How To Build A Tiny House Trailer

By | September 16, 2024

How To Build A Tiny House Trailer – Like all traditional homes, our tiny house will have a foundation, but unlike those houses – our house will have wheels. Yes, that means we could be spending our entire lives on the road in no time. We do this for several reasons (which I’ll explain in a future post). And while we know that living small means we fly under the radar of legal zoning enforcement, we wanted to make sure we purchased a well-built, street-legal trailer foundation on which to rest our huge significant other. A small house can be constructed.

So after hearing about it at the Tumbleweed Tiny House Workshop I attended, I found a very helpful, professional tiny home builder in local Atlanta named Dan Lash, who is the owner of Tiny Home Builders. In addition to building homes, selling tiny house plans, and providing DIY information through their e-books and video series, their company sells custom trailers built specifically for tiny home use. After shopping around and comparing prices, hearing good things about Tiny Home Builders, and meeting Dan in person (it was a tiny home celebrity meetup!!), I placed my order in early March and got the trailer. Was ready for pickup after 4 weeks.

How To Build A Tiny House Trailer

Once the trailer became available for pickup, I tried to find a way to pick it up in DeLand, Florida, which was a 7-8 hour drive one way from Atlanta. I thought about taking a day off, renting a truck, and avoiding work all day, but I knew missing work would cost $$$ in addition to gross gas mileage and truck rental. Instead, I decided to create a job on Uship.com, which I took bids for and found an experienced driver who had driven a tiny house trailer once before.  He was willing to deliver the stuff to my mom’s yard for $460 (after service fee) and was insured for half a million dollars. What a steal.

Where To Park A Tiny House: The Complete Parking Guide

The driver was scheduled to arrive around 10-11 pm that night, so I drove from my home in Atlanta to my mom’s house to wait for him to arrive. Even though it was dark and I couldn’t take proper pictures, I was still excited. This was the first big step (and big investment) in our tiny house dream, so it was a big deal. Once it arrived, he showed me how to work the tongue jack and how to connect the electrical interruption and emergency system. He said it was very easy, gave me the bill of sale and walked away. I was amazed but nervous as I realized that this was our crazy dream come true.

Although we had hoped to start our construction work at the beginning of the summer, my dad suffered a stroke in late May, which meant that the tiny house plans were put on hold for a few months while I worked. And was taking care of him/her family. Top priorities. , as would be appropriate.

We are quite confident with the purchase of our trailer as its many features mean that our foundation is optimized for our home. here’s why.

Steel Flanges. There are 4-inch steel plates welded to the outside edge of each side of the trailer, meaning we can build our own subfloor and expand our home without losing structural stability.

Tiny House Trailer Types, Tricks And Trouble

Custom shaped headlights. Unlike traditional trailers, not round, but oblong. This will make it easier to build around them!

Heavy duty axle. Oh, both of our axes are animals. We also paid them to upgrade from the standard 10,000-pound payload to 14,000-pound because it has a length (and ultimately, larger payload) of 24 feet.

There is no wooden deck. The wooden planks that typically rest on the top of standard trailers are replaced by two long steel beams that run the length of the trailer. This creates a much safer surface for attaching the sub-floor. Have you ever wanted to learn how to build a tiny house step by step? Then you are in the right place! 

Creating THOW is easy with proper guidance. Here are the exact steps I took to build my 24′ tiny house on wheels from start to finish with zero construction experience.

Gooseneck Tiny House

There is a ton of information scattered around about building THOW – guides, videos, books, tutorials, and lots of short home tours, etc.

However, for people starting their tiny home construction with little construction experience, it is easy to get lost and give up before the project even begins.

So I wanted to make everyone’s life easier by creating a simple, easy to follow, step-by-step guide that includes all the resources I used and picked up to create my own 24′ x 8’5″ THOW. Join the steps taken.

Oho! He was singing here. In 2018, I was tired of paying thousands of dollars in rent every month. I thought there must be some other way. 

Cost To Build A Tiny House

To make a long story short, that same year, I spent the next 5 months building my 24′ THOW from scratch! I named my little house @ and have been living in it ever since. 

I was taught everything I needed during the construction process including framing, electrical, plumbing, roofing, mini-split setup, appliances, etc. 

There is now a ton of information scattered around about THOW construction—guides, videos, books, tutorials, and lots of tiny house tours. Because of this, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and many people give up on a project before even starting.

So I wanted to make life easier for everyone by creating a simple, easy to follow, step-by-step guide that includes all the resources I used and steps I took to build my own tiny house on wheels , even if you have no experience!

Setting Up Your Land For A Tiny House

So you want to learn how to build a tiny house on wheels, but how do you get started?

Building a successful tiny home goes through two main stages: planning your tiny home and building your tiny home. If you have already completed your construction planning or are currently building your tiny house, jump straight to How to Build a Tiny House: Build a Tiny House.

Before you even think about building a tiny house, you need to make sure you have enough money to cover the construction costs. 

So how do you know how much to save to build a tiny house? Well, it costs $30,000 to build a new 24-foot tiny house. You can make it even more cheaply by following the instructions below.

Tim’s Vardo Build

SketchUp is a tool that allows you to digitally design, visualize, and modify any structure – in our case: a tiny house. You will be able to bring your ideas to life in just a few hours.

The folks at Tiny Nest have a SketchUp tutorial that will teach you everything you need to know about designing a tiny house.

SketchUp is a paid tool, but you can get the free production version of 2017. This is the version I used for my child and it has more than enough features. There is no need to get the paid version.

Once you learn SketchUp, play with it. You can build your tiny house from scratch, or purchase a tiny house plan online and recreate and modify it on SketchUp.

Miter Box Tiny House Plans

Now you have learned SketchUp. But how do I know if the house I’ve designed is structurally sound?

Once you see the entire process of building a tiny house, you will feel more confident.

If you have never designed anything in your life, I suggest keeping your design as simple as possible.

If you live in a neighborhood that has an HOA. You can’t build there. This is a hard ‘no-no’.

How Much Does A Tiny House Cost To Build?

So if you’re like me who lived in a townhouse with no buildings. Try the following options.

Once you’ve decided on the design of your tiny house and found the space to build it, it’s time to list your materials and start building.

To create your bill of materials, simply count the number of studs, studs, roof panels, sheathing, insulation, fixtures, windows and doors, fixtures, etc. 

Then, find the price and quantity of the materials you plan to purchase and enter them in the materials list.

Specs — Big Freedom Tiny Homes

So this is not the way to start building! Here are all the tasks you need to complete in the following order.

If you don’t have experience repairing used trailers, I recommend purchasing a new trailer specifically designed for tiny houses.

Now, when ordering a tiny home trailer, I highly recommend purchasing square headlights and undercarriage flashes from the manufacturer if they offer them.

These extra features will cost you an extra few hundred dollars, but they will save you time, money, and energy.

Ask The Builder: Why Tiny Houses Are Big, Bad Ideas

Their pre-installation makes your job easier as you only have to insulate the subfloor and install the underfloor covering directly onto the trailer.

Insulate your foundation with R-23 Rockwool insulation (the most affordable, DIY option) or insulation that fits over the foundation.

Leave a gap of 1/8″ between each

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