#buildingtinyhouse

Because we were building under a tarp that kept filling with water, we rushed into installing the tiny house roof. This was so over our heads! Pardon the pun ;P The plans we had gave us a good idea of what was needed but we needed more depth for the 6" of insulation that was desired. We did a bunch of research and came up with a solution. BTW, researching things for this tiny house build took up SOOOO much time, if you thinking of building your own be ready to sit in front a computer quite a bit.

Bird mouth cut for roof rafters We decided to use birds mouth cuts on the 2x6 roof rafters. We thought this would be quickest method that would meet our needs but the quick part was very wrong. Each side of the boards had a different angle that needed to be figured out first. Fun maths ensued and we came up with depths and angles that were just about perfect, if only our walls were that accurate... Our big mistake here was not creating a jig to mark and cut each angle and depth, so all the rafters came out slightly different.

1x2 spacer boards required for insulating the roof We attached 1x2 spacer boards to each of the tiny house roof rafters to give the required air gap for the roof insulation. We got an amazing deal on some Tech Shield foil coated OSB paneling that we used to sheath the tiny house. Really this stuff should only be used on the roof, which we found out later while doing more research. Oh well, live and learn.

All the roof rafters installed Each roof rafter was glued to the top plate and fasteners were used on each end to secure them in place. To help access the rafters more easily, the bedroom and storage lofts were framed. Because our walls were a bit... unique from not supporting the middle of the trailer, the bedroom loft framing turned out slightly uneven. A detail not noticed until the interior siding was going up.

Installing roof insulation 6 inch rockwool insulation was carefully installed in between each rafter, this gives the roof an R-23 insulation rating. Much better than the R-13 that the plans we bought were going to give us. While rockwool is not as nasty to work with as fiberglass insulation, it is still pretty bad and caused some angry itchy moments.

Now that the sub floor is done, the exciting tiny house framing begins. We bought tiny house plans and drawings off the internet as we had no idea how to build a house. The plans really helped in figuring out how to support windows, space studs and dimension the house.

Framing first wall Though we ultimately did not build by the plans, we were glad we got them. Instead we opted to use advanced framing techniques, like California for more efficient corners and 24in stud spacing to reduce weight. The design phase was quite intense, hoping we made the right decisions for a lasting house. All studs were glued before being screwed together and a layer of foam was placed under the sole plate that would get bolted to the trailer.

Framing walls in section Each of the log walls was done in two sections to ease hoisting it in place. It is really incredible how heavy the framing is! This method provided its own challenges trying to decide where to break the wall in half, or close to. This first wall was the learning curve! We made so many mistakes. One of the biggest was not ensuring the trailer was COMPLETELY level. Also messed up in not supporting the middle of the trailer. At one point we thought we had made a wall section too long and spent hours trying to pry it in place, cut bits off, measuring and remeasuring. Turned out that the trailer was sagging in the middle causing the tops of each section to be a couple inches off from the bottom. What a huge dug moment that was.

First wall done!

Cantilever base wall Once we finished the first wall, we decided the bedroom loft, at back of trailer, needed a couple extra feet in it. This spur of the moment idea was accommodated by adding a cantilever to the back, which was completely outside the original design. So we just made it up as we went.

Hydronic in-floor heating!!!! We had ordered some pex-al-pex piping (So much easier than straight pex) and heat shields a few weeks before the trailer was ready to try a novel concept in tiny houses. There is a reason this is rarely done on THOWs. What a freakin PITA!!! Only half the heat shields were initially installed as the other half had to be secured against the sub-floor OSB, beneath the vapor barrier, as each sheet of OSB was installed.

Hydronic in-floor heating installation. This caused a lot of frustration and we even considered abandoning the system several times. In-between each floor joist, we installed 6 inch rockwool insulation as we had read that a cold floor was one of the major complaints from a lot of tiny home owners. Rockwool was chosen for it's thermal mass, high insulation value and moisture resistance.

Securing the pex with spray foam. We spray foamed the long return line to secure it if we ever moved the house and to give it extra insulation value. Next it was time to install the vapor barrier and sub-floor OSB.

Installing vapor barrier and OSB. In order to get both sides of each each shield properly screwed into the OSB, we had to crawl beneath each sheet with the far side on the joist. This proved to be extremely challenging as the angle of the OSB had to be very shallow to not pull the pex out of alignment or rip the joist mounted heat shields from the joist. Many angry hours went into this whole process, the only way it got finished was hoping the end results would be low maintenance, low energy and worth it.

We were so excited the trailer was finished a week early! That weekend we packed up the truck with the dogs and camping gear and started the long journey to bring it home. Spent Friday driving and setting up camp just outside of town so we could get an early start back home the next day.

What an awesome tiny home trailer! We opted for the optional galvanized metal base flashing to prevent rodents and inspects from chewing through a wood one, no rot worries if water gets down there and it provides better protection against road debris should we ever need to move the house. The squared wheel flashing is an awesome feature of this trailer as well. Final dimensions of the trailer are 28 feet long and 100 inches wide and cost just shy of $7,000. As soon as we saw the build quality, features and sturdiness of the trailer, we knew we had made a good choice to get a tiny house specific trailer. Once the trailer was hitched up we headed back to Idaho with a stop off at Home Depot for the first round of supplies to build the sub-floor. The Mahindra tractor we chose to buy is on the right :) We would not have been able to do any of this without it.

It's finally on the land! After unloading the supplies, we went right to work building the sub-floor support structure and adding insulation. To alleviate as much thermal bridging between the metal trailer and house structure, 1 inch R-5 foam insulation was installed on all metal surface and base of the trailer.

Foam insulation to mitigate thermal bridging. The sub-floor support structure was bolted to the trailer through the insulation and we covered all exposed bolt heads inside the structure with silicone to prevent condensation. We were especially worried about condensation because we had special plans for the floor…

Build a tiny house on foundation for that extra space you need

 A lot of people wish to build a tiny house on foundation using BOSS customized tiny house kits. Incase you lack the time and intention to build your own; we have a team to build it for you. We are aware of all the zoning laws and regulations. Call us to know more, book a consultation.