Building a tiny house can be time-consuming, expensive, and overwhelming… but it doesn’t have to be.

Tiny House Decisions is the place to start.

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You’ve taken the journey from tiny house dreamer to future tiny house dweller.

If you could move in tomorrow, you’d do it in a heartbeat.

But as you start to wrap your head around the thousands of choices you’ll need to make as you build your house (or work with a builder), you can feel the overwhelm creeping in.

  • You might be struggling with the following questions:
  • Can I actually do this myself?
  • What if I have to move my house?
  • Which building system to go with: Framing? SIPs? Metal Framing?
  • What kind of tiny house trailer to use?
  • Can I actually do this for the limited amount of money I have saved?

You’ve watched plenty of tiny house tours on YouTube. You’ve found books on framing your house, doing your own electrical wiring, and even the legality of living in a tiny house.

What you haven’t found is the guide that brings it all together and takes you start to finish, through the process of researching, planning, building, and finally living in your tiny house.

How many hours have you spent ogling tiny houses on Instagram, Youtube, and Pinterest? Tens? Hundreds? (Thousands?)

I get it, because I’ve been there.

My own journey to tiny house living began way back in 2011. I was fed up with the corporate world and ready to start my own business but I worried that the jump from 9-to-5 to solo entrepreneur would make it hard to pay my rent.

Then I discovered the tiny house movement. Here was a home I could build without permits and park without paying taxes. I could finally stop spending the biggest portion of my monthly expenses on rent. Everything about it felt in line with the freedom and simplicity I craved.

I got to work finding plans, researching options, and gathering materials. I dove headlong into gathering information, combing through the internet’s wisdom to pick out the bits that would eventually shape my house. In June of 2012, I started building, thinking that the build would take just 4 months.

14 months later, my house was finally complete.

So what went wrong?

Do you know what I spent most of that time doing (aside from the actual building)?

Research.

I spent hours and hours fighting through decision fatigue to make choices that would result in the house I wanted. If I’d had a comprehensive guide to help me identify key decisions and understand my options, I know my house would have been done way sooner and with less stress.

It was only after I set up a Facebook page to share pictures of my progress and that's how I realized that I wasn't alone. Every day, I answered all kinds of questions from fellow tiny home enthusiasts. I loved seeing how all the careful research I did to build my house could help thousands of others build theirs.

That’s how Tiny House Decisions came into being.

Tiny House Decisions is a comprehensive field guide to help aspiring tiny house dwellers like you make the right choices for their unique homes.

In Tiny House Decisions, I take you through the choices I made, what I ultimately decided for my own house (and why), and how those decisions affected the overall project.

I’ll help you:

Identify key systems choices (like heat, plumbing, and electricity) and understand the relationships between them so you can plan your house effectively — without spending countless hours researching.

Save hundreds or even thousands of dollars on your tiny house by avoiding common mistakes.

Feel confident about the choices you’re making, because you’ll know they’re the right decisions for you.

Tiny House Decisions has been completely revised and expanded to reflect how tiny houses are being built in 2019.

This comprehensive second edition goes far beyond what I did in my own tiny home, and provides detailed guidance on all the latest building techniques, trailer styles, insulation materials, and more.

It’s hard to figure out exactly which questions to ask when you’re faced with so many choices. That’s why Tiny House Decisions starts at the very beginning of the decision-making process.

Here are just a few of the things you’ll know by the time you finish Tiny House Decisions:

Should you choose a mobile or ground-bound design?

What are the best water, heat, and ventilation systems for your space?

What kind of tiny house trailer should you use?

What’s the best type of insulation for your tiny house and what else you can do to ensure your house is liveable?

Should you buy pre-made plans, go the custom route or work with a pre-built shell?

… and so much more

The right investment in knowledge — even if it’s a small investment — can save you time and money while planning and building. Tiny House Decisions is that investment for you.

“By the time you are done with Tiny House Decisions, you will have answered every question about all the things you want in your tiny house. This is a MUST read before you start your adventure.”

-Jane Reinke

“I loved your book. Not only was the information valuable but the way it was written was amazingly helpful. What I liked the most is that you gave various options and explained the pros and cons of both and then told us about your choice and the result. “

-Herbert Hall

Tiny House Decisions is designed to start with the big-picture questions and move you step-by-step into the practicalities of building.

01

Big Decisions

In this section, we’ll unpack some of the huge up-front decisions you’ll need to make before you start building your tiny house. For instance:

Are you going to build it yourself, with help, or hire it out?

Will it be on wheels or stationary?

How big should your house be?

These choices will help define how much time and money you can expect the project to take and turn the vague idea of a tiny house into something solid and personal.

