In part 1 of this series, I explored the initial stages of building a small structurestarting with the concept of keeping the end results in mind, through the vetting and selection of a contractor, to being at that stage of “I’m ready to spend money, but how do I know if that money is being used for the highest and best use?”  

In this article, I’ll continue with the goal of making your tiny house build a successful journey.  

You’ve selected your contractor and are ready to spend your money.  This is where the rubber meets the road.

It’s where the jitters about parting with our money cause us to stay up late at night because we second-guess the decision we made.

It’s the left & right brain each trying to convince each other.  

In my experience, when we can lessen these jitters and make a logical decision coupled with equal excitement, we can make for a successful project. This is because we are at that critical point where the excitement pushes us to pull the trigger on the project while, at the same time, being fully aware of all the potential pros and cons.  

As with ancient Chinese philosophy, we need the yin with the yang.  

Many times, I’ve gotten super fired up about a project and romanced the idea in my mind for enough time, collecting so many details and facts that it played itself out, causing me to no longer pursue the realization of that goal or chief aim.  

This is a critical difference here at Wolf Industries Inc.  

We categorically don’t want to build a project for a customer that we know will be dissatisfied with the results 6 months down the road.  If I can urge you to make one decision, that would be to hire a company of good people. You will bump into issues and problems that were unforeseen, but if you work with good people, they will stick by you through the whole process.

These next steps of fleshing out the unknowns will take timemore so because building ADUs and other small structures is a form of new urbanism that hasn’t fully taken off.  We’ve had numerous experiences where we go into the permitting office of one of our local jurisdictions to apply for a permit and it’s rejected.  

Let’s examine why.  

Presenting a Tiny House Build Project

As you present a project of small scale to a planner or code official, they are trained to do their job of protecting the public at large.  They do this by applying the building and land use code in a fair and judicious way.

As humans, we are very visually centered, so the plans examiner immediately looks for anything differing from all the previous projects they’ve already approved.  If something jumps out at them, as frequently happens with a small building project such as a tiny house in the backyard, they will do one of two things:

  1. immediately reject the submission
  2. ask their supervisor how to handle this situation

This is because the tiny house project doesn’t fit into their ordinary process.  The best way to prevent these issues is to be prepared. In a future post, I’ll explain how to prepare a perfect permit application for an ADU.

For this article’s sake, I’ll hit the high-level view of what you will need.  

Step #1 is to find a designer.  

This can come in many ways.  It could be your girlfriend that you bring out for coffee, or it could be a professional you hire; either way, having someone to bat ideas around with is super important.  

Our experience proves that the really good ideas come when two or more people are involved who have the same common goalsthey each want the best for each other.  Bat the ideas around and let it take shape on paper.  

From the design side, make sure you keep tabs on the buildability of your tiny house with your contractor as discussed in part 1.  For some the step of general design is super fun while others would rather leave it to the professionalneither way is wrong.

Step #2 is to get your design formally drawn.

Once you have the tiny house design sketched out on paper, the next step is to get it formally drawn.  Sometimes a designer will use a CAD (Computer Assisted Design) software program that will generate this for you.  Other times you will need to source a separate draftsman to make this happen.

At Wolf, for example, we will get floor plans hashed out with a designer but then take that floor plan to the next level with elevations, section views, and framing layouts, all done by someone else.  Even at this stage, it is critical to check in with the guy who will do the building to make sure that the project will be on budgetmeaning that it’s buildable with normal techniques and materials.

Step #3 is to hire a structural engineer.

Hiring a structural engineer is the next task.  As with buying anything from shoes to a new phone, there are many different grades of engineers.  I’ll give a couple of stereotypes:

  • The engineer that works by himself as a lone ranger
  • The small firm that has some processes and systems in place to handle small to medium projects
  • The medium-sized firm that’s geared for projects that take more than a day or two
  • The large firm that really doesn’t have the time of day

Let’s take a look at the first: a small independent guy with lower overhead.  

Engineers are generally careful by the nature of the work they do and understand the risks involved with the job.  Seeking an engineer who will not over spec the design is important because you don’t want to pay for unnecessary material and labor.  This is a major fundamental cost driver that goes unnoticed because it’s early in the project and very little hard dollars have been spent, but as each line is drawn on the paper, it has a corresponding cost associated with it.  

Bottom line, find an engineer who “gets it.”  You’ll know this when they want to talk about how the tiny house will be built and are cognizant of current building techniques.

Step #4 is to draft a site plan.

Now that the tiny house has been drawn and the building structurally sound, you need a site plan with all the details.  Drafting a good site plan has many elements of fine art. It has tons of information yet doesn’t look cluttered. A site plan has a few basic requirements:

  • Footprint of the proposed structureADU, guest house, etc…
  • Utilities going to it (except for power as it’s independent)
  • Existing and new driveways
  • Easements and setbacks
  • For lots in town, placing trees on the plot plan is generally required
  • Contour lines
  • North arrow, street names

For most jurisdictions, they’ll have a checklist with all the requirements on itlook for it online or ask for it at the same time as the application paperwork.  These government-provided documents are extremely helpful because they tell us exactly what they want us to do to fit inside their checkboxes.

Filling out the paperwork is generally self-explanatory until you come to a stormwater plan or an erosion control plan.  These requirements for stormwater and erosion differ by area, but in general, they are exempt when doing small projects. This does not exclude you from having to fill out the form(s) thoughbe sure to ask twice on everything in order to prevent multiple trips to the permit office.

Now that you have your completed package ready to submit, don’t waste any time; go submit the thing.  I’ll pick up here in part 3 of this series.

Stay tuned as I look to share with you all that I know on the topic of permitting, building, living, and maintaining a tiny house, small structure, or cottage!

Missed part one? Click here to go back: Part One: Assessing Your Tiny Home Needs

Ready to continue? Click here for Part Three: Seeing Your Cottage Project Through