Recycle!

As far as materials go I have probably used half salvaged materials for the construction of this house. The base framing for the most part is made of new materials but the roofing, siding, windows, flooring, plumbing (some of it :), toilet, kitchen sink, some of the trim, etc was all reused or salvaged material. I am pretty green as far as materials and renewable energy go.

The house is on skids and I have already moved it once on a trailer about 14 miles. I had some help from some friends moving it and everything went smoothly. Nothing moved or anything! Being 22' long I thought maybe something would move a bit but even the smallest joint in the sheet-rocked walls and ceiling stayed perfectly intact.

Unlike most tiny houses I sheet-rocked the walls and they are painted with Sherwin-Williams paint. Nice stuff! I got it from them for 50% off because my sister-in-law works there and they were having an employee appreciation day the day I went to get it. So we got an extra 10% off along with the regular employee discount of 40%!

I have had some friends help with things like hanging the sheet-rock and mudding it. I also had help from a friend with the initial framing. Sometimes your two hands just won't do and you need a third...or fourth.

All the plumbing is done inside the 2x4 walls (blown insulation) and floor joists. Not inside as in drilled through the studs and joists but inside as in inside the living space. So there is no way on earth the plumbing will freeze as long as the inlet pipe is insulated well enough up to the house.

The size of a house

The tiny house is 10' wide and 22' long. At the highest points the roof is 11' 8" and there is a dormer over the loft area for extra headroom. This is very nice and adds greatly to the generally bland styling of a shed roof. The loft is the sleeping area (bedroom) and there is a bathroom, closet and sitting area below the loft. The rest of the tiny house (about 9'x10') is the kitchen with 8' of counter space, a refrigerator and shelves on the wall to the right of the sink. Total square footage of the home is about 300 Sq. Ft. including the loft.

Our tiny house beginnings

My name is Micah Olson and I am 21 years old. I started making my tiny house in December of 2010. I got married in March of 2010 to the girl of my dreams and we have been living in an apartment in Kooskia, Idaho. The idea of being rent free and living in my own house without making an impact on the environment has been appealing to me for the last few years. I thought about making a small house or tiny house before I even knew they existed. I looked it up online and realized that this was a growing idea throughout the entire world, what with economic awareness increasing and the effects of our dwelling habits on the environment becoming an issue.

I have been working in the field of construction for about 6 or 7 years building and remodeling commercial and residential projects.

I actually picked up materials for our house and started construction on December 18, 2010.

Here are some pictures of the house construction up to this point. It has been an enjoyable experience (mostly) and I am working on the finish stuff now. More recent pictures are coming soon.

Picture Album of The Olson Tiny House