Every now and then you come across a tiny house. That's been built to a really exceptional
Standard and that's exactly the case with this next place. I'm about to visit right now
I'm in the workshop of Jeff hobbs who's been commissioned to build a truly amazing tiny house on wheels
Get it Jeff do they breathe so you goodnight?
Fantastic to meet you yeah nice to meet you too, and what an impressive-looking tiny house? You've built here mate
Yeah
Thank you
So tell me first about what is on the roof because that's the first thing that I'm noticing is this really impressive solar setup
You've got up there yeah, well we've got two 300 watt solar panels, and we've got a solar collector
Going to solar tank that's inside the box right and we've got a hit a tank on top of that
It's about a hundred litres, and that's giving us a low-pressure water system
And we've got a wet back from the fire as well that goes into the soil tent
So this tiny house is designed to be entirely off the grid yeah
it does [have] a Caravan plug if you happen to need it and
so yeah the plan is that it's
Totally autonomous because obviously this isn't the house that you're gonna live in you've built this for a client [this] right here
lady named Bly Hale
Commissioned me about 18 months ago
and she came and said that she doesn't know how [to] draw but she knows how to paint with woods right so she
many emails went back and Forth as I drew the plans and
took about six months that process so firstly tell me a little bit about the material that were actually used on the outside here because
This looks really good
[yes], so that's [a] Meranti plywood
And we we used um what I call sips or structurally insulated panels, right?
And [they're] sixty two millimeters thick and they've got
Polyurethane foam in the core. I wanted a thin wall that had high insulation
So that had maximum footprint ins and the house itself [I] wanted something that was light. I wanted something that was strong and
Because there's a very rigid structure
I can put a jack on the one corner
And there's no wrecking great going on
that way the windows are always closed and shut and so what do we have the head of the trailer here is this the
Utility area yeah, that's the utility cupboard [yep]
So this is the electrical side
All right wow so look at that cables come down from the solar panels and to the mpPT controller which is a 60 amp
Morningstar
And it goes down [to] the batteries to 6 volt batteries, which is a 12-volt system
and it's got 445 million [powers] right and then we've got a
1300 Watt Inverter
And we were Gonna
go 12 volt
But then she decided no
She really wants to wash clothes in a washing machine [and] what about this over here cuz there's a few more cupboards
Well that's going to be the washing machine, but we here alright front loader. What a cool idea
And what a great place to put it yeah and over the other side here
So that's going to be the for the [guest] bottle at the bottom
This [is] the pump the gray water pumps going in there this week
And it's got the tempering valve so you don't scald yourself from hot water cylinder
Right first really the nerve center of the [panel] [in] there alright. Well, let's take a look inside betta
I'm [keen] to see what you've done on the inside
This looks incredible
you can really
See unless you're history as a boat builder as well. I couldn't help having spent a lot of time burbling
I couldn't help going that way so got recycled metal on the city. [oh]
Right and the sun flooring is lovely do this recycled caring that's really beautiful
yeah, so the carry and the metal were they not too heavy to use in the construction Sonny young as
[stories] sips on the floor yeah
[I] put fiberglass sheathing on the bottom to stop any moisture getting in and we
Bent all the carry to three millimeters thick and we [beckham] [pressed] it on the whole floor and that just [look] spectacular
So how big is the house?
so six point seven meters long yeah two point five meters wide
Overall and what about the height?
So we got two meters and under the loft and one point four meters above the loft so yeah
Really really good sized home feels really lovely open spacious these skylights are such a nice feature as well
Aren't they yeah?
