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BRV2 Tiny House with 10 Windows by Humble Homes


This post contains affiliate links.

Last week I showed you the McG tiny house plans.

Today I’m showing you yet another option from Humble Homes.

This one is for those of you who like the idea of a sleeping loft with a ladder.

The BRV2 Tiny House

I like the BRV2 because it makes great use of space and separates living and sleeping.

I also really like the french doors near the kitchen and living area. Did I mention this tiny house design has 10 windows?

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Take the entire photo, floor plan and video tour below:

Skylights, 10 Windows and French Door in this Tiny House Design

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Alright let’s go inside..

Built in Storage and Cabinets

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Micro Living Room with Storage Nooks

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I like the tiny living room. It must feel cozy.

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Closer view of the built in cabinets below..

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If you’re wondering where these cabinets are it’s opposite of the kitchen sink. 🙂

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I love this tiny house design but it’s missing crucial closet space to make it livable for most of us.

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Can you find a place to add a closet/storage in this design?

Kitchen and Door to the Bathroom

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Bathroom in Tiny Home

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Buy and instantly download the BRV2 tiny house plans from Humble Homes right now!

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Sleeping Loft in the BRV2 Tiny House Design

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BRV2 Tiny House Floor Plan

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Buy and instantly download the BRV2 tiny house plans from Humble Homes right now!

Video Tour with Audio & Music

I just wish the design had some closet space included as it’s a concern for most of us. Aside from that I really like the layout.

Other Ways to use this Tiny House Design

Some better uses for this design might be for camping, vacations and rental cabins instead of for full-time living. This way you just live out of your backpack or suitcase when you’re there.

Do you have any other ideas to use it for or to add something to make it better for full-time living?

Buy and instantly download the BRV2 tiny house plans from Humble Homes right now!

Download 6 free tiny house plans when join our FREE tiny house newsletter!

If you enjoyed the BRV2 tiny house design “Like” and share using the buttons below then share your thoughts about it in the comments. Thank you!

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Alex

Alex is a contributor and editor for TinyHouseTalk.com and the always free Tiny House Newsletter. He has a passion for exploring and sharing tiny homes (from yurts and RVs to tiny cabins and cottages) and inspiring simple living stories. We invite you to send in your story and tiny home photos too so we can re-share and inspire others towards a simple life too. Thank you!
{ 50 comments… add one }
  • Ann Seeton
    April 13, 2013, 1:09 pm

    I like it but would raise the downstairs ceiling to compensate for losing the vaulted ceiling, place a murphy bed (the one that has a little table when it is up) downstairs where the “front” door is and use the french doors for the main entry, add a short wall to raise the upstairs ceiling, move the bathroom upstairs to one side and make the bedroom private, thus freeing up space downstairs for the stair and for a pantry in the kitchen. This would have to be on a foundation rather than on wheels, but it would still be quite tiny and also serve as a kick-ass guest house or vacation cottage!

    • Cahow
      April 13, 2013, 1:39 pm

      LOVE your ideas, Ann! I’ll bake you a batch of virtual cookies to see your design fleshed out. 😉

      • Ann Seeton
        April 13, 2013, 2:33 pm

        Eventually you might. I’m still working on the current projects of exploring how to do all my activities in a single room, renovating an RV we got dirt cheap but in fabulous condition mechanically, and gradually downsizing the stuff that accumulated over the many years. I think when finished everything that used to be in a garage will be down to what will fit in a single 4 drawer file cabinet. Most of those boxes were junk! Even the one-room multi-use project is teaching me things about my pack-rat tendencies and what I can do to cut those short.

        • Erik M
          April 13, 2013, 2:48 pm

          Ann, are you video-ing your experience. It sounds like fun. Kinda where I was at in 2010.

          I’d love to see your RV.

        • Ann Seeton
          April 13, 2013, 5:21 pm

          Our RV is nothing special, just a large rectangular thing on wheels. It is a Rexhall model XL 3600. No slide out sections. The configuration it came with was a refrigerator and sink on one wall facing the bathroom on the other wall. Large forward area with four desks and a back room with a fifth desk. It was used by a city police department for crowd control office but then they found it really difficult to maneuver in the narrow city streets and when they backed it into a pole, put it up for auction. It has every upgrade to the chassis and engines etc. possible and we got it for a ridiculously low price. Hubby has been rehabbing, re-sealing, re-everything he thinks needs changing, and pulling out the parts of the insides we don’t need, like the desks–desks everywhere! We are debating what to do about the bathroom and “snack” area. We may move the refrigerator and sink forward and put a wardrobe in for storage then open up the wall of the bathroom and make doors that close off the bathroom from the rest of the place creating a bathroom/dressing area. We also considered gutting even the bathroom and re-doing everything. We want to create maximum open areas for flexibility and still have plenty of storage and sleeping areas. I think the back room will be a bunk room, and the front area will have a bed that pulls out for the adults. We sleep on a platform with firm mats (think yoga mat but 2 inches thick and a bit firmer) so we are considering a bench that stores the rolled up bed during the day, and we just lay it back out at night.

          I’ve a couple of books and I subscribed to several magazines. I’m having a lot of fun trying to learn how to fit everything I want into what is essentially a shell with a bathroom!

