Best Project Ever: Building a Tiny House!
Everybody is abuzz about tiny houses, and one of my students, Will Eklund, is building a tiny house this summer!
He laid out building plans for 4 months using a CAD program where he learned all about building codes and drafting. After much research about building permits and restrictions for tiny houses, he decided to build a Tumbleweed tiny house because it’s built on a trailer and doesn’t require cumbersome permits. After all, it’s a moving house and not a stationary building. The Tumbleweed tiny houses meet recreational vehicle (RV) requirements and they offer building plans.
Will spent about 3 months putting together his budget. Using the materials lists that came with the plans, he meticulously organized all of the materials he would need for this project. This was a huge learning curve for Will because he had no experience doing any construction or building of any kind. He is a math kid who loves problem solving and engineering. The idea of building a tiny house after learning how to make building plans was just the natural progression. He was clueless about the many acronyms and slang used in the building industry. Who knew that “RO” meant rough opening?
Will and I got educated by going to San Lorenzo Lumber, Riverside Lighting, and other stores to see what the many materials on the list looked like. Mario, George, and Craig at San Lorenzo Lumber showed us what we needed and educated us. Brian at Riverside Lighting showed us all of our options for our electrical and propane materials. Seeing the building materials helped Will understand how it was going to come together. We also watched a 6-hour “how to” video on building tiny houses. Will ordered all of the materials 2 weeks ago, and with each step he was more and more psyched!
Finally, Will received a custom-built trailer made just for the Tumbleweed tiny house last week. He recruited several friends to help him install the floor insulation and subfloor. We recruited my good friend Cliff Bixler to mentor Will. They plan to frame the tiny house this week. I’m secretly really envious of Will because this has been MY DREAM forever!
Stay tuned to see Will build his tiny house!
