The Importance of Google SketchUp

I would advise any one looking into building a Tiny House (especially if you're considering SIP construction) to have a solid working knowledge of Google SketchUp first. If this incredibly powerful tool isn't in your arsenal, then you should learn it, or find someone who can help you get a 3D model of your tiny house before you build.

For us, because time is a factor and I didn't have time/energy to become fluent in a new software and still be able to get the rest of the Tiny House research done (and all the medical/legal clearance paperwork from the Peace Corps that Sam and I have been inundated with of late), we chose the latter of these options. We were really fortunate to find Joe Coover, who is working on a website to facilitate the sale of Tiny House SIP Kits. One of the biggest barriers we faced getting a SIP Tiny House was that I had no idea how to create a 3D rendering of the Tiny House and how to get that information into a format that would work for the SIP manufacturer. Joe knows the SIP guys, has ordered Tiny Houses from them in the past (including his own), and is a wiz with SketchUp. After exchanging emails with me about the details of our Tiny House, he created the beautiful SketchUp rendition of our tiny house you see above. Without this help, Sam and I never would have been able to order SIPs.

If you're dead set on doing every last piece of the puzzle yourself but don't know how to use SketchUp, Google offers some good video tutorials, and there are many other tutorials available on the web, both free and paid. Another good resource to look for is local Meetups at which SketchUp will be taught- I know that the Greater Boston Tiny House Enthusiasts Meetup Group has had several such sessions in the past, which I believe were well attended.

Whatever way you decide to go, make sure to take advantage of the incredible planning tool that is Google SketchUp. You'll have a better Tiny House for it in the end.

My Top 5 Tiny House General Research Resources

The first step in our Tiny House Build was for me to do copious amounts of research. Like, research that has taken over my life for the past several weeks. I dream about Tiny House construction techniques. And while my research quickly delved into the specifics of choosing materials and designing systems, the initial research phase was probably very similar to that of other Tiny House self-builders. So I thought I'd compile a list of the information sources I found helpful during this portion of my own research. The criteria I used to select these sources were very simple: first, I had to have found them helpful in determining the size, scope, and general components of a Tiny House Build, and second they had to be free. Without further ado, here are my Top 5 General Research Resources.

Tiny House Giant Journey: The Time lapse videos of this build gave me my first solid understanding of what it takes to build a tiny house- it gave me good insight into how much time it takes and how much effort is involved. Most importantly, it made me think, "yeah- we could do that!"

Tiny Home Builders: A very helpful technically oriented blog. Reading through his blog from the beginning gave me a good sense of each step along the way of a tiny house build. I found this blog so helpful, I later purchased the author's, Dan Louche's, e-book on tiny home construction and subscribed to the how-to videos offered on the website.

Tiny Refuge: Not the most helpful in terms of construction details, but one of the only Tiny House blogs that specifically addresses the questions of cold-climate adaptations to house systems. (Unlike many Tiny House Stories which take place in California, the Pacific Northwest or Southeastern states like Georgia or the Carolinas, this build is happening in Canada, so you can bet that when the author says cold, she means *cold*)

Gone With The Wynns: Not actually a Tiny House blog, but this couple live and work full time from their RV, and they have some fantastic videos about RV plumbing and electrical systems that can be easily applied to Tiny Houses. It also has the most reassuring videos about composting toilets available on the internet. Seriously. These videos are why I'm okay with the idea of pooping into a bucket.

And finally,

Tiny House Chat: In my opinion, this is the best Tiny House Podcast out there. Or at least, the best one I found. I challenge any one to come up with a more informative program. Seriously, if you find one, I want to know about it.