Hi all, quick update here – we will be living in the Tiny Timber Frame within the month! If you find that hard to believe, join the club – we can’t quite comprehend how after a year plus of building this humble abode, we will actually be living it it in such a short time frame. In the last few weeks we have gotten approval on our electrical system, finished the floors, fully reflectex-ed the house (our secondary level of insulation and moisture barrier), installed and pressure tested our plumbing, and finalized all plans on our cabinetry and built-ins. This weekend we bought the lumber for the kitchen lowers and stairs, and started milling out the lumber for those. We have completed dry-fit carcasses for the lower cabinets and stairs, and started the process of milling the tongue-and-groove lumber that will be the panels for all of those.
We have secured a place to move the house in Chimacum, WA (about 20 minutes from where we are living now). Friends of a friend have an RV hook-up (power and water) with access to a shower, laundry facilities, a garden, a place to put our chickens, and potentially even a workshop. We’re going to call that place home for the next 9-12 months while we finish off interior details and finalize & perfect our off grid systems so we can get set up in a more permanent living situation. Not to mention escaping some of the rules and regulations (and costs) that come with being fully grid-tied.
Tiny Timber Frame 
Hi,
I hope you are already in your lovely tiny timber frame house.
It looks amazing and the work you have done is just fantastic.
I have a question for you about the trailer: I read that you couldn’t find a trailer that meet all your requirements and so you payed for a custom made trailer, so can you tell me what where your requirements and how this custom made trailer fill the bill?
Thanks
Many
LikeLike
Hi there,
Thanks for your interest. We are moving the house a week from today! And moving in that night.
Part of our plan for the house is that one day soon it will be pulled off the trailer and onto a foundation. Because of that, we built the house on 6×6 skids. There are several types of trailers available for purchase, but we found that none of them made the best use of vertical space. There are drop axle trailers, where the trailer deck sits just above the axle, and the fenders rise about 9 inches above the deck. This is a problem because if we were to frame the structure on 6×6 skids, the floor joists would intersect with the fenders/tires. Then there are deck over trailers which don’t have any clearance issues, but the trailer deck is around 36 inches off the ground, which limits the height of the structure if you are adhering to national regulations for road legal vehicles. The option we went with is basically the middle ground. It is a drop axle trailer that is custom height so that the floor joists will clear the tires. We also omitted the fenders, which can be an issue depending on what state you live/travel within, but in most states if you have mud flaps and the structure is covering the tires, its not a problem. We also found a custom fabricator who was able to manufacture the trailer for less than the cost of a “off the lot” prefab trailer. If you are located in the PNW we would be happy to share his contact info so you can get in touch with him.
Are you planning a tiny house build? Where are you located? and how did you find our site?
Thanks again for reaching out,
Raphael
LikeLike
Hi Raphael,
Thank you for your quick response and sorry for this late replay. 😦
I hope the moving to your lovely tiny timber frame house goes as smooth as it can be.
Very interesting the rationale about the choosing for the trailer. Thanks for sharing them.
Yes indeed I am very interested to build a tiny hose but I think I will follow the platform building approach not the timber one even though I love timber framing.
I am located in Savannah, GA. But We, my wife and I, are planning (well let’s say dreaming) about an off the grid tiny house so we can move.
The way I found your site was as follow:
I started to work as carpenter assistant about four months ago -the details are long to explain-
I then, looking for books about carpentry and woodworking I found the Jim Tolpin books and in his site I found a link to the Townsend School of Woodworking and in the school site they put a link to your site.
I will love to do what you did, by the look of your work it seems that totally worth the time and money invested in the school. In fact, I am saving money to go there.
Kind regards,
Many
LikeLike