When I was looking around for videos I noticed that for some reason, videos of hide away beds includes techno music, but none the less, these are pretty neat!

1

2

3

4

5

So as I tell my family all about my plans for a Tiny House, my mother always asks “where am I going to stay when I visit”.  I didn’t really have any idea, perhaps a cot?  It got me thinking to how to handle guests in a Tiny House.  I love having people visit and spending time with family and friends, so this is something that I need to figure out.  Then I saw this and thought that it just might work.

What some people don’t realize is that in many Tiny Houses on trailers, if you have a open “great room” floor to ceiling height is actually 11.5 feet!  Now if you were to integrate a way to hook up the net on the sides you could instantly double your sleeping space!  When you don’t have guests etc then you can just pull it aside, perhaps into a cabinet so when pushed to one end, the door closes and hides the whole thing.

How do you plan to handle company?

This is some amazing stuff, I am just blow away at the design of this furniture.

I have had several readers email me and other ask me about SIPs as of late:  What are they?  Why use them?  etc.  For one reason or another there seems to be some confusion, for some folks at least, so I figured I would talk about them today.

SIPs stands for Structurally Insulated Panels.  If we break down this name we have a structural panel, so a uniform part that can be load bearing, and it is insulated.

Here is the basic structure, nothing fancy, but your should get the idea.

So we can see that it is composed of two boards, sandwiching this foam.  Now there are not just any boards, they are OSB, which is a type of wood, often treated, that is made of strands of wood glued together with polymers.  OSB stands for Oriented Strand Board, meaning the strands of wood are somewhat organized into a particular direction.  You do need to be careful if you are wanting to build a environmentally friendly  house that is toxic free.  Depending on how the wood is treated and what polymers they used to bind the wood, it can gas off harmful fumes or transmit through surface to hand and hand to mouth.  So just remember to ask what they are using.

Next let us talk about the foam.  The foam is a very special mix that has to be cured under very specific conditions.  The foam is Rigid Foam Core , very similar to that of foam found in bike helmets.  The panels typical come in variations of 2 inch thicknesses (so 2″, 4″, 6″) and have some really nice properties.  Inherently the foam used is also a vapor barrier,  this of course means it servers as stop from water infultration.  It inherently also does not mold and is not liked by most bugs.

There is a few really important things I want to point out with SIPs.  The first being that it replaces studs, you do not build walls, you simply put these in place.  The second thing is that you now have to run the wires differently, because you can’t run wire in a pre assembled panel.  Finally SIPs are prefabed then brought to the site, this cuts down on over all cost.

Some other benefits can be found here: click

Tonight’s Show 6pm Eastern

Tonight’s topic will be on design tools for small spaces.

Please go to the Tiny House live section at the top to see these videos.

I have always wondered how I was going to tackle washing clothes in a Tiny House, I loath laundry mats and my time is much better spent elsewhere then pack up, driving down, paying a chunk of change all to do it.  Well I think I have found an interesting option that I think has a bit more promise than those egg looking counter top washers.  Here is a concept that seems to fit the bill just right.  It is designed to be a top loading washer, to need no power, no water hook ups, it is the size of a hamper, and can be stored just about anywhere.  With the power of your foot, you press the peddle and through a gear box, you gain some mechanical advantage.

Via

We all know and love Jay’s amazing design that truly sparked the imagination of thousands.  When most people say Tiny House, we see in our minds an image of a Fencl or a Lusby, but it is important to remember that Tiny House come in all shapes and sizes.  This is important because by choosing a Tiny House we are breaking out of a mold, but sometimes we find ourselves in a new mold.  The out-of-the-box thinking that started Tiny Houses must be continued to improve an already great idea.   I submit these five improvements of the Tumbleweed Houses, but the face of Tiny Houses isn’t limited to Tumbleweed by any means.

Radiant Heat Floors

The Tiny House is typically heated by a small boat fireplace, which can run close to $1000, must be vented (which means cutting a hole in the roof) and I don’t like the look of the chimney.  Now radiant floors for those of you who don’t know, are wires inlaid into the subfloor to heat from the bottom up.  This gives a nice cozy feeling for your feet and since heat rises, you are heating the space as a whole.  It has been successfully done in the PAD (portlandalternativedwellings.com)

The best part about this option is that it adds about ½ inch rise on your floor level, which is unnoticeable, while the boat fireplace takes up a lot more space.  The downside to this is you will need electricity.  At 50 square feet (remember you don’t heat areas you don’t walk on) running an hour will need around 6 amps at 120 volts for a total use of ~750 watts.  Most folks are going to have power, so this is pretty reasonable when combined with a programmable thermostat.

Lockers

I came upon this idea over at Jonathan’s blog (http://gungy.livejournal.com) and it just made sense.  Upstairs in the loft he has created small “lockers” that line the side of his bed.  This frames the mattress, adds storage and keeps things looking neat while still having access to it.  He did an excellent job at taking the existing structure and integrating the storage to match.  The added bonus of this is that your mattress will have less room to shift as you climb in and out of bed.  I would take this option one step further by adapting one of the “lockers” near the head end to have a power outlet inside of it with holes to run cables to the top, this would create a way to charge your cell phone and ipod etc. neatly.

On Demand Water Heater

This one will certainly take a bit more expertise and planning, but there is one thing I would miss after a long day in the garden is not having a hot shower.  These water heaters are really small, can fit just about anywhere and mean that you only expend energy when you are in need of hot water.  Take all that and top it off with tax credits and it sounds like a great idea.  What is the catch?  You will need electricity (albeit a small amount and propane), which I feel is something that most Tiny House people have, either solar or grid.  You certainly can design it so you can bypass this when you are running off the grid.

Integrated Jacks

One thing many people don’t realize is that if you are going to be setting up in one spot with a Tiny House on a trailer is that just letting it sit there can lead to tire shock, which will put flat spots on your tires or break down the walls faster.  It is probably a good idea to jack the trailer up and remove the tires, this way people can’t steal your house. With jacks you also have a more stable floor, it could be argued that it is safer too.

Integrated jacks aren’t anything new, look at trailers and popup campers, but for $100-200 you can get some nice looking jacks that can be integrated into the trailer so you are never without them.  Be sure to take into account what weight they will be holding, 4 tons per jack will be overkill, but you will never have to worry about it.  The added benefit of these are if you ever get a flat tire on the road, these are already in place and are safer because they are welded to the frame.

Flexible Shelves

This one is a bit of a stretch, but I decided to add it anyway.  Jay’s craftsmanship is nothing short of beauty, the quality is superb, which is why he is a premium brand.  I felt the need to have my storage in these to be a bit more flexible.  With moveable shelves, rolling shelves, etcetera you are able to accommodate a wider range of items and have them tucked away out of sight.  See my photo here and take a look around my blog for lots of ideas.

The Chair Street Posters designed by JWT Auckland are flat-pack style chairs made plywood.   Folks walking by are then able to pop them out and assemble. They go up on commuter lines for large events in the summer such as concerts etc.  This could be neat if you had a set of four that was clicked into the bottom side of a table.

Via

I from time to time go over to the local botanical garden and do a little work while sitting among the several acres of greenscape.  This company tops that, with having it right there and encouraging its employees to work there.