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Serving God and Stickin’ it to the Man with a Tiny House


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Meet Steve and Wendy, who are designing and building their own tiny house to live in permanently.

About a year ago they began to adjust their lives so that they could achieve some of the things that they have always wanted to do in life.

This Tiny House Means this Family’s Dreams

After years of raising a family and the accumulation of all of the materials associated with American life, they realized that they wanted to take another path.

Their stuff was getting in the way of things that mattered more to them in life, like God, family, friends and extra money.

They will have significantly smaller utility bills and a lot less stuff weighing them down. So let’s take a look at their progress so far! It’s important for me to note that they’re not finished yet.

Trailer Harvested from an RV for their NEW Tiny House

Here is what they started out with… and old trailer that’s going to serve as the trailer for their tiny house on wheels.

Steve and Wendy's Tiny House - Trailer
Photos Courtesy of Steve and Wendy

I bet it was lots of work but they were able to get themselves a recycled trailer from all of the labor. Here it is…

Trailer for Tiny House

Floor joists and frame for tiny house on a trailer

After some work on the metal they got the floor framed with 2 x 6 treated wood. The dimensions are now 10′ x 25′ for the foundation. A full 2′ wider than most so I think it’s going to be roomy for a little house.

Floor framing for Tiny House - Steve and Wendy

Below is a shot of Steve hard at work on his new home…

Steve installing deck on floor joists

After the joists are covered with treated plywood it’s time to start the wall framing.

Wall Framing

Wall framing on Steve and Wendys Tiny House

Sheathing

Sheathing installed on Steves tiny house thanks to his friends, he had flu

House wrap

House wrap on Steve and Wendys Tiny House

 Framing the Roof

Roof framing and trusses on Steve and Wendys Tiny House

Windows

Windows on Steve and Wendys Tiny House

Air conditioning

Air conditioning on Steve and Wendys Tiny House

I like this option much better than a window unit. This is the condenser for their mini split air conditioning.

They plan to have an enclosed tank-less water heater installed to the right of the electrical panel soon.

Air conditioning in Steve and Wendys Tiny House

Siding

Siding on Steve and Wendys Tiny House

Bedroom in Tiny House with Desk

One of my favorite parts about this house is the little bedroom because it’s small but still has enough room for a desk, bed and storage.

Bedroom with desk, bed and storage in a tiny house

The trim around the windows and doors are natural pine and the flooring is bamboo. Looks great so far, doesn’t it?

Reminder: They’re not even finished yet! This house is still in progress.

Bedroom in a tiny house

Propane Heater

Propane Heater for Tiny House

Multifunctional Interior Space

Table and Shelves in Multifunctional Tiny House

Folding table saves space when it’s not in use. Soon they’ll have a couple of folding chairs stored to the left of it. What looks like shelving on the right is actually the ladder storage to get into the sleeping loft upstairs.

Multifunctional interior space in tiny house

In the future they will be hanging a computer monitor above the folding table which I think is great because you can use it to watch movies from the couch too.

Small Kitchen

Their kitchen is not even done yet and it already looking amazing. I’m really impressed with the work that Steve and Wendy have done here. This looks like one of the most useful tiny house kitchens yet.

Kitchen in a Tiny House

There are plans for a two burner stove top on the counter top next to the refrigerator. They’re also going to add a beautiful 1080p television above the cabinet on the right.

That cabinet is a custom made piece that Steve built using extra bamboo flooring. It was Wendy’s idea and it turned out awesome.

Living Room

Living room in a tiny house

Isn’t this the most gorgeous tiny house that’s still in progress? I love it. Steve and Wendy are doing an amazing job of showing what’s possible with small spaces.

Sleeping Loft

Sleeping Loft in a Tiny House

The ladder I showed you earlier that was stored on the wall hooks on to the steel bar you see there.

Tiny Bathroom

The bathroom is still not finished yet but these three pictures will give you a pretty good perspective of what it’s going to turn out like.

Bathroom in a Tiny House

They got creative and used an Ikea dresser to hold the sink that they purchased from Target for a bargain.

Bathroom in a Tiny House

Then they did something pretty unique inside the shower…

Bathroom in a Tiny House

It All Started with this Tiny House Floor Plan

Tiny House Floor Plan

Video Version

Video Tour

Conclusion

They still have plenty of finishing touches to complete throughout the house. Here’s what they’re currently still working on finishing:

  • Outside deck area
  • Roofing
  • Finishing exterior siding
  • Finishing bathroom

Besides that, there are various other details that are on the list to be finished. Be sure to stop by the Serving God And Stickin’ It To The Man Facebook Page and give them a Like so you can follow the rest of their progress.

