How-To Turn a Tiny House Trailer into a POD dwelling

Since the very first version of our tiny house trailer (of which we are now officially on v.6.0) we have played with the notion of making the house grow, so to speak. We knew that to us a home was something that grew with your needs. We were never fond of the American Dream dogma that suggests a family should have plenty of room they can grow into. For some time that just seems like a waste.

So in designing our tiny house trailer we constantly kept in mind that once on our land and “parked” we would want to provide more space for a proper bathroom, a room for our daughter, and even a space for a washer and dryer. We think this design keeps that in mind. In fact, we believed so much in our plan that we have actually hidden in the framework of our trailer a hallway opening that will lead to what we now call Annex #2.

As you look at the graphics you will notice there is no foundation per se. That is only a limit of the software. In fact, the two annexes will be on a concrete foundation (with river rock facade) raising them up to the height of the trailer and providing a small crawl space. You will also notice that our measurements are in 4′ multiples so as to waste as little material as possible. NOTE: 4′ x 8′ sheets that don’t need to be cut are our friends!

The question that most ask at this point is why we don’t just build a larger house to begin with. Why not just build a cabin on a foundation on our land? The answer is simple. We can’t afford to do that. We are building cash-on-the-barrel and to stay with the lexicon of our construction industry, the tiny house trailer is our “starter house.” The Annexes are our additions which will be built as we can pay for them.

In the interest of questions and concerns and general dialogue I am going to leave explanation at that. I do however encourage you to ask any question, raise any concerns, make any commentary (be nice though), and pick our brain for your own design choices.

I do however want to send a tremendous thank you to Kevin Harrington of Cozy Home Plans for his 3D rendering work. You may remember CHP as part of our tiny house recognition week. Kevin is very talented and has a lot to offer the tiny house/small house community!

You can see the 3D renderings on our Google+ page.

Beth

Andrew; Have you considered the possibility of manufacturing slide-outs into your trailer like they do in RV’s to give your starter home more room when parked? I’ve actually lived in three different RV’s and only the last one had a slide-out in the kitchen/living room which added about 30″, but it made a tremendous difference!
- http://www.tinyrevolution.us/ anotherkindofdrew
  
  We have certainly considered a slide out as we have a lot of experience with my folks’ 5th wheel. However, after talking to two different manufacturers the slides only have a life expectancy of 10-12 years max and even then are recommended to have jack support so it seems a big investment for something potentially “temporary.” GREAT suggestion though Beth. Thank you!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Avril-Brown/100002663835705 Avril Brown

Hey I love this! I wrote something on my blog like this last spring. That is so cool. Lately I have been thinking about how to make a tiny more portable with rooms that collapse or slide and folding balconies. There is so much room for creative solutions!
- http://www.tinyrevolution.us/ anotherkindofdrew
  
  Creativity is KEY!
goldentinyhouse

Sometimes I really don’t understand people. Use some common sense! I think this is a good design though and I hope it works out for you. We are planning on building a tiny studio and possibly a washer/dryer room in addition to our tiny house. But we need to get the house built first.
- http://www.tinyrevolution.us/ anotherkindofdrew
  
  Are we not using common sense? I am confused. Maybe I am reading your comment wrong. Or are you referring to the people that ask questions I referenced in the post? Whatever the case, thank you for the well wishes. I hope it works out as well in RL as on paper as well.
  - goldentinyhouse
    
    No I am sorry I should have been more clear. I am not talking about you. Maybe it just common sense to me, but building on a cash basis and slowly adding on is just a smart way to go. Not everyone has the cash upfront to build a big house.
    - http://www.tinyrevolution.us/ anotherkindofdrew
      
      I get it. No worries. Yeah, it has become common sense to me. I didn’t understand it at first because it wasn’t the way I was raised. A number of people raised in the South are taught to work hard, get married, buy a house with a picket fence, have some babies, etc. It is a societal standard that has become a bit of a stigma. I think we need to reeducate ourselves that possessions does NOT equal success!
mizacy

I am curious, one of MY reasons to build on a trailer has been to avoid building permits and codes, with these expansion structures will you need to apply for building permits. I think most states generally have size limits that, if exceeded require permits, I believe in Idaho our limit is 100 s.f. Have you looked into that and if so are you using those thresholds to help guide your designs? I love the plan, it makes so much more sense than the typical American plan. As always I wish you three all the very best!
- http://www.tinyrevolution.us/ anotherkindofdrew
  
