Charlie Wing
The Tiny House Handbook

For the next generation… in hopes they restore us to sanity

INTRODUCTION

The idea of living in a tiny house is not new. Outside of the developed world, most of the world’s people live in shelters no larger than those now defined in the US as “tiny” (less than 400 square feet). We have all read of and seen photographs of the Eskimo igloo, Native American teepee, Bedouin Arab tent, Gypsy vardo, Mongolian yurt, and Aboriginal dome. These are not temporary shelters, nor are they what Americans call “starter homes.” Rather, they are, and have been for millennia, the standard homes for their cultures.

For reasons this book does not address, the average new home in the US has grown to 2,400 square feet of living space, four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a two-car garage. While many, and probably most, Americans aspire to ownership of these McMansions, an increasing number are questioning, “What if a person gets everything and it’s not enough?”

The tiny house movement is not just about tiny houses. It’s about lifestyle; it’s about less is more; it’s about a smaller footprint but a larger life.

There are already many books on the tiny house philosophy and lifestyle. Most contain photos of tiny homes on wheels parked in dramatic settings and a myriad of clever ideas for the utilization of small spaces. Few, however, offer much guidance on how to proceed from present situation (usually a house that no longer fits or no home at all) to a tiny home fulfilling one’s dream.

The Tiny House Handbook leads you through the full process from discovery (just what is a tiny home?) to the regulatory minefield of codes and zoning, to cost estimates, to design, to the actual construction (yes, you can build it yourself).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thirty years ago I had the idea of compiling a massive amount of information on residential construction into a Visual Handbook of Building and Remodeling. Two things the project required were: 1) my residence for a month in the Washington DC libraries of virtually every building trade association in the nation, and 2) someone to convince a publisher that such a project could be profitable.

This project, The Tiny House Handbook, was researched without my ever having to leave home. Thanks to the internet I was able to “pick the brains” of dozens of tiny home pioneers through their books, blogs, and articles. So, although too many to enumerate, let me acknowledge their unknowing contributions.

The second requirement, a person to sell the idea to a publisher, was fulfilled by Ray Wolf, my agent both then and now. I think it fair to say at least a dozen of my subsequent books, including The Tiny House Handbook, would have never seen the light of day without his powers of persuasion.

This project required a third element. Because tiny homes are an evolving phenomenon, I needed a insider, an observer, and a player in the trenches. That person has, and continues to be, Corinne Watson, founder and president of Tiny Homes of Maine. Thank you, Corinne.

Finally, and perhaps mostly, I have to thank the one who makes me glad to wake every morning, my soulmate, Barbara Rogerson.

THE AUTHOR

Charlie Wing is a nationally recognized home building/improvement/repair expert. He has written or co-written more than 20 books on these topics, including Home Depot’s Decorative Painting, Tiling, and Plumbing 1-2-3 books, Better Homes & Gardens’ Complete Guide to Home Repair, Taunton Press’s The Visual Handbook of Building and Remodeling and The Visual Handbook of Energy Conservation, Reader’s Digest’s The Big Book of Small Household Repairs, and many others, including Ortho’s Home Improvement Encyclopedia and How to Build Additions.

An MIT PhD, Charlie has been a guest more than 400 times on home improvement radio and television shows, including on the Discovery Channel, PBS, and NBC’s Today Show. He developed and hosted a national PBS series on home remodeling for energy efficiency. He was founding and technical editor for Smart Homeowner magazine from 2001 to 2004.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

My love affair with tiny houses began in 1972. I was teaching physics at Bowdoin College and was asked to lead a senior seminar on any subject I knew nothing about. Bowdoin was experimenting with the notion of students learning to learn through emulation of the teacher in exploring a new subject.

One subject I knew nothing about was how buildings, in particular houses, worked or didn’t work from the viewpoint of physics. I admit to having chosen the subject selfishly. The 1794 Maine farmhouse I had recently purchased was a preservationist’s dream—as free of insulation, weatherstripping, and mechanical systems as the day it was born. Situated at the very top of a bare hill, on a windy night the best it could do was lower the speed of the infiltrating wind.

The seminar proved popular, not only among the Bowdoin students (they called the course “Hammer and Nails”), but also among a growing number of auditing back-to-the-land hippies wanting to construct their own shelters.

From a personal standpoint the course was a great success, for it resulted in an overwhelming urge to build my own energy-efficient passive solar house. Hearing of my desire, two of the graduating seniors asked if they could help. Both Jan Pierson and Steve Alcaide had scored an A on the final exam, and both were strong as bulls. How could I refuse?

The employment agreement was, for the summer: a room in the farmhouse, board, and the minimum wage at the time of $2.75/hour.

On the agreed starting date the two young men arrived on motorcycles. Behind each was a large duffel bag—and an enthusiastic young lady. I was, they informed me, getting four workers for the price of two. How could I refuse?

But, as so often happens, reality soon raised its head. That evening I held a crew meeting and presented several issues. First, my family of four plus the crew of four made eight people in just three bedrooms. Second, a rainy May had extended Maine’s mud season, keeping the mile-long cowpath to the building site impassable. Third, not unexpected, and yet not insignificant, none of the crew had any prior carpentry experience.

