Tiny House Steps List!BY NATALIE A.

Different Phases

Building a house is a huge project with hundreds of steps, big and small. To keep myself from getting overwhelmed, I’ve divided the steps into different phases, each focusing on a different part of the process. I’ve included everything from the initial day dreaming to day-to-day life in a tiny house, as well as my current knowledge of each step.

However, each tiny house journey happens in its own unique order. My list will be vastly different from a tiny houser at another point in their life or in a different situation. Nevertheless, I’ve included every step I could think of and will be adding more as I go. Even if my list is in a completely different order compared to yours, I hope it will be helpful. And to aspiring tiny housers, I hope my list serves as a helpful starting point for your dreams.

Phase One:Discovery, Day Dreaming, & Decisions

This phase can be one of the longest and most difficult phases, but it can also be one of the most fun. It covers everything from the first time you ever heard of tiny houses to right before you make your first purchases.

Discovery: the first time you see, read, or hear about tiny houses

Attraction: when you think to yourself, or even say out loud, “I want one of those.”

Day Dreaming: you find yourself imagining what you’d want your tiny house to look like, and spend time online looking at other tiny houses. You might start a Pinterest board about them, bookmark tiny house blogs and articles, and collect inspiring pictures

Decision: you start to consider how you would make your tiny house dream a reality

Why?

Considering Your Reasons:

Here are some reasons people are attracted to tiny houses:

~ Customization ~ freedom ~ no mortgage ~ ability to take your house with you ~ independence ~ cheaper utilities ~ less or no rent ~ human-size ~ being a home-owner ~ encourages mindful consumption ~ ability

to spend money on other things ~ ability to spend more time on hobbies ~ minimalist ~ encourages community ~ incentive to get out more ~

choices ~ quality materials ~ ability to work less hours ~ less cleaning ~ less maintenance ~ self-sufficiency ~ flexibility ~ freedom to pursue a dream job ~ ability to travel more ~ less environmental impact ~ more

sustainable ~ recycled materials ~ a house with a personality ~ ability to be solar-powered ~ the experience of building your own home ~

uniqueness ~ dream home ~ a simpler life ~

What Do You Value?

Thinking About Your Values: these will shape your priorities for the tiny house.

What is most important to you? Consider the following:

~ Recycled materials ~ sustainable materials ~ local materials ~ energy efficient ~ ability to go off-grid ~ solar power ~ passive solar design ~

environmentally-friendly ~ movability ~ room to host over-night guests ~ room for parties and get-togethers ~ luxury items ~ big kitchen ~ big TV

~ desk/office space ~ bathtub ~ laundry machine(s) ~ closet space ~ room for hobby equipment ~ pets ~ room for prized possessions ~

Dreaming It Up

Asking Yourself Questions:

Having decided you want a tiny house of your own, you start identifying what you want and answering questions like these:

What do you want to use the tiny house for? Will you live in it, use it as a guesthouse, or will it be a home for a family member so you can have them nearby? Will you use it as an office, a studio, or a weekend getaway?

How many people (and pets) will live in the tiny house?

What do you use regularly that you will need in the house? Consider heating, cooling, cooking, food storage, clothing & belongings storage, water needs, a bathroom, privacy, room for hobbies, sleeping space, a dining area, seating, and living space.

Laws

Researching the Rules: Laws, Zoning Codes, and Building Codes

Before you get in too deep in your day dreams (like I did), make sure you understand the laws, or lack thereof, surrounding tiny houses. Tiny houses are still a legal grey area and are against zoning codes in some places. Be aware that, especially if you live in a city, a tiny house might not be right for you. Or it might take a long time to work with zoning officials to make your future house legal. I don’t recommend building a tiny house first only to find out afterwards you’re not allowed to live in it. I suggest Cracking the Code by Ryan Mitchell for an overview of the legalities. However, zoning codes are different from county to county, and different even within each county. Building codes can vary as well.

