Living Big in a Tiny House

At 15 Square meters and completely off-grid, Brett Sutherland has constructed a true, tiny house treasure. Packed with unique, space saving design elements, Brett has created a fantastic space to both live and work. Perhaps best of all, this was all achieved on a budget of NZ$21,000. The Tiny House was constructed on his parents property, and will soon be moved to a friends property in Bethells Beach in Auckland. This modern tiny house is filled with treasures obtained over a lifetime of adventure, and may just be the ultimate bachelor pad.

EarthSong Eco-Neighbourhood has long been at the cutting edge of sustainable design and urban permaculture. It's for that very reason that it should be no surprise to discover that EarthSong is also now home to one of New Zealand's first Tiny Houses.

A lot of people ask us about where to park a tiny house. In this video we tour the amazing property where Brett has placed his off-the-grid Tiny House and find out how he came to park it here.

Let's take a tour of Cedric, the Tiny House! Cedric is a charming Tiny House who in a previous life was actually a house truck. The space has been wonderfully converted into a very functional living area with kitchen, bathroom and a lovely lounge. Impressively, Cedric boasts two sleeping lofts, meaning that the house can very comfortably sleep two couples or could even be suitable for a family.

This week we tour an amazing DIY tree house! Hidden in a wonderful old Kauri Forest, this Tree House is an absolute delight. The whole house is made from three small rooms that are each individually suspended in the trees. Although these are still under construction, the care and attention that is going into this build is evident and it is easy to imagine just how stunning they will be when completed. The builder of these tree houses has been chipping away at their construction in his spare time over the last few years. They are a true DIY marvel.

This week we take a tour of the tiny earth houses of Solscape. These beautiful natural buildings are each less than 10 square meters, and sit overlooking the ocean, amongst the beautiful hills of Raglan, New Zealand. The Earth Domes were built using a technique called earth-bag construction, where sturdy sacks are filled with material such as rock, sand and clay and then compacted down. The buildings each have a ferrocement roof and are finished off with a lime plaster. Together, these domes cost less than NZ$10,000.00 to build. A remarkably low-cost, but stunningly beautiful build. Although they are currently used as accommodation at Solscape Eco Retreat, it's easy to see how easily these could be turned into spectacular, permanent tiny and ultra affordable earth houses with mezzanine sleeping loft, kitchen, bathroom and lounge areas.

In this tiny house tour, we visit the mobile house truck of Wayne and Anita. This wonderful couple made the brave decision 6 months ago to downsize their lives and fulfil their dream of living a more simple life on the road. We were lucky enough to tour their beautiful tiny house truck, and learn more about what drives them to simplify their life and live closer to both nature, and each other.

After watching the film Garbage Warrior, kiwi couple Nathan Rushton and Jess Fitzgerald were so inspired by Earthship architecture that they actually travelled to New Mexico to study Earthship Biotecture with pioneering architect Michael Reynolds. After returning to New Zealand and finding an ideal location, the couple then began the process of designing and building a downsized version of an Earthship at their property in Raglan.

At 20 square meters (215 square feet) Student Tiny House builder Stefan Cook really has created a very big Tiny House. Constructed largely from salvaged materials from homes in Christchurch that were demolished after the earthquakes, Stefan Tiny House has a very clever open plan design that makes the entire house feel very spacious.

In this video we show you step-by-step how to install a tongue and groove floor directly onto a Tiny House trailer. We're incredibly lucky to have master builder Alan Drayton and his team from Bio Build Ltd (http://www.biobuild.co.nz) helping us on our build and giving us their expert advice.

This off-the-grid shipping container house is one that you have to see to believe! Converted from a 20ft (6 meter) shipping container, this tiny house has everything that you need and is an exceptional example of functional, space-saving design.

We found that steel framing was most suitable for our Tiny House build. There are a lot of benefits to framing with steel, most important to the construction of a house on wheels of course is the fact it is very light weight. The team at FRAMECAD have been brilliant and have helped us every step of the way with the framing. They have taken our drawings, worked out all the framing detail and also the engineering to make sure that it’s a safe and stable structure. In this video we talk to Kyle from FRAMECAD about the benefits of steel framing, get a tour of their production factory and also take a look at the framing CAD file for our Tiny House.

It's time for the steel frame of our Tiny House to be erected and attached to the trailer! In this video, the amazing team at FRAMECAD show us just how efficient steel framing can be, as we watch the whole house frame go up in a matter of hours.

Securing the Tiny House to the trailer is one of the most vital elements to get right. In this video we show how our tiny house is secured to the trailer and also take a look at the various screws and connections that FRAMECAD have used to make sure our Tiny House is ready for whatever the road and the elements will throw at it!

It's time to move the Tiny House! The team at FRAMECAD have done an incredible job with steel framing the Tiny House. We have got the tick of approval from the engineer and that means it's time to hit the road and move the house to the build site to begin roofing and cladding.

This is a house truck that you have to see to believe. Completely road legal, this off-the-grid house truck folds out and transforms into a fantasy castle. This is one Tiny House tour you don't want to miss!

Purlins are horizontal support members that sit on top of the rafters. The roofing material is then fixed onto the purlins. In this video, Alan from Bio Build Ltd shows us the process behind fastening the purlins to the steel rafters of our Tiny House.

In this episode, we take a look at how to install building wrap and cavity battens to the steel frame of our tiny house.