This “tiny house” was designed by my brother, his wife and I, and everything in the house is custom built from the deck up. It rests on a beefy, 28,000 GVWR 40′ Gooseneck trailer and is 9 1/2′ wide and approximately 17′ tall from the ground up. Inside it is 380 square feet, with over 250 square feet of loft space. No drywall was used in the house due to the nature of drywall and the fact this is a mobile structure.
Energy Efficient
The Tiny House Mansion is very well insulated and designed to be run off of solar and propane. It had recycled Poly-ISO foam in the ceiling and formaldehyde free fiberglass in the walls. The entire structure is then wrapped in OSB, with rigid foam panels and Tyvek on top to create an air-tight seal and prevent thermal bridging from the outside. This means the house never gets hotter than the ambient air temperature even when left closed with no A/C.
The roof is solid white, 26 ga steel R-panel and unlike a traditional roof, there is an air gap between the metal roof and the roof deck which prevents the metal from transferring heat to the structure itself. The white color is not only reflective, but also highly emissive which means it does not retain heat like Galvalume or dark metals/shingles. The surface temperature can be as much as 40 deg. F. lower than a slate colored roof.
Healthy
Unlike most houses (and Tiny Houses) we went with nearly 100% natural products for the interior – including non-toxic, zero VOC and food safe sealers and oils. We also coated all external sheathing with AFM SafeCoat, Safe Seal, which prevents off-gassing of any chemicals into the air. Clean air is very important for small spaces because of the reduced amount of air volume. The smaller the space, the cleaner the air needs to be.
All of the cabinets are made from special premium wood panels produced with plant binders instead of traditional cabinet plywood and MDF sheets, which contain glues with formaldehyde. After construction was finished, our inside air quality test on the house showed no formaldehyde off-gassing, which is something very few houses achieve.
House Features
Living Room
- Large living room windows (48 feet of window glass)
- Wood burning stove
- Tall 13 foot “vaulted” ceiling
Kitchen Features
- Pull-out island (extra storage and counter space)
- Deep, single-basin kitchen sink
- Wood butcher block countertop
- Reverse Osmosis Drinking Water (~75 gallons/hour flow)
- Full-size gas range/oven
- Full size refrigerator/freezer
- Countertop size dishwasher installed under the counter (with room for full-size)
- Twenty-one drawers (with self-closing drawer slides)
- Plenty of pantry storage (drawers are more efficient than shelving or cabinets)
Bathroom
- 4′ bath with deluxe showerhead and handheld nozzle
- Sink cabinet with storage
- Mirror and medicine cabinet
- Electric heater/vent fan/light ceiling unit
Laundry Room
- Large capacity HE stackable washer/gas dryer set (front loaders)
My Fortress Construction, LLC 