Tiny House living

6/21/24  I've been talking about my tiny house a lot lately and people are asking for pics, so I restarted this page.  I'll post the pics I have and take some new ones.  As we are working on finishes, the house is changing fast!

« I lived in my tiny house while working on it in the spring/summer of 2021, in the Applegate valley in Oregon.  No windows, limited electricity, an outside shower, but it was really fun!

⇒When I moved back to Washington in that summer, my dad hosted my tiny house on the Olympic peninsula.  I got the windows installed while it was there, which made it a much more inviting place to be.

Now it is in Renton, and my boyfriend and I are really working hard on it.  I hope to get it ready to live in for Winter 24-25 (soon!)  ⇒

1/1/21  The next steps are finishing the top layer of plywood and putting up extra-strength housewrap to "dry in" the house for the winter, and installing the front door (double glass patio doors) when they arrive.  All patio doors are custom, I have learned, in that they are made to order.  I signed a contract with JAM roofing yesterday to put on a beautiful gray metal roof.  I have a very good feeling about that!

12/12/20  The frame is up!  The pieces were so heavy and awkward that I feel very lucky to have found good helpers for that part.  The company that sold me the frame was terrible!  Insulting and condescending during the process and actually gave me inaccurate building advice once I found problems with the frame!  But it's finally up, and hopefully (?) true.  Continued building will tell.

I was able to put the 4'x8' plywood sheets on the exterior of the frame myself.  Pro tip:  don't wear sunglasses when doing this.  I broke 2 pair.

9/15/20 The frame is here, and slowly going up.  Each piece has to be painstakingly erected by at least 3 people.  I'll do most of the build myself but this part takes help!  The metal is light, or at least lighter than

wood 2x4s, but each piece is 50-100 pounds  the are also twisted and not very true, so the installation has taken some time and work.

10/15/20 Today I finished putting up and straightening all the walls.  It is amazing to have the walls be true, it now feels safe to go forward!  I have the loft finished but it is too wobbly for me to feel great up there until the roof and some of the plywood is up.

(in the pic, the plywood is on the ground because of the wind, which happened every time I left it)

Earlier:

The subfloor is in.  That took an extraordinarily surprising amount of time and skill building.  First I installed the joists and headers.  I don't know how difficult this would be on a leveled concrete foundation, but working in a trailer required some thought and flexibility.  

Because of the needs of the trailer, I wasn't able to put the joists exactly 24" on center, to support the subfloor boards.  So the next thing I did was lay out blocking between the joists where the boards ended.  After I laid the boards, I saw that I had done it wrong!  I'd simply blocked 16" on center, but where the corner of the plywood was, there wasn't blocking, so the corners dipped in.  I pulled everything up and moved or doubled up the blocking.  

Next is to lay, screw in and tape the subfloor plywood.  I tried gluing the boards down, but since I'm using a poly sheet between the 2"x6"s and the plywood, that didn't work.  I also tried 2 glues recommended by the building store, and neither stuck to the plastic.  So I'm just using more screws

My Tiny House Plan

The frame is 24' x 8.5', and the house will be the same.  The house will also be 13.5' tall when it is put up.

The build, Part One:  build the subfloor, assemble the frame and sheath the walls and roof in plywood and housewrap/felt.  That's it!  I won't be living in it at this point.

When the house is done, it will look something like the picture here, but with different finishes (and in color).

Step 2: Buy and install at least 1 solar panel and batteries to run building equipment from. I will eventually get enough solar panels to be off grid. Also: the front door, a standing seam roof. 

At this point I will try to move into the tiny house.  I will be looking for a new home at this point.

Step 3: Plumbing and electricity

Step 4: Painted siding put up, window installations, build indoor structures, wood stove installation

Step 5: Buy appliances, finish everything off
 

If you are interested in hosting me at this later stage, I'd love to talk with you.  I can pay rent and/or do work exchange.  I've worked as a cook, preschool teacher, farm intern and massage therapist and would be happy to hammer out a trade agreement for the space.

I would like to be off grid but may need to find a water source at first.

Thanks!  Cameron