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10 tips for buying the right tiny house trailer

February 23, 2016 4 Comments

 

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For many people, the words “tiny home” create the picture of a cozy miniature home, often snuggled gently into the surrounding scenery, soaking in the simple life. However, when thinking about tiny homes it’s easy to forget one of their most important components: the trailer. Before you start planning every detail, there are a few things you need to know about buying the right tiny house trailer.

Every home has a foundation and a tiny home is no exception. You want your home to last a lifetime. So why should your trailer be any different? If you’re planning to build a tiny house, it just makes sense to start with the right trailer. Choosing well at the beginning can add decades of enjoyment to your home.

With the summer do-it-yourself building season just around the corner, now is the time to get the foundation in place for your building project.

10 tips to help you find the trailer that’s right for you and your home

  1. Don’t build on a flatbed. The most common type of trailer is a flatbed. But they’re not designed for tiny houses. Look for a trailer specifically engineered for two things. One – to provide an optimal foundation to safely secure your tiny home. The lower your home sits in the trailer, the more stable it will be. Two – to provide the maximum amount of building space – both for height and width. That means more elbowroom for you.
  1. Grab a tape measure. Unlike in a regular house, every inch counts when you’re living tiny. Do some pre-planning to know exactly how much room you need. Make sure your trailer can provide the space you need to live comfortably and accommodate your lifestyle. If possible, work with a trailer manufacturer that can customize your trailer down to the quarter inch.
  1. Adjust your coupler. Transportation should be easy. Look for a trailer with an adjustable coupler so you quickly hitch up and tow away. This feature allows you to use any hitch to pull your home, regardless of the hitch’s height. This also means you don’t need to purchase a special hitch to make your load even.
  1. Don’t buy new tools. Normally you would need new tools and special drill bits for drilling through your metal trailer. Save yourself some time and money. Look for a trailer with the holes pre-drilled for hurricane ties and other reinforcements used to secure your home to the trailer.
  1. Look for a forward-facing side-winding jack. The right jack helps to ease the hitching and unhitching process. The handle should be on the front of the side-winding jack so you gain extra building space. (If the handle is on the top of the jack or on the side, its turning radius takes up valuable building space.) You can use the extra space to extend your house up to the jack or build an exterior storage box.
  1. Get the right axles. Options for trailer axles include drop axles, straight axles, and off-road axles. Each option has benefits along with corresponding tradeoffs. Look for a trailer that offers the axles that works best for your tiny house. You’ll also gain a longer lifespan for your trailer by choosing commercial-rated axles designed to withstand extensive wear and tear.
  1. Roll with tires that can handle the miles. Trailers can come with two types of tires: bias or radial. Bias tires are typically less expensive, but they don’t last as nearly as long as radial tires. Radial tires are also less likely to develop flat spots when they are parked in the same position for a lengthy period of time, and they run cooler on longer trips.
  1. License and registration, please. In some states, trailers don’t automatically come with paperwork needed to license them. Make your life simpler by buying a trailer that includes a title of ownership as well as a VIN number so you can easily register and license it.
  1. Say no to rust. Better quality trailers come with an industrial paint designed to inhibit rust. For maximum rust resistance, you may wish to galvanize your trailer (submerging it in molten zinc for a complete protective coating). This is good for people doing a lot of travel in the winter on salty roads or for people who live near saltwater.
  1. Do your research. With the tiny house movement growing rapidly, you’ll find many companies offering to sell you a tiny house trailer. Look for one that will listen and work with you to provide a trailer for building the tiny home of your dreams. If buying your trailer from tiny home manufacturer, ask to speak with their construction supervisor for tips on safely securing your tiny home to the trailer.

If you’re planning to build this summer, make your do-it-yourself experience the best it can be. Choose the right trailer for your tiny house project and eliminate unforeseen headaches and complications. The right foundation makes all the difference.

If you’d like to speak with someone about selecting the right tiny house trailer, feel free to get in touch with Sharon Read of Seattle Tiny Homes. She’ll be glad to chat with you for no cost or obligation.

Filed Under: Construction, Floor, Photos, Safety & Stability, Trailer

Make a house look like a home (and keep it stable)

December 30, 2011 2 Comments

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For a truly homelike feel, there’s nothing like cedar siding on the exterior. For the Ballard model we’re building, we used kiln-dried, tight-knot cedar. We chose a lap pattern with a seven-inch reveal alternating with a one and three-quarter-inch reveal. We love the distinctive look it gives.