Laws, Part Two

I made the mistake of waiting until the last few months before my build to contact my county about zoning laws and building codes. Had they shut me down, after two years of dreaming, planning, and researching, I would’ve been devastated. I recommend looking into codes before you get too invested, to see what your options are.

Some tiny house bloggers recommend that you make your inquiries with as little information as you can and without revealing what you plan to do. Don’t share your full name or your plans (I learned that lesson the hard way with my trailer). Some tiny housers live under the radar, and since zoning laws are primarily enforced by complaints, they can get away with it.

What I’ve Learned About Laws

Generally, the more populated an area, the more rules there are. I’ll use my zone within my county in small town Nova Scotia as an example. However, I want to emphasize that every county is different, has different zones, and you need to talk to the people at your own county office.

A lot of tiny houses are on wheels, so they’ll be classified as RVs and can get around minimum size restrictions. In the zone I live in, I was told there is no square footage minimum, that they took it out. In theory, that should mean that someone who wants to build a tiny or small house on a foundation can, as long as it meets building codes. But I don’t have the money for a normal house, and I’ve already got my heart set on a moveable home.

What I’ve Learned, Continued

In my zone, you’re not allowed to have more than one dwelling on a property. That rules out ADUs (accessory dwelling units) like guest houses or separate housing for immediate family members on the same property as the main house. They do make exceptions, but there would be a lot of legal hoops to jump through.

A tiny house, by my county, is considered an RV and isn’t required to follow the national building code. But, there is a code that restricts how long you can live in an RV on a residential property to 90 days in a calendar year. That means that in my zone, you can’t legally live in a tiny house in someone’s backyard year round.

RV parks might not accept a tiny house if it doesn’t have an RVIA sticker, and many RV parks close during the winter, so that’s not a good option.

What I’ve Learned, Part 3

I was told that trailer parks might not accept tiny houses either, because they’re not built to mobile home factory standards. Also, trailer parks aren’t always the most desirable places to live.

The most useful thing I learned from my meeting with the county is that some areas are not zoned. Minutes outside of my town I could live on someone else’s property, year round, without ever being bothered by the county. My plan is to rent land from someone outside of town.

If I ever want to put my house on a permanent foundation, it’s up to a building code official to deem it acceptable. It was recommended to me to get and follow engineer-approved plans and keep lots of records and pictures. Still, they might want to cut a hole in my wall to verify what I say. But it’s more likely that I’d build a different house rather than put the tiny one on a foundation.

Land

Finding Land:

Some people are discouraged from building a tiny house because they’re not sure where they would put it. Land is an issue, just like laws. Here are the options I’ve heard of:

If you can afford it, you can buy your own land to put your tiny house on. You would have to follow the local zoning codes and all requirements regarding water, sewage, and electricity.

Some tiny housers have bought houses and taken on traditional mortgages. They live in the backyard and rent out the house to pay the mortgage. Be aware of the local zoning codes.

Land Continued

Other people rent land and/or share chores on family’s, friends’, or even strangers’ property (with permission of course) and hook up to their utilities, which is what I plan to do. You have to be aware of the local zoning codes. If I move to another area or province, I hope I’ll be able to find an unzoned area to live in, but I won’t know until I arrive and talk to the local county officials. Some people dislike that uncertainty but others, despite not knowing, enjoy the freedom to take their house with them.

Buy, Commission, or DIY?

Choosing a Method:

There are three options for acquiring a tiny house:

You can buy an existing one that is for sale, either a shell or a finished model.

You can commission a tiny house company to build a custom tiny house for you.

Or, you can build your own tiny house, even with no building experience. Tiny house do-it-yourselfers do their own research and learn as they go. You can buy ready-made plans or you can pay an engineer to design unique plans for you. You can also pay a contractor to help you, and you can hire professionals for the trickier parts of the build, like electrical and plumbing.

Money

Affording the House:

It’s recommended that you save up all the money in advance, but that’s not always possible or desirable.