          The project would be further along but other projects keep getting in the way, like the recycled ambulance which is a whole other story!

        • Cahow
          April 14, 2013, 10:04 am

          Ann: do you ever look at youtube vids? I’ve found a ton of space saving solutions from those videos. I incorporate them into the build-outs that I design, maximizing the space. Check both urban and free-standing videos; you can pick up good hints from both sides of the equation.

        • Cahow
          April 13, 2013, 3:54 pm

          Well, good luck, Ann! My own Mum & husband did that with an old Greyhound bus and Lordy, did they have fun while they were still living. Had a smallish home (500 sqft.) that they came to in the summer (Minnesota) and toured the U.S. during the winter months. Did it for 15 years until age took that ability away from them; but they had their memories and photos, afterward. Bless them. <3

        • Ann Seeton
          April 13, 2013, 5:24 pm

          no video, forgot to mention that in the first response. 🙂

          We too hope to do a home base. We’ve a piece of land, and we are thinking it would be perfect for a cabin to double as permanent retirement when we can no longer travel.

        • alice h
          April 13, 2013, 3:56 pm

          I know what you mean about space for activities. Right now I have a dedicated sewing room besides my tiny studio apartment but I’m closing in on a final design for an 8×20 on wheels that must have a sewing area. There will be one large and one small loft for material and equipment storage and a sewing desk with a pullout foldup cutting table. I designed lots of things that pull out, flop down, or are otherwise capable of different configurations but everything is made to roll under fitted tops so you don’t need to disturb things on them to change function. If there’s anything I hate it’s having to move stuff all the time. As many things as possible are fully accessible without moving other stuff or containerized to minimize the number of things that need to be moved. There will be a computer armoire, based on one I have already. When its two work surfaces are pulled out there’s a lot of desk space but it all closes up into a small piece of furniture with lots of storage for office stuff. On either side of the 2×2 window above my sewing machine will be pegboard panels and the curtains will be made so they can cover everything, just the pegboard or open up completely. The closed cutting table will sit under the sewing machine desk area and the whole arrangement will just look like storage or furniture when not in use. You basically borrow from the central open volume of the place to be part of whatever “room” you’re using and when everything is put away it’s just open space for the living room. The bed is a built in daybed/couch with storage across the short back wall and the wall opposite the sewing desk and armoire is kept open with lots of windows to avoid that whole trailer hallway effect. Two portable sewing machines, one treadle machine and a small spinning wheel (possibly also a loom) need to be accommodated. Plus a LOT of craft and sewing supplies and costumes. The kitchen area is minimal but functional and has a pullout pantry with extra work surfaces that can be flipped up or rolled out as needed but work at every stage of deployment. The bathroom has a sawdust bucket toilet that sits in the shower space, opposite a full closet. The door can be closed to just the shower/toilet or across the full space between to make a larger dressing area and place to put the toilet when showering. Otherwise it’s an small open hall space with a large window that helps light the main space. It works on paper, will have to see what reality does to plan A.

        • sunshineandrain
          April 13, 2013, 4:05 pm

          I would love to see a basic floor plan of what you speak. It sounds wonderful!

        • Susan in California
          April 13, 2013, 4:37 pm

          Sounds great! I keep thinking of a wall-mounted table that hinges down to leave a 4″ or so deep shelf when it’s not in use, and is mounted on some kind of sliding track so you can arbitrarily adjust height to whatever you want. I, too, am a sewer. My biggest problem is room to exercise… but with a table that can disappear, that might free up enough space. Everything else seems negotiable.

        • Ann Seeton
          April 13, 2013, 5:02 pm

          That sounds so cool! What sort of costuming? I’m in SCA and so I am always looking for time and location for all my many activities. For instance, I do the Inkle loom while watching TV from the recliner– comfortable and effective. I’m hoping that even before we start full timing in the RV that I’ll be able to use it to go to the bigger events. I don’t mind having to walk all the way to the RV parking to sleep as long as my back is protected so I don’t end up losing all my fun. I’m planning for a small day pavilion in camp and then sleeping in the RV. Meanwhile, I keep on learning because anything of mine in the RV has to be sharing space with kids, dogs and hubby. 🙂

        • Erik Markus
          April 13, 2013, 7:28 pm

          Ann, your project sounds great. It would be great if you had video. I’m sure people would love to see it.

          Are you in the UK or in California, or ?

          An old ambulance? OK, that’s serious. What in the world are you going to do with that? That would be cool because it would give you license to speed and push your way through traffic with the lights and siren on. Did you find anything of interest, under the floor boards?

        • alice h
          April 13, 2013, 10:22 pm

          ANN, always nice to hear from fellow fibre artists or cloth fiends or whatever the heck we’re called now. I just make Halloween costumes and some amateur theatrical stuff. I’m kind of the go-to resource for a group of friends and their kids. My biggest problem is constantly spotting something at the thrift shop that would make a great something else and dragging it off to my lair.
          SUNSHINEANDRAIN – There are pages of scribbly notes and scale drawings, going to work up a scale model soon. I have the basic layout done full size in masking tape on some plastic drop sheets that I put up to get a better idea of how viable things are.
          I’m single by choice but there are grandkids and friends constantly coming and going. At the moment my tiny house spot has a 13′ Boler trailer which is set up for one person. It’s the reason I want as much open floor space as I can get. Spending time in here gives you lots of ideas about use of tiny spaces. Next project is a sort of bicycle camper vardo for a guest bed/playhouse (and something a dog or goat can pull in the fall fair parade), hopefully this summer. The tiny house is still a couple of years of saving away.

