A Tiny Tiny House

So, this woman called me up one day and asked if I could build her a tiny, tiny, tiny house, in two days, for $500 labour. I said sure, but it might take two and a half days, and we shook on it.

I met her at Home Depot and we worked out the material list in the store and got what we needed and were out within two hours.

So, this is what can be built in 2 full days, dawn to dusk, and it is a freckin house!

Read on to see how it was done......

Materials and the Floor

Materials:
1 sheet 3/4 inch finish grade plywood
two sheets thin, I think bout 1/4 inch ply for the roof
5 sheets 1/2 inch exterior grooved siding
3 sheets galvanized wavy roofing, 8'
One roll heavy roofing felt
A nice pile of 2x2 for framing
bolts and nuts
a box of 3 inch stardrive screws, couple boxes of 1 1/2 inch stardrive screws
box of metal roofing screws
5 one by twos for the roof rafters
lots of 1x4s for the trim
And other things I can't currently recall but which you can figure out by looking at the pictures...

So we started with a sheet of finish grade 3/4 inch plywood. It overhangs the tongue a couple feet so we made that into a tiny deck and curved it so that it wouldn't interfere with turning.
It was bolted to the frame in six places, but through the sill plate to hold the walls on at the same time...

Walls

because it is so small I framed the walls on a big table and once they were square I screwed in the siding. This was framed for the two tiny windows in the side walls, the door in the front, and the little bay window in the back.
when the back three side panels were complete, two assistants held them for me while I screwed them together and bolted them to the frame.
The front wall had to have a 2x8 over the curve for sufficient material to cut the arch out of.

Roof and Windows

I notched the three central rafters in and then bent the roof panels over each other so that they overlapped just enough for the three sheets of roofing to fit nicely on top. Then the tar paper was applied on each side first, then as a ridge cap over the top, just stapled on.
Next the metal roofing was screwed on with a lot of screws, to stop it blowing off on the road!
Someone else came up with the idea of crimping the edges of the metal roof over the plywood, and it worked out wonderfully, I screwed it through both layers of metal, as you can see in the picture.

Trim, Door and Caulk!

Time was running out now folks, it was approaching the end of the 48 hours, so things had to speed up now, to almost rediculous levels. I trimmed that bad boy out in I swear less than an hour, the door was fitted, and refitted, and refitted, and lots and lots of caulk was squirted everywhere to keep it water tight and mold free. ...

Finished!

Well thats it, 51 hours after leaving Home depot, believe it or not.
If you're wanting to replicate it, I recommend taking a little more time, relax as you build, take a week, and it will be a more enjoyable experience...
However long it takes, it is going to be far and away the quickest house you will ever see constructed..

Peace out homies....
G.