expense of the trailer.
The reason tiny house pioneers originally built on trailers was to get around building codes. By building on a trailer you would be required to build to RVIA building codes. This would possibly get the code enforcement officer off your case but not the zoning department. In many locations living full time in a RV is not allowed or it’s relegated to an RV park.
Pages we’ve already written about How to Build a Tiny House:
Designing a Tiny Home That Meets Your Needs
Buying a Used Tiny Home What To Look For
Tiny Home Building Mistakes You Don’t Have To Make
Ten Tools You Need To Build A Tiny House
Buying a Tiny Home from Amazon
Buying a Prefab Tiny Home from Home Depot
Tiny House Books Comprehensive List
Don’t Get Discouraged
Take a look at the cute tiny house hotel this family made. They knew nothing about building a tiny house when they started. Now they have two tiny house hotels they built themselves.
It might not be as easy as you thought but armed with knowledge from the sources pointed to on this website you’ll be able to get it done.
Details, Details, Details
Now you see why there is no real How To Build A Tiny House In Five Easy Steps article or blog post. These are mostly just click bait.
There are so many different ways to go and each person has a different idea of the direction they want to take.
Tiny Life Consulting is hear to help. Read this website.