        • Ann Seeton
          April 14, 2013, 8:45 am

          Well, there are regulations about sirens and lights. We’ve removed or rewired everything to make it street legal for civilian use. Once it is done being painted (takes forever when the humidity doesn’t cooperate!) I will begin to drive it as a two seat vehicle and consider what I want with the interior.

          The main plan is to turn it into a little mobile office. I’m short, so I can stand up in it. Anyone “normal” height would not be able to, but I just fit.

          I’m also considering it might make a tiny compact camper. No bathroom, but it could have food prep and sleeping areas designed into it. If it had more seats it could be a family vehicle.

          The point is mostly that this was sold as non-running, cheap enough that even if we’d had to find a new engine the body was worth the money.

          ALL it needed was a pump, and the safeties had shut down the engine preventing damage near as we can find. Runs nice. Hubby plans to beef up the heating and I am hoping also the air conditioning.

          This thing was an ambulance first, then the sheriff’s department had it and the paint was changed to greenish with a logo on the side for the department, then it stopped running and was left sitting in the field where it quit and put up for auction. Hubby towed it home and got it running, then started the process of redoing the lights and paint. It will be plain white when done. I’d like to add some sort of decoration, but hubby isn’t keen on ornamentation. The man is even anti-bumper stickers.

          The point is that this ambulance had a environmental cost to build. It was used twice over and probably paid for the cost to build it by its service. Now, with the environmental cost of new paint and a few new parts (and if ‘new’ seats, they will be the ones we pulled out of a wrecked mini-van!), it saves more in environmental costs to reuse this van than to buy a new one AND gives me a reliable and unique ride.

          It is our way of being green.

  • sunshineandrain
    April 13, 2013, 1:17 pm

    I offer three possible closet inclusion ideas:
    1. would maintain the original length of the house, but would mean the loss of two feet of the kitchen storage wall next to the toilet wall.
    2. would add two feet to the original length of the house and would insert a closet between the TV wall and the dining area. This would also allow for a longer couch on the other side of the room.
    3. combine 1. and 2. for two closets.

  • Cahow
    April 13, 2013, 1:49 pm

    Hey, Alex! Nice to hear your voice and I also like the new photo you have of you and your sweetie. 🙂

    I really like the downstairs, in particular the living room nook; Ann’s suggestions would make this place rock! However, what the HECK is up with the silliness of the “sleeping loft”? Just how TINY of a Tiny House person do you need to be to shimmy into that bed, especially since TWO pillows are featured? Sure, if one person at a time approaches the bed from the exact middle, then tucks & rolls onto the side, you can do it but dang!, I see a load of unplanned for head bumping down the road! Can’t Tiny House designers “raise the roof”, literally? Since I rarely (if ever) see ANY of these mobile homes on wheels actually BEING mobile, the clearance for an extra foot or two shouldn’t be a problem. Besides, there’s a bazillion country roads with zero bridges to encounter and most tiny homes are IN the country. At 6’3″, my husband would laugh his arse off, trying to squeeze into that space!

    • Erik Markus
      April 13, 2013, 3:50 pm

      I think the consensus is in on these tight, tiny lofts.
      People see that it’s TOO tiny.

      When I was designing my house, I was going to have (2) 11′ deep tiny lofts, one on each end, 6′ 2″ off the main floor, as shown in the pics above. After thinking about the loft, with a 10″ to 12″ thick mattress in there, my arthritis, and planning for the long term…. I redesigned and so glad I did.

      Of course, I thought, how does one have sex in this space? Now, my sex life is as interesting and boring as the lost, obscure owner’s manual to a VCR(beta), but still, I would like to think that video tape will come back in fashion.

      A bedroom on first floor, with full ceiling height is a waste, too.

      I designed my loft at 4′ off the floor. It is 3, easy to manage, steps up. I can almost stand up at the peak and I’m 6-1. I love the slanted ceilings and the sky lite. I love hearing the rain pitter-patter on the roof. I really like the loft idea because I can put the heater underneath and the heat slowly rises and heats the floor making it toasty and warm.

      The underside can be used for a number of things. I use it for storage. I have a clothes rod on one side for all the hanging clothes, close to the edge, so it is easy to reach. I have a roll out cart for various storage boxes in the middle. Simply pull the 12″ wide, 5′ long cart out from under, and easily access what ever you need. With the cart pulled out one can then access the larger boxes and items at the back.

      I “go into” the storage area on average, once a week, not including accessing the clothing on the edge.

      One could also use this area for a small childs room, storage for a bike(s), exterior accessible storage, if you have a washer or freezer, you could put that on the edge, use it for utilities like solar equipment or water tanks, pet room, mini library, or even rent out as student housing.