Yeah, they just lived so much licen and actually really helped to open up the whole space [eh] yeah
And having the high headroom
Just gives you such a sense of space it really does so tell me about the the sofa in this area first as well
underneath all of these
we've got storage our grain and
and underneath here as well, and then if you want you can turn it into a double beer and
Hope you hold that bricen [alright]
Set this pulls out here. [oh] wow look at that, and it just goes into the corner
there and then that goes down
[way]
And there you've [got] a bead
I mean you've got not only a seating area so during the day you've also got lots of storage
That's built into that and a place for guests to sleep. Yeah, it's thinking about those kind of extra little bits
that will make the house so much more functional and make it such a great space to live in well a
Yeah, that's right. She's living here. [full] [time] every day. Yeah, it's got to work
So that one's got a plywood bottom on it. So that you can put your light clothes or blankets in there and strap it around
and
It won't be too difficult [now] this I really like as well
It's really difficult to find space for a little office or workstation, but look at that. That's really cute hmM. That's cute
I believe she's gonna put an old gramophone here
Really apparently wow yeah, so I think she's going to use her laptop because she's going to get a table
[I] think [she's] going to do her laptop work here sitting down. Yeah
And I'm just [gonna] play records and so in pride of place here
We've got the spikey wood. Stove yep, and this looks really fantastic doesn't it instead of cracking a bottle of champagne on the
Boat where you let the fire last night. Yeah as a token or symbol of
You know a new beginning, and I really love the plate that you've got here. That's built into the floor. How did you do that?
Well Ellen the guy that's been working with me. He found it in a friend's dump right. It was an old dishwasher
Really grabbed it and cut it out with [a] cut-off wheel and that just looks so good
We just put a little router mark around
So it said uh nicely yeah, we've only had it going um last night the first time yes
It went [really] well, and it's heated up the water
Yeah, that's great. So simple. So where is the water coming from in this house?
So she's harvesting it with a spouting on the side. That's [fully] [made] a big one and we're putting a
Spouting on the Veranda yeah, and I've calculated that on average Rainfall the ball it will collect
32,000 litres a year wow
So they're just going to be a tank which is going to be separate from the houses and sitting in Grove
She's getting a plastic tank initially
Overall that corner and so the kitchen in here
This looks really fantastic is this the recycled wood again? Yes, so this is a recycled carry, but again
I just used three mil veneer which I've a compressed on two ply friend blow panels videos 15 or Pt phone
And just because weight solution, and this sink is beautiful
And there's a really lovely feature hat where did this come from because it doesn't look like no, no
She didn't bite at my tatin. Yeah, she made it at night class wow
Yeah, that's really lovely and she made the tiles as well, I
Think it's little things like that that really make the home special [eh] yeah [well] to touch and their range hood up there
Yeah, that's a 12-volt range. Hood looks really nice [Kami]. I like it. It's got likes
Leds let's go
Smoke then yeah, and for real cook up fast man fantastic store flows out the front there
Yeah, so what about the cooktop here? The stove yes? It's a little too burner and
It's got to grow one another
It's the only thing that the gas has to run and the fridge here has nDele
130 litre right and at I put some ice in it, and it throws it in the Icebox
Overnight Brilliant, that's good and then behind me here is the bathroom is it yeah?
yeah, it's a nice little bathroom [walk-in] shower, and a nice little basin that we picked up with a
Demotion yeah looks lovely hmm. So I noticed that the shower doesn't actually have a curtain or anything that
Yet to be fitted or is the idea Roberto. I was gonna for the curtain and then yesterday
She came in looking for maybe. I won't because I banished the floor so it just needs to have a floor mat and
so it's like walk and walk out shower, and
2 litres a minute that's really efficient isn't it yeah no for sure
Example, so it's not much water coming out here, and if you've got a floor mat there. It's not really puzzles
I don't know if you'll have [us] down to it or not pictures up to tonight
And so there's a composting toilet in here - [uh] yeah, there is
separate and had the euro and diverter um
It's got a carousel so that the bucket [does] [tunes] around you know tommy sit down. It's also got the sneak feature where?
when you sit on the toilet seat
That opens up. I'll bag do the business and
It closes again see they have to look at it and because you've got a urine diverter
separating the Urine from the feces that actually
Stops the smell and so what about the storage spacing is some really nice really nice shallow storage here, and yeah
I think this is going to be the pantry area and so it's got cupboard doors here all the shelves are adjustable
Fresh install quite a bit of food in this area
Absolutely, and what about these ones here, so that's the wardrobe right?
