The Floor Plan Is Coming Together
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Last night I stayed up late and worked out some of the more important details of how the tiny free house will be framed and laid out. Thanks to a lot of noodling and inspiration from another tiny pallet house concept I landed on a floor plan and roof line that should work well.
This is still a work in progress but far enough along for me to start putting panels together today. I also think I have a way of dealing with the verticle seams between the pallet boards that will cover the exterior. Using a router I’m going to create a half inch lap joint all the way around the boards. It’s hard to visualize so I’ll just take pictures today as I work on it and show you all tonight how it all came together.
I would love your feedback, especially if you know something about framing. The floor framing plan is a bit overkill but I’m trying to stick to short 36″ 2×4s and it needs to be strong enough to hold up with just the 4 RV corner jacks holding the house up. Normally 12′ 2×8s or 2×10s would seem like the right way to frame this… but would something like what I’ve drawn above work? The jury is still out in my head so I’m throwing it out to you. Thanks!
August 8th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
P.S.
You’ll notice some pretty big changes since the last floor plan. I landed on this as a result of trying to fit sleeping for 3 people into the house. The door at the end of the building just wasn’t working and I wanted to use more square feet for living area and less for the bathroom. The kitchen area also doubles as a hallway saving some space.
-Michael
August 8th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Looks great! I’ve been following this blog very closely because I intend on copying your design for my home office / guest house.
What I wonder though, is that in all the tiny home designs I’ve seen across the web, very few designers factor in any counter/prep space in the kitchen. Don’t you ever want to slice a pepper or something? Will you include some kind of oven? I see that Tumbleweed homes usually have space for a large toaster oven.
August 8th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
I agree, my wife and I cook and once we start actually building that part I wonder if we’ll decide to somehow add more counter space.
August 8th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
…another quick thought about tiny houses, simplification, kitchens, and eating in general. I’m also wondering if one of the areas to be explored about tiny house living is making changes in the way we prepare and consume food. Maybe tiny house living helps move people toward a simpler diet?
August 8th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
I think that it would absolutely be the case. I’ve been trying to convince my girlfriend to get rid of the refrigerator and downsize it. The effect would be more frequent trips to the market, for sure, but also eating more fresh meats and produce, and less processed food (because there simply isn’t room to store it). The refrigerator would become more of a temporary (one or two day) holding container for food, rather than a long term storage solution, and would result in less wasted food.
August 12th, 2008 at 12:12 am
I am building my own Tiny House on wheels right now - using as much reclaimed material as I can - and having a blast! I’m also watching your blog VERY closely - as you are just a couple steps ahead of me
As for kitchen/eating/etc - I also toiled with the whole concept. I decided that I am only going to have a very small, solar powered, chest freezer (1.8 cu. ft). It takes just as much energy to freeze as it does to refrigerate - so it seems more efficient. Then, I’ll keep frozen water bottles in there that I use in a cooler chest for my refrigerator - which will live on my porch most of the time.
As for counter space - I am using one of the Tumbleweed plans - so I’ll have some counter. Although I think I’m going to use the stove plus oven that came out of my salvaged travel trailer (used as the base).
Anhoos - keep up the good work - Looks like you’re having fun and enjoying the journey!
August 12th, 2008 at 12:42 am
Zoey I am having fun too. It’s hard work but really rewarding. I’d love to hear more as you progress… even love to post photos, etc on my tiny house design blog… http://www.tinyhousedesign.com. We’re not alone. A lot of people are beginning to catch the tiny house bug for one reason or another.