How To Save A Ton of Money on Your Tiny House Build

February 13, 2019/in News /by Katie Jackson

Many people who want to go tiny do so because it’s a wallet-friendly housing choice. Whether for a primary residence or a vacation home, tiny houses use less materials and less energy over time than traditional single family homes.

Much of saving money on a tiny house build involves understanding the many different options available to you in the tiny house buying process. Here are some points to consider when saving money in your tiny house.

Go with an already-designed tiny house, not a custom design

This is the single greatest money-saving action we can suggest. Custom designs will cost more than a house that’s already in our Signature Designs, and this applies to every step of the process, not just the design phase. Even after the designer’s finished with the blueprints, the builders will need to spend more time on each aspect of the house, since it’s not one they’ve built before. Time is a very large percentage of the final cost, and cutting down on our time spent working through new challenges with a custom tiny house will cut down your overall final cost.

But don’t worry, you can still make your tiny house your own, even if it’s picked out of our catalogue of Signature Models. You’ll be able to choose all the colors, materials, and fixtures for your tiny house.

We offer three options for making your tiny house your own:

CUSTOMIZATION CHOICES, like exterior and interior wall materials, appliances, colors, open shelving versus cabinetry with doors, are always free— these choices will be reflected in the materials and installation cost. These choices don’t require the tiny house designer to change anything about the blueprints of the house.

ALTERATIONS TO OUR EXISTING BLUEPRINTS are $800, which includes two free revisions. Any further revisions are billed at $50 per hour of the designer’s time. The extra build time and materials for an altered floor plan will be built into the quote. Alterations include adding a loft to houses where possible, changing window sizes and locations, designing a custom staircase, and changing the roof shape where possible.

ENTIRELY ORIGINAL DESIGNS are available when we will be building three or more tiny houses; there is a design fee of $2500. This includes two free revisions. Any further revisions are billed at $50 per hour of the designer’s time. The extra time taken to build a custom, rather than a mass-produced, tiny house will be built into the quote. Custom tiny houses generally start at $90,000.

Choose standard materials

We can build anything you want as long as it’s within the RVIA’s safety standards. One of the owners of B&B Tiny Houses, Mitch, likes to say “we’ll build a slide off the roof” (we haven’t received an order for that one yet)! However, just because we can build something doesn’t mean it’s not going to cost money. Similarly to the previous section on choosing a standard design, choosing standard materials that we already know how to install and that they work well in tiny houses will save us time and save you money.

Our list of common upgrades for our tiny houses doesn’t represent everything we can do and everything we’ve ever built into a tiny house, but it’s a great representation of what upgrades we are comfortable making and already know how to install efficiently. We are happy to research, price, design for, and build with materials or fixtures that aren’t on that list: we’ll just have to build the extra time spent on non-standard materials into the final price. Don’t worry: we think you’ll be very happy finding exactly what you want within that extensive list. Sometimes we even have leftover materials from a previous project that might work well in your house that we can offer you a discount on: we’ll be sure to let you know if so.

Choose inexpensive materials & fixtures from our list

Another way to save money on your tiny house is to go with basic materials. Each tiny house is listed with a starting price. This starting price includes basic materials and fixtures. Here’s a list of our basic materials and what an upgraded material in the same category might be. The difference between tiny houses using all basic materials and tiny houses using all upgraded materials can be quite significant in the final total.

The kitchen shown in this Hoosic tiny house uses all basic materials included in the starting price: a two-burner built-in cooktop, a small kitchen sink, a mini-fridge built into the cabinetry. Of course, you can upgrade this kitchen to include an apartment-size fridge or built in fridge and freezer drawers, a propane stove and oven, a large undermount sink, and a convection oven/microwave (see these features in the Kinderhook tiny house), but this will, of course, cost much more. Being frugal with your appliance choices makes for a great deal of savings in the end.

