In a tiny home, you want the maximum amount of living space within the exterior dimensions. That’s one of the reasons the roof our Ballard model – a space designed for a small family – includes two dormers.

These dormers add a significant amount of space and light to our two sleeping lofts without making the house taller or wider. Of course, dormers that rise from the roofline are time consuming and require a lot of carpentry skill. Every angle has to be cut exactly right. But dormers are well worth the extra time and effort.

We also framed the roof for two skylights (which will be installed later) to let in even more light and views of the sky.

Some technical details: to create the roof, we glued and screwed half-inch CDX plywood to the rafters, then covered it with WIP (water and ice paper). The rafters themselves are secured to the top plate of the walls with TimberLoks®, which meet code requirements for hurricane tie-downs.