Are you aspiring to become a tiny house builder? Do you want to build your own tiny house on a wheel?
Do you have a special love for tiny houses? Is it your desire to have a tiny house?
The truth is you’re not the only person who is filled with these admirations about building a tiny house on a wheel.
Many people dream of having a tiny house because they’re affordable and sizable, and it helps one to live a simple life.
Another reason why many people desire to have a tiny house built on a wheel is that it reduces the cost of living and increases the quality of life of the owner.
According to research by the National Association of Home Builders, over half of Americans say they will consider living in a home of about 600 square feet.
A home that’s less than 600 square feet or around this point is a tiny house. It simply means that almost 65% of Americans want to have tiny houses because of their advantages.
According to the research carried out by Property Management, roughly 68% of tiny houses are without a mortgage.
Tiny houses are cost-effective and easy to maintain; therefore, most people dream of having them.
In this article, I want to show tips on how to build tiny houses on wheels.
Tip 1: Plan Out Your Tiny House Dimission
The first thing you do when you have decided to build a tiny house is to plan. What type of tiny house do you want to build? How big or small do you want your tiny house to be?
These are the factors you put into consideration when constructing a tiny house on a wheel.
Planning and brainstorming are the two most important aspects of building a tiny house.
Planning will help you to know the cost of building a tiny house on a wheel, the size, both exterior and interior costs, roofing, plumbing, and solar with other necessary costs that may arise during construction.
Part of the planning is to find out the policy that guides a tiny house dimension in your area, both state and federal.
According to Tiny Living Life, the dimension of a tiny house must not be more than 13.5 feet tall and 8.5 feet wide in most places in the US — though some states allow up to 14 feet high.
However, the disadvantage of this 14 feet high is that it may not be allowed into some stricter states.
So, don’t just build a tiny house on a wheel without not finding out the state and federal policy about dimensional standards.
This will give you the whole idea of the type of tiny house you’re about to build and will not be disappointed and shatter your joy when you finally see the cost.
Tip 2: Get to Know Your Gross Vehicle Weight Rating Before Building?
Everyone who builds a tiny house builds with the consciousness of safety.
Safety is the first thing you put into consideration even when you are thrilled away with the happiness of becoming a tiny house owner.
Part of the safety consciousness is to know the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of your dream tiny house.
You might be asking, “How do I know the gross vehicle weight rating when I’m yet to build my tiny house?”
Let me show you how to know the GVWR of your tiny house.
Don’t get confused about the meaning of gross vehicle weight rating.
This simply means the maximum amount of weight that your vehicle can pull safely, which includes your payload capacity.
The gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) is usually on the per axle side or on the placard on the driver’s side.
Safety is very important because you can be parked by a government official when your tiny house weight is over the recommended GVWR.
Likewise, overloading your GVWR might break down your trailer. Therefore either buying or building your tiny house, you need to be safety conscious.
Tip 3: Get a License
A tiny house on a wheel license is very important, considering the size. The dimension of your tiny house is what determines if you will obtain a driving license.
If your tiny house is above 13.5 feet tall and 8.5 feet wide, then you need a driving license.
Licensing your tiny house when it’s in the range of licenses has a lot to benefit you in different ways.
License your tiny house will give you the freedom to toll your tiny house in any location of your choice.
Visit any department of a motor vehicle (DMV) near you to know the type of license you need for your tiny house.
Sometimes, once your tiny house weighs an average weight between 90,000 lbs to 20,000 lbs, you might be asked to get a commercial pull license.
Tip 4: Choose an Appropriate Tiny House Trailer
There are various types of trailers for constructing a tiny house; likewise, their weight and capacity to pull are different as well.
The next thing you do after you may have put into consideration all the tips studied so far is to choose the right trailer for your tiny house.
Before you build your tiny house on a wheel, look out for the best choice of a trailer that will meet your needs because they’re of different standards and models.
There are four major trailers for building a tiny house on a wheel.
Here are the four trailers for constructing a tiny house:
- Deck Over/Dovetail
- Gooseneck / Fifth Wheel
- Drop Axle Trailers
- Bumper pull
Let’s quickly look at the detail of each of these four trailers for building a tiny house.
Deck Over/Dovetail
One of the benefits of the deck over/dovetail is that it’s easy to load compared to other trailers.
It has a deck of trailers located over the wheels, which makes it easy to load compared to other trailers.
The Deckover trailer has both a standard duty, heavy-duty and commercial duty. This is to guide your informed purchase decision.
Most times, the width is 8.5-foot. The Deckover trailer is a bit raised from the ground floor, which protects your tiny house from being destroyed by the ground floor during driving.
Gooseneck/Fifth Wheel
The gooseneck trailer is the best, most controllable trailer for a tiny house. It makes a tiny house easy to tow.
The 5th wheel or Gooseneck has the capacity to increase and make tiny houses stable when driving.
Its weight makes it more balanced on the rear axle of a truck, which makes it difficult to sway away from the road during driving.