A traditional loan or mortgage is unlikely because of the unusual nature of tiny houses. Banks don’t like to lend when they’re not sure they can get their money back. But as the tiny house movement grows, more options become available, like Tiny House Lending (U.S. only).

Those in the right situation with enough savings can afford to buy a tiny house outright, or could work out a payment plan with a company they hire. Built houses cost $50 000 and up. Buying an existing tiny house or having one built for you is often double or more the price of building one yourself, but it takes less time.

Money Part 2

Building your own tiny house can cost anywhere from $10 000-$40 000, or more, for materials. It can take years, depending on how often you’re able to build.

The most common way to afford your tiny house is to save up as much money as you can before you start. Then, when you run low on money, you slow or stop your build until you save up more. (This is what I plan to do.)

Another way to afford a tiny house is to save money wherever you can. Tiny housers get sponsers, shop at re-stores, find or buy used materials, and accept donations (of money and materials).

Where to Build

Side note: if you choose to build your own tiny house, you have to consider where you’re going to build it, especially if it won’t be in the same place you plan to put the finished house. Often, tiny housers build on the property or even in the driveways of family or friends, then later relocate to where they plan to live. Be sure to think of electricity for power tools, visual and noise restrictions, tool storage, materials storage, and a bathroom for your build site.

Getting a Real Feel For Tiny Living

Visiting a Real Tiny House: a suggested step to ensure you can really see yourself living in one. Research online where tiny house open houses are being held. Consider renting one for a weekend to see what a real tiny house is like. Look for tiny house workshops that feature tiny houses. The first tiny house you step foot in shouldn’t be your own, just in case you decide it’s not for you.

The Future

Thinking About Your Future: are you picturing your forever home or is tiny living temporary for you?

How long you’ll be living in/using your tiny house will affect its design. People that choose tiny homes for later in life tend to want stairs instead of a ladder, or a bed on the main floor. University students are not always as concerned about having a full kitchen. Couples with a baby on the way need room for one. Do you plan on selling the tiny house after a certain amount of time or do you want to keep it for occasional use? The questions and considerations can go on. Think about your future plans before you get into floor plans.

Playing With Floor Plans

Imagining a Floor Plan: get a blank piece of paper, a ruler, and a pencil and start doodling! Look at pictures of other tiny houses online for inspiration. Take a look at different layouts that tiny house companies offer. After a few sketches, move on to graph paper. Measure things in your current home for reference and do your best to make everything to scale. If you’re stuck, consider purchasing Tiny House Floor Plans by Michael Janzen for ideas. However, I don’t recommend it if you already have a good idea of what you want.

After you’ve considered what you need in your house and have a more concrete idea of what you want your house to look like, it’s time to move on to a 3D program. Sketch-Up is a free program that many tiny housers have used to virtually design their tiny houses. There are plenty of how-to videos online that explain how to use Sketch-Up. It’s a great way to get a feel for the final house with a to-scale human model.

Some people map out a life-size floor plan with tape or chalk. Some even use boxes to get an idea of things like counter heights and storage space.

Budgeting

Creating a Tentative Budget: with such a huge project, it’s a really good idea to try to estimate what everything will cost ahead of time. It will give you an idea of what you’ll end up paying and give you a baseline for how much you should spend on different things. Research other tiny housers to see what they spent and look up the prices of building materials in your area. Make an effort to include every single thing you can think of to make your budget as accurate as possible.

Use Excel! Include space for both your budget estimate and what you end up paying for comparison. You can separate your budget into different phases on separate spreadsheets so the totals aren’t as scary.

Your budget doesn’t have to be set in stone; it can change as you learn more information about a category, but be honest. Don’t alter your estimates after the fact if your numbers were off.

Phase One Steps

Discovery

Attraction

Day Dreaming

Decision

Considering Your Reasons

Thinking About Your Values

Asking Yourself Questions

Researching the Rules

Finding Land

Choosing a Method

Affording the House

Visiting a Real Tiny House

Thinking About Your Future

Imagining a Floor Plan

Creating a Tentative Budget