	Starting Price Includes:	Upgraded Tiny House Might Include:
Exterior	Vinyl Clapboard	Vertical Solid Wood Shiplap
Roofing	Asphalt Shingle	Ribbed Metal
Interior Walls	Sheetrock	Solid Wood Shiplap
Climate Control	In-Wall Electric Heater	Mini Split (Electric Heating & Cooling)
Cooking	2-Burner Glass Cooktop	Stainless Steel 3-Burner Propane Stove/Oven with Range Hood
Refrigerator	Mini-Fridge	Apartment Size Fridge (24″ w x 68″ h x 25′ d, 10.1 cu. ft.
Dishwashing	Kitchen Sink	Kitchen Sink & Dishwasher (Certain Models Only)
Shower/Tub Insert	Vinyl	Custom Tile
Bathroom Sink	Mini Sink with Vanity	Mini or Full-Size Sink with Vanity
Washer/Dryer	Not Included	Washer/Dryer Combo (Certain Models Only– Not Available with Solar Power)
Toilet	Your Choice- Inquire For Pricing	Your Choice- Inquire For Pricing

Choose standard power and water hookups rather than going off-grid

Going off-grid in a tiny house is possible, but the up-front cost isn’t cheap. Likewise, if you’ll want to run electric appliances in your off-grid tiny house, you can, but not as many or as often as you might when you’re on grid. The cost of setting up a solar system capable of running appliances in the same way that one normally might in an on-grid situation can double the cost of the tiny house itself! Running large appliances like a washer/dryer, or many appliances at once, will require large battery storage as well as an array of many solar panels: more that can fit onto the roof of a tiny house.

If you will go with off-grid solar and want to be frugal (or if you’d like to travel with your solar panels), you’ll have to eliminate most electric-run appliances from your list and plan on using other sources of energy, like propane.

The simplest, cheapest power source for your tiny house is running an extension cord and a potable water hose (with heat tape in winter!) from a building that already has power and water. Many people who live in their tiny houses full-time park their houses beside or behind the house of a friend, relative or landlord. Others may lease or purchase a property that already has a power source. The cost of these hookups is included in the starting price of all our tiny houses.

Check out this blog post for more info on how to hook up your tiny house to water and power.

Ready to get started on your tiny house?

Choose your favorite of our Signature Tiny House Models and then get an Instant Estimate for that house with the features and fixtures you want.

When you’re comfortable with your price, contact us to get started.

Tiny House Security

January 18, 2019/in News /by Katie Jackson

How to Secure Your Tiny House Against Break-Ins and Theft.

A thief would have to be pretty determined to steal a whole house. A tiny house on wheels is a highly visible item and most are custom-built, making it an easily recognizable theft. It’s not the type of thing a thief can slip away with in the night and sell on the internet, never to be seen again. There are only so many places on the internet to sell one, all of which can be monitored to see when the house comes up for sale. Additionally, to transport a tiny house, one can take it on certain roads, but it has to have a license plate, and any tiny house owner can attest that tiny houses on the road generate a lot of buzz.

However, two recent thefts of tiny houses have popped up in the news, reminding us that while rare, it can happen. On that note, it’s important to find a way to secure one’s tiny house and prevent or at least deter thieves from breaking in or stealing it.

The best course of action to ensure your house’s security is having multiple theft deterrents. The idea of theft deterrence is realizing you can’t do everything possible to ensure your house will never get broken into or stolen altogether, but there are many small things you can do to discourage criminal activity. Many thefts are crimes of opportunity: if you make it a difficult and time-consuming for a thief to quietly drive away with your house in tow, they are more likely to pass your tiny house up.

Just a note: we’ve included links to certain products in this article. We aren’t being compensated for posting any of these products and we don’t necessarily recommend or guarantee these exact products: the links are here so you can get a feel for what they are and how they work.

Trailer Hitch Lock:

A hitch lock is an easy, quick theft detterent. It can be cut off, but not without spending some time and creating some noise. This will at least slow down a potential house thief, and some have the added benefit of preventing runaway trailers.

There are numerous types of trailer hitch locks, ranging in price from about $17-$45. Here’s a list of reviewed trailer hitch locks from thetoppro.com.