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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!
{ 48 comments… add one }
  • Donna F.
    September 16, 2011, 6:06 pm

    Hey Alex,
    Thanks for publishing this and introducing us to these people. Love what they are doing, and the fact that they are in TEXAS! 🙂

  • Cherie
    September 16, 2011, 6:41 pm

    Love Steve and Wendy’s tiny house! This is so inspiring! Most people we see building tiny houses are young people w/o children yet and these people have already been that route! Encouraging for us “older”, no make that “more mature” folks! Thanks for sharing this!

  • william
    September 16, 2011, 7:40 pm

    GREAT JOB LOOKS OUT STANDING KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK ALONG WITH NEW PROGRESS

  • September 17, 2011, 12:49 am

    Thanks Donna! =)

  • SandyP
    September 20, 2011, 6:32 pm

    Way more comfortable, cute and homey than a regular trailer, beautiful interior work. But where’s the ‘stickin’ it to the man’ part? Much heavier & less aerodynamic than an ordinary trailer so the petrol cost to move it will be horrendous. Propane, air conditioning, TV … still tied to the grid.

    • Donna F.
      December 6, 2011, 3:53 pm

      He says they will most likely leave it on the site it is now. I suppose the “sticking” it part is that they don’t have to pay property taxes on it since it is on wheels, AND it takes WAY less to heat and cool, even though it is still tied to the grid. That’s my thought, anyway.

      • December 7, 2011, 6:13 am

        Great points, Donna, thanks, glad you brought them up!

    • Cahow
      April 23, 2013, 9:53 am

      I know this is an old, old topic but I needed to add my thoughts.

      “Stickin’ it to the Man”? Really? With custom cabinets, bamboo flooring and “… a beautiful 1080p television above the cabinet on the right.” Guess what!? “The Man” (whoever the article is referring to) is going to make a boatload of profits from outfitting this place; I see they have NO problem shopping from giant “man” coroporations such as IKEA and Target.

      ~yawn~ I’m so beyond tired of chest-beating anti-society folks that ‘hate’ mankind/the grid, yet they sure do love their cell phones/internet/and big screen tvs. Which is it gonna be, peeps: you can’t diss The Man and still buy what he’s selling!

      • Cahow
        April 23, 2013, 11:07 am

        Addendum: I couldn’t understand why the title of this article bothered me so greatly, so I had my husband read it and weigh in on the concept. As he added, “Serving God and Stickin’ It To the Man” seem like the very opposite of each other; to quote Wikipeida, ” The phrase “stick it to the Man” encourages resistance to authority, and essentially means “fight back” or “resist”, either openly or via sabotage.” And to “Serve God”, isn’t the very tenet of Christianity “The Golden Rule”–“One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself.”?

        In light of the recent bombings and tragedy in Boston, where 1) Religion & 2) “sticking it to the man” = “lesser jihad”, or the use of violence to struggle against oppression against a religion, is it no wonder that the greater public holds a dim view of Tiny Housers and equates it with Unibombers?

        One would think that serving God would include love for “The Man.”

        • Cynthia
          May 16, 2013, 2:22 am

          “The Man” is a euphemism for government, right? I like the title of this. Serving God implies simplicity, and freeing oneself from governmental restrictions in order to be able to serve others. It has nothing at all to do with love for others. We pay FAR too much money in taxes, bills, etc. and make way too little to be encumbered in our declining years. I admire this couple for taking their futures into their own hands….not waiting around for “the MAN” / government / others to provide for their upkeep in a house that is too large for their stuff. They have done what many of us dream of doing. LOVE the way they found a trailer!

  • September 20, 2011, 10:16 pm

    Great job but why use Pressure treated wood? All the chemicals used in the process are carcinogenic.

    • Cynthia
      May 16, 2013, 2:27 am

      There are 3 kinds of pressure-treated lumber, indicated by color and lettering. They probably should use PT lumber for their floor joists and subflooring since the trailer does not appear to be over 18 inches (or not much over 18 inches) off the ground. Termites will eat their home to pieces if PT lumber is not used for the base. If they had used the highest concentration of PT lumber, the color would be green. They did not, so they do not have a great deal of PT chemicals in the lumber…certainly not the max. Better than having to spray deadly chemicals to treat the termites!

  • Mary Janke
    September 21, 2011, 12:45 am

    fantastic, i want to build a tiny house too, and this one fills the bill, not too skinny 🙂

  • September 21, 2011, 4:05 pm

    Thanks for pointing that out Patrick. Maybe some people don’t know about it.

