tiny house case studies

[smallandtinyhomeideas]

Long Story Short House | Joe Coover

SIPs? What are those? Joe was kind enough to do a Q&A with me for the Tiny House Collab here on Tumblr. He has documented his build on his YouTube channel and on his blog. Like the charred cedar siding? It’s done using the Japanese method of “yaki sugi” — check his how to video.

previously THBC Archive

[tinyhousecollab]

Building with "SIPs" Q&A with Joe Coover

Joe Coover has build his own tiny house using “SIPs”, structural insulated panels, Japanese shou sugi ban siding, decra tile metal roofing, and plans to finish the interior with a steampunk theme. Take advantage of his resources via his YouTube Channel and his build blog longstoryshorthouse.blogspot.com

I. You used SIPs. What were your top 3 reasons for doing so?

 I’ve talked to A LOT of tiny house people around the country and find that SIPs appeal to different people for different reasons. The one mental hurdle you have to jump before anybody makes this choice is to step back and think about how and why we build houses the way we do.  It’s hard for a tradesman or anybody who’s spent their whole life around 2x4 stick built houses to imagine how to build it any differently. Tradition is hard to break. 

SIPs are the new kid on the block in a way but they have been around for longer than you think. (In 1937 a small SIP house was constructed and garnered enough attention to bring in First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to dedicate the house.) Once you get past the initial weirdness of it, I found SIPs to be a sophisticated modern choice that no other options could match.

Personally I was looking for: 

1. Strong. Depending on who you ask you’ll see SIPs rated at double or triple the strength of stick building. They really excel with side winds and earthquake type situations and a tiny house gets that and more rolling down the road! 

2. High R-value. Whether you plan on living in Alaska or Oklahoma (me) you’ll want as much R-value as you can get and you’ll want it to stick around for the life of the house and not settle like potato chips. Also with a stick built house all the studs take up room in the wall that could be insulated in a SIP. It adds up to 1/4th of your wall is studs…that’s a lot of wasted space. I didn’t want to end up with a wall that’s not as strong or well insulated. 

3. Easy to build. I built my house’s main structure in 2 days. With the help of a few (4-5) friends, a glue gun, and a cordless drill I had a house that would have taken at me a few months to build with sticks. It keeps your momentum rolling early on with a sense of accomplishment within a week.

Some other reasons SIPs may fit your build: 

You don’t really need to buy building plans. The SIPs company can do the engineering based off your simple drawings and after you have a house shaped box, it’s easy to put in walls and appliances, which the building plans don’t help as much on anyway.  

Pretty much NO WASTE. No board ends, messed up cuts, insulation left overs. They all add up but the only thing you have at the end of your SIPs build is a few tubes of empty glue and some tape rolls but that’s pretty good compared to what you see at most construction sites. (Now after the initial raising of the walls you’ll create the same waste as you would have otherwise) 

Easy to live in very quick if need be. I’ve been living in my house half built for about six months. I have an extension cord to run my fridge, hot plate, lights, etc. I have a camping sink and a composting toilet. We shower at the gym and it’s not that weird. It’s kinda like camping and we’re saving money on rent way quicker this way. You could build your house and glamp in it for awhile before you finish it, for approx 12,000 give or take. It also helps you feel out where you want things, we’ve adjusted our floorplan several times since we moved in. I can keep going but I’ll digress. I am a fan but I am not fanatic.

II. Are you persuaded to believe that  SIPs are the most efficient and or ecological building material choice for tiny house builders?

Before I was worked for a tiny house company I worked for Greenpeace so being good to the earth is important to me. SIPs use less wood and most of the wood it does use can come from smaller trees from tree farms instead of cutting down old growth forests. As for the foam, yes, it’s man made and won’t break down over time like other things but this is one of those times where that’s a plus. Over the life of the house (which you hope lasts long after you’re gone) a material that doesn’t need to be replaced will be greener. Also by using a less effective insulation you (and all the people who live in this house after you) will use more fuel to heat it and burn more coal to create the electricity to cool it. Even if you are the off grid type with solar panels, by reducing your need you can reduce the number of solar panels you need shipped from china.

III. Are there any precautions you would offer to aspiring tiny-housers that are ready jump on the SIP bandwagon? What about outgassing? 

A few things to know when talking to SIPs companies: 

Ask if the dimensional lumber is included. Some SIPs come with all the lumber on the edges of the panels installed and sometimes you add that after you get it. It’s cheaper to do it yourself but it’s WAY easier to just have it all done for you and you have “ready-to-erect” walls. I had them ready to go and that’s one reason I had it done in two days. 

Talk about electrical chases. They can cut holes in the foam for your wires to go and it’s not hard. They just need to know where you want them. I’d put a chase at the bottom for plugs and some up top for  lights and such. Remember to check that the 2x4 splines should have the holes drilled in them too. That’s easier to do before you put them up than after but can be done either way.

 Get lots of quotes. My quotes ranged from $3000 to $8000 and if you find a SIPs person who likes what you’re doing than that’s better! Shipping can be a large amount so try and pick it up yourself on your trailer or use uShip to lessen that cost. Sometimes it makes sense to use a SIPs manufacturer that’s further away if their quote more than covers the increase in shipping. 