      Jay Shafer showed us that the loft is possible, and we love him for his contributions. Going forward, however, Tiny houses need to have this area refined. How he was able to maneuver in that Epu, I wonder. How he was able to get the boards up there, through the small access hole AND nail them on, must have involved a lot of swearing. Let me reassure all the readers that a stint with the circus is NOT a requirement for living in, and building, a Tiny house.

      I built and live in mine. It turned out wonderful, everyone tells me and, even with my overwhelmingly negative self-talk, I have to admit is true. And with my size 13 feet, I’m as clumsy as an ox. When people say dexterity to me, I ask “who is he?”

      • Cahow
        April 13, 2013, 4:12 pm

        Erik: Oh, how you make me laugh! Bwhwhahahahaaaa!!!! I think you are the ONLY person in TinyHouseTalk history that’s mentioned the “sshhhhhh…”S”-Word”. LOL Must be a whole lotta monks livin’ in these tiny houses! Oddly enough, on youtube, an over-whelming percentage of questions/comments concern the physical mechanics of “s”, in particular in lofts and micro-spaces. I get quite a few chuckles over the uncensored talk and learn about some sweet moves, too.

        I just saw this house listing today and it puts me right in mind of what you’re describing about your own bedroom situation. Links don’t work on this site so type in tinyhouselistings / mobile+cottage+caravan. They show two different photos of beds set up above the floor; they are utterly dreamy. Check it out; if I had a itsy-bitsy house, I’d want THAT to sleep in and….well, you know. 😉

        You sound like a fun chap to raise a pint with. 🙂

  • wylee
    April 13, 2013, 2:40 pm

    I like it! But it would be better if the front room and bathroom swapped places.
    I can’t abide a toilet right next to food preparation, door or not. : P

    • Cahow
      April 13, 2013, 3:51 pm

      Try SLEEPING on top of your toilet, wylee! Yesserie Bob, I’ve seen that design for a tiny house! I can’t fathom the odor or germs crawling up into the mattress! :0

      • Erik Markus
        April 13, 2013, 7:08 pm

        Um…
        “I can’t fathom the odor or germs crawling up into the mattress!”

        Yes, you apparently have, and you have GREATLY embellished it.

    • Erik Markus
      April 13, 2013, 4:46 pm

      Again, with this awful software?
      At least this time we’ve changed out the “front” door for something that doesn’t resemble a commercial fire door at the local Holiday Inn.

      Oh, I know what this software looks like, the inside of a Hollywood Video store from the 1990s. Maybe Blockbuster, whatever. Just put up some of that horizontal gray lath stuff that they use the modular hooks in, hang up posters for Home Alone 2 and Something about Mary, and move in the shelves of video tapes.

      Yes, this design lacks, well, pretty much everything.
      2 entrances for a home this small ? really?
      Again, the windows are awful. sliding windows are rarely attractive, and these are too big for this design.
      black granite-radioactive counters, a petroleum/gas heater, those extra wide windows that are a burden to frame in, look weird from any angle, and compromise the structural integrity. Then there is 2 tight lofts, and a living room that, I doubt you would be able to even find a love seat that size for.

      Quick redesign: ditch the big loft(open up ceiling), lower the small loft to 4′ off floor and pull forward(add) at least a foot (gain lots of storage below and an easy to access spacious loft), board up the single exterior door and move the couch there, make the double glass doors a single glass door closest to the loft, add 2′ of length to the counter top toward the door, eliminate the shallow counter in kitchen and move the dinette there, rip out the ugly soap stone sink and smash on a piece of cement (just for the fun of it), replace the ugly granite-radioactive counter with a light colored, light weight laminate(beige pampas pattern), install a workable, double stainless steel sink near the center of the counter (instead of shoved off to the very edge), composting toilet instead of the ugly water contaminater, and put in a shower curtain in place of the heavy glass shower door.

      It’s a work in progress. With a mere total rip apart, redesign, reconstruction, and redecorating… it will easily be something useable and desirable.

      Oh, it’s got a good roof and sky lights… it’s just everything beneath it that needs…. yeah, some work.

      overall score: 5/10

  • LaMar
    April 13, 2013, 4:15 pm

    Nice interior design!

    I would suggest you reconsider so many windows for a few reasons.
    I know people like lots of windows but having too many windows or poorly placed windows with no over hangs can make any house too cold in winter and too hot in summer.

    A window loses a lot of heat and that many windows in a small house would be like having a 3×3 foot open hole cut in a wall and would lose a tremendous amount of heat in cold weather.

    In summer those windows on the roof and any window without an overhang will allow sun penetration turning the house into an oven even with blinds.

    Large windows big enough for a person to crawl through can also be a security issue and makes break-ins easier for thieves.

    I would eliminate the skylights which have a tendency to leak and will cause the most over heating and the door glass would be better as a smaller window at the top half of the door instead of full length.

    Windows in a wall reduce wall space for cabinets and hanging stuff so I would reduce those in size.

    I have seen many designs with lots of windows that look great but were un-liveable in reality because they were hard too heat and cool so just keep that in mind in your designs.

    Other than that I like the floor plan and nice work on the detail!