  • September 21, 2011, 4:06 pm

    That little bit of extra space sure makes a difference. Thanks Mary!

  • September 21, 2011, 4:10 pm

    Hey Sandy! I think they’re “stickin’ it to the man” in a sense that they didn’t have to pay for any permits or property tax since it’s on a trailer. It’s like an RV. I believe they’re staying put though, too so I don’t think they’ll be moving it often. Thanks for coming by and leaving your thoughts!

    • Donna F.
      December 8, 2011, 12:41 am

      Haha! I didn’t realize you had answered her already! LOL Sorry for the duplication on my part. 🙂

      • December 8, 2011, 8:59 am

        No biggie I’m still glad you did! Thanks, Donna!

  • Lisa
    September 23, 2011, 3:45 pm

    Very Impressive

  • September 23, 2011, 3:48 pm

    Thanks Lisa!

  • Karen
    September 24, 2011, 8:15 pm

    Love the concept, but I live in Alaska. Any efficient COLD weather designs out there?

  • September 27, 2011, 2:03 pm

    Good question Karen. Actually- I know someone who is building one with plans to go to Alaska. Email me at tinyhousetalk -at- gmail dot com and I can give you his contact info.

  • Bill
    September 27, 2011, 9:53 pm

    I built my house while planning to travel to Alaska. I haven’t made it there yet, so the design hasn’t been tested. However, it is a lot better than a regular trailer would be.

    Basically, my trailer was built with 2×4 construction. This left 3.5″ of space in the walls, floor, and ceiling. This was filled with the styrofoam sheets. Since they did not have 3.5″ thickness, I used 2″ and 1.5″ sheets in the spaces. The house was wrapped over 1/2″ plywood, and then T-11 siding was applied and painted. The roof has tarpaper on 1/2″ plywood, with Ondura sheets on top of that. The windows are double paned glass, with low ev rating.

    The styrofoam insulation should be about R13-15 rating. The heat source is a propane heater which is directly vented to the outside. The heater is rated at 8,000 BTU. The house is 128 sq ft in size.

    Here is the link to the video tour of the house
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqwSBajCGuw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

  • September 27, 2011, 9:59 pm

    Thank you, Bill! Exactly what we needed.

  • Bill
    October 27, 2011, 2:41 pm

    Glad to help out. If you have anymore questions about building a tiny house on wheels, let me know. I would like to help more people build their own house, or offer advice as needed.

  • October 27, 2011, 8:24 pm

    So glad you stopped by. If you have any updated pictures of the house send them over and I’ll publish an update for you. Email me if you need to at [email protected]!

  • jim sadler
    October 30, 2011, 5:13 pm

    One hint to avoid regulations extends from some other tactics that I researched. If your zoning allows it dig a pond. Float your tiny house on the pond. Water police have no reign over lakes entirely contained on private property and housing police can do very little about boats. Your pond might be very, very shallow. But a pond is a pond.Your “pontoons” might actually touch the bottom or rest upon the bottom. You could even build a good raft and put a tiny, mobile, camper, home on the raft. It confuses the regulators to a degree that they have no laws to assign to you.

    • December 6, 2011, 1:48 pm

      Never thought of that one, Jim, thanks so much – glad that you shared!

    • Doc
      May 21, 2014, 8:53 pm

      If you think housing regulations are tough they pale in comparison to digging a puddle! Here in Michigan you must pull a permit from the DEQ to create a pond, a permit from the state to move sand within 500ft of a body of water as well as a permit from the township for the pond. Not to be discouraging, just want to let you know you don’t avoid “the man” this way. 🙂 haven’t done the math but I bet its still cheaper if you go ahead and dig the pond. 🙂

      • jim sadler
        May 21, 2014, 9:11 pm

        I can believe that Michigan has laws like that. Every place is different. In my county in Florida we are required to dig a drainage pond for just about any type of property to deal with our monsoon like rains. Outside the city limits a horse pond would never be denied a permit unless it was deep enough to effect the aquifer. Floating a “boat” in the horse pond sort of bypasses every rule or law i have ever heard of here.

        • Doc
          May 22, 2014, 12:23 am

          This still sounds like a cool idea, inspite of the red tape to get there. Should be much easier than parking in a back yard! Though here in Michigan, winter on a pond could be a bugger!

  • Tanesha Liang
    December 4, 2011, 10:27 pm

    Eloquently written and much needed public response. We can never “understand” to the point of rationalizing God’s Word. Thank you brother Steve for standing soundly upon God’s Word and His blessed covenant of marriage. I am praying for Pat Robinson and those who respect his advice.