Wheel Lock:

These work in many different ways, but the one pictured here covers the wheel, rendering it immobile. You can also purchase locks for the lug nuts themselves. Here’s a list of wheel locks from etrailer.com: they range in price from under $10 to $180.

GPS Tracker:

God forbid someone actually gets away with your tiny house, it would be easy to track if you have one of these in or on your tiny house. Hundreds of discreet GPS trackers are on the internet, and many are inexpensive enough to make the purchase worth the peace of mind you’d get from having one. The tracker pictured here, from Brickhouse Security (here are their best GPS trackers), is less than 2″ x 3″, so you can place it inconspicuously so a thief doesn’t know it’s there. You can track its location on your phone or computer.

Security Camera:

As the economy forces package thieves to become bolder and bolder, the market for home security has exploded, and security cameras are getting cheaper every year. Even if your security camera doesn’t prevent the most determined thief, it is certainly a theft deterrent. Some security cameras use motion detection to start recording a ten-second video; others record all the time.

Security cameras that store the images and/or video inside them are only helpful after you recover the camera itself. A smarter choice is either a wifi-connected home security camera like Arlo or Nest, or a trail cam, which operates on cell data (you’ll have to pay monthly). Both a wifi-connected cam (here are PC Mag’s top picks for 2019) or a trail cam (here are Trail Cameras’ Reviews for 2018) allow you to see the images in near-real-time on your phone or computer.

Smart Home Security System:

If a security camera isn’t enough, you can have a whole integrated security system in your tiny house, as long as your house gets constant power. Smart home security systems like Honeywell’s allows you to choose a la carte what features you’ll use, such as notifications when windows or doors are opened, motion light activation, facial recognition of those entering your house, and voice control with Amazon Alexa.

(Full disclosure– Honeywell’s not paying us to post this, but we did build a tiny house for them integrating their smart home tech, so we’re familiar with their technology and we like their brand).

Timed Lights:

These lights are great for when you’re not at home but want to give the impression that someone is there.

The simplest and cheapest option is a light timer, which can either be plugged into a wall socket (this one’s by Dewenwills, pictured at left) or integrated into the light switch plate (this one’s by Honeywell, pictured at right). It turns a lamp or electric outlet on and off at a specific time or times every day. The mechanical ones make a clicking sound that will drive you nuts in a small space, so we recommend an electronic light timer.

Motion-Sensor or Remote-Controlled Lights:

Most people have been familiar with motion sensor lights for decades. Not only can they be a theft deterrent by attracting attention to the house when there’s movement, they can also increase the security of the tiny house dweller when coming home and fumbling for keys in the dark. Here’s The Spruce’s list of best motion sensor lights for different outdoor areas. Some of these contain the sensor within the bulb, so the bulb can be screwed directly into any light socket, which means you won’t have to do any wiring to make them work. Some of the lights on this list run on their own solar power which is nice for when your tiny house isn’t connected to a power system.

Like timed lights, remote controlled lights help create the illusion that someone’s home, but they’re a bit “smarter” in terms of going on either when they sense motion or when you decide to activate them from afar via your electronic device. Remote-controlled smart lights, for when you’re far away to your wifi-connected tiny house, allow you to turn on a light in your home via an app on your phone. Here are a couple ways to integrate smart lights from Make Use Of, whether your house hasn’t been built yet and you can install these during the building process, or you’d like to install plug-and-play smart lights in your exisiting tiny house. You can also get remote control of the lights in your tiny house by incorporating them into your existing smart home security system.

Neighbors:

This one’s pretty simple: although not all tiny house owners are parked near neighbors, those who are and have a friendly rapport with them can ask their neighbors to keep an eye on their tiny house. Having possible witnesses close by is a major deterrent to break-ins and thefts.

(Pictured: The Hoosic Tiny House flanked by two other tiny houses. Photo by Try It Tiny)

Location and Recognition:

When choosing a location for your tiny house, from a theft deterrent standpoint, consider how easy it is for someone to get away with your tiny house. Anyone who’s ever towed a tiny can attest that tiny houses attract a lot of attention on the road. People peer out of their windows, take photos, post them on the internet. Whether you want to attract attention or not, it’s like being in a single-float parade.

