House Material Costs

Estimated material costs for Tiny Houses

	XS-House	Epu	Weebee	Lusby Tarleton	Fencl
Trailer	2,000	3,200	3,200	3,800	3,800
General Materials	4,000	5,000	5,000	6,000	6,500
Insulation	350	450	450	550	550
Roofing	450	550	550	650	700
Exterior Siding	800	1000	1000	1200	1200
Interior Siding	600	800	800	900	1000
Flooring	400	500	500	600	700
Windows	2,000	2,400	3,300	2,700	3,300
Heater	1,000	1,000	1,000	1,000	1,000
Appliances	1,000	1,000	1,000	1,000	1,000
Shower	1,500	1,500	1,500	500	500
Counters	800	1,500	1,100	800	1,100
Sales Tax	1,200	1,450	1,550	1,550	1,650
Total	16,100	19,950	21,150	21,250	23,000

Please note that the prices are only estimates. We've included sales tax since it is often overlooked, but is a large number.

Trailers

A typical flatbed trailer is ideal for building a Tumbleweed Tiny House. They are available at many trailer and RV stores. The picture is a typical flatbed trailer.

Often when you purchase a trailer, it will have sides or ramps. That’s okay, you will just need to remove the sides and ramp. It’s actually pretty hard to find a trailer without some sides built in. Sometimes they are referred to as utility trailers.

Trailer sizes are listed as the size of the actual trailer bed. It does not include the hitch or the wheels. For example, a 7' x 14" trailer would be 7' between the wheels. Almost all trailers are 8'6" wide when you include the wheels; and as it turns out, this is the widest possible width for road travel without a permit. The bed of the trailer would be 14' long, and when you add the hitch, it would probably measure 17' long.

Except for the New Popomo, all of our portable homes require a flatbed trailer where the wheels are taller than the trailer bed. The maximum legal road height in the US (without a permit) is 13'6". None of our homes are taller than 13'5". But more important than the legal road height is the height of the bridges. Most bridges are in fact much taller than 13'6", but to be safe, you can not build on a trailer where the entire bed is above the wheels.

The Popomo does not have a loft, and therefore is designed to fit on a trailer bed that is “over the axle”. The advantage to that design is that it provides for a wider house, albeit shorter.

Most trailers come with a double axle. Usually, each axle is rated to hold 3,500 lbs. However, some axles are rated for 5,000 lbs each (as well as 6,000 lbs each and 7,000 lbs each). Therefore, a double axle trailer will have a total rating of 7,000 lbs or 10,000 lbs. This rating will have a large impact on the price. It is referred to as “GVWR”, which means Gross Vehicle Weight Rating. Keep in mind that the GVWR includes the weight of the trailer.

So if the trailer is rated for 7,000 lbs and the trailer weighs 1,500 lbs, you can put 5,500 lbs on it. On our website, we list the weight of our houses including the weight of the trailer.

Except for the XS-House, all of our homes require a double axle trailer. The XS-House can be built on a single axle trailer if the axle is rated for 5,000 lbs.

Trailers usually include brake lights, a license plate, and a breaking mechanism. The lights and brakes attach to your car/truck, and when you use the brakes, it will also apply the brakes to the trailer.

There are many sizes for hitch balls, but almost all are either 2" or 2 5/8" (2 5/8" are recommended). The hitch ball on your car/truck is easily changable, and probably around $30.

Because the trailer is roughly 18% of the material cost, saving money on the trailer is the easiest way to control construction costs. Consider buying a used trailer. craigslist.org is an excellent place to look for a used trailer. Prices for used trailers range from $500-$1500, a savings of $1000-$2000.

Suggest a Location

Where should host an open house in your city?

Please let us know where you think we should stop on our tour and have an open house. We're not familiar with many of the towns we're visiting, and we're looking for feedback on where to host the open house when we are in your neck of the woods. Examples:

Please let us know if you can grant permission to be there (you work there or own the property). Ideally any suggested location will have ample parking.

Our largest house yet!

Over a dozen new green home designs are almost here. Pictured to the left is the updated Enesti. We added an optional bedroom on the ground floor. These plans are complete, and the new  house measures a tidy 774 square feet for the 3 bedroom version (ground floor pictured on top). When you purchase the plans, you'll receive plans for both the 2 bedroom and 3 bedroom versions. The bottom picture features the side view of the house with the additional room. The following five houses will all be updated shortly: Harbinber Bodega Loring New Vesica Sebastarosa ...with more plans to come next month.

Measuring square footage

Understanding how square footage is measured is similar to uncovering a hidden mystery for most people. In the past, we've made it simple and listed the total square feet of many of our homes irregardless of ceiling height. We did this because we felt it gave a better representation of "usable" space, and less people were confused. After years of being unconventional, we've decided to conform as much as possible when listing the total square feet for our homes.

Generally, a ceiling height must be over 7 feet tall to be counted as square feet. Since many of our homes under 130 square feet have ceiling heights of less than 7 feet, we will measure the square footage of the house simply by the total footprint. The rules for room with sloped ceilings are intricate; but a quick summation is that if the ceiling height is above 5 feet, that portion is included in the square footage. If the ceiling height is below 5 feet, that area is not included.

When measuring the total square footage of a house, the exterior walls are usually included. We've included measurements to the framing of the house (and not the exterior finish). See it gets complicated. Just know that the total house measurements include the walls, and typically room sizes do not.

You will notice that the total square feet on our homes might be different from the past on both our website and from some of our printed materials. Please know that the houses haven't changed, only the area that is measured.