This blog is about a tiny house like no other.
My partner, Yuri, is building a tiny house. He left me for the summer to pursue his dreams and I am very proud. His plans were to build an entire tiny house and drive it back here (it’s built on a trailer) before our last year of college starts.
The last few months before Yuri left he was constantly working on researching environmentally friendly construction alternatives such as; insulation, what kind of wood to use for panels, what composting toilet to use, do we use solar, electric, gas, or all of them?, and what kind of trailer to get. He worked on his floor plan, recreating fresh plans over and over. Finally, he flew to Illinois on June 16th (from WA state), thinking he knew where he would start. But really, how prepared can you be to build a house in just a few months?
He started his search for a trailer so he could get started, but that….it seems, is the hardest part. He searched all over Illinois and researched more trailers than he even knew existed. Finally, deciding on a 22 foot aluminum trailer. whoooo! $$$ The plan for the tiny house has a budget and deciding on aluminum is definitely a large part of that budget. Yuri decided, after many suggestions from his father, that he would also be making the walls out of aluminum. Well, After getting a bigger trailer (originally was going to be 18 feet, and after deciding on aluminum, it seems that all previous plans and decisions went away. Now he is starting from scratch again. Making new floor plans, deciding on new parts and pieces, and trying to keep me updated through all the mix and match work between his eco-friendly visions and his dad’s conventional building experience.
So this blog, if you haven’t figured, is from the perspective of me (the non-builder living in WA). I hope I can explain enough on here to be any use for current and potential tiny house builders. I’ll try to update a lot to show Yuri’s progress through this journey!
*Update: It took 6 months to finish it enough to drive it here! And now theres more to do! make sure the water system is set and won’t freeze, making sure our heater is good and doesn’t suck up tons of energy, making sure we know how to use the composting toilet, making the house comfy, getting it all ready to live in!
The Nautilus 
Awesome sharing the perspective of your own, I am going to look forward to following your blog. All things intrigues that supports a simpler life. Thank you so much for sharing. ~Allie~
Thanks for your comment and your interest!
Your welcome
Really like the design and your forward thinking, I have been designing my own for fun using sketch up . I have modeled about every component and furnishing. Your design is one of the best”IMO” I should really think about posting my projects maybe someday.
It would be pretty cool to post your designs and get feedback before you build! Thanks for the compliments on The Nautlius!
Love the design. I have converted a full size bus and had a few other rvs over the years but the true fun is in building your own the way you want it. Anyhow, I love aluminum and plan on a design like yours. Did yuri tig weld prior to the start of the project? What is your tow vehicle? What is the final weight? If you could do it again, what would you do differently? Are you planning on a more nuts and bolts mechanical/design posting at some point in the future? Would yuri consider building another one in the future?
Thanks!
May you share you total cost and time frames? Yes, I would like to know the answers to the previous questions by Richard. Are you building these as a business? I am very very interest in your plans!
Hey Richard,
Alright… i just deleted a long post to answer your question. sigh. Any who, Im really glad that you enjoy the design of the house. It is really great to hear from folks who see this blog. Also, Im sorry it has taken a while to get back to you. To answer your first question, i have not done much tig welding. For the house, I used a mig welder with an aluminum adapter. I like to think i am pretty darn good at welding 🙂
The final weight of the vehicle is about 11,000 lbs! I was aiming for 10, and really felt like a failure when it went over. Fortunately, we modified the trailer to hold more weight, and shifted the axels around the help distribute the weight. When towing, you need to have a certain amount of tongue weight and rear weight. Modifying the trailer was in opinion really hard, and we had a trailer expert help us figure out some of the important aspects. To tow the vehicle we used a 1ton truck. We added stabilizing brackets to the front which attack to the truck to help with the towing. In our 2000 mile trek, we had no problems.
What would i do differently… i think i will write a post about that, but i dont think i would do much differently. I would make my interior walls thinner. I was silly and did 3/4″ plywood interior walls, when 1/2, or 1/4 would have been enough. I dont like the extra weight, but then again, the house is stronger and i can hang more weight on the walls. I would also consider using marine grade plywood on the outside. I went stuns, then plywood, housewrap, then siding. I havent done the research, but it might be cheaper and lighter to just go studs to marine grade plywood and have that as your exterior. It is paintable, so it wouldnt look bad. Maybe put a chair rail where the sheets meet to stop rain pooling… it would be pretty modern looking.
What kind of a picture are you looking for? More of the framing process? And yes i would totally build another one. 🙂
Please feel free to ask more question about anything 🙂
– Yuri
Hey there culturalinterweaves,
May you share you total cost and time frames? Yes, I would like to know the answers to the previous questions by Richard. Are you building these as a business? I am very very interest in your plans!
I dont honestly know if i can accurately break down my time frame. Days and weeks really blurred together. I worked somewhere between 10-14 hours 7 days a week for 4 months. I started off doing maybe 8 hour days, but then i realized how much work my design would take and began working those exhausting days. I also had my dad helping me about 10 hours a day. He helped and saved my butt big time. I dont really enjoy talking about the cost of my house, but that is the question most asked. In product cost it was about 25,000. I am very fortunate to have a family friend in the aluminum industry and he saved me beyond tons of money on the material. if i had gone to lowes or any home improvement store… i could never have afforded their mark up. Also, the product cost doesnt include my labor, nor my fathers.
Im not doing tiny houses as a business, but i have thought about joining a company or starting my own. 🙂 Im so happy to hear that you like my plans and are interested in them. At the moment, i dont have plans drawn up, but am in the process of doing that. Everyday we just kinda ‘winged’ it. We knew what we wanted and fortunately were able to communicate very well. If you have any question about the design process or how i did something, please feel free to ask! Thanks again for posting.
-Yuri
Hello, I just came across your tiny home and I must say that it is definitely the most unique one I’ve seen! I’m very interested, as others have said before me, in the plans! Might you be willing to build another for someone?
Hey untaramar! glad you like the house so much. I’ve been contemplating creating some plans, but i’ve kinda jumped head first into another project at the moment. As for building another one, I really wish I could say yes!, but I cant at the moment. I dont have the physical space, nor the tools. But, I would be really happy to post any pictures of the construction of it so you can see the creation of the house and maybe get some ideas for your own plans 🙂
I completely understand and I would love to see more pictures! If you do ever decide to put out the plans, I will most certainly be the first in line!
Hope you’re doing well in 2016! I was wondering; how did that other project go and if you had the time to draw out your plans?
I just devoured this blog in a couple hours! The house is amazing, hands down, wonderful. I, like many others it seems, would be very interested in plans/buying a house from you. Unfortunately, I do not have access to tools, nor possess the skills to build my own tiny home. Please update the blog if you do start any kind of business!
Would you be alright with me having a house built based off yours?