Likewise, if your tiny house is easily recognizable, it’s more easily recovered. An unusual looking tiny house can’t go as far and long without being reported.

Tiny House Anchoring:

For those who do not travel with their tiny house, tie-downs aren’t just a good idea for theft deterrence. They’re also a great idea to keep the house from rocking or even lifting during a hurricane. Although one can remove the house from the anchors (with varying degrees of difficulty depending on which type of anchor you’re using), this takes time and is another way to deter theft.

Additionally, building a porch onto the front of your tiny house not only expands your livable space in nice weather and creates a more welcoming entrance, it makes it more difficult for a thief to quickly steal your tiny house.

Tie-in to septic and sewer:

Like anchoring with tie-down straps, it’s not impossible to remove a septic or sewer tie-in, but it takes longer, requires tools and knowledge which means it takes longer to steal someone’s house. Of course, not all tiny houses stay in one location– they are on wheels, after all– but for those that do, this is a great option.

Image from My Camper Home on Youtube

Remove tires:

When the tires are removed, a thief can’t just hook up a tiny house to their truck and roll away with it. It takes time and tools to attach four or six tires to the wheels of a trailer: time that exposes a thief to witnesses.

You can’t say for certain that your tiny house will never be broken into or stolen. However, the chances of that are very slim; you can make them slimmer by taking some of these simple precautions.

Silver Lake Tiny House in New Book

January 9, 2019/in News /by Katie Jackson

Last year, Monsa Publications out of Barcelona asked us if they could feature our Silver Lake Tiny House in their new book: Tiny Mobile Homes: Small Space – Big Freedom. Of course, we said yes!

Today we received the book, and it’s beautiful. Thank you, Monsa!

Here’s a link to more info on the book.

The 8 Steps To Buying A Tiny House: Everything You’ll Need To Know

January 7, 2019/in News /by Katie Jackson

You’ve been dreaming about your very own tiny house for years. Are you ready to take the leap?

Here are all the steps you’ll take in the tiny house buying process.

Choose a tiny house site.

For some this is easy: a backyard, a piece of property in a town that allows RVs, or an RV park. For those who don’t yet know where to put their tiny house, finding a location to put their tiny house is a crucial step. We’ll build your tiny house differently depending on whether you plan to travel often with your house or it’ll stay in one place. There are many different customization options available for your tiny house, which often depend on what kind of utilities are available at your tiny house site.

Here’s a blog post on where to put your tiny house, and what to know if you’re thinking of buying land for your tiny house.

One way to find a location is through networking. Here’s a list of tiny house networking sites: most of these groups are through Facebook or Meetup.

If you’re finding it difficult to find a town that already allows tiny houses, you’re not alone. In fact, most towns’ Planning Boards haven’t even considered whether to allow tiny houses on wheels: all it’ll take to start the wheels turning (pun intended, sorry) is for someone to ask. The American Tiny House Association (Website, Facebook) is a great resource for those who would like to ask for permission to live in their tiny houses.

Choose a tiny house model.

Know where you’ll put your tiny house? Great! Browse our tiny house catalogue online (there are nine models to choose from) and decide which model is the best for you. Each of our models is customizable: customizations like materials and paint colors are free, while having our designer change the blueprints is an extra fee.

Most of our tiny houses are the road-legal limit of 8 1/2′ wide. If you’re looking for a tiny house you can tow with you, check our our Lightweight Models for Towing. We also offer Park Model Tiny Houses at 10′ wide, the Taconic and the Kinderhook. Park Models are great when you want a little extra elbow room and don’t plan to move your tiny house after it’s put in place. Don’t want to climb up a ladder to go to bed? Click here to see our models with a first-floor bed.

Get your finances ready.

B&B Tiny Houses are inspected by the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association, or the RVIA. Your tiny house will come with an individual seal showing it’s been certified. Because they’re certified to RVIA standards, our tiny houses are legally considered RVs, and can get financing, insurance, and access to RV parks. Having this certification also helps when explaining to your town’s Planning and Zoning Board exactly what a tiny house is!