    LaMar

  • Dixie Hacker Hurley
    April 13, 2013, 5:05 pm

    I have not commented on anything in a while now, because I’ve a lot going on in my life includeing a sister who now has cancer , my mind has really been on an with her. That being said though this does not mean I’m not still looking at the tiny houses. I am , an when I saw ten windows I thought I have to just see this. If they were huge windows the house would be all window! But the place is kind of cute, an the light brought into it through the windows to me would be very welcome. Another gret idea in a tiny house !
    Thanks , Dixie Hacker Hurley!

    • sunshineandrain
      April 13, 2013, 5:31 pm

      I’m sorry to hear about your sister. I don’t know where she is in her fight, but I wish her well and will pray for her.

      On another note, it’s good to hear from you again!

  • jerryd
    April 13, 2013, 5:43 pm

    Again the most regretted features after they have lived with them are loft beds and skylights.

    French Doors sound and look nice but take up more space.

    And still the interruptions in the roof for no good reason just costs more to start with and cause leaks later.

    Things would be lighter, cheaper, less labor if a single plane or curved roof instead of the hard to do ones 2+ sided ones normally shown here.

    KIS

    • Erik Markus
      April 13, 2013, 6:45 pm

      “Again the most regretted features after they have lived with them are loft beds and skylights.”
      How do YOU know?

      “the interruptions in the roof for no good reason just costs more to start with and cause leaks later.”
      The peaks in the roof are to add character and charm, which is a very good HUMAN reason to put them on. It makes the house attractive. A properly installed metal roof will not inevitably leak.

      “Things would be lighter, cheaper, less labor if a single plane or curved roof instead of the hard to do ones 2+ sided ones normally shown here.”

      A flat roof would be very unattractive. That is what 1950s mobile homes were. Very undesirable and just as unrealistic now as they were then. A curved roof would look like a quonset hut, or some of the current camping trailers with curved rooves. Not attractive. Not of traditional design. Not much lighter weight. Would cut into ceiling height on inside. Would certainly cut charm factor. We don’t want our HOMES looking like a measly RV, now would we?
      Installing ribbed metal roofing to a curved roof is impossible. Were you suggesting an eco -Unfriendly rubber roof? That ain’t happening. Rubber roofs are petro chemical based with a limited life.

      • jerryd
        April 13, 2013, 8:17 pm

        So many good posts you make and then this.

        I can bend roofing tin over a curve in either direction so not sure what you are thinking about. Have you tried it? Yes it gets wider a little but otherwise fine. I’d probably do it diagonally if I wanted to on a curve.

        A single plane roof doesn’t have to be flat/vertical as it can, and unless used for seating, have a decent angle one way or another or vary in so many ways. And at 20% of the work, 30% of the weight of a stick built while being several times stronger.

        I don’t see anything wrong with a painted roof either. Do you?

        I like tin and just finished a 12’x12′ with it and many others, but unless only going to move a few miles a few times, tin wouldn’t be my pick.

        Let’s just say I can make any shape I want, I do that for a living, and have no desire to make a stick built peaked roof house of under 300sq’ that is too heavy, too costly, too bad aero when I can have one that takes near nothing to tow, looks fantastic, completely self contained, maybe even float for 20% of the cost of those quaint ones.

        For instance I’m building a 34′ trimaran sailboat for $2k that is many times stronger than a stick built and only 2k lbs and 22′ wide.

        I see little green in such waste of a stick built so excuse me if I don’t take your advice as I fine it not that good in this post. If you want to waste feel free but I can do far better.

        Or are you saying only quaint peak roof tiny homes with dormers are allowed?

        • Erik Markus
          April 13, 2013, 9:23 pm

          House boats can be Tiny homes.

          You didn’t mention in your post where you would specifically use your designs, or your skills for applying them. I come from the stand point of what the average person sees and could do.

          Each person to their own and if you have sheet metal skills, that is a rarity.

          Most people can handle purchasing and installing ribbed metal roofing.
          Bending, welding, shaping, sanding, and painting such is highly skill intensive. If you get the chemistry wrong, or miss a step, you can have a real disaster on your hands. Especially in a humid and salty environment such as on an ocean.

          Your talking more about art. Good for you if you can do that.

          Painted rooves, NO ! Paint is a petro chemical.
          Sheet metal from a factory is painted and baked on. It’s applied in a controlled environment to provide the most uniform look and longest lasting finish. Most individuals can’t replicate that sophistication and experience. And we don’t have to.

          One can compromise in several areas when building a house. The roof is NOT one of those areas. A reliable, sealed roof keeps everything else dry.

          The biggest threat to a home is water leakage. Even a small leak can bring about rot, decay, infestations, foul odors, mold growth, and eventually structural failure. All this from a minor leak.
          Don’t compromise on the roof. Flat rooves are basically for those that like to roll the dice with mother nature. Mother nature is far superior to we idiot smug humans.

          Look at the buildings that have stood centuries. Most all have slanted rooves. I’ve seen brand new buildings, put up with a flat roof, and leaking. Hello, common sense calling.

          Most people don’t want to get dragged into iffy propositions. A slanted roof provides some assurances that most liquids will flow off the structure, not into it.

          Good luck with your project, though. I’m sure we would all like to see pictures.

        • jerryd
          April 14, 2013, 11:35 am

          You know what assuming causes don’t you Erik?

          Paint is rarely made with oil anymore and if you want to be afraid of everything be my guest but don’t tell me, others what to use especially when you don’t know much about it.