The following morning the crew proposed a solution. If I supplied the materials, they would learn carpentry by building without pay a small cabin on site. There they would sleep and cook their own meals. At the end of summer I would have a guest house or writing shack for the cost of materials alone. The looks on their young faces reminded me of my dog’s upon presentation of the retrieved ball. The energy generated among the four could have powered a small town. How could I refuse? Off they went on the motorcycles. Over his shoulder one yelled, “We’re gonna do a charette!” (Look it up.)

In late afternoon they returned with a rough sketch for a 12’ by 20’ solar shed with two sleeping lofts. Over the next four days I produced foundation, framing, and sheathing drawings accurate to 1/8” inch while they measured, cut, and numbered every piece in my workshop. The following Monday they loaded all onto my farm tractor and trailer and plowed their way through the mud to the building site. One week later they moved into the shell of their tiny home.

The little house on its foundation of telephone poles and containing a compressed but complete kitchen, tiny wood stove, and two sleeping lofts, has now been continually occupied by single and couple tenants for forty-eight years.

Four years later found me at Cornerstones School in Brunswick, Maine, where adults from around the US and Canada would attend 3-week workshops on designing and building their own passive solar homes. Mornings, 9 to 12, would be spent in the classroom. Afternoons, 1 to 5, the students would practice construction skills.

The classroom portion consisted of fifteen lectures based on the fifteen chapters in From the Ground Up, the owner-builder text I had lately coauthored with John Cole. But what about the construction skills? How could forty students saw wood and pound nails for fifteen days without creating an immense heap of scrap?

Then I remembered the little 12’ × 20’ house. What could be more instructive, satisfying, and economical than constructing actual tiny houses that could later be sold for the cost of the materials? Over the next few years Cornerstones students completed a dozen. Construction took place in the Cornerstones parking lot in the heart of town. Upon completion, a pair of forklifts volunteered by the local lumberyard would load the completed building onto a flatbed trailer for delivery to its purchaser.

With each iteration the design improved and the public’s interest increased. Local newspapers and then television newscasts carried brief stories. It being summer in Vacationland, the national media noticed. One class completed a tiny house in a 96-hour building bee during the annual Maine Arts Festival on the Bowdoin campus. The event was recorded and aired in a 20-minute segment on the PBS MacNeil/Lehrer Report. Another PBS series, A House for all Seasons, produced a segment comparing the tiny house to a “land yacht.” Country Living magazine, not willing to wait, spent a fortune at the local nursery transforming the Cornerstones parking lot into a forest setting for the little house. The cover banner on the magazine read, “Build This House for $5,000!” (They later reported sales for the building plans set a record.)

I purchased the last of the tiny houses and moved it to its present site on an ocean cove in nearby Harpswell, Maine. I lived in it for a year. The annual property tax including the oceanfront site was $120. The winter heating bill totalled one-half cord of hardwood.

I miss that tiny house. I’m going to build another.

From the back door, southwest reading and thinking corner. Sleeping loft overhead. Corner of 36” × 80” writing desk at bottom right.

From the kitchen/dining area, looking at sleeping loft, Jotul 602 wood stove, wall-hinged writing desk over couch (in working/down position).

From the woodstove, looking toward kitchen/dining area (kitchen is behind bookcase). Second sleeping loft over dining area has been removed.

From the driveway. A 6’ × 20’ extension to the rear added—at the request of a lady occupant—a bathroom and a walk-in closet. Total floor area is now 360 square feet.

1
TINY HOUSES

Shelter accounts for the largest expense in most homeowners’ budgets. Monthly and annual payments go to mortgage principle and interest, property taxes, insurance, water, sewer, maintenance and repair, lighting, and fuels for cooking, heating, and cooling. Phew!

Of course, the smaller the home, the less the expense. The wealthy have always afforded large homes, even mansions, but while the housing trend of the recent past has been toward mini-mansions for all, incomes have not kept pace. The disparity in income between the wealthy and the rest of the population has never been greater.

In response there has been a surge in interest in smaller, even “tiny” houses. Of what does the market for tiny houses consist?

• young couples looking for starter homes

• renters finding it impossible to accumulate a $50,000 downpayment

• empty nesters no longer needing four bedrooms

• the elderly desiring to live in on-property accessory dwellings in lieu of assisted living facilities

• and, of course, the homeless

In this first chapter we will introduce—or should we say, “reintroduce”—the outlandish idea of living on less in less space, even a tiny space.

A Tiny House at Walden Pond

With all the recurring interest in tiny houses, no one ever promoted the idea more eloquently than Henry David Thoreau. As chronicled in his classic, Walden, Thoreau constructed and lived in for a period of two years and two months a simple 10’ × 15’ cabin on the shore of Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. Here, condensed, are his thoughts on shelter:

If one designs to construct a dwelling-house, it behooves him to exercise a little Yankee shrewdness, lest after all he find himself in a workhouse, a labyrinth without a clue, a museum, an alms-house, a prison, or a splendid mausoleum instead. Consider first how slight a shelter is absolutely necessary…I used to see a large box by the railroad, six feet long by three wide, in which the laborers locked up their tools at night; and it suggested to me that every man who was hard pushed might get such a one for a dollar, and, having bored a few auger holes in it, to admit the air at least, get into it when it rained and at night, and hook down the lid, and so have freedom in his love, and in his soul be free. This did not appear the worst, nor by any means a despicable alternative. You could sit up as late as you pleased, and, whenever you got up, go abroad without any landlord or house-lord dogging you for rent. Many a man is harassed to death to pay the rent of a larger and more luxurious box who would not have frozen to death in such a box as this…

