Tiny House Build

Join me on my journey...the tiny house journey. I got tired of being house poor and started to notice that I don't use the entire space of my 1200 sf home.  I needed my bed for sleeping, my recliner for watching tv, eating meals and working (I work from home) and I went to the bathroom and kitchen several times a day. All the other space just collected dust. I visited a family members tiny cabin in Tenn and fell in love with the simplicity and ease of cleaning. I started perusing Pinterest when I returned home and that only magnified my dream of living tiny. I compare it with myself always carrying a tiny purse. The bigger purse I carry, the more junk that starts piling in. If I stay with a tiny purse, I limit the junk that goes in, due to space. I don't use half the crap in my huge house so why not get rid of it?

I purchased a used 12x28 barn last winter to store my motorcycles, tools and junk that wouldn't fit in my house. I found it on Craigslist for $2,700 and paid $400 to have it moved one town over. I wasn't thinking about a tiny house yet.

I came across sheds made out of pallets on Pinterest and it got me thinking...if I can build a shed for free out of pallets, I can store my motorcycles and tools in it and then convert my barn into a tiny house and move into it. See my link for all photos for the pallet shed to the right under October posts.  Here's a picture of the front...

Meanwhile my roommate that rents my lower level of my house (2400 sf total between the upper level where I live with my 12 yr old son and the lower level that she lives) had her adult daughter and grandbaby move in with her then several months later, her adult son moved in. They quickly outgrew her space and I offered to let them take over the entire house (after I finish my tiny house) if they would cover the house payment. I would pay the utilities since I'll be using them too in my tiny house.

So it's early November 2015 now and all I have is the insulation installed in the walls and ceiling. 

 

I replaced 2 of the 3 cheap aluminum windows with double paned newer Windows. This one is in my son's bedroom...

And this window is in the kitchen...

I installed my Trafficmaster Allure plastic laminate wood like flooring, well until I ran out this wkd. I bought a large amount off Craigslist for $40, they didn't like it and pulled it up after installation, so I didn't get any boxes. I took a piece to Home Depot. They don't carry that color, so I'm hoping I can find it at Lowes or a local flooring store. If not, I'll just finish it off with carpet which would have been ideal if it were just the bedroom but it will have to cover half of the living room also, ugh!

I've got my layout covered, it has 2 lofts (one on each end). 1 loft will be for my sleeping quarters and the other loft will be for storage. Under that loft will be my son's bedroom (big enough for a twin xl bed and a desk. Under my loft will be the bathroom and kitchen. the middle area (with high ceiling) will be the living room.

I installed corrugated metal on the ceiling.

the next step was the electrical and plumbing roughed in...thanks to my friend Matt for doing my plumbing rough in. The electrical was somewhat already ran when I bought the Bldg, I just needed to rearrange a few outlets and light switches and add a few outlets into the lofts. Thanks to YouTube, I was able to figure out how to do most of it. I even ran a new breaker for my future w/d. I still need to run another outlet for my future dishwasher and run a new breaker for the microwave. Maybe this wkd....  I've found an electrician who will run the power from the house to my tiny house. He thought over the phone that I would need another meter installed, but after looking at my tiny house, he said I have enough power left from my big house breaker box. I just need to get a trench dug to bury the wire in conduit. 

I finally have all of my faucets and hot water heater, so those will get installed soon. I've done faucets before, just need to find the time...

I built 3 of these drop down storage shelves that I saw on Pinterest. 1 is in my bathroom and 2 in the kitchen to hold stuff that I don't need access to daily. 

 

I had purchased 18 shutters at an auction to use for future craft projects. I thought to myself "instead of covering every wall with pallet boards, why not use those shutters that are sitting outside getting ruined" so I sprayed bleach and water on each one and cleaned them up and cut them to fit. Most of them were 24" wide, the same width between the studs, so it worked out perfect. A few were 26" wide, so I cut 1" off each side. For the skinny sections, I used some old shutters I had been saving for future projects. 

If it were going to be my bedroom (was the original plan until my 13 yr old reminded me that he is almost 6' tall and wouldn't be able to stand up in the lofts, so I decided I would sleep up there, since I don't hang out in my bedroom playing video games like he does) anyways, if it were my bedroom, I would have left them as is, a messy vintage look, but I decided to paint them all one color. So, I painted them with an "oops" paint that I found for $9 a gallon (it was primer and paint). I'm glad I painted them, I like them even better now. My goal is to cover the ceiling (prob with pallet boards since they're free) and put in some molding at the top and bottom. 

I scored some free carpet...there was an Aptmt complex that was remodeling and pulling out all of the carpet and putting in hardwood floors. I found some that still looked new and got permission to take it out. That was a pain to do by myself but I got it done. 

This is the wall in the living room. I was going to put the window a/c in that window, but decided that I'd rather permanently install it, so I can open the window on mild days. So I broke out the skil saw and cut an opening for the Ac unit. Then I hung my Bose speakers that I've had for years and hid the wires behind the pallet boards, which were also FREE. 

Here's my kitchen...still under construction 

I didn't like the white shelves, so I built this floating shelf instead. 

I want stainless steel countertops, but I can't afford them right now, so I improvised by covering plywood with stainless steel contact paper. It was only 18" wide, so I had to overlap, which doesn't look great. But it's only temporary until I can afford the real thing. 

I moved into my tiny house January 15th, although it's not finished. My roommates were anxious to move upstairs so I went ahead and moved in. I'll finish it soon enough....

My eco temp outdoor shower (water heater) didn't last but 2 weeks. I built a small shed to cover it and it still froze the pipes inside of it. 

What a pain, I called the company and they said I'm SOL since they don't warranty against freezing. They told me to buy some rapid fix, like a welding compound to seal up the bust, but I can't find the bust, so it will prob go in the trash. $120 wasted. 

In the meantime, a friend is letting me borrow his Ariston 6 gallon electric water heater. It works ok but I have to take short showers, no time to shave the legs, so I'm looking for a better solution. 

Home Depot had a deal of the day on tankless water heaters, so I ordered this puppy, it was only $89, so I don't hold much hope that it will work out, but I'm going to give it a try. 

I went to the GA Tiny House Festival this wkd near Eatonton, GA. Although I'm already living Tiny, it was great to network with other like minded people and I learned a great deal by attending the seminars and workshops. They had 2 every hour on the hour, it was hard deciding which one to go to, wish I could have seen them all. I plan to go to the Tiny House Jamboree this summer in Colorado Springs, so hopefully I will see the ones I missed this wkd. To see the pictures from this wkd, go here. 

Here are some current pictures that I snapped as I was running out the door to the festival, so it's not clean, but this is how it looks so far. Sorry for the poor lighting, I'll take better ones soon. 

My son's bedroom, messy as usual...

That spot to the left of the green dresser is where my future w/d will go, I think I'm going to redo my bathroom and put it in there instead. 

This is the view from the kitchen across the living room to my sons bedroom (under the loft). There's 2 ikea pax wardrobes covered with ikea sliding doors that I found on Craigslist. They were shorter than my wardrobes, so I just cut the wardrobes down so they would match. 

My shower is a 30"x30" shower pan with corrugated metal for the walls and I used Cedar fence boards for the trim.