          It takes NO skill to bend roofing tin over a curved roof. Why would you say it does? A curved roof isn’t a Quonset hut, why would you say that?

          Instead it’s more like the Vadro?/Gypsy wagon style.

          Your points are too long and just not accurate on skill levels, flat roofs, painting, etc.

          Please don’t try to put your phobias onto others and be so sure your way is the only way as it’s not by a long shot.

          And my any shape I want is rather easy in most cases, far easier, lower skill than stick built and less labor.

          But you assume way too much. Maybe you should ask instead of making such statements.

        • Erik Markus
          April 14, 2013, 4:05 pm

          Jerry, I do speak from experience.

          In fact, I have a video on my You-tube site (linked) showing the sheet metal undercarriage of my home being constructed.

          I have constructed or installed other sheet metal projects such as chimney caps, roof vents, drip pans, and metal heat ducts. I know that it takes special tools to get professional looking and form fitting pieces. I have ordered these special pieces from sheet metal shops and was able to witness the large folding machines and specialized tools used by metal fabricators.

          Most people don’t need to worry about implementing these machines in order to build a tiny house.

          You apparently have special skills in this area. That’s great!

          Do you have pictures of videos of your current project? We’d all love to see them.

        • jerryd
          April 14, 2013, 4:45 pm

          Erik,
          My bent tin design calls for the builder to order the tin in the color or galvanized the correct length, put in on the roof with each other and screw down. It’s just not hard.

          And I use mostly commercial building steel siding for my roofs. I call them up and later go pick up the sheets made, cut to length.

          It’s in fact the ridges, dormers, skylights, etc in roofs that make the work hard. No?

          So just leave those out and it’s far easier, cheaper and lighter. I do not disagree at all on water tightness but many ways to skin that cat and metal roofing while excellent, isn’t the only way.

          I have also with little experience and only a pair of tin snips and some 2×4’s for a bending brake done everything you mentioned. Again for many it’s not hard.

          But why do that when you can just put all the vents, stove pipes, etc on the side walls.

          Also you get a lot more room with a shed roof, apparently a Skillion that Cahow made me look up in the second story Vs a V roof.

          But any type of roof that doesn’t hold water in many places works just fine and a great place to sit up in the summer breeze above the mosquitos or admire the scenery, etc better.

          My 12’x12′ shed isn’t that special and already has a tenet and she hasn’t gotten rid of everything yet so interiors are out for now. But just a stick built Shed with a foam insulated ply/tin roof .

    • Cahow
      April 14, 2013, 3:46 pm

      Hey, jerryd. I’m with you on the “why” 99% of tiny homes need a peaked roof. Yes, they are cute and emblamatic of an American Icon of Yore, but if a person takes the time to tour old neighborhoods from the 20’s on up (with stick built homes), you’ll see that an over-whelming majority of them have modified the original peak. Either dormers or gables are the most favoured with an occasional actual ‘roof raising’ on a portion of the peaked roof, creating a full story on the half that’s been enlarged. Since many early stick-built home owners could only afford taxes on “one story”, having a peaked roof allowed for an “almost” story without additional taxes on a working second floor. But, the “almost story” really only had usable sq.footage along the ridge-piece, with a ton of wasted space along the wall. Most old homes just added a knee wall, outfitted them with cabinet doors and stored their Christmas ornaments inside. I know first hand; this was the roof design on my Grandparent’s farm house and my bed was positioned dead center of the ridge, so I could crawl in and out from either side of the knee wall.

      My specialty in design is add-ons to homes; they’re a bit like their own tiny house. In urban areas with very tight footprints (25’x125′ lots), if you put on an addition, you’ve got to make sure it works for you! Most of these homes only have windows with a view from the front/back; usually if there’s any side windows, they are inches or a foot from the next home. Many of the historical row-houses ONLY have a two exposure view: E/W or N/S, with shared common walls.

      I got tired of the severe leaking problem with ANY and ALL skylights so I began designing one story add-ons with either a Skillion Roof with loads of clerestory windows bringing in the light, or the much forgotten Sawtooth Roof, which is a brilliant design for artists to have! (It’s actually making quite a resurgence with new materials.) Plus, if you use a Sawtooth, the South-facing incline can have solar panels installed on it: Win/Win for everyone! This design works exceptionally well on long, thin buildings and are easy to add another “tooth” to the length of a home. Both of these roof designs work exceptionally well for one story dwellings, which is the only kind of T.H. I could live in with my bad knees. IF I were to design a T.H. with a working staircase for guests or storage, I’d use a Gambrel Roof, which allows for loads more headroom yet is still “country” enough to please any tiny houser. Even better would be a wee Gambrel Roof with two Gambrel dormers; the cute factor would be through the….roof! (Sorry!, I had to put that pun in there. Groan away!) LOL

      • jerryd
        April 15, 2013, 9:32 am

        Cahow you keep making me look up words!! Skillion? We call that a shed roof and exactly what I like either sideways of lengthwise.

        Though if doing a moving TH it’d be a long gentle flowing curve both roof and sides for much better gas mileage. I’ll likely make these shells available in FG next yr for others to fit out as they want. Though could easily be done in other smooth materials.