  You are right on with all you have said mizacy. We originally wanted to build on a trailer to avoid building permits, yes. But then it became more about the central unit remaining mobile. This could all come back to bite us should the municipality we live in say “No Way Jose!” However, we are in the “rural” category of tiny housers (you may remember me saying there are rural tiny housers and there are city tiny housers; both have pros and cons) and will have a much easier time with code because the rural areas are so much more familiar and tolerating of mobile homes, RV living, small structures, etc. When complete the home will be right at 900 sq.ft. which is perfectly legal in all places we are looking at land. The trick will be in the slow building. That is why is was important to build the whole mock up out. We need to show the steps to achieve the full home so that we can receive permissions to build on a schedule. It may be tricky but we are ready to take it on and take on the “codes.” Thank you so much for your support!
http://www.facebook.com/linda.flatt.9 Linda Flatt

I *love* the idea of the “Pod” and “Annexes”!! A whole world of possibilities open up with this concept! Curious – what are the ideas to bridge the opening/gap between the portable Tiny House and the stationary Annex?
- http://www.tinyrevolution.us/ anotherkindofdrew
  
  The “gap,” as it were will be done in a ledgarboard fashion using bolts instead of screws or nails. The hallway (which be built as part of Annex #2) will fasten on to ledgarboards that will be screwed into the tiny house trailer. Now, there will have to be some caulking so as not to let in water and such but if we ever need to move the tiny house trailer we can take a box cutter, cut the caulk, remove the bolts, and leave the annex behind.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1348017982 John Hemingway Parkes

The ‘pod’ idea is a concept i started out with for my tiny home plans. My original idea was a shipping container and then adding modules/new containers as expansion was needed and i had the money. These shipping containers are incredibly strong and are designed to stack and interlock, bolting the containers together would make those connections semi-permanent, but removable should the design or location need to change.

I will admit they aren’t very pretty, but once the siding is up you wouldn’t know what lay underneath. the same goes for the interior, once finished it would look like any other home.
Living in Florida i’ll be building to withstand hurricanes…i can’t imagine anything damaging one or more of those steel containers bolted together.
The first container would be 8×30 and would house the kitchen, bathroom, and living room…the second would be an 8×20 for the bedroom and storage…perhaps a second bathroom.
The whole concept has the feel of playing with toy building blocks, the possibilities are almost endless…

Of course this type of building is better suited to those who own a piece of land, shipping containers are designed to be portable, but they require a tractor trailer to load and haul them…not something you want to pay for often, and the site must be accessible to those large trucks.

Rural land can be inexpensive, but running utilities to that land is definitely not, a septic system starts around 5k, an average well and the pump also run around 5k, electrical service can kill the budget depending on how far you are from existing service areas…i’ve heard people paying as much as 30k to have the poles and lines run…so when investigating rural land for sale you really need to look into the utilities in the area and if there are any that can service your land.
- http://www.tinyrevolution.us/ anotherkindofdrew
  
  When preparing our land in North Carolina originally we ran our power for just over $600. The septic was estimated at $2k. Our concrete pad came in right at $500. The well was low end $7k. You are right. It is not cheap to live rurally.
alice h

I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count what version I’m on but I think I’ve finally got several issues resolved. I’m going to build two totally separate tiny houses – a funky fairy tale gypsy caravan that will be home while I build a more simple modern style home and then the caravan becomes the sewing/craft/art studio/guest space. Until recently I thought I could build one place to accommodate all needed spaces and desired styles but it kept breaking down into two very different ideas so why fight it? Plus, this way I have enough money already saved to get the caravan done next summer (woohoo!) so I have a reasonable place to live while building the main tiny house which I wouldn’t have been able to do for a couple more years anyway. I can’t wait that long! It puts the grand plan behind in some ways (saving up from zero again) but speeds it up in others. Building on the installment plan will be easier if I have a comfy space to live in. The 13′ Boler trailer I currently have onsite will then be moved for a guest house at somebody else’s place. It’s cute for camping but the layout is wrong (hard to change) and the ceiling closes in too much for long term living. At least the time spent in it so far has been useful for floor plan ideas. Taking the studio out of the main house means I can build a smaller main house. Another idea was to make two small identical places (one at a time) and set them up with a covered deck in between. Probably more practical, but the caravan will be way more fun.
- http://www.tinyrevolution.us/ anotherkindofdrew
  
  And if it isn’t a shred of fun Alice, what good is it truly?

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