Hi all.
I've been reading avidly on and off for several years. Had a teardrop planned and got a dead popup camper off craigslist to use as the base, and then life intervened. It's been sitting in my driveway for 3? years waiting for me to get to it. Meanwhile I am also dreaming about tiny houses and think I want to build one to retire into in 10 years time.
I'm playing around with ideas for clever use of space but I need a better sense of the hard limits. Headroom in the loft on a tiny house can be such an issue. I'm considering something like 8 x 20 with loft and a single-slope "shed" roof with metal roofing. I am trying to understand the practical interior volume so I can figure out what will work.
+ I think I read that trailer height at that size runs about 22". Does that sound right? Can I guesstimate 2ft for trailer and be OK?
+ Do you think at that size the floor can be framed with 2x4s or do I need bigger joists? 2x6?
+ How many inches do I need to allow for roofing? Would the trusses likely be 6"? More? Plus a couple of inches for sheathing and metal roof? More?
+ Depending on the above, I think the interior volume on the high side maxes out at about 10'3" and a couple feet lower on the low side, depending on roof pitch? (I am in snow land so will have to do some studying to find the best angle.)
Similarly, with the 8'6" max highway width I am thinking 8' wide trailer frame.
+ Framed up with 2x4s and some kind of interior wall covering do you lose about 4.5" on each side to give a 7' 3" interior?
I have some thoughts but I don't know if any of them are practical until I get the design envelope a little clearer. Of course once I get the design envelope clearer I will start from there and wonder if there are better, thinner, lighter ways to accomplish the same thing, but the tiny house world so far seems to be all stick built.
Karina