Though the birds of the air have their nests, and the foxes their holes… in modern civilized society not more than one half the families own a shelter. In the large towns and cities, where civilization especially prevails, the number of those who own a shelter is a very small fraction of the whole. The rest pay an annual (rent that)… now helps to keep them poor as long as they live…

It is evident that… the civilized man hires his shelter commonly because he cannot afford to own it; nor can he, in the long run, any better afford to hire…

Replica of Thoreau’s cabin on Walden Pond

Source: RhythmicQuietude at en.wikipedia https://commons.wiki-media.org/wiki/File:Replica_of_Thoreau%27s_cabin_near_Walden_Pond_and_his_statue.jpg licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Most men appear never to have considered what a house is, and are actually though needlessly poor all their lives because they think that they must have such a one as their neighbors have. There is some of the same fitness in a man’s building his own house that there is in a bird’s building its own nest. But alas! we do like cowbirds and cuckoos, which lay their eggs in nests which other birds have built, and cheer no traveller with their chattering and unmusical notes. Shall we forever resign the pleasure of construction to the carpenter? I never in all my walks came across a man engaged in so simple and natural an occupation as building his house. Where is this division of labor to end? and what object does it finally serve? No doubt another may also think for me; but it is not therefore desirable that he should do so to the exclusion of my thinking for myself…

I have thus (built) a tight shingled and plastered house, ten feet wide by fifteen long, and eight-feet posts, with a garret and a closet, a large window on each side, two trap doors, one door at the end, and a brick fireplace opposite… I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society. When visitors came in larger and unexpected numbers there was but the third chair for them all, but they generally economized the room by standing up. It is surprising how many great men and women a small house will contain…

My “best” room, however, my withdrawing room, always ready for company, on whose carpet the sun rarely fell, was the pine wood behind my house. Thither in summer days, when distinguished guests came, I took them, and a priceless domestic swept the floor and dusted the furniture and kept the things in order.

Should not every apartment in which man dwells be lofty enough to create some obscurity overhead, where flickering shadows may play at evening about the rafters? These forms are more agreeable to the fancy and imagination than… the most expensive furniture…My dwelling was small, and I could hardly entertain an echo in it; but it seemed larger for being a single apartment and remote from neighbors. All the attractions of a house were concentrated in one room; it was kitchen, chamber, parlor, and keeping-room; and whatever satisfaction parent or child, master or servant, derive from living in a house, I enjoyed it all…

I sometimes dream of a larger…house, standing in a golden age, of enduring materials, and without gingerbread work, which shall still consist of only one room, a vast, rude, substantial, primitive hall, without ceiling or plastering, with bare rafters and purlins supporting a sort of lower heaven over one’s head…such a shelter as you would be glad to reach in a tempestuous night, containing all the essentials of a house, and nothing for house-keeping; where you can see all the treasures of the house at one view, and everything hangs upon its peg, that a man should use; at once kitchen, pantry, parlor, chamber, storehouse, and garret; where you can see so necessary a thing, as a barrel or a ladder, so convenient a thing as a cupboard, and hear the pot boil, and pay your respects to the fire that cooks your dinner, and the oven that bakes your bread, and the necessary furniture and utensils are the chief ornaments.

Thoreau’s Floor Plan?

What Is a Tiny House?

By Definition

From Thoreau’s Walden, published in 1854, we find the idea of living in smaller spaces is not new. Search online book stores today and you will find dozens, if not hundreds, of titles referencing small homes, modest mansions, and not-so-big homes. The first title to contain the term tiny house, however, was Tiny Houses: or How to Get Away From It All by architect Lester Walker (1987).

But the most credit for promoting tiny houses as serious solutions to a growing housing problem should be given to Jay Shafer. Shafer wrote his first tiny house article in 1997. That same year he founded the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, building tiny houses on wheels. The tiny trailered homes (maximum width 8’-6”) created interest from multiple perspectives:

On Wheels

Most people, when hearing the term tiny house, picture a conventional but narrow house built on a trailer. The appeal is not only in its less-is-more statement, but the suggestion of total independence.

While the freedom to go anywhere is true, the freedom to stay is more complex. Most zoning considers tiny homes on wheels akin to recreational vehicles and campers which are not subject to real estate taxes. They are thus considered squatters and are generally limited to stays of several months maximum.

And like RVs, tiny homes on wheels have to provide for—at least temporarily—their own electricity, water, and sewage. Like perpetual motion, total shelter freedom is still an elusive dream.

• Like mobile homes and RVs, they were on wheels, but they were constructed of wood and actually looked like houses.

• Being on wheels they also fed our desire for freedom. “Hasta la vista, I’m out of here!”

• Having your home, like a turtle, “on your back” meant changing jobs would no longer require selling the old and buying new.

