SPECS
The tiny house to the right is what we
are working toward. Below is a list
of general details about our build
and how we're making it
happen.
Height: 13'6"
Width: 8'6"
Square feet: 146 (floor), 220 (with lofts)
Includes: kitchen, bathroom, sitting room,
sleeping loft, storage loft, storage stairs
Budget: $20,000-25,000
Plans
Custom: floor plans by L-Dawg and Roar; building plans by Shawn Dehner
We spent A LOT of time looking at layouts and floorplans and decided to design our own. We wanted a u-shaped kitchen and a living area that did not double as an entryway. We made floor plans and played around with the dimensions for ahwile until we decided on what we wanted. We fully intended to learn Sketch-up and produce a model and plans but we just didn't have the time to learn. We happened upon Shawn Dehner at the Small House Catalogue, who drafts building plans off of your floorplans and also offers some of his own designs. We were happy with what he produced and have been using these plans to guide us. We further consulted with my uncle and other people with building experience to ensure we covered all of our bases and were building appropriately for our area.
Trailer
Iron Eagle custom tiny house trailer- 8'4" x 20' frame
We followed the advice of another blogger who recommended Iron Eagle in the US and were not disappointed. We got a new steel trailer, all ready for building a tiny house on, for roughly the same cost of buying a flatdeck trailer in Canada and fixing it up ourselves. It did however involve importing it as a vehicle into Canada. See the trailer post for details on how we did this.
Framing
Timber framing: walls 2x4, floor and roof 2x6
Pretty straightforward this: wider studs and joists where more insulation and strength are needed. We wanted to work with wood and got a good deal on lumber but some people suggested steel studs which are lighter and faster to put up. If anyone goes with steel let us know!
Insulation
Roxul: R14 walls, R22 roof and subfloor
Easy to work with, healthier, more sustainable than fiberglass and resistant to moisture and fire. Good enough for us!
Roof
Gambrel style, metal
The Gambrel style (barn style) roof seemed to offer the greatest amount of headroom without losing any charm. While not the easiest roof to build for beginners, it appears to be no more complicated than adding dormers to the old A-frame. We've bought a metal roofing package that should require very little maintenance over the house's lifetime. While steel is not the most environmentally friendly material to produce, the longevity of the product reduces the need to consume more materials for upkeep or replacement.
Siding
Reclaimed bevelled cedar
Bevelled cedar is on houses all over Vancouver and can easily be found from demolitions. Due to its finicky nature, it's not worth the demolition crew's time to remove it so we tracked down a demolition sale on Craigslist and removed it ourselves. We got almost all of our siding for the cost of 5 new 20' cedar lengths. For more details on using reclaimed siding see the siding post.
Heating
Direct-vent propane heater
We haven't purchased this yet but we're intending to get a direct-vent heater with about a max 8,000 btu. capacity. We think this will be appropriate for our climate.
Toilet
Composting toilet
Inspired by the Humanure book, we're intending to put in a bucket toilet a la Loveable Loo style. We're still working out if there's an easy way to seperate liquids from solids, but we're super excited about reducing our water consumption relative to our current toilet set-up and aspire to one day composting our own poo!
Ventilation
Inside: range hood, bathroom fan, opening windows, mechanical vent
Despite being near the bottom, this has been one of the most thought about and important aspects of our build. A lot of moisture will be generated in this small space, not to mention we'll be living in a temperate rainforest climate, so moisture needs to escape while also keeping the space warm and efficient. Generally for inside, we will have a range hood fan, fan in the bathroom, mechanical vent in the ceiling and all our windows open but one, making it easy to release moist air if we are aware.
It's the moisture in the structure that's much more of a concern so here's our plan: we will be using the traditional lower mainland layers (from inside to outside) starting with the inside panelling, vapour barrier, insulation, 1/2" sheathing, Tyvek (house wrap), rainscreen, siding. The idea is if moisture does penetrate the siding, or even the wrap, there will be enough airflow to dry things up and channels to keep moisture from collecting. With enough venting opportunities inside, the vapour barrier should keep things warm but dry inside.
Our roof is similar: (from inside to outside) inside panelling, vapour barrier, insulation, baffels, soffits at top and bottom, vented ridge cap.
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