Hannah,
Saw your post and thought you could use some good advice. First, and most important, stop right now and, for yourself, try to
answer a few questions before spending another dime. I am, in no way, trying to discourage you nor am I trying to frighten you away from a tiny house
project but this isn't something you
should go through with before you have a better road map as to how to proceed. First, consider what your
plans are once you have a completed tiny home. Since you have a trailer, there's the possibility you plan to move about from time to time. This is an option some
people pursue but of
course the obvious consideration is how to assemble your house so that's it's road worthy and pieces don't go flying off as you move. There are highway requirements/restrictions that come in to play and you need to research them before you build. Or perhaps you intend to park your home on your own piece of
land somewhere, another great idea but also one you need to research before you move forward. Many municipalities, even those quite rural, still require a septic field for your waste
water. While this may perhaps seem intrusive, it's not necessarily a bad thing. The water supply for rural folks often comes from springs or
wells and you won't be very popular for long if you pollute someone's water supply. The thing about rural places is that everyone knows everyone else's business and what they're doing and there are plenty of instances where people have built homes, tiny and not so tiny, with the idea of using say, a
composting system, only to attract the attention of the local authorities who rightly ask just where you're composting your waste. If you're answer fails to impress the one asking, you could very quickly receive an order to remove your home from your own property or immediately install an approved waste management system. Now, to respond more directly to your questions. Others I'm sure will disagree but in my opinion, 20 grand for a shell is awfully pricey. The skills required for a project like this aren't that hard to learn and there seem to be some decent workshops being held where you can learn them. If you have the ambition and the will to do so, I'd encourage you to attend one of them to see what you're getting into. One of the goals of living in a tiny house is to be able to have a home without going into debt up to your ears. While 60 thousand is still a far cry from the average price of a traditional home today, it's still a lot of money and if you were really going to spend that kind of money, I'd tell you to save time and just go to your nearest RV dealer and have them show you some travel trailers. You could do very well for 60 grand and be ready to hit the road within a week. That, of course, is not what this is all about. Regarding windows, Marvin is an excellent brand and would probably do quite well in a tiny home. I say probably because they're designed to be installed into a traditional home, not a home that is designed to be moved. The quality of the installation probably has more to do with window choices and I believe you could do just as well with a good quality vinyl or aluminum frame window, at far less cost. Mold in your walls shouldn't be a huge concern if you build a water tight skin and avoid large and lengthy internal temperature/humidity swings once you move in. Also, consider using insulation other than fiberglass, which tends to hang onto moisture once wet. Rigid foam or spray-on might be good options but of course, there are trade-offs, as with anything. Regarding the use of an Amish builder, I can't
think of a single reason why you might rule that out. I'm from PA and knew and worked with the Amish/Mennonite
community over the years. They're generally good, solid, hardworking folks. I am curious why you mentioned the Amish though and would just caution you against thinking that somehow you're going to get a better product because they're Amish, well, that really doesn't apply to them any more than it applies to anyone else. Skill sets, experience and trustworthiness vary from individual to individual, not matter what label we apply to them. A prior response suggested you consider your first build as a learning opportunity with the idea of selling it once completed. With due respect to the person posting that thought, it just doesn't make sense to make less than ideal construction decisions and perhaps do some substandard work (because your learning, right?) and then pass it on to someone else. You're unlikely to recoup your costs and it's not really a very resource friendly thing to do. In my opinion, you should learn what you need to know, source your materials carefully, build to the very best of your ability and then rightly take pride in and enjoy your new home. Sorry for the long post. I hope my thoughts have given you some things to think about. I hate seeing people spend their money needlessly and poorly or worse, begin a project like this and finding themselves unable to complete it halfway through. My opinions aren't simply random thoughts. I'm a master carpenter with over thirty years in the trades. Many of those years were spent building homes for others with a crew of men, myself included at the time, who would never earn
enough money to own a home of their own. So, while tiny homes in their many forms still have some kinks to be worked out, I think that for many people, they're a good option in a world that's changing in ways we may not yet fully understand. I wish you much success in your endeavors and strongly suggest you seek out a
workshop or two on building a tiny house. Cash or credit, after all, is just another limited resource. Knowledge lasts you a lifetime. If you found any of this helpful and would like to know more, I'm happy to help.
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