In 2007 Jay and his tiny home appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Finally, in 2017, the International Residential Code officially recognized tiny homes as “houses that are 400 square feet in area or less.” In consultation with Jay and others the IRC added Appendix Q, allowing space-saving exceptions for stairs and sleeping lofts and egress (in case of fire) from roof windows.

Delivered on Skids

One solution to the where-to-stay dilemma is the built-to-be-moved tiny house on skids. Small structures sheathed in structural plywood are rigid enough without supporting beams, so the skids serve primarily as runners allowing the structure to be moved across the ground.

And while tiny homes on wheels are limited to widths of 8’6” and height above ground of 13’6”, structures up to 12’ wide may be transported on a truck or trailer (loaded height limit 14’) with a routine permit.

Inexpensive and widely available “Amish sheds” in widths to 12’ and lengths to 32’ provide examples. An Amish shed with upgraded doors, windows, sheathing, and siding could provide the starting point for a tiny home on a foundation.

Built on Site

Why not build a tiny home the conventional way on a permanent foundation? In the past half century, with the emphasis on bigger is better, most communities imposed minimum size requirements in their zoning. This had little to do with health or safety but everything to do with maintaining property values and the real estate tax base.

Well over ninety percent of US communities base their building standards on the International Residential Code (IRC). With the formal adoption in 2018 of IRC Appendix Q, dealing with homes 400 square feet in area or less, there are now few if any logical reasons to outlaw tiny homes. Imposing a size limit may not be against the law, but it is increasingly difficult to defend.

How Big Is Big Enough?

US House Sizes, 1920–2015

The average size of houses in the US remained at a near constant 200 sq.ft. per occupant until the end of WWII when millions of young GIs returned looking for homes in which to start their families. The response of the building industry was tract housing: thousands of 800 sq.ft. homes in developments such as the “Levittowns.” But as incomes increased, the size of one’s home became a status symbol. From a single bathroom and no garage, the norm grew to 4 bedrooms, 2½ baths, and a 2-car garage. Family room, media room, play-room, and a bedroom for every child added up to over 1,000 sq.ft. per occupant.

Shelter Sizes Around the World

Although homeowners in Australia, Canada, and the US apparently think bigger is better, the 2009 map below shows the feeling is not universal. Homeowners in Hong Kong, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, get by with (almost) tiny homes of 484 sq.ft. and a thoroughly Thoreauvian space per occupant of just 150 sq.ft.

New Life for an Old Idea: The ADU

What Is an ADU?

An accessory dwelling unit (ADU) is a compact independent dwelling sharing a single-family lot with a larger primary dwelling. While tiny, it contains its own bathroom, kitchen, living, and sleeping areas.

As illustrated, the ADU can be created within the existing primary dwelling, converted from a garage, added as an extension to the existing dwelling, or built on or delivered to the site.

Why an ADU?

The ADU offers a host of housing solutions:

• Older homeowners would rather age in place than be shipped off to a prohibitively expensive assisted living or nursing facility. Grandma and Grandpa can enjoy their last years at home and in the old neighborhood while their children take over the family residence.

• Young singles and couples, often saddled with college debt, can live for little or nothing while saving up for the downpayment on their first home.

• When family members no longer require the ADU, it can provide rental income to the homeowners, possibly paying the mortgage.

• In this age of decreasing housing availability and increasing cost, cities and towns are beginning to view ADUs as solutions without changing the physical character of neighborhoods.

• Finally, the great unspoken issue with tiny homes is where to put them. Even when zoning permits, the costs of land and site services usually equal or exceed the cost of the building itself. With an ADU the cost for the site is zero, and the costs of extending the already existing site services is minimal.

Options for ADUs

OPTIONS

① A single-car 16’ × 20’, 1-story garage makes a perfect, groundfloor accessible apartment.

② A 12’ × 24’ groundfloor addition is accessible and private, and adds just 30% to the house footprint.

③ A 12’ × 24’ apartment within the house first floor requires only 15% of the original house floor area.

④ A 12’ × 24’ apartment in a walkout basement makes a perfect, groundfloor accessible apartment.

⑤ A 12’ × 24’ (or up to 400 sq.ft.) tiny house is totally private and can be placed anywhere.

⑥ An additional parking space can usually be created for an ADU just by widening the original driveway.

2
LEGAL ASPECTS

You are excited; you are motivated; you are ready to begin a life based on need, not greed, in a shelter that sustains you, not drains you. This book is designed to provide the information you need to realize your dream, but first a dose of reality.

While 90% of the world’s 7,800,000,000 people live in just 200 square feet per person, the average allocation for Americans has bloated to 832 square feet. Why so big? Because, like so many other aspects of the American way, we could. The size of one’s home has become a status symbol. The towns we live in speak to who we are. This has been going on since the end of World War II—long enough for minimum lot size and minimum house size to creep into our zoning ordinances. The reality is that you will have a difficult time obtaining a building permit for your tiny home in affluent residential areas.

But there is often an out. Even the affluent like to have family nearby. There is an equally long history of zoning allowances for accessory dwelling units, so-called “granny flats.” Very often the size minimum, if there is one, falls within the 400 square foot “tiny house” range.

Then there are the building codes. Your house may be tiny, but it still must meet building, electrical, and plumbing codes. But relax. These codes are not designed to stop you. They are designed solely to keep you safe and healthy. Embrace them.