Our tiny houses start at $39,000. If you’ll use financing, down payments differ based on the financial institution, but they’re generally between 20 and 25%. If you’ll pay cash, we generally charge 60% up front and 40% when the house is complete. You’ll need to have this amount saved before you buy a tiny house.

To find out about how much the tiny house you want would cost, try our Instant Estimate Generator. This will give you a ballpark estimate so you’ll know how much to save. If you’re not comfortable with your first estimate, you can go back through the Estimator as many times as you’d like, choosing different options. Here are some suggested financial institutions for getting RV financing for your tiny house.

Schedule a tiny house design session.

Whether you’d like to make changes to the design of the tiny house or not, a design session is the next step. If the only design changes are your selections for colors, materials and fixtures, these choices are free to make; the cost of the materials you choose will be reflected in your final quote. If you’ll make changes to the blueprints, we charge a Design Alteration fee before our design session (scroll down past the customization options to see the fee).

Contact us to set up a time for a design session, whether via Skype, phone, or in-person. If your session is in person, we’ll walk you through any tiny house that we may have at our shop so you can get a feel for the space. During our design session, we’ll go through, in detail, which options you’d like, and the pros and cons of each depending on your location and how you’ll be using your tiny house. You’ll have a chance to get your tiny house questions answered as well as learn more about which options are realistic for your living situation.

We’ll create a quote for you and send you a contract.

After your design session, our team will create a quote for your tiny house. If you need changes to the existing floor plan, we’ll create a new drawing: this can take a few weeks depending on our design pipeline.

We’ll review your quote and final customization plan (your choices for colors, materials, fixtures, etc.) with you.

When you’re ready to finalize your choices and move forward, we’ll send you a build contract.

When we receive your signed contract and first payment (if you’re paying with cash, 60%; if you’re financing, we’ll need the payment from your financial institution) we’ll start ordering materials for your tiny house.

We’ll build your tiny house.

Our build schedule varies throughout the year: sometimes we can start building a tiny house right away, and other times there will be other projects in the pipeline. We’ll be sure to keep you updated on our build schedule.

Trailers take about five weeks to build; your tiny house, depending on its size and level of complexity, should take 6-12 weeks depending on our build schedule. We’ll keep in touch with you during the build process.

Get your site ready.

The needs of tiny house sites vary greatly. If you’ll be traveling with your tiny house and parking it at RV Parks, there’s not much you’ll need to do. If you’ll be keeping your tiny house in one place, you’ll need to make sure you can get water and power to your tiny house and waste water away from it. Depending on the permanency of your tiny house, you may want to have a gravel or concrete pad poured, and lay water and electric lines. If you’re going solar, you’ll need to contract with a solar company to have your panels installed on your site.

Pick up your tiny house at our shop or have it delivered to your site.

If you’ll be towing your tiny house, here’s a primer on what size vehicle you’ll need.

Those who do not plan to tow their own tiny house may have it professionally delivered to their site. Contact us for a delivery estimate. We’ll schedule a time with you to ensure you’re on-site when your house is delivered, and we’ll answer any questions you might have about setting it in place.

Ready to choose a tiny house model? Check out our Tiny House Designs and then get an Instant Estimate.

Have Questions? Contact us.

Comparing the True Cost of a Tiny House Versus a Traditional House

December 21, 2018/in News /by Katie Jackson

Tiny Houses at first glance are much cheaper than traditional houses. However, let’s take a closer look at the costs involved in tiny house living versus traditional house living.

The cost to build a tiny house is more per square foot, but less overall.

Why? Tiny houses are smaller. The cheapest square footage in any home, whether tiny or not, is empty space. The most expensive space per square foot in a home is the kitchen and bathroom, which have appliances installed that need electricity and plumbing. A tiny house on wheels still has all the appliances and fixtures: a toilet, shower, and sink in the bathroom, and a fridge, sink, and cooking device in the kitchen, just like a “big house”; what we’re eliminating when building tiny is the cheapest space: empty floor space. That’s why the cost per square foot is higher in a tiny house.

