Tiny Free House » floor plan

Updated Design with Windows

Michael Janzen — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 05:29:45 +0000

Below is a quick drawing of the tiny free house with the free windows I picked up today. They are a bit bigger than I expected but they seem to fit pretty good proportionally. The only one that looks a bit on the big side is the bathroom window on the back wall (far left). We’ll see how it really looks like this weekend. I’m shooting to get all the walls up and window openings cut and framed. The next image you see here should be a photo… all things equal.

Wall Framing Plan Update

Michael Janzen — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 06:36:18 +0000

Below is an update to the wall framing plan that includes suggestions from visitor comments and the final dimensions of the trailer. I’m pretty sure this is it. If it looks over built you’re right. But you’ll notice that each panel section uses 2x4s no longer than 36″ and that the exterior could be covered in pallet boards 16″ wide. Good thing my trailer is really heavy duty. I’ll make the door by hand. The window dimensions are the only thing that might change. I’ll draw the floor and roof plan next.

The Floor Plan Is Coming Together

Michael Janzen — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 16:22:02 +0000

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″ 2x4s and it needs to be strong enough to hold up with just the 4 RV corner jacks holding the house up. Normally 12′ 2x8s or 2x10s 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!

Revised Floor Plan – Just Throwing It Out There

Michael Janzen — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 17:55:18 +0000

When Julia and I first got married we lived in a small cabin in Mendocino County in northern California. It was 450 square feet and was plenty big for me by myself. She didn’t have much stuff but when she moved in we learned one of the most common lessons of any small house dweller knows all too well; the more stuff you have the less space you have.

When I showed her the plan for the tiny free house, and the challenge of the shorter roof, she pointed out how much bigger it would feel it the loft were just big enough for our daughter Katie and the larger bed were on the main level. We also realized that designing a tiny house is more like designing a piece of furniture since every cubic inch must be considered. This opened us up to some out of the box thinking and we came up with a couple ideas I wanted to share with you.

Bed/Bench

One of her ideas was a bench that could open into a bed. She drew it on a napkin and I’ve redrawn it here. It basically has a hinged top that flips over doubling the width and giving you a flat surface for a mattress. In this tiny space all that would fit is a twin mattress. I might be able to find a way to fit a full size mattress but first let me describe the second idea.

Flip Down Bunk

A taller ceiling definitely makes a room feel bigger. What if a bed were hinged from the wall ad lifted and latched to the sloped ceiling when not in use?