Zoning and Building Codes

Assuming you have prepared mentally and emotionally for the tiny house lifestyle, and assuming you have the financial resources or credit to fund your project, what legal hurdles remain to be cleared? Principally, they fall under two headings: Zoning and Building Codes.

Zoning

A town zoning ordinance specifies how its land may be used. The ordinance is enforced by an appointed planning board of 3 to 7 residents. Items in the ordinance usually include:

• Use zones, for example: agricultural, commercial, residential, conservation

• Minimum lot size, for example 2 acres for residential

• Minimum setbacks of buildings from property lines, for example 20 feet

• Minimum habitable area of residential buildings, for example 800 sq.ft.

• Maximum building heights, either in feet or floors, above grade

• Activities permitted and forbidden

• Offstreet parking requirements

• Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) regulations

In most jurisdictions the zoning ordinance is posted online. It may also be available for purchase. After choosing a geographic area for your site your first step is to become familiar with each candidate town’s zoning ordinance with an eye to spotting possible roadblocks to your tiny house plans.

If the tiny home of your dreams is on wheels, chances are great you will encounter a problem right away. Although your tiny home is an actual wood-framed house built on a trailer it is, strictly speaking, neither a house as commonly defined nor a trailer. The closest legally recognized category is a camper trailer, and most zoning ordinances forbid the permanent occupation of camper trailers on residential lots. This is, one hopes, a temporary issue because tiny houses, on or off wheels, offer affordable solutions in a time of increasing housing shortages. If you find your town’s ordinance is not favorable to tiny homes, then request they update it to include them. Contact your local tiny home manufacturer if you need help. In the meantime you will probably be able to park your tiny home on wheels in back of a friend’s or relative’s home—at least until someone complains—or in a designated mobile home or tiny home park.

Provided, however, your vision of a tiny home is one sitting on a foundation in a permanent location, familiarize yourself with the zoning ordinances of each of your target towns. Then schedule appointments with a building code official in each. IMPORTANT: These are human beings performing an important service for the good of the town and its citizens. Treating them with respect for their public service and their knowledge (many are retired builders, plumbers, or electricians) will usually result in their respecting you and your project in return. You are not there to demand their approval; you are there to request their guidance in realizing your dream.

Your first meeting will be for gathering information prior to purchasing land and drawing plans. Once you feel the official is engaged and at least somewhat encouraging, ask if they could help by supplying the answers to a list of specific zoning questions. Assuming the answer is yes, complete a copy of the survey form on the facing page.

Town Zoning Survey

Once you have found town and code officials receptive to at least the concept of a tiny house, you need to find your spot. Sticking only to totally legal possibilities, they are:

• an already approved development specifically for tiny houses

• a building site meeting all zoning requirements

• an existing residential property which could host an ADU (see page 7).

Once you have acquired your legal site, the next step is to design and draw up plans for your tiny house on that site. You might get away with hand-drawn sketches in a few sparsely populated rural areas, but the approval process—not to mention the construction process—will be much easier if the plans are drawn to standard architectural conventions and scales (see Chapter 6).

Of course detailed architectural plans include such things as:

• sizes of floor joists and roof rafters

• stairway dimensions

• minimum clearances for doorways, halls, and plumbing fixtures

• locations and ratings of electrical receptacles

All of these are regulated by building codes, which we address next.

Building Codes

Local building codes are usually based on the International Residential Code (IRC). Both states and local jurisdictions are free to modify the IRC, but until a local code enforcement official states otherwise, consider the IRC your bible.

How do you make sure your tiny house design meets the Code? Here are the possible ways:

• Have it built by a tiny home manufacturer (expensive, but the simplest way).

• Have it designed by a local architect (adds 10–15% to the project cost).

• Follow this book’s directions, then pay to have your plans reviewed by an architect.

• Provided your local code enforcement officer really likes you, follow the directions in this book, meeting often with him or her to guide your progress.

Permits and Variances

Before building you will have to obtain permits. In a small town the permits may be issued by a single code enforcement officer. In heavily populated cities and towns you or your builder will have to present your plans to the planning board for approval. Often you will need to resubmit your plans after making changes requested by the board members.

Sometimes the board will turn down your application because it fails to meet a fundamental zoning requirement. In the case of a tiny home, this will most likely be size. If the planning board refuses to grant your application a variance, your final option would be an appearance at the separate zoning board of appeals. If determined to prevail you should at this point consider hiring a real estate attorney to help you present your case.

The IRC Minimum Size

With the exception of IRC Appendix Q, any tiny house (no larger than 400 sq.ft. habitable area) has to conform to the same IRC requirements as any other one- and two-family dwelling. Since size is of such critical importance, it bears listing the IRC main body regulations regarding size:

R304.1 Minimum area. Habitable rooms shall have a floor area of not less than 70 square feet.

R304.2 Minimum dimensions. Habitable rooms shall be not less than 7 feet in any horizontal dimension.

Exception: Kitchens.

R304.3 Height effect on room area. Portions of a room with a sloping ceiling measuring less than 5 feet or a furred ceiling measuring less than 7 feet from the finished floor to the finished ceiling shall not be considered as contributing to the minimum required habitable area for that room.