However, in a tiny house, the overall material cost is less than in a traditional house, simply because there’s less space, which means less material, labor, and time to build.

The cost of a tiny house doesn’t include land or hookups for water and electric.

With a tiny house on wheels, whether you’re planning to buy land, lease a spot in an RV park or stay in the backyard of someone you’re renting a space from, you’ll need to factor this cost into your overall budget. Tiny houses can be connected to RV hookups in an RV park or permanently hooked into water, septic and sewer. If you’re buying raw land (with no water and power) you’ll need to have a well dug and power connected.

Generally when buying a traditional home it’s already hooked up to utilities and is being sold with a plot of land. Therefore, be sure to factor in not just the cost of the tiny house itself, but the land and hookups when comparing the cost of a tiny house to a traditional home.

Tiny house financing is often for fewer years than traditional mortgages.

B&B’s tiny houses on wheels are certified by the RVIA and therefore financed like RVs. RV financing can be through your own bank or through a national lending institution. As an example, as of 12/21/18 Lightstream’s website lists their RV loans up to 84 months, or 7 years. Traditional mortgages are often 15 or 30 years. Tiny houses, because of their smaller price point and smaller finance time, are usually paid off before a traditional mortgage.

Remember, though, that RV loans are just for the tiny house itself, not the land the house is on. If you’ll be buying a piece of land to put your tiny house on, that would be either paid for all at once or financed separately.

Tiny houses’ utility bills are less.

Tiny houses are smaller than traditional houses, which means less space to heat or cool. Because they’re on wheels, we never know where they’ll end up, so we build our tiny houses to withstand any climate in the continental United States. Our shop is in a rather extreme climate zone so we understand the need to be warm in the winter and cool in the summer. The tiny houses on wheels we have built have been toasty warm in New Hampshire in negative temperatures as well as nice and cool in the Texas heat. Double-glazed windows, high R-value insulation in the floor, ceiling and walls, and efficient heating and cooling systems used in B&B Tiny Houses make for some pretty tiny utility bills.

If your tiny house design gets big enough, in some cases it can make more sense to just buy a regular house.

B&B Tiny Houses’ longest tiny house is 32′ long (on a 30′ trailer with a small overhang) and our widest tiny houses are 10′ wide (the Kinderhook and the Taconic Park Models). If you’re not planning on moving your tiny house, “large” tiny houses can be a great way to get some extra elbow room. When you start going bigger than 10′ x 30′ though, depending on all the other factors mentioned above it may make more financial sense to just have a traditional permanently-affixed home, park home, or modular home built.

To recap, be sure to consider all of the costs involved with living tiny versus living “large”: not just the cost of the houses themselves.

B&B Micro Manufacturing, Inc. is honored with an AIM Next Century Award

November 13, 2018/in News /by Katie Jackson

We are thrilled and humbled to be one of the twelve organizations honored by Associated Industries of Massachusetts with a 2018 AIM Next Century Award.

“AIM created the Next Century Award to honor the accomplishments of companies and individuals creating a new era of economic opportunity for the people of Massachusetts. These remarkable people and institutions – world leaders in their fields – inspire the rest of us by exemplifying the intelligence, hard work and dedication to success that has built our commonwealth,” said Richard C. Lord, President and Chief Executive Officer of AIM.

We couldn’t have accomplished as much as we have without our team of talented, driven craftspeople; our customers who continuously push our creativity to new heights; and the support of the many individuals and entities in the Berkshires, particularly here in North Adams, who have helped us grow over the past two years.

The regional celebration was held at the gorgeous Hotel on North in Pittsfield. Alongside Canyon Ranch in Lenox, we received the Next Century Award, while Pittsfield’s Berkshire Sterile Manufacturing received the Sustainability Award, given by Associated Industries of Massachusetts.

We’re pleased and humbled to be honored along with twelve other businesses and organizations across the state of Massachusetts for our “unique contributions to the Massachusetts economy and the well-being of the people who live there”.