Gooseneck or 5th wheels trailers usually attach to either a ball hitch or a sliding plate lock located in the bed of a truck.
When it comes to carrying loads, gooseneck has the capacity to carry much load.
However, it’s not cost-effective. It’s costly because of the feature it has, which makes it different from other trailers.
Most times, heavy-duty is what is recommended to tow any tiny house that is built with a Gooseneck trailer.
Drop Axle Trailers
Drop Axle trailers have the highest height. The height is sometimes a restriction in some areas.
The drop axle trailer has 4 inches height higher than any other trailer. Though you may think it’s not much, it’s a big difference compared to other trailers.
These types of trailers are quite expensive, and you have them in both bumper pull or gooseneck style.
Bumper Pull
Bumper pulls are very easy to use and operate. You can get a bumper pull on any style.
A bumper pulls a trailer hook to a vehicle through a ball hitch on the back bumper of a truck, SUV, or motorhome.
The owner of a tiny house built on bumper pulls requires the basic training to tow, unlike other trailers. Bumpers are cost-effective compared to other trailers.
What Type of Design of a Tiny House do You Want to Build
How do you want your tiny house to look? What types of design and layout do you want? This is the time to decide the type of design you want for your tiny house.
Make a choice of the interior and exterior of your tiny house. This will guild you in constructing a tiny house.
Almost everyone wants their interior to be superb and have the listed feature in their tiny house.
- Well furnished kitchen
- Living spaces
- Single, double, or connected lofts
- Bathroom
You may wish to have these features in your tiny house. Building your tiny house on a wheel is very easy and doable.
One of the major things about the exterior is the roofing. Therefore, the design you want for your tiny house is to determine the type of roofing (e.g., shed, gabled, flat, and gambrel roofing) you may wish to use.
Once you are done with this, you can then plan out the type of appliances and furniture you want to have inside your tiny house.
Build a Conducive Interior
Your tiny house interior deserves the best. The types of material you use in building your tiny house determine how comfortable it will be for the users.
Just as you care about the exterior, likewise, you should also give attention to the interior — the interior should be given more attention.
Use materials like fiberglass to build your tiny house interior. This will make it durable and conducive for the users.
Your interior wall needs the best insulation; this is what regulates the cold and heat inside your tiny house.
Insulation plays a major role in the comfort of a tiny house.
This comfort is solely dependent on the types of insulators the builder uses.
There are different types of insulation that function in different ways, as well.
Here are the different types of insulation:
- Batt Insulation
- Rigid Foam Insulation
- Spray Foam Insulation
These different types of insulations stated here perform differently in regulating the temperature within the tiny house.
Let’s quickly take a look at the details of those insulations.
Batt insulation
Batt insulations are not that expensive compared to others. They’re like the insulation we use at home. They’re mainly in rolls shaped and made of fiberglass.
Batt insulations are in different sizes; this size makes it easy for easy transport. Also, anyone can install it because of the size.
However, in building your tiny house ensure you air seal the wall before installing an insulator.
Ordinary insulation saves energy and prevents heat transfer from the in and out of the house.
The essence of air sealing your tiny house before insulation is that insulation doesn’t have the capacity to prevent air from penetrating into the tiny house from the cracks or through the gaps.
This is the major reason why you should air seal your tiny house before insulation.
Rigid Foam Insulation
This type of insulation (Rigid foam insulation) has the capacity to reduce the building’s energy, which controls the interior temperature.
This makes rigid foam insulation classic when it comes to insulation in your tiny house.
Rigid foam insulation has the capacity to close any air leakage and seal gaps because of its high performance of this insulation.
Rigid foam insulation has the capacity to save energy and control moisture as well — this prevents the tiny house wall from getting stains or dirty. These types of insulation are durable.
According to research by Building With Chemistry, rigid foam insulation is made with materials including polyisocyanurate (polyiso), extruded polystyrene (XPS), and expanded polystyrene (EPS) are valued for their insulating properties.
Spray Foam Insulation
This insulation is also called foaming insulation or sprayed insulation. This insulation has two-part liquid insulation that when it’s sprayed, has the capacity to seal any gap.
It’s always advisable not to spray this type of insulation when you’re not an expert or not experienced on the job.
When it’s sprayed, it has the capacity to seal any leakage that air can penetrate in and out of the tiny house.
Open-cell foaming insulation is one class of spray foam insulation that’s best for tiny house interior applications, which gives different advantages.
Some of those advantages include:
- It last long when it’s applied
- It works in two directions when it comes to dryness. It works both in and out of the tiny house. it has a low cost of insulation
Conclusion
The joy of having your tiny house on a wheel is that you can tow it anywhere of your choice.
Tiny houses on a wheel are quite affordable and easy to maintain, especially when it’s newly built.
Having a dream of building a tiny house on a wheel, then follow the tips stated here to have your dream come into reality.
Don’t just start constructing your tiny house but have an accurate brainstorming and planning of the type of tiny house you want to build.
These tips will help to make the work easy for you, especially when you want to do it by yourself.