R306.1 Toilet facilities. Every dwelling unit shall be provided with a water closet, lavatory, and a bathtub or shower.

R306.2 Kitchen. Each dwelling unit shall be provided with a kitchen area, and every kitchen area shall be provided with a sink.

NOTE: The minimum area of a bathroom containing the three fixtures listed in R306.1 and conforming to the minimum fixture clearances shown on page 35 is 18 square feet.

Since R306.2 refers to a kitchen area, not a separate kitchen, the kitchen may be part of the minimum habitable room of R304.1. Thus the minimum total area of a dwelling can be as little as 70 + 18 = 88 square feet!

IRC Appendix Q

IRC Appendix Q: Tiny Houses

The provisions contained in this appendix are not mandatory unless specifically referenced in the adopting ordinance.

User note:

About this appendix: Appendix Q relaxes various requirements in the body of the code as they apply to houses that are 400 square feet in area or less. Attention is specifically paid to features such as compact stairs, including stair handrails and headroom, ladders, reduced ceiling heights in lofts and guard and emergency escape and rescue opening requirements at lofts.

GENERAL

AQ101.1 Scope. This appendix shall be applicable to tiny houses used as single dwelling units. Tiny houses shall comply with this code except as otherwise stated in this appendix.

DEFINITIONS

AQ102.1 General. The following words and terms shall, for the purposes of this appendix, have the meanings shown herein. Refer to Chapter 2 of this Code for general definitions.

EGRESS ROOF ACCESS WINDOW. A skylight or roof window designed and installed to satisfy the emergency escape and rescue opening requirements of Section R310.2.

LANDING PLATFORM. A landing provided as the top step of a stairway accessing a loft.

LOFT. A floor level located more than 30 inches above the main floor, open to the main floor on one or more sides with a ceiling height of less than 6 feet 8 inches and used as a living or sleeping space.

TINY HOUSE. A dwelling that is 400 square feet or less in floor area excluding lofts.

CEILING HEIGHT

AQ103.1 Minimum ceiling height. Habitable space and hallways in tiny houses shall have a ceiling height of not less than 6 feet 8 inches. Bathrooms, toilet rooms and kitchens shall have a ceiling height of not less than 6 feet 4 inches. Obstructions including, but not limited to, beams, girders, ducts and lighting, shall not extend below these minimum ceiling heights.

LOFTS

AQ104.1 Minimum Loft Area & Dimensions Lofts used as a sleeping or living space shall meet the minimum area and dimension requirements of Sections AQ104.1.1 through AQ104.1.3.

AQ 104.1.1 Minimum area. Lofts shall have a floor area of not less than 35 square feet.

AQ 104.1.2 Minimum dimensions. Lofts shall be not less than 5 feet in any horizontal dimension.

AQ 104.1.3 Height effect on loft area. Portions of a loft with a sloped ceiling measuring less than 3 feet from the finished floor to the finished ceiling shall not be considered as contributing to the minimum required area for the loft

Exception: Under gable roofs with a minimum slope of 6 units vertical in 12 units horizontal (50 percent slope) portions of a loft with a sloped ceiling measuring less than 16 inches from the finished floor to the finished ceiling shall not be considered as contributing to the minimum required area for the loft.

AQ104.2 Loft Access. The access to and primary egress from lofts shall be of any type described in Sections AQ104.2.1 through AQ104.2.4.

AQ 104.2.1 Stairways. Stairways accessing lofts shall comply with this code or with Sections AQ104.2.1.1 through AQ104.2.1.5.

AQ 104.2.1.1 Width. Stairways accessing a loft shall not be less than 17 inches in clear width at or above the handrail. The width below the handrail shall be not less than 20 inches.

AQ 104.2.1.2 Headroom. The headroom in stairways accessing a loft shall be not less than 6 feet 2 inches, as measured vertically, from a sloped line connecting the tread or platform nosings in the middle of their width.

AQ 104.2.1.3 Treads and risers. Risers for stairs accessing a loft shall be not less than 7 inches and not more than 12 inches in height. Tread depth and riser height shall be calculated in accordance with one of the following formulas:

1. The tread depth shall be 20 inches minus four-thirds of the riser height.

2. The riser height shall be 15 inches minus three-fourths of the tread depth.

AQ 104.2.1.4 Landing platforms. The top tread and riser of stairways accessing lofts shall be constructed as a landing platform where the loft ceiling height is less than 6 feet 2 inches where the stairway meets the loft. The landing platform shall be 18 inches to 22 inches in depth measured from the nosing of the landing platform to the edge of the loft, and 16 to 18 inches in height measured from the landing platform to the loft floor.

AQ 104.2.1.5 Handrails. Handrails shall comply with Section R311.7.8.

AQ 104.2.1.6 Stairway guards. Guards at open sides of stairways shall comply with Section R312.1.

AQ 104.2.2 Ladders. Ladders accessing lofts shall comply with Sections AQ104.2.1 and AQ104.2.2

AQ 104.2.2.1 Size and capacity. Ladders accessing lofts shall have a rung width of not less than 12 inches, and 10- to 14-inch spacing between rungs. Ladders shall be capable of supporting a 200-lb load on any rung. Rung spacing shall be uniform within ³/₈ inch.