A Look Inside B&B’s Resideo Tiny Smart Home with Honeywell Home Tech

October 30, 2018/in News /by Katie Jackson

We’ve built a Tiny Smart Home using tech from Resideo, Honeywell‘s new spinoff which goes public today.

The Tiny Smart Home is right outside the New York Stock Exchange where Resideo rang the bell this morning, showing off Resideo’s smart home technology.

“As Resideo rings in a new era as an independent company and begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange, the company is hosting a pop-up experience outside the iconic Financial District landmark to display its top-notch, easy-to-use solutions. The mobile technology showcase is the brain child of Resideo and news-outlet Cheddar, who are joining forces to highlight the intersection between smart home technology and simple living. The Resideo Tiny Home, built by B + B Tiny Houses, serves as the backdrop of a new Cheddar show, which will launch later in 2018 and highlight Honeywell Home’s end-to-end, integrated home solutions on the exterior, on the wall, in the wall and in the cloud.

The 125 square-foot home features Honeywell Home’s professionally installed options, which were slightly modified for the small space, and are available through professional HVAC contractors and home automation and security dealers (through Resideo’s ADI Global Distribution business). The home also includes DIY solutions found at major retailers and www.Honeywellhome.com. The solutions are controlled via simple voice commands or Honeywell Home apps, make the home smarter, cozier, safer, and more efficient.” –resideo.com

If you’re near Wall Street check out our Tiny Smart Home with Resideo technology! If you’re not near Wall Street, this tiny house will soon be traveling the nation– keep up to date on its whereabouts on Residso’s Twitter or Facebook!

Click the images to enlarge:

Learn More about “The Tiny Home On Wall Street” in this article by Resideo.

Watch the video of B&B co-founder Jason’s interview about Building The Smart Tiny Home on Cheddar TV.

Appendix Q “Tiny House Appendix” Advances in Massachusetts, August 2018

September 5, 2018/in News /by Katie Jackson

Tiny House Appendix Advances in MA!

From the Board of Building Regulations and Standards (BBRS) August 14, 2018 Regular Meeting Division of Professional Licensure (DPL):

Proposal Number 5-2-2018 – Consider adopting Appendix Q of the International Residential Code pertaining to Tiny Houses.

“On a MOTION by Rich Crowley seconded by Kevin Gallagher it was voted in the majority to advance Appendix Q forward as an amendment to the ninth edition of the code, independent of the tenth edition effort.

On discussion, Rob Anderson indicated that Board members should refrain from making changes to the ninth edition if the effort is to advance to a tenth edition based on the 2018 I-Codes. Jen Hoyt and Kerry Dietz agreed that it becomes awkward and confusing and, by their estimation, there still may be some issues to be resolved with other agencies relating to tiny houses and it makes more sense to review further as part of the tenth edition revision.

Following discussion, the motion was approved via a majority of Board members with Rob Anderson, Jen Hoyt, and Kerry Dietz voting in opposition.”

Next Steps:

According to Rich Crowley, board member of the MA BBRS, the next steps are for a public hearing in November and then a final vote.

“We’ve voted it in now it’s on to public hearing and final vote. After Tuesday’s vote I don’t anticipate any objection… In fact at one of our previous meetings there was one member, the architect, that voiced some opposition to micro units and this time she offered some positive feedback. The Proposal will return with a document that will more than likely get a unanimous approval as well. That should make it to the hearing and to promulgation along with tiny houses.

…Once the hearing is over the following month we decide on all the items came in front of us at the hearing and vote up or down or move them somewhere but some form of action is taken at that following meeting. tiny houses are more than likely move forward. At that point it’s just two steps away from [promulgation].

Next it goes to Administration and finance. Once they sign off then it goes to the governor’s desk for signature. It takes maybe a day or two after that for the Secretary of State too publish it as a part of our first amendment to the 9th Edition of the mass building code. The date that gets published is the date of becomes Law so to speak.

I think we can get it all done by the first of the year pretty close. I have talked to lieutenant governor who’s very excited and wants to see it move forward. In fact when one of governor Baker’s main themes is for affordable housing and that’s what this does. Give people a chance to get on that first rung of the ladder.”

