Lindsay Wood is an evangelist for tiny living, and these days she’s as busy as ever. As the pandemic has put economic pressure on a large swath of the country, tiny houses are being increasingly seen as a solution to housing affordability and inequality. But there are some big legal hurdles to get over before we get there, and in this interview, Lindsay helps us explore them.

Contracts, Evictions, Housing Law. These topics might make your eyes glaze over, but they are becoming big issues for the tiny house movement. My guest today is Jody Gabel, a trial attorney with 25 years of experience in mobile home park law, RV tenancies, landlord/tenant and housing law, and local government issues. On the show, we’ll explore the challenges and solutions facing tiny house dwellers, landlords, and communities. I learned a lot and I know you will too!

If it has wheels, chances are someone has made a moveable tiny house out of it. On today’s show, the “it” I’m referring to is a 1985 Railroad Camp Car. My guest is Hannah Doss, who converted said railroad car into a gorgeous moveable tiny house in just 3 months and for less than 9000 dollars.

I love looking at tiny house plans. Just seeing how other designers solve the space-related challenges of a tiny house is inspiring. That’s why I was super excited when I discovered PinUpHouses, the international design studio run by my guest Joshua Woodsman. PinupHouses sells digital plans for over 150 small and tiny houses, cottages, and sheds, and they’ve been doing for many years. Today, I’ll ask Joshua what got him into tiny houses in the first place and what he’s learned from designing so many of them.

Rocket Mass Heaters are a very popular DIY in the cob, natural building, and permaculture world, but is only starting to get traction in the tiny house movement. Today, Chris McClellan AKA Uncle Mud is here to explain how Rocket Mass Heaters Work, how to build one of your own, and most importantly, his design for a tiny rocket heater, called the Cottage Rocket.

Daniel Ott is one of the first tiny home builders in Ontario, working to change the housing market by designing and building legal tiny homes (which is no small feat under the Ontario Building Code, one of the strictest codes in North America). Using his unique UpSizeDown Method, Daniel and his team at True North Tiny Homes not only design your tiny dream home, but they also help you get prepared to thrive in it.

Did you know that cob is one of the oldest building materials around? According to my guest, Dave Olsen, most cob houses are tiny houses because they take so long to build! Cob is a mixture of clay, sand, straw, and water that hardens into a thick, load-bearing, structure. Think curved, earthen walls and whimsical building shapes. Dave Olsen has been building with cob for over 20 years and has developed his own technique, called “Fast Cob”. Dave tells us about the benefits of Cob building, how to do fast cob, and more.

If you’ve been following the tiny house movement for any amount of time, there’s a good chance you’ve come across a story about someone getting ripped off by a tiny house builder. Heck, I’ve interviewed several people on this show whose builders have gone bankrupt or not delivered on what they promised. This week, I’m interviewing Frank Olito, the resident tiny house expert at Business Insider. Frank has also noticed this trend in the industry and has focused his reporting on it. In this episode, you'll learn about what happens when you work with a bad builder, what recourse you can take, and how to avoid bad builders in the first place.

Meet Melissa and Jon Block, the sister-brother team behind San Diego’s first ever tiny house village called Tiny House Block. In this interview, Melissa and Jon will share the journey that they took to go from a couple of backyard tiny homes, to a dedicated piece of land with 25 tiny houses. Surprisingly, the majority of their homes are rented long-term, and they’ve had to figure out how to manage a community, including difficult tenants, disputes between neighbors, and more. I hope you stick around!

Deek is Back! After kindly agreeing to be a guest on the second ever episode of the Tiny House Lifestyle Podcast, Derek Deek Diedricksen is here to talk DIY Treehouse Building. We’re not talking about 50,000 tiny homes in the trees. No, we’re talking about DIY, backyard treehouse building anyone with some tools and some trees, and a dream. Deek has built many, many treehouses, and he’s got tips, tricks, and hacks to share to make the process quicker and cheaper. Deek always has a lot of projects ongoing, so he’ll fill us in on what’s happening in the world of Relax Shacks.