Tiny House Builder Interviews

Recently I have been ravenously reading other Tiny House building blogs as part of my preparation to build my own Tiny House.  Along the way I have been fortunate to talk with a lot of people who have been building or living in Tiny Houses which I was able to learn a good deal from.  So today I wanted to share some of what I learned and give a shout out to some awesome people!

Rowdy Kittens – Tammy Stroble and Logan Smith

I have know Tammy and Logan for a while now and I always gain some great insights from this amazing couple.  One thing that struck me from my conversation with them this time was their comment how larger traditional homes are “made for other people”.  With traditional homes many people are concerned with resale value and having your home generalized to potential buyers.  Tammy and Logan’s pointed this out and said to me this house is for you, so design it that way.

MiniMotives – Macy Miller

I really love the work Macy is doing over at her website, I found it very informative and she has a great links section.  From our conversation I have been able to glean some insights into building codes and where we might take Tiny Houses in the future. We talked about how DIY builders of Tiny Houses are a good thing and at times, not so good.  Another thing that municipalities are very concerned and focused on is sewage.  Tiny Houses often use composting toilets or other alternatives to the standard grid tied flush toilet.  After some reflection I can understand this as a big issue.  Here in most parts of North America we benefit from a lot of attention paid to our water management and sewer management.  This leads to better water quality, huge impacts in terms of health and disease control and  mitigating damage that water causes.  It’s not perfect here by a long shot, but this infrastructure saves countless lives.

Big Lake – Tiny House  – Erin and Pete

These two are building the exact same house I plan to build and I was able to glean some building tips and other considerations from them.  The first was making sure your trailer was properly fitted to your house weight.  From trailer shopping I discovered that you can often get a trailer rated for 10,000 lbs for about $200-$300 more.  The downside to this is that it often means you raise your trailer deck height about 2-3″, but you have a beast of a trailer that can take it, so you sleep better at night.

Tiny R(e)volution – Andrew

I found Andrew’s website  and really liked his philosophy on a lot of things.  As he put’s it, they are building “cash on the barrel” which is something I admire.  Some of the practicality of how Andrew is doing things brings a lot of perspective to this process.  He has a lot of great videos and I have watched each one several times!

120 Square Feet – Laura and Matt

Laura and Matt built a great little house in the mountains of NC, right near where I used to live and have so many fond memories.  I learned a lot of construction specifics and they are good motivators in taking on this endeavor.  What I like about their house is they setup a solar system that powers everything.  I still find it amazing that couples can swing such a small space, but these two not only live in the house together, they work from home together.

Tumbleweed Tiny Houses – Steve and Jay

I was excited when I received my plans from Tumbleweed and these guys have been able to give me a lot of nitty gritty details on the build.  Windows were a tricky thing because the type they recommended just were phased out.  They helped me figure out the alternative and I am excited to get started!

So a big thanks to all those above and many others who helped me along as this journey starts!

 

 

17 Comments
  1. Too funny, i only just now found out about Pete and Erin, I read their bio and it seems they have spent a bit of time in my city. I am so excited to catch up on their whole build! Thanks for posting this and thanks for the shout out! 🙂

  2. Hey Ryan, thanks for the shout out! You really increased traffic to our blog. Good luck with your build; I look forward to following your progress.

  3. Interesting post!
    It is great to see people acknowledge others in the way you did.
    I am from halfway around the globe and have just started a website with they idea to match customers looking for services with suppliers of those services. I am not familiar with the concept of “tiny houses” and will certainly do some research.

    Peter
    Tips to find good building contractors.

  4. Hello!

    My name is Melissa and I am new, very new to micro-home research. While doing research, I came across your site and it is very user friendly. Before I start making serious plans, I have one pretty big question! This will help greatly if you are able to address it…How does one even find a site on which to place a micro home-the mobile version? Any tips/advice would be welcome!

    Thanks in advance!

    Melissa

    • Hello Melissa,

      Join our mailing list because we are going to do a newsletter on that very topic soon. It’s only available on the newsletter.

    • I am so glad someone had the same question as me. I am only 17 and i have created a 5 year plan in which the first 4 years are for saving money and the 5th year is the year I will buy and build my tiny home on a trailer. I have my floor plan created already, my good friend helped me because she is a professional something or other. But I am afraid I won’t be able to find a place to put it. I want to live in it. But I have been trying to figure out how and where I can put it and I just don’t know. I am also in need of help for making sure I do this legally and don’t break any regulations or anything… And I don’t know what those are for my area. I live in Indiana. And I tried to reaearch for it but I couldn’t find anything. Any help would be fantastic.

  5. I have been truly intrigued of building my own “tiny home”, but I have searched for what type of appliances should be used for a tiny home. I know I want a gas stove, I hate electric ones, and I have recently found a washer/dryer combo in one. I would like to ask, can a full size refrigerator fit into a tiny home? Any help on these, will be more than welcome~!!

    Thank you,
    Jaien

  6. I have decided to build a tiny house, i recently have turned 18 an am a senior in high school

    I wNna build the house then move to Scotland

    Where should i start?

    • I am 18 too and want to do the same thing! Its hard thinking on where to start…I’m stuck on where to splash my money first! :L

      • I just turned 17 on the 5th of September and I created a 5 year plan for my tiny house. The first 4 years I’m saving money like crazy. I’ve been saving $200 or $100 every 2 weeks from my paycheck. On the 5th year I’m going to buy and build. I have my floor plan and everything. Where I’m stuck is.. I don’t know where to find a spot to park my tiny house and live.

        • Watch this video: https://youtu.be/cQORdK5VhOc?list=UUNdfsxMa3D-bhMWZatdxdJg

  7. I want to build a Tiny house

    Im 18 an still in high school

    How do i start?

    I have looked into it and i know that it is what i want to do

    What do i do now?

    • I’m 17 and I started by following the checklist they have on this website.its REALLY helpful. I hope it helps you as well 🙂

      https://thetinylife.com/ryans-tiny-house/tiny-house-building-checklist/

  8. Does anyone know of any Tiny House Movements in Scotland? I’ve exhausted my searches. This probably means there is nothing to find, although I don’t want to give up yet. Thank you.

  9. Hello:

    I am now designing my first tiny house and would enjoy the opportunity to chat with others. I just started a tiny house meetup in Charlottesville, VA also. I am a practicing structural engineer so I may be able to help anyone needing structural services in exchange for some friendly advice should I need it moving forward. The engineering services would have to be in PA, VA, and WV only.

    Thanks and looking forward to getting into the Tiny house world.

  10. Hey all, I have an important first question before jumping into the tiny house world: Is there a larger-scale site or source of contacts? My biggest issue is that I would really like to see a tiny house in person but live pretty far from all the workshops. I think they look great and spacious and lovely in pictures, but when I preview measurements as best I can, it just seems so congested. Additionally I would love to be able to make a contact or two locally, in addition to one that I have found. I’m in Maine.

    • Hello Becca,

      I live in Maine as well and am hoping to start work on my tiny house asap. I, like you, have never stepped into a tiny house, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t get the general idea from other places. I looked at campers and RVs and envisioned what it would be like to live in one full time. There are tons of places that sell Rvs and campers that you can go into and do just this. You can also get great ideas on adding more storage and placement of rooms that work for you. I would love the opportunity to be able to visit one to see the space in use. I have already started collecting the necessary materials and have my trailer being worked on. If our house is done before you get the opportunity to see another you are more than welcome to come and scope out the place. I know I am going to be very proud to show it off with all of the research and work we have already put into it.

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