Background Info:

What is The Tiny House Appendix?

Appendix Q addresses building code standards for small houses on foundations that have already been adopted into the 2018 International Residential Code (IRC), including standards for lofts, stairs, egresses, and ceiling heights. To be clear, the adoption of the Tiny House Appendix won’t completely legalize tiny houses in Massachusetts– that’s up to each city– but if it is adopted, it will provide a set of building standards for under 400 sq ft homes where they are legalized, and where they aren’t yet legalized, help legitimize tiny homes in the eyes of local building departments. Appendix Q does not address tiny houses on wheels, as they are currently considered vehicles.

Read the Tiny House Appendix here.

Appendix Q in Massachusetts

Andrew and Gabriella Morrison have been instrumental in writing and getting the Tiny House Appendix adopted into the national 2018 IRC: now it’s up to each state, and then each city/town in each state, to adopt it into their specific building code. Andrew presented at a Massachusetts BBRS meeting, introducing Appendix Q last fall.

Tiny House Tour at North Adams’ Downtown Celebration

August 13, 2018/in News /by Katie Jackson

Massachusetts BBRS Approves Tiny House Appendix: Here’s What’s Next

July 12, 2018/in News /by Katie Jackson

Good news for tiny houses on foundations in Massachusetts!

Appendix Q has been voted through by the BBRS.

This is not the end of the Tiny House Appendix’s journey to adoption, but it was an important step.

The Tiny House Appendix has been voted through by the Massachusetts Board of Building Regulations and Standards! It is now being reviewed by other state offices. If adopted into the state building code, IRC 2018, it will provide safety standards for building tiny houses on foundations in Massachusetts.

Read the previous blog post on Appendix Q in Massachusetts here.

At this point, there’s not much action the public can take except wait until it is reviewed. We haven’t been given a specific time frame for when the Appendix would be adopted. Assuming it will be adopted, it will then be up to each city and town to decide to call tiny houses on foundations legal, a decision which will be based off existing code which might exclude houses under a certain square footage, etc. While there is still a lot of work to be done on a local level if this does pass, for now, we’re waiting.

Robert Anderson of the Massachusetts Board of Building Regulations and Standards says:

“Board members voted to advance adoption of the tiny house appendix, at least conceptually.

Among other things, Governor Baker’s Executive Order (EO) 562 requires agencies to review all regulations to ensure that they are not burdensome and\or cost prohibitive. Additionally, Building Code Coordinating Committee (BCCC) mandates regulatory review to ensure that regulations do not conflict and\or duplicate requirements so as to cause confusion to the user or enforcer. Accordingly, the measure will be advanced through each process over the next month or so. At the same time, Board members have requested a review of all 2018 I-Codes for which they have jurisdiction with the thought of advancing the entire code to the more current documents (rather than piecemeal adoption).

Board members will not meet again until August 14th where the conversation will continue. In the interim, we will explore the likelihood of advancing the entire code or just pieces (i.e. Appendix Q).

I hope this information is helpful.

Sincerely,

Robert Anderson
Division of Professional Licensure
Office of Public Safety and Inspections”

Background Info:

What is The Tiny House Appendix?

Appendix Q addresses building code standards for small houses on foundations that have already been adopted into the 2018 International Residential Code (IRC), including standards for lofts, stairs, egresses, and ceiling heights. To be clear, the adoption of the Tiny House Appendix won’t completely legalize tiny houses in Massachusetts– that’s up to each city– but if it is adopted, it will provide a set of building standards for under 400 sq ft homes where they are legalized, and where they aren’t yet legalized, help legitimize tiny homes in the eyes of local building departments. Appendix Q does not address tiny houses on wheels, as they are currently considered vehicles.

Read the Tiny House Appendix here.

Appendix Q in Massachusetts

Andrew and Gabriella Morrison have been instrumental in writing and getting the Tiny House Appendix adopted into the national 2018 IRC: now it’s up to each state, and then each city/town in each state, to adopt it into their specific building code. Andrew presented at a Massachusetts BBRS meeting, introducing Appendix Q last fall.