        I’ve lived in several attics done as you said and loved until the summer in Fla.

        Looking on google TH image and saw a nice Gambrel roof attic design that was so much more useful than higher angle peaked roofs.

        My only problem with the Sawtooth is they tend to leak. Otherwise they solve a lot of heat, light problems when done well.

        • Cahow
          April 15, 2013, 10:23 am

          jerryd wrote: “Cahow, you keep making me look up words!!”
          ~snicker~ Well, jerryd, consider me your “Word of the Day Chick”, okay? 😉
          It’s welcoming to read a fellow contractor’s comments; I appreciate your experience.
          I use the technical term “skillion” because when you’re trying to sell an $80,000 addition attached to a $2 Million dollar home, using the word “SHED” as applied to a roof design shuts the conversation down! Kinda like the difference between using the term “soil” to describe what you dig into, rather than the more pejorative term “dirt”. It’s all symantics, baby!

          I look forward to reading more of your posts and thoughts on tiny homes. 🙂

        • alice h
          April 15, 2013, 11:49 am

          I also thank you for the new word. It will come in handy with some snooty relatives that drive me nuts about building my “shed”. Meanwhile my friends and I can happily go on about the shed roof on my shack. Nice one! Since my house will be on wheels to satisfy trailer zoning requirements and will be situated where there won’t be any long views to appreciate its shape I can concentrate on the function of having the tall wall face the view. I like the aesthetic of the peaked roof but the skillion (got to get used to that new word) is easier to build and eliminates the need for dormers. Not sure what half a gambrel roof would be called but that might be an interesting thing too.

        • Cahow
          April 15, 2013, 6:18 pm

          Alice: your answer is a hoot! Yes, we of the “shed roof on shacks” need to ‘dress it up’ when talking to the Uninformed, whether they be relatives or not. There’s a famous phrase in design, “God is in the Details.” When you earn your living by manual labor and any knuckle-dragging Tom, Dick or Mary can compete with you, then terms such as “Skillion, Shrub and Soil” trump “Shed, Bush, and Dirt.” LOL So glad that you can add another term to your tiny home lexicon! 🙂

        • jerryd
          April 15, 2013, 7:28 pm

          Cahow I know what you mean with richer people you have to have sizzle. I call it an angled roof to others for the same reason but will have to start using skillion when the swells come around.

          Another reason I like them is my designs come as expandable like putting 2 of them towards each other and putting a roof/floor over the difference so one can start small and increase as kids or work needs arise.

          For most of my yrs I’ve been a boat designer, builder and I have some tricks developed for building boat hull fast like making by scarfing plywood together into 2 6’x32′ sheets, cut the distance from the gunnel/top edge to the keel in an exaggerated profile and sew the curve together with copper wire. Then by bending out the top/gunnel to a wide V, set that bottom angle with wood and epoxy, then bend the top back together with Spanish windlasses and it forms a beautiful round bilged boat hull in only 10 hrs of work. google tortured plywood.

          I’m thinking about doing a TH with that upside down as the roof . Playing with the various profiles, etc you can get some very interesting shapes that need no framework as completely self supporting and waterproof.

          I’ll be doing my first real trailer soon built with curved ply monocoque/one piece construction again without any framing vastly cutting labor, materials, weight. A lot because I want a lightweight aero trailer I can tow behind low powered cars.

          Meanwhile you can have my share of the snow, which I like but comes with cold, dirty slush and ice and lasts way too long. I’ll just come to visit it, then come back where it’s warm. Got the A/C one right now in fact, 7;30pm.

        • Cahow
          April 15, 2013, 8:03 pm

          jerryd wrote: “…when the swells come around.” GREAT visual image!!!! I can just see Groucho Marx and Margaret Dumont in tails and gown, peering through pince-nez glasses at a Tiny Home design, with a Skillion (NOT shed!) roof! ROFLMFAO!!! Too funny!

          Also, I now have a complete visual of YOU, jerryd: I’m calling you “Agent Gibbs”, after that hunka-hunka ‘boat-building’ guy on NCIS!

          If I follow your imagery of a Tiny House roof, would it be like an upside down hull? I ask because my childhood Lutheran church had that identical roof, fashioned to look like “The Arc”. As a wee girl, though, I always wondered “What would happen to all the animals if the Arc was upside down?” Kids! BTW, I think a boat hull roof kicks arse!

        • jerryd
          April 15, 2013, 8:57 pm

          Thought you might like and get swells.

          Not sure which one Gibbs is as I don’t watch dramas as too dramatic ;^P Life is too short, far better watch a comedy. I’m about as far as one can get from a cop though, even a boatbuilding one. For looks I’m more of a Kenny Rogers type back when he was 60 with a pony tail, sadly gray now.

          I love some of the wood soaring style churches and so many really are made just like a boat, just never turned upright and supported by frame extensions usually at least here in Fla with glass lower walls.

          The beautiful laminated wood beams in lovely curves, up then inward and then upward again. Then planked with another varnished wood can inspire.

          While nearly any round bilged boat shape can be done this way.

          My first choice would be a traditional lobsterboat upside down with the keel level above and the bow point the trailer hitch with the gentle curves that make it slip through the water so easily do the same though the air.

