PRECONSTRUCTION
For our end of the year project for Summer 2014, the Masters in Integrated Design and Construction cohort 2013/2014 were asked to build a small one-person house for $2000K dollars. We were divided into 4, three-person groups to each design or manage a portion of reconstruction duties, from design, to materials, and budgeting. Each group performed their duties in succession one week at a time. After a month, we were ready to begin construction, with a small floor plan, exterior look, and materials chosen. Our involvement in the project ended at drying in the building and finishing the exterior. Subsequent classes will finish out the interior and utilities.
CONSTRUCTION
During construction, the design called for minimal cuts in the materials. We wished to minimize waste as much as possible, so we chose 8 and 10 foot lengths for the walls using standard 2x4’s and designed the overall dimensions to work well with minimally cut sheathing, rigid insulation and rafter beams.
I took this opportunity to really get involved with physical construction as much as possible. I wanted to really take advantage of the situation to hone my skills and learn more from my other more knowledgable teammates. I was heavily involved in the wall framing, helping to frame one long side and one short side, while also providing input from the first short side we finished to the next team tasked with building the opposite short side. I also cut many of the rafters to size so that another team member could place them on top of the walls. As the project progressed my final major task, besides helping to install the waterproofing and rigid insulation, was roofing. We spent an entire morning start to finish laying down shingles. Luckily the temperature that morning was moderate and the job as hot as it had been on days before.
I was surprised at how quickly it went up: a total of seven full 8 hours days, split into two weeks at 4 hours a day. I was most surprised at how slowly laying the shingles took. It felt we had mad almost no progress after two hours! I was fortunate enough to be able to learn from several of my colleagues with more real-world construction experience.
The final budget came in at just over $3000, which still seams incredibly reasonable after we finished and seeing the results of our work. For another couple thousand dollars, you could easily have a very nice, well insulated home, albeit a tiny house. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and it has inspired me to heavily consider my own iteration of tiny living, be it remodeling an airstream, building a tiny house on wheels, or simply attempting to maximize space with thoughtful design.