AQ 104.2.2.2 Incline. Ladders shall be installed at 70 to 80 degrees from horizontal.

AQ 104.2.3 Alternating tread devices. Alternating tread devices accessing lofts shall comply with Sections R311.7.11.1 and R311.7.11.2. The clear width at and below the handrails shall be not less than 20 inches.

AQ 104.2.4 Ships ladders. Ships ladders accessing lofts shall comply with Sections R311.7.12.1 and R311.7.12.2. The clear width at and below the handrails shall be not less than 20 inches.

AQ 104.2.5 Loft guards. Loft guards shall be located along the open side of lofts. Loft guards shall be not less than 36 inches in height or one-half of the clear height to the ceiling, whichever is less.

EMERGENCY ESCAPE & RESCUE OPENINGS

AQ105.1 General. Tiny houses shall meet the requirements of Section R310 for emergency escape and rescue openings. Exception: Egress roof access windows in lofts used as sleeping rooms shall be deemed to meet the requirements of Section R310 where installed such that the bottom of the opening is not more than 44 inches above the loft floor, provided the egress roof access window complies with the minimum opening area requirements of Section R310.2.1,

Highway Width & Height Limits

As shown on the map and in the illustrations below, there is good reason tiny homes on wheels are limited to 13’ 6” in height and 8’ 6” in width. However, with state-issued permits, much larger tiny homes on skids can be transported from point of assembly to building site. Low clearances, restricted routes, and state permitting agency phone numbers and websites are all listed in the Rand McNally Deluxe Motor Carrier’s Road Atlas (available on Amazon).

Maximum Unpermitted Highway Height Limits

Example (Maine) DOT Size Limits for Drop-Deck Trailers

3
COSTS

As a general statement it is certainly fair to say, “Tiny houses cost less than big houses.” Still, the costs of your tiny house project must be scrutinized and analyzed carefully and objectively lest you run out of money before completion.

If you have no prior building experience, two surprises await you. First, the smaller the house, the greater the cost per square foot. All houses have certain minimal elements in common: toilet, shower or tub, lavatory, refrigerator, cook stove, kitchen sink, water heater, heating system, cooling system, and electrical service equipment. The smaller the house, the fewer square feet this minimum cost is spread over.

The second surprise is that, in the case of a tiny house, the cost of the house may be less than half the cost of the total project. Due to the usual zoning requirement of a minimum lot size, in a residential area the cost of the bare site will likely exceed $100,000. To that must be added the costs of site improvements: potable water, sewage disposal, electric service, road or driveway, and landscaping.

“To be forewarned is to be forearmed.” This chapter is your warning. Think outside the box. Consider all your options. Consider an accessory dwelling unit (ADU), a tiny dwelling (apartment, addition, or tiny house) accessory to an existing primary dwelling: cost of land = $0.00, cost of site services = $?.?? (but minimal since shared).

Building Cost Breakdown

The stack of boxes at right illustrates a rough breakdown of the costs of building the average house. Adapted from data in Table 1 of the National Association of Home Builders’ Single Family Price and Cost Breakdowns, 2015 National Results, it includes the costs of permits, inspections, landscaping, and driveways as well as the physical structure.

Since the average house surveyed contained 2,802 sq.ft., the numbers must be considered but rough approximations to those for a tiny (less than 400 sq.ft.) house. Percentages for painting, flooring, trim, drywall, insulation, wiring and lighting, siding, roofing, windows, sheathing, framing, and foundation would be comparable, but tiny house driveways, landscaping, cabinets and countertops, appliances, doors, and plumbing fixtures would represent a greater percentage of the whole cost.

To get dollar costs for each item, multiply the percentages shown by the average total cost of the homes in the survey, $289,000.

Also realize that the average figures include both much higher and much lower costs depending on the nature of the construction. The all-granite kitchen and bath countertops in a luxury home would cost at least five times as much as laminated plastic equivalents in the more economical home. Similarly full-thickness hard maple strip flooring would cost five times as much as the perfectly serviceable painted plywood chosen by a do-it-yourselfer on a tight budget.

One of the best tools the do-it-yourselfer can buy is a residential construction estimating book. A one-year-old copy of the Craftsman National Construction Estimator can be had on Amazon for about $30.

Where Does the Money Go?

Savings by Doing It Yourself

Using the data from the same National Association of Home Builders’ Single Family Price and Cost Breakdowns, 2015 National Results and assuming the cost of each material item consists of equal parts material and labor, results in the graph at right.

In addition to the use of less expensive materials, two ways for an owner to save significant money are to:

• assume the role of the general contractor in hiring and directing subcontractors, ordering materials, and securing permits and inspections.

• alternatively, perform every task as a do-it-yourselfer.

The first option saves about 20% in the general contractor’s overhead and general expenses, real estate marketing and commissions, and profit.

The much more labor- and required-skills-intensive option of doing it entirely one’s self saves the entire cost of labor for a total of about 50%.

Before entertaining either cost-saving option one is urged to perform an honest assessment of their knowledge, skills, dedication, and available time. Experience teaching hundreds of aspiring DIY homebuilders has taught the author three rules of thumb. The total person hours required to build a house are approximately:

• for the experienced builder, 1 hr./sq.ft.