          Fill in the underside walls to floor level with the transom/rear with the door, window, A/C, etc. Other windows where needed and doesn’t screw up the aero.

          Done epoxied into a single piece/ braced box beam/tube it’s hard to beat for strength, low weight thus low cost and little power needed to tow it. A small car can tow it.

          To me that is performance, eff and beauty when done right. Afterall they say a house is just a boat so badly built it won’t float. ;^P

  • April 13, 2013, 5:51 pm

    This looks like a pretty good design, and it would be nice to see a built version. As far as closet space, I’d replace those storage cabinets opposite the kitchen counter with a wall of closets. About a third would be a pantry and the rest for clothes storage. I would also eliminate the “front” door and move the heater to the end of the kitchen counter, freeing up that whole wall for furniture placement.
    – Mili

  • Jerry
    April 14, 2013, 11:44 pm

    I’m surprised at some of the comments here. These discussions are supposed to help all of us by giving us something to think about. Rather than tear each other’s ideas apart, and attacking individuals who we don’t actually know in person, perhaps it would be better to make simple suggestions, and then let each other decide on our own. There is no single right way to build a house, otherwise we would all live in the exact same box. Individuality is to be embraced, not attacked when trying to work together to make the tiny house movement better for everyone!

    BTW- The reason so many houses are designed with peak roofs is due to snow. If you don’t live where there is substantial snowfall, you don’t need to worry about it. If you do live in a snowy environment, a peaked roof is pretty much required, unless you like waking up in the middle of the night with your roof and all the snow it held on top of you in your bed!

    • jerryd
      April 15, 2013, 9:17 am

      I couldn’t agree more and what my posts are about, more ways to do TH’s. I think you should build or have built just what you want.

      Snow? Really? Yes some areas have big snow but TH’s are small especially the 8′ wide ones can hardly hold much that a small angle non peaked roof wouldn’t handle. Yet I mostly see these hard to do, costly, too high, non aero, space cutting peaked roofs in Cal, Fla, etc.

      If you want it go for it but there are so many great looking non peaked roofs out there! google ‘Tiny house’ and click image to see the great beautiful variety there is.

    • Cahow
      April 15, 2013, 6:32 pm

      Hi, Jerry. Nice to hear another voice on Tiny Homes. Yes! to Civil Discourse and NOT Civil Disobedience regarding differing options of Tiny Homes! And….my prayers to ALL the people of Boston on this sad, sad day. 🙁

      Regarding Peak Roofs, Jerry: With GREAT intention I’ve lived in The Snow Belt. Actually, when it came time to picking out a retirement cottage (although we’re hardly retired) I looked at areas of Wisconsin and Buffalo, New York before I settled on S.W. Michigan…simply because of the assurance of S.N.O.W.!!!!! I’ve lived under Peaked roofs, Skillion roofs, Gambrel roofs, Salt Box roofs and Flat Roofs in very high snow count areas and NONE have leaked or caused a problem! Speaking of Salt Box roofs…WHY aren’t those darling roof profiles used in a Tiny Home? They are so evocative of the East Coast (where there’s loads of snow!) and that roof profile would also allow far more wiggle room in a loft.

      Here’s to diversity, in whatever footprint or material you choose to express yourself and your dreams! <3

      • Jerry
        April 15, 2013, 7:25 pm

        Yeah, I can see how the tiny footprint of a tiny house’s roof may not be a worry for the weight of snow. However, I still like the look. As for aerodynamics, I’m playing with a front end hip roof design that then becomes a raided loft peaked roof, and then normal cathedral peaked roof over the main room. Thing is I’m not sure how often I’ll be moving, so aerodynamics are not as big of an issue for me as it might be for others. This picture doesn’t show the windows I’ll have, but it shows the basic idea:
        [URL=http://s1232.photobucket.com/user/JerryScript/media/Tiny%20House/16TrailerTinyHouseFrontHip_zpsfbab8d98.png.html]http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff362/JerryScript/Tiny/House/16TrailerTinyHouseFrontHip_zpsfbab8d98.png

        • jerryd
          April 15, 2013, 8:17 pm

          I like it.

          Could use some more closet space. Maybe put shelves/ 2′ wide storage loft over the couch starting just above the window.

          I might put in a recliner in place of part of the couch or make the couch recline as I like comfort and you’ll be spending a lot of time there so make it soft and the right angles on built-in furniture. You’d be amazed how uncomfortable an inch in the wrong place or not there can be after a fairly short time.

          Can some tell Tina English in the facebook above to read this as I and likely my mother ‘caught Fibromialgia’ from Lipitor/Statins. It might be the cause of hers as it was with me and I think maybe a lot of people. It causes terrible muscle pain so bad you can’t get out of bed.

          I stopped Lipitor and in 2 weeks it went away completely. It messes with colestreol? but that makes up most of our cell membranes and our brain, nerves. They have been hiding the extent of this for quite a while now and I think it’s a major cause of Fibromyalgia.

  • May 16, 2013, 12:58 pm
  • David
    April 23, 2019, 5:02 am

    Any designs that have incorporated Sun Tunnels like these? https://www.theskylightcompany.co.uk/acatalog/sun-tube-rooflights.html

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