Tumbleweeds

[DavidLeBlanc]

Anyone seen Tumbleweed plans and how they compare to John's?

They're awfully pricy for starters!  

He makes a point of emphasizing that everything is screwed and glued. Is that something that makes general sense or only if one is planning to move one's tiny house in the future?

[John Raabe]

Boy, those are tiny houses!

Here's the link: http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/houses.htm#

I think he probably stresses gluing and screwing things together because these are basically wooden trailers that will be bounced around a lot.

Site built houses don't generally take off down the road and all that glued up structure is difficult to modify later. Plus, you would have to use the best and driest material for that system to make any difference.

Stick framing allows for a little settlement and drying out.

[DavidLeBlanc]

They are tiny! Also, kinda cute! Also, low cost (mostly because they are so tiny!)!

Here's the front page URL: http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/index.htm

Thanks for the feedback, John!

I've noticed that often sheathing is glued and nailed - sometimes the sheathing is put on while the wall is horizontal and the ?skirt? is glued to the perimeter ?joist? when the wall is raised. Does this make sense?

I wrote the proprieter, Jay Shafer, the other day asking if his portfolio included any houses that had a 1st floor bedroom in addition to or in lieu of the loft bedroom. He eventually wrote back and said that for some rather substantial dollars, he would be happy to do a sketch and for some even more substantial dollars would do finished plans (and doubtless offer same plans in his catalog). The one thing that intrigued me was his notion that he could lengthen his 10x16 Front Gable by only 4' to get the 1st floor bedroom and still have the kitchen tucked away as it is in the "Concord" layout for that plan... That's a trick I'd sure like to see - but not for what he wants to do even a sketch! (lets just say substantially more than "Full Enchilada" plans would cost!)

(BTW, I'm quite sure I could build a tiny!, cute!, and low cost! house from your plans! . I was just curious about some construction details and picking up ideas.)