Wondering how to power your tiny house with solar power? I was, too! My current little house has been running on solar power for 13 years, but when it came time to set up a system for my new, littler house, I was starting from square one. My book, The Big Tiny, explained my solar…Read more
Everyone wants to know: how much does a tiny house cost? Tiny houses, just like big houses, can range in price greatly depending on size, systems, materials, and whether you build it yourself or hire someone to build it for you. Whether a house is 300 square feet or 3,000 square feet, how you intend…Read more
Are you looking into buying a tiny house? Now comes the hard part – finding a tiny house builder. New tiny house builders are opening up shop every day. While it’s great to have options, it’s also a very confusing market for potential buyers. We’ve heard from a number of people lately who bought tiny…Read more
This guest post is by Gary Rogowski from the Northwest Woodworking Studio, who knows a thing about tools and how to teach others to use them. The Northwest Woodworking Studio is one of PAD’s Expert Partners, and they’re leading a hands-on tiny house construction workshop series this spring in Portland including Tiny House Framing on…Read more
People ask us all sorts of questions about houses and home, and when there are no easy answers, sometimes all we can do is share a story or a perspective – “advice column” style. This response is from Billy, author of the Life in a Tiny House Ebook. Dear PAD, My goal for the new year…Read more
By Billy Ulmer, author of the Life in a Tiny House Ebook. Let’s say you’re working on yourself to become a more conscious consumer, but then it’s the holidays or somebody’s birthday, and you’re suddenly obligated to buy stuff. And just thinking about how to explain to your sister that you’d rather not buy her son the…Read more
By Billy Ulmer, author of the Life in a Tiny House Ebook. Last week I signed up for the “Unshopping Challenge,” a commitment to buy nothing new for a month, except consumables like food and gas. I wanted to take the challenge because I’ve been thinking about my possessions more than usual lately. It’s spring cleaning…Read more
By Dee Williams How do you make sure your tiny house is “road legal”, and that you have the approval you need to haul it down the street or across the country? We’ve been getting a lot of questions about the “wide” trailers from Iron Eagle – the trailers we recommend for use with our…Read more
While tiny houses are getting more and more coverage in the media, it’s still difficult to find an opportunity to go inside and tour one. This is a shame, because like any space, you’ve got to be inside it to really know what it’s like. A picture is worth a thousand words, but an experience is…Read more
By Dee Williams It’s hard to choose a tiny house builder. Tiny houses on wheels aren’t just miniature versions of normal houses. They shouldn’t be built like a shed, barn, or a “normal house”, they need to be able to handle their specialized circumstances. So even someone who has worked in construction for the past 30…Read more
By Dee Williams Many tiny housers are freaked out by the idea of having to deal with a city or county inspector, and they can’t fathom the courage it would take to walk into a planning office to discuss codes. So they build their little house as best they can: reading several books and…Read more
The question of how to find tiny house parking is one of the most discussed issues in the tiny house world. What will the place you call home look like, and who will be part of it? Do you want peace, quiet, and country views that stretch for miles, or to be nestled into your…Read more
At PAD, we get a lot of questions about tiny house trailers – the foundation of your little house. Some popular questions include, “Which tiny house trailer should I buy?” (our answer: Iron Eagle!) and “Can you buy a used tiny house trailer?” Whether you’re planning to buy a new or used trailer, consider the following:…Read more
By Dee Williams There’s a lot of confusion out there among aspiring tiny house builders and buyers about whether they can work with conventional building codes to make their tiny house on wheels legal to live in full time. Are there building codes for tiny houses on wheels? What about zoning regulations? Is there any way…Read more