High School to Build Tiny House
February 28, 2010
Sue Danic spent summers in her gram’s pre-World War I cottage and ever since, she’s wanted a tiny house. She’s seen it all: straw-bale, cob, rammed earth, cabins, sheds, tree-houses. Or, at least, she’s bought the book, visited the website or attended the workshop. In 2009, Sue traveled to New York City to attend Jay Shafer’s tiny house building seminar. Eureka. She hit gold. Since, she couldn’t build on her gram’s land, a tiny house on wheels would solve her first problem. Problem Number two was building the thing. Sue has almost zero talent in building. Sure, she’s built a table and even a bench, but a project of this size was beyond her grasp.
Enter Bob St. Cyr who teaches construction and cabinet making at Kitchener Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational School (KCI). This was a project that Bob thought his construction and cabinet making classes could accomplish under his guidance. The plan is to build the entire structure in one semester. The students will not only build and finish the interior, but they will blog about their accomplishments while building the Fencl.
Inside the XS-House
February 25, 2010
In 2005, Jay lived in the XS-House, our smallest model on wheels. HGTV filmed him inside the house. Jay sold the small house after living in it for just 1 year, and this video is the only peak inside. The XS-House has a kitchenette and bathroom.
Wee Shall Overcome
February 24, 2010
It has been nearly 14 years since I started, what I like to call, my aggressive pacifist’s campaign to make the built world a smaller place. To date, my approach has been to pretty much just live my life in a small footprint and hope that my example might inspire others to do the same.
On Wednesday, March 3 at roughly 7:00pm at the Hopmonk Tavern in Sebastopol, CA. I’ll be taking a somewhat more active approach. Ignite Sebastopol 3 is part of Global Ignite Week. Roughly a dozen speakers from the Bay Area will be given just twenty slides and five minutes each to present their subjects. I will be using my time to rip America’s system of imposed excess a new body part. My distain for the building codes that restrict how small a house can be is no secret. On March 3rd I’ll be making my position all the more clear. All presentations will be recorded and posted for international viewing.
We’re expecting a full house (~130 inside, and others watching the live feed to a screen in the outdoor Beer Garden), so get your tickets early. [Read more]
Open House Today
February 13, 2010
It is the second Saturday of the month, and that means Jay is opening his small house to the public. Come see Jay’s home in Graton, CA.
To sign up and get directions, click here
Building the Fencl
January 26, 2010
Over the spring of 2009 we built our largest home on wheels, the Fencl. This small house is 130 square feet and features a kitchen, bathroom, sleeping loft, fireplace and much more.
How long did it take to build?
Jay Shafer, the designer, and a crew of 4 others built this house over 10 weeks.
We spent 825 hours to purchase materials and build this green design house.
How much did it cost to build?
When all was said and done we spent $19,148.
Jay shopped around and shaved almost $2,000 from the cost when he found a trailer 100 miles away at a much lower cost.
Build one myself?
Depending on your skill level and determination it is possible to build a mobile home for a fraction of the cost of buying on already built. We do recommend hiring licensed contractors for the plumbing and electric work. When we build a house we hire specialist for those tasks. Typically, the electrician and plumber are the highest paid people per hour, so we keep the amount of their work limited to just those two areas. We spent less than $2000 to have that work completed on the Fencl.
When we build a small house we usually hire a finish carpenter as the job foreman. We keep the number of workers at any given time to 2 or 3. Aside from the finish carpenter and electrician and plumber, the other crew doesn’t need as much experience.
Buy this house from Tumbleweed?
This green home can be purchased for $53,997 plus shipping and applicable tax.
Is the price negotiable?
We price our homes and home plans with a very low markup. We do not leave room in our pricing for a discount. Our expenses are subsidized by selling ad space on our website and by the sale of our books. We are proud of the fact that we pay our crew a fair US wage with insurance.
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