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Here’s a close-up of one of the dormer windows. We used cedar sidewall shakes rather than continuing with the siding. Someone is going to enjoy his or her view out of the little red window!

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A bay window also adds a homelike touch, but window manufacturers don’t build bay windows small enough for tiny homes! So we had one custom built. It’s installed at the back of the home and adds a sense of light and extra space.

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Each corner of the tiny home is secured with a hurricane tie-down. For added safety, the stud securing the hurricane tie-down is affixed to five inch steel tubing on the trailer.

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In addition to working on our tiny home, our building team has been busy with another tiny structure. We thought you’d enjoy a shot of their handiwork. Notice the classic gambrel roof that makes this little building really stand out.

Filed Under: Construction, Photos, Safety & Stability, Siding, Windows

“Glue and Screw” Makes the Walls Go Up

September 17, 2011 2 Comments

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The wall begins to take shape. The studs are secured to the trailer with TimberLoks®, a corrosion-resistant bolt that tightly ties the walls in place.
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Each wall panel is glued into place, then screwed. This creates sheer panels for extra safety and also keeps squeaks and rattles to a minimum.
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Progress! With the walls up, work has already started on the roof. Openings for the windows will be cut out later.

Construction is rapidly progressing on the Ballard model (a space designed for a small family) that we’re currently building. We’re a little behind on blogging, but here are a few details about the walls:

  • We designed the trailer so the majority of wall studs would rest on top of angle iron (extremely strong), then be secured to the trailer with corrosion-resistant TimberLoks®. Each corner of the walls is also secured to the trailer with hurricane ties.
  • Our team took care to glue and screw all structural components. This is extremely time consuming – taking more than five times longer than simply nailing – but it turns the walls into sheer panels that are super strong and able to stand up to high winds on the highway and any bumps or jostles from the road when the home is towed. We don’t want any squeaks or rattles!
  • We’ve chosen products with the greatest strength yet lightest weight, while trying to be as green as possible.

Our goal is to create a home in which the structure is fully integrated with the trailer. The measures we’ve taken exceed the international standard of building for hurricanes, but we want to create the safest environment possible for a family.

Filed Under: Construction, Photos, Safety & Stability, Walls

The trailer: a sturdy foundation

September 5, 2011 1 Comment

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The foundation for our Ballard model home.

Just recently we took delivery of a trailer that will be the foundation for the Ballard model home we are currently constructing. Our team custom designed this trailer with several important traits:

  • It’s rated to hold up to 10,000 pounds.
  • The angle iron braces extending out from the trailer can hold nearly 1,000 pounds each. The studs of the home will rest on these extensions.
  • The angle iron cross members are specifically placed to fall directly under the floor joists.

Each element of the trailer is precisely planned to provide a solid foundation for our tiny home. The next step was seting up the trailer to be perfectly level to build upon, not even off by a few degrees. Construction can begin!

Filed Under: Construction, Photos, Safety & Stability, Trailer

Not just any old trailer.

June 22, 2011 Leave a Comment

We’re getting ready to launch construction of a Ballard model home, and the first big step is selecting the right trailer.

After all, the trailer is the “foundation” for a tiny house on wheels. Pick the wrong trailer and you risk the long-term structural integrity of your home.

To get it right, Sharon (founder of Seattle Tiny Homes) teamed up with a structural engineer and two contractors to brainstorm the best solution. Together they designed a trailer with several goals in mind:

1 – Use every possible inch of the trailer to allow for maximum square footage while still providing complete support for the structure.

2 – Integrate the trailer fully into the home’s construction, so the home plus the trailer become one complete unit, rather than a structure tacked on to a trailer.

3 – Use the best quality materials to provide a lifetime of service, while still keeping the trailer as light as possible.

After multiple conversations and scribbled drawings, we’ve come up with an excellent solution. It’s a custom designed trailer with steel brackets that allow key studs of the home to be firmly secured to the trailer with TimberLocks®. We’ll also use Simpson strong ties at each corner. These and other extra steps make the tiny home and the trailer a completely integrated unit.

The end result is a home built for a lifetime of safety, stability, and longevity. In a strong headwind while driving, hurricane force winds, or an earthquake – this home should stand straight and true. In fact, it exceeds international hurricane standards.

We’ve ordered the trailer and expect it soon. We’ll post pictures when it arrives!

Filed Under: Construction, Safety & Stability, Trailer

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