And that's a big space you could just about lover me
That's huge so she's going to have all shoes and some other clothes stored on shelves of the back
And then she's going to hang some clothes across the width of it as well fantastic
And this she could do stuff on this door as well, and I really really like the stair design yeah
I think that's just so space efficient isn't it?
I'm very happy with this because I'm probably wanted to have a letter brain. I wasn't happy with the idea of a letter um
just doesn't seem safe, so
We finally came [up] with this brain way of having three hundred [mill] risers giving us a bigger footprint on each step
so we're having [60s] plus the top right and
It's just so easy to get up to do a little twist here hang on there, and you can get up very very comfortably
Even an old guy can get up here and [getting] down is easy, too
We talked about putting a safety rail here
We may do that because that could be portals instant winter right, but that's correct [too]. Can there's some storage here. [oh]
Cool Hm
this goes in a bit more storage and
[so] let's have a look at the sleeping loft
[wow]
This is such a nice loft space
already this is actually a really comfortable sized space isn't it so how high is it in here [1.4], and
That's absolutely all you need isn't it yeah, I
Love the skylight there that is such a wonderful feature yeah, yeah [this] leading
[lets] a lot of the hot air out and the summer and you get up on the roof
you can open it right up and fun for them and so, what [about]
Packing up and moving this tiny house [cuz] it's obviously not going to stay here
So yes, it's gonna be traveling soon to Waiheke island. Yeah, how does that all work, so?
The Miranda the [Veranda] [and] the Deck [are] solar panels
the Solar Tanks [Heater] Tank
They all come [off] it takes us a day to disassemble rain house, so this deck is in two parts
And then there's a walkway, and then there's a front walkway, so it's four parts to it, right it's all bolts together
Tool bolted into barrel locks in there and the walls comes away really quickly, and it'll take us a day
There's a symbol and to pack it up on I'll pack all that stuff on a separate trailer
So I guess the big question now is what was the budget for this tiny house?
Well um, I didn't really know how much the 20 house would cost to build um
And I thought we could do it for [$100,000]
But we did add a lot
as we went on with the build and actually was spent just over seventy thousand just on materials alone and equipment and
There's been two thousand four hundred and something hours going into it so well
I really want to build tiny houses for
Young people so [that] it can be affordable, [I] don't want to be making 20 houses for the rich and famous yeah
but it also needs [to] be affordable for me of course, so this balance here, so and
Briar will be paying you know somewhere around the hundred twenty thousand dollar man, [and] it's not giving us a very big hourly rate. Yeah
[but] next time we'll be able to make them quicker. Yeah, I think that there's a lot of
different aspects that's going into that isn't there because
There is a lot of [labor] which goes into constructing a small space
and
I think quite often people forget that anything that's going into a regular house is going into a tiny house as well and sometimes [a]
lot more because you've also got the trailer cost to think about and all that as well, so in a lot of ways a
Tiny House
For the size is a lot sometimes more expensive than what you're paying for a regular house, isn't yeah, well per square meter
But it's through the roof yeah
But it still is a really affordable option and I know most people build their own tiny houses, but for some of my buyer
She couldn't do that
I think [a] lot of people are seeing that having big big houses as a bit mad and
They don't really want to do the house work anymore
And [they] want to have more freedom and that they can live [in] a small space
Really comfortably?
and I think people are seeing that having big mortgages are made - and that the only winners are the banks and
Lawyers because of all the divorces [I] think there's going to be an explosion of interest in tiny houses when people start to see all
the Advantages [and] [the] potential for the tiny house idea well Jeff I think you have done a really fantastic job and
Constructing this house your experience as a cabinet maker and as a boat builder
I think really show off and this is a house that you can be very proud of constructing so
Thank you very much for giving me the tour
I'm very catching up with [briar] when she's actually moved into the place [and] somehow it's all working out for it so great
I can't wait to see it all in its new home. Yeah great
this tiny house really has been [furnished] to an
exceptional standard from the Incredible solar system all of the water catchment and off grid technology
Through to the finish [and] all of the joinery and the woodwork in here
you can really tell that it has that professional touch I'm
Really excited to meet its owner breyer and see the house again once it's all set up on yyk you
you you