As for Off-gassing, you can get different foams that have all kinds of qualities. Some of them have less or zero off-gassing and you can even get some that are soy based and I believe soon mushroom based so whatever floats your boat there. The main foam used is similar to coffee cups or ice-chests but the difference is that it’s not “disposable”. While the material does have gasses that are produced when it’s made there haven’t been any tests that detect any gasses once it’s left the factory. The only time that the gasses in the foam would be able to get out is if it burned down, in which case pure wood smoke is also toxic and will kill you just as fast. SIPs meet or exceed all fire ratings and some are even fire-proof.

[swelllittledwelling]

Tiny House Build Days 11-14

HUGE DISCLAIMER: We forgot our camera last weekend. Booooo. But my phone takes decent photos so I wasn’t missing it completely! Thanksgiving weekend provided lots of extra time to do house work considering I had Thursday-Sunday off from career work. We finally got the roof all wrapped up and closed in! We’re finally ready to add the drip edge, moisture barrier, and ice shield, and shingles, and then we can put in the windows. Matt put up the loft this week inside so I’ll post a photo of that next!

We taped the heck out of this thing too - every window, every seam, and even every nail/screw hole on the roof! The tape is lovely, thick, rubbery stuff, but it’s 25 bucks a roll and they run out fast. 

Soon we’ll be able to put up the exterior siding. I will likely post some more inspiration photos of what I want that to look like since I’m finding myself in daydream mode lots of times about what it’s going to look like in the end. We love the shape of it - it’s easy on the eyes even in its greenest form! Once those windows are in and the shingles are on — how will I want to be anywhere else?!

[tinyfreedomoettle]

Tiny house progress: mike worked on the front of the house. He installed a bracket for our mini-split condensor, and built a box for our propane tanks. Our friend Dale came over who is a professional plumber, and they installed the mini split and the blower. There was some serious teamwork going on today. They also installed the gas lines for the propane. Most importantly we now have air conditioning that works really well.

[smallandtinyhomeideas]

[smallandtinyhomeideas]

minim house | foundry architects

pull out floor bed with full mattress (no loft to crawl up, cooler in the summer, simple bed-making).

no walls to diminish sense of space. (210 ft2) for full 1-2 person living and entertaining: a 10′ kitchen, a 5′ closet, 8′ sofa/guest bed, dedicated office area, 4′ dining table, comfortable seating for 7, and a 7′ projection screen.

streamlined framing and insulation with standardized SIPs panels (shipped nationwide). Just 3 windows and 1 door to install; no window/door trim work on exterior or interior.

innovative table system that may be raised/lowered/swiveled in 4 floor sockets to function as kitchen island/bar, second desk, coffee table, dining table, and bedside table.

detachable design (house may be undocked from trailer with 15 bolts).

off-grid design for areas without water/sewer/electric hookups.

integrated rain catchment/storage with no visible gutters.

minim micro homes | plans | more boneyard

[hellotinyhome]

The builders at Nanostead just sent me these pictures, showing the pine siding installation. It is also treated with Lifetime, and will age to a lighter grey tone over time.

[carpentertinyhouse]

Built the base for the stairs today. It will have 3 steps and then an attached ladder similar to this one: http://www.tinyhouseliving.com/solar-powered-tiny-house/

[lifeinthepond]

Tiny house is hungry! Here is a photo at a gas station on the way here. Now it wants a water and electricity and sewage hookups. Demanding, hungry, tiny house! The move in process started this morning. Living there starting tonight!

[tighnaneun]

William and rob fixed on the roof joists!

[tinybuild]

[carpentertinyhouse]

Electrical has begun!

[tinyhousenorthcarolina-blog]

Is that a shed that you're converting? Or was it meant to be a house? I love it!

It’s a building built by a storage building company. It’s meant to be a “play house” but it’s large enough and just the right model for a tiny house. 

[tinyhallhouse]

Front gable section done! It was a long long hot day, but the end result is a great little tiny house roof. Just gable trim left and it’s complete. BTW who ever invented Butyl tape is a sadist!!!! Fact.

[tinyhousecasestudies]

Love these windows!

[tinyhallhouse]

Larry and Tom installing drip edge on the dormers….

[minimotives]

A very common question for me to get is ‘do you feel safe in your tiny house?’. I think people have different reasons for asking it but most often I feel like people feel like they would be ‘exposed’ in such a small space, like there is no place to hide if you don’t want to answer the door (there...

[cotinycabin]

With the furring strips on, windows trimmed, and siding burned, we’ve been banging away on the siding.  The chocolate color of the Shou Sugi Ban comes out really nicely with a coat of linseed oil.  Greta came out from Vermont for a visit, and we put her right to work on the house!

[tinyhallhouse]

Well it’s time to get serious with the electrical wiring for our tiny house.  We have a pretty good idea of what we want where but there are a few, very tight spaces that involve plumbing and the 40 gallon water tank, that require a custom water tank, and that is seriously slowing our decision process down.  So I’ve decided that today and tonight will be full on scale of our plumbing and electrical wiring night.  Yea, sexy I know.  

First on the list today is to get back in touch with the folks who are doing a custom tank and get the final dimensions and hook up possibilities.  The to map out every inch of the water works and electrical to see if by some miracle we can get it all into our existing water cabinet (also known as our kitchen cabinet)  48” is NOT a lot of room to work with which is why we sized down our shower to 32” x  32”  to allow for a just a few more inches of our water tank to go in the bathroom wall.

If any of you have good or bad experiences with on board RV water tanks, we’d love to hear from you and learn from your experience.  

We’ll post our diagram once we get it all finished up.  Off to do big tiny things.