• for an average “handyman,” 2 hr./sq.ft.

• for a complete novice, at least 3 hr./sq.ft.

Complete novices would be wise to first volunteer at their local Habitat for Humanity, where they would both pick up skills and get a better sense of the tasks they face.

How Much Can a DIYer Save?

Square Foot Construction Cost

The top curve in the graph below was generated by averaging current (2018) prices of new homes not including site over a size range of 100 sq.ft. to 2,000 sq.ft. and dividing the prices by the home’s square footage. Of course the data points displayed a lot of scatter, so the smooth curves represent the best fit. The green and blue curves were then generated by applying the percentage savings expected from owner contracting (green) and doing it all one’s self (blue).

The graphs demonstrate what should be intuitive: the smaller the house, the more expensive per square foot. The reason for this phenomenon is that kitchens, baths, heating and cooling systems, and so on are common to all homes, but are not strictly proportional to size.

The magnitude of the differences is seen in the two examples shown. The average contracted 200-sq.ft. house costs $300 per sq.ft., while the 1,800-sq.ft. home costs about half as much per sq.ft., $163.

Again, applying the savings from supplying labor, the owner-contractor (green curve) and the total do-it-yourselfer (blue curve) can reduce those numbers by approximately twenty and fifty percent.

Contracted vs Do-It-Yourself Costs/Sq.Ft. as a Function of Size

Total Construction Cost

Of course the bottom line when building or buying a home is not cost per square foot but total cost. Total cost is simply cost per square foot × total square feet. The graph below is the result of performing this multiplication on the curves on the previous page.

Using the same two example homes, 1,800 and 200 square feet, we get $293,400 and $60,000 for the fully contracted versions. For the total do-it-yourself versions of the same homes we project $149,400 and $30,400— plenty of incentive for the prospective small-home DIYer!

If $30,400 doesn’t align with what you have heard, seen on television, or read in a magazine, remember: the figures in these graphs represent average figures for average construction. The use of less expensive grades and recycled or donated materials and appliances can lower these costs substantially.

Contracted vs Do-It-Yourself Total Cost as a Function of Size

Big Added Cost: The Site

The cost figures in the previous charts are for the building alone, not including the site and site services. Unless your planned tiny home is on wheels and you plan an eternal road trip, or your home will be an “accessory dwelling unit” sharing the site with an existing home, sooner or later you will have to purchase or rent a site on which to place the structure.

The map below displays the extraordinary range of prices of land in dollars per acre, from about $15,000 in rural areas such as New Hampshire, West Virginia, and Oklahoma, to over $400,000 in sunny California.

The numbers are not prices per lot but prices per acre, so you have to multiply by the size of the lot. Minimum lot size is specified in zoning ordinances and usually varies by zone. In rural and very affluent areas minimum lot sizes can be three or more acres, while densely populated areas may be zoned ¼ acre minimum.

Prices also vary widely within states. Lots within metropolitan areas are much more expensive than those in less developed areas. Lesson: do your homework! Websites such as Zillow.com allow unlimited research on your computer or mobile device.

2018 Residential Building Site Costs, $1,000 per Acre

More Added Costs: Site Services

Site services are all those things added to a lot to make the building/lot combination habitable. If the lot is in a development it may already have most or all services already. If not, here are the things you may have to add (see illustration below):

1. Public Water. If a public water main runs in front of your lot, you will be required to connect to it for a fee.

2. Well. If public water is not available you will need to drill a well or haul water.

3. Public Sewage. If a public sewer line runs past your lot, you will be required to connect to it even if the lot contains a private system.

4. Septic System. Unless public sewage is available or you use a composting toilet to eliminate “black waste” you will need a septic tank and leach field or a holding tank.

5. Electric Service. Unless you go off grid with a solar system, you will connect to the power line. Extending the existing line more than one or two poles is extremely expensive.

6. Driveway. You will probably want a solid, low-maintenance driveway. A 3-inch-thick asphalt drive costs about $10 per sq.ft.

7. Landscaping. Grading for drainage, a layer of topsoil, and a few shade trees are the minimal starting point.

Building Site Services

Added Costs: Impact Fees?

Impact fees comprise a fairly recent addition to the cost of building a home. In areas experiencing rapid growth, counties, cities, and towns are having to improve and expand roads, extend water and sewer lines, expand water and sewage treatment plants, add fire stations, develop parks and recreational facilities, and build additional schools.

The map shows where impact fees are most often assessed and the average fees imposed per home. It is not surprising to see the most and the highest fees occurring in the western, southwestern, and southeastern states where the population growth rate is greatest.

Depending on the state, fees may be charged for any or all of these categories:

• Schools

• Roads

• Water

• Sewage

• Storm water drainage

• Police

• Fire

• Library

• Parks

Average Residential Building Impact Fees by State

4
DESIGN

Oh boy, let the fun begin!

When was the last time someone said to you, “Go ahead, pick anything you want.” Of course the understanding was not anything, but anything within reason—in your case within your budget. But, hey! You get to pick what you want, not what someone else thinks you should have.

Designing is the most fun part of creating your tiny house. It is also the most important because it can:

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