These plans include a detailed 30 page ebook full of step-by-step directions plus the modifiable Sketchup models of both the finished A Frame and the framing model to help guide your construction.1
Many of you know the story of this guy already. And how he built his own debt-free tiny solar cabin in only two weeks for only $2k in cash. It’s certainly in inspiring story.
It was after a divorce and sudden illness that he found himself homeless. But he had inherited a small piece of land from a family member’s old homestead.
So eventually he set up camp on the lot with an older camper and his truck. Then, while working part-time, he started clearing the land, saving up the cash, and designing his 14′ by 14′ cabin of almost 400 sq. ft. including the loft space.
How This Man Built a Tiny Solar Cabin for $2k in 2 Weeks
This 185 sq. ft. off-grid solar tiny house design was submitted as part of LaMar’s off grid tiny house design contest where you can win up to $500 if you submit a design before 6/30/14.
Jonathan Marcoux’s squared eco house is 12’3″ x 12’3″. It has a water harvesting system, solar heating, solar panels, aquaponics farming system, and more.
Construction will be primarily 2″x4″. Heating will be provided mainly by firewood but a propane system can be integrated as a back up. Water heating in the summer is taken care of by a solar roof water heater. In the winter the wood stove can be used to heat water. And a propane instant hot water heater can also be installed.
In this video based post you’re going to learn how to design tiny houses in SketchUp with LaMar Alexander of Simple Solar Homesteading.
So hopefully if you’re here you’ve already downloaded SketchUp and you’re ready to follow along. If not, you can do so right now. Then come back here to watch the video so you can watch, learn, pause and rewind when you have to, and most importantly do.
It’s important when you watch instructional videos like this to take the time to pause the video for a few minutes so you can practice and play around with the tasks you just learned. Otherwise, you’ll completely forget!
So don’t expect to go through the entire video all at once. For best results, bookmark this page. Take your time with each lesson inside. Mark off where you left off and come back to it later in between practice.
Designing Tiny Houses in SketchUp Lessons 1-5 (FREE)
I encourage you to enjoy, follow along and learn using the full 1-hour long video lesson with LaMar for FREE below:
But this 12′ x 16′ tiny house is designed to be built using 2×6 construction to add extra insulation because the home will be heated with solar power.
There will be a ‘soda can’ type solar heater as well as using natural window solar heating by design. It is also set up to receive wind power and collect rainwater.
A propane tank can be used just in case solar water heated water is not available and it can also be used for cooking if needed.