Brady Lasher

2K HOUSE BLOG

BACKGROUND

Problem Statement

This project is very unique in the fact that it is a tiny home, but with much more scope and purpose than most tiny homes.  Most tiny homes are for people that are just minimalists that want to make a small footprint; however our tiny house project has much more purpose.  We are doing research on tiny homes for $2,000 which can serve the purpose of giving families homes that are victims of natural disasters.  By be conscientious of natural disasters and working with partners like Alabama Rural Ministry and FEMA, we feel that we will be able to deliver a home that is not only economical, but could change the life of many families that are subject to disaster.

PRIMARY DUTIES

Team Work

This project is going to be executed by our 13 person studio group which is divided into four different teams.  These teams consist of Pre-Planning, Conceptual Design, Final Design, & Implementation.  The Preconstruction schedule is split into 4 weeks which will give each team one week to work on the home before we begin constructing our final project.  My team was the Implementation team which had many different duties to complete during our last week of preconstruction.

The first task that we had to complete was a safety plan and a work plan for every team throughout construction in order to keep everyone working in an efficient and safe manner.  This safety plan was very extensive, and included all forms of protection, best practices, and emergency reactive procedures for any event that could have happened during construction.  The work plan came about from the safety plan and allowed us to separate the teams into more efficient work crews in order to get the work completed.

The next step was to start the site work before everyone came out onsite to construct the building. This consisted of plotting out a building lot, leveling ground, setting foundations, and organizing site zones.  By planning upfront and ensuring correct foundations, the home construction went much faster.  Aside from my team work, I also had individual responsibilities that I was held accountable for.  Before construction I made a BIM model of the home, a material take-off, an estimate, and provided each team with the latest construction drawings.  I was the individual with keys to the site, so I had to be the first one there and the last one to leave every day in order to mobilize and demobilize each day.  I also have significant construction site experience, so I was assigned to be a foreman of one construction crew to give direction, instruction, training, and assure quality assurance.  As construction progressed I performed tasks such as foundations, waste management, documentation, framing, sheathing, siding, roofing, and finish work; by everyone participating in each element of the process, we all got a well-rounded experience and understanding of the construction process.

RESEARCH ISSUE

Spatiality

One challenge of tiny homes is the simple fact that they are tiny and are difficult to make comfortable for more than one person.  Since our house is so small, we are not going to be able to create specific “rooms”, but just split the home up by curtains and material changes.  One problem with including doors is the wasted space that the door swings take up; since this home is a maximum of 400 square feet, we do not have the room to waste.  The only way to overcome this challenge while still keeping doors is to put in pocket doors, but the partitions are not wide enough to allow the door to slide, making this impossible.  Therefore, we will have to put in either curtains, or try to split rooms by material changes. 

If the home has no separation or privacy, then the home serves no purpose because it will only accommodate for one person.  The purpose of this project is not to just make a living space for one person, but a living space for a small family from 2 – 4 people.  According to the article that I found on a couple that lived in a tiny home together, this is a challenge even for a married couple.  Even a married couple needs separation at times for things such as hobbies, work, and relaxing; these types of activities are impossible to do in a tiny home because there is just not enough room.  Also, budgets are so tight on tiny homes there is typically no running water, sewer, and limited power.

I began to brainstorm about ways to overcome these challenges, which was very difficult to get started.  What I started to find is that there is standard way to build a tiny home, there are infinite possibilities and many creative solutions.  Since our budget is $2,000, I don’t think that we will be able to any systems in the home but we will be able to plan for future systems.  As I searched many different systems, there are many that are inexpensive, but they are not conventional and I don’t want the occupants to feel inferior by using unconventional systems.  I believe the best solutions are to run these homes with RV and trailer solutions.  This is a convenient way to get water, power, sewer, heat, and AC while keeping the costs low and feeling like the systems are conventional rather than compromising.

http://tiny-project.com/tiny-house-roommates-living-with-your-partner/

REFLECTION ON THE PROJECT

When were you most engaged? Least engaged? Why?

I was very engaged throughout the entire process of the home because I wanted to learn as much as possible about every aspect of the home.  I started by helping with the design and making construction drawings, and then materials and prices.  During the site and foundations I was very involved because I had the keys to the site and the plans for the foundations.  We then moved onto the framing in which I was very involved with the walls, but not the floor.  This is where we really ran into issues of deferring from the model and problems started to arise.  My intention with the framing was to align every member from the floor to the roof, which didn’t happen because some things were framed incorrect.  This is where I started to become disengaged because everyone was pointing fingers, no problems were being solved, just attitudes arising so I checked out.  I began to become upset with the attitude and carelessness of everyone around the project.  Many individuals would show up late and put in the minimum time and leave.  Towards the end of the project there were about half as many people onsite as there were in the beginning and I became much more involved then because I wanted to get done and I knew that I needed to take a charge or that would not happen.

I think that I was engaged in the project when people were motivated and wanted to have high production.  As the project lost momentum and problems arose I began to become unengaged because I felt nobody cared.  Finally I ended the project strong because I could see the end and wanted to finish.

What surprised you about the project?

Throughout the duration of the project, I was surprised with many different things that occurred.  One being that many of the building science students had never been exposed to actual construction and they had a hard learning curve because they had never seen these activities in real life. 

Another thing that surprised me is how much we deviated from the drawings with such a small plan.  This house was a 160 square foot home and we only did the building envelope; however we still managed to change the drawings significantly throughout the process.  This just shows how so many change orders and RFI’s happen in the real world regardless of how perfect you think the drawings are.

Who/What contributed to your learning on the project? Why?

I thought it was very interesting to see the different leaders that emerged throughout the process of construction and see how they dealt with conflict.  Due to experience in certain parts of construction, someone would take charge of that portion of construction.  Some leaders would get angry and point fingers at others when something would go wrong, while others would go pout in the corner and think the issue was going to resolve itself.  This was interesting to me because it taught me to look at the way things are done and how issues are dealt with and try to resolve them in a more efficient manner. 

One other thing that I really learned was to really just pay attention to detail before construction.  I did most of the drawings prior to construction and I noticed that I just would draw something that looked good on paper, but didn’t necessarily work in the field.  And more importantly, not think over the entire detail; for example I drew all the framing and sheathing, but no waterproofing or details of connections.  These types of things are essential to have thought through strenuously BEFORE construction starts.

What would you suggest for additional projects of this type?

I think that one thing that this project lacked was buy-in from everyone on the team which is essential to having a successful project.  So many students were checked out before this project, the project was driven by only a few who really wanted to do it.  I think at times during construction we had too many people and it made things difficult, but that was only because those people didn’t care about production, they just wanted to put their time in and leave.  Also, my team got the house plan from the “Final Design” team and there were absolutely no details in the plan.  There was no flashing, wall sections, cladding, waterproofing, foundations, connections, etc. This made it much more difficult for my team because we were scrambling to do our week tasks, plus the left over tasks from other teams. 

In summary, the most important thing that this project was missing was preplanning.  We needed a team that cared about a successful project, and was excited about getting a successful end product which we lacked.  From details of moisture, connections, sections, and material choices.  The sections that are used in a project like this cannot just be a standard section; for example the corner flashing on the building – the flashing oil canned extremely bad because we didn’t think through the material choice – with that material choice, we would have been better to put a furring strip behind the flashing, used flat headed screws, and predrilled holes to ensure that there was an attractive end product with no oil canning. 

Overall I had a great time building this house, and I learned a ton about planning, reality, construction, materials, sequencing, and teams.  I will definitely build one again and try to fix all the mistakes that happened on this home.