    • December 6, 2011, 1:58 pm

      Thanks, Tanesha

    • Stephanie
      April 22, 2015, 2:13 pm

      Thank you for your kind words Tanesha! A good tree produces good fruit 😉

  • April 4, 2013, 9:11 am

    (Excuse my bad English, but Iám from Germany)

    Hi, nice thread, could someone explain what “2 x 6 treated wood” in German mean? Is it inch? 5 x 15 (german) cm (centimeter)?

    Thx in forward!
    Borni

    • Cahow
      April 23, 2013, 11:19 am

      Hi, borni. When the boards are cut from the tree, they are actually 2″x6″, shrinkage brings them to an actual size of 1-1/2″ x 5-1/2″. Yes, we’re still stuck with inches in America. LOL Common lumber sizes are 2″x4″; 4″x4″, 4″x6″ and my favourite, 8″x8″, which we use in timber wall construction. Hope this helps; I have no interest in converting the sizes into centimeters. 😉

    • Cahow
      April 23, 2013, 11:22 am

      Borni: I found this site for you. Links aren’t allowed on this site without review so I broke up the link so it would post. Just remove the spaces.

      http:// www. engineeringtoolbox.com/softwood-lumber-dimensions-d_1452.html

      • borni
        April 24, 2013, 2:58 am

        @cahow: thank you for the answer and the link. I´m going to “study” it 🙂

  • astrene edwards
    August 23, 2013, 12:24 pm

    Have a big family with very little money would love to save a lot of money any suggestions.

    • jim sadler
      May 21, 2014, 11:18 pm

      Your situation and even your ethnic group determine the best ways to save money. Some ethnic groups tend to be able to live with large families that cooperate well with other families. I see many Latino folks that seem to be very good at ride sharing and helping each other in many ways for example. The next consideration is where you need to live. For example if your family can qualify for economic benefits you need to establish your residence in the place that will help you the most. Many basics also apply. For example living very close to work can save you a fortune in transportation expenses and it also means less wasted time driving back and forth to work. That time can be used to support your family in other ways. Also you need to examine carefully whether you should have a job at all or whether you can make a better living without a job. Some people do fairly simple things such as selling on E-Bay and learn to make a living doing that.
      There is no one answer to fit all people. I do have a handy tip that I saw on youtube for free roofing material. The fellow saws the end off of 55 gallon barrels with a Sawzall and then cuts the drum and flattens the metal. He uses his car to get the barrel metal flat after getting it a bit flat by hand. This stuff can make a very strong and long lasting roof for a tiny home and it can be had for free.

  • Sammie
    January 26, 2014, 1:20 pm

    Good grief Cahow! Don’t you think maybe you over analyzed these people’s home just by the title of the article? Let them serve God the way they think they should not the way you think the dictionary should apply to their choice of words. You make it sound like they are in a cult and passing around poison Koolaid. Chill out man! Lol!

  • Troy
    March 4, 2014, 1:07 am

    I’m looking at getting a trailer by repurposing an RV. Looking at about 28feet. My concern it if the axles on an old trailer are string enough to support the house. Did you do anything to the axles or frame before building? Have you pulled it anywhere? I don’t plan on pulling except to its place that I will live. It will only move if I go live some where else. Any advise is appreciated.

  • Lisa E.
    May 21, 2014, 2:38 pm

    This looks very well thought out. I especially appreciate the technical inclusions; the things that make life so much easier in a TH, like hot water on demand, built in a/c condenser, the propane heater with mini fire display (cozy), the folding table and chairs; multi-purpose space. This TH has much to offer and it isn’t even finished, yet!

  • Regan
    May 21, 2014, 6:03 pm

    OMG!!!! This is so great! my wife and i are starting exactly the same way! This has given me so much inspiration to get ours done! Thank you for this post! Do we know how much they paid to get thus far?

  • Stephanie
    April 22, 2015, 2:17 pm

    Ok tiny question, a lot of hubbla is talked about when it comes times buying a trailer that can take on the weight of a tiny house on wheels. Buy one like this, buy one like that, it will be your largest investment, do it big on this one thing but this is the second I’ve seen this done to an old used rv trailer. Can it take the weight if its moved? Ive seen it done 1/2.

  • Gius
    May 25, 2015, 2:23 am

    Does anyone have any idea how mobile this would be? I bet it’d be difficult to move around, so they probably don’t plan to much if at all, but i was thinking of building with the same dimensions. I was going to use SIPS. Is it even doable? I don’t plan on driving around all over the place, but i might want to move it a few times. Maybe like twice a year tops.

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