02

Systems Decisions

In this section, we’ll go through all the major systems a tiny house needs, including:

Heating, Plumbing, Hot Water, Toilets, Electrical, Refrigeration,Ventilation

I break down the pros and cons of your options for each system, and tell you what I did, what I’d change, and what other tiny house dwellers like Macy Miller, Tammy Strobel, and others did differently. When we’re done, you’ll know exactly what appliances will make up each system in your tiny house.

03

Construction Decisions

In this section, we’ll take a broader look at the construction materials that will go into your tiny home as well as exactly what went into mine. We cover:

Framing and Sheathing options, Subfloors and Flooring, Roofing, Insulation, Kitchen, Interior Finishes, Technology

Whether you plan to build or buy your tiny house, understanding the why and how of construction will save you time and money.

04

Living Tiny

Your future life in a tiny house includes a bunch of decisions you may not even be aware of.

How to find insurance, Trailer maintenance, Where and how to par​k, Moving and traveling with your house, Tiny house security and more!

You're going to be in your new home for a long time, and the choices you make now could impact your experience far into the future. I want you to be sure you love all of it.

“We purchased your Tiny House Parking and Tiny House Decisions a few months into our build, at which point we had already come to many of necessary decisions you covered. Needless to say planning was not our strongest suit! Thank you for putting so many resources out in the world for current and future tiny-housers and alternative dwellers.”

-Sophie Ristau

You’ll learn from other tiny house dwellers, including:

Alexis Stevens and Christian Parsons: Share how to safely move a tiny house on wheels from hitching up to arriving at your destination.

Lina Menard:
Lina shares why she has built several tiny homes using SIPs instead of stick framing, and how the build timeline differs when you choose this now-popular system.

Tammy Strobel and Logan Smith:
Tammy and Logan tell you about how and why they decided NOT to build their tiny house themselves.

Laura LaVoie:
Laura shares her experience building a tiny house on a foundation (as opposed to wheels).

Macy Miller:
Macy shares the downsides and unexpected pros of her unusual (for a tiny house) floor choice.

Tammy Strobel and Logan Smith:
Tammy and Logan tell you about how and why they decided NOT to build their tiny house themselves.

That’s a powerhouse lineup to help you get your own tiny house dreams off the ground.

The Tiny House Decisions process will help you create a personalized resource you can keep coming back to throughout your build.

Every copy of Tiny House Decisions comes with the Tiny House Decisions Workbook, an 81-page fill-in-the-blank template for you to document the plan you make while reading the guide.You’ll never have to second guess all the hard decisions you’ve made while you progress through your build.

“Your workbook was just what I needed to set off on the right foot in terms of considering all of the reality that goes into tiny living. Suddenly a cute little cozy house becomes a specifically portioned box of invaluable inches of space and expensive appliances. Those details may deter the average HGTV watcher, but they've made me even more determined to discover all the exciting ways to test myself and end up constructing something that will be an amazing accomplishment and source of pride when I'm done.”

-Erika Guli

There are two ways to put Tiny House Decisions to work for you:

Guide + Workbook

$69 $49

Tiny House Decisions alone contains over 180 pages of time-tested advice on planning, designing, and building your tiny house.

You’ll find yourself referring back to its best practices throughout your journey toward tiny house ownership.

  • Tiny House Decisions in PDF, ePub, and MOBI formats
  • Tiny House Decisions Workbook in PDF and DOC formats

The Multimedia Experience

$129 $99

The Multimedia Experience gives you everything you need to get your questions answered and your tiny house underway. You’ll hear insights and experiences from myself as well as other tiny house experts. In addition, I’ve created 12 detailed video tours of the crucial systems in my tiny house so you can see the inner workings.

It includes:

  • Tiny House Decisions Guide (PDF)
  • Tiny House Decisions Workbook (PDF & DOC)
  • 8 insightful interviews with tiny house experts (nearly 2 hours’ worth)
  • 12 detailed video tours (downloadable or streamable) of crucial systems so you can actually see the inner workings of my tiny house.

Plus

Any package can be upgraded to include a gorgeous, full-color 8.5”x11” physical copy of Tiny House Decisions at checkout.

Ethan, You have been guiding me for many moons–ever since I bought Tiny House Decisions three years ago. Yours was by far the most useful resource I found in those early days–so few went public who were trying to go tiny in cold climates. My campsite's $60/month fee includes electricity, only 30 amp, though, I was told. Per your book, I carefully calculated how many electric appliances I could use instead of much more expensive propane. When I discovered I actually had 50 amp service, my first thought was how your book was going to end up saving me thousands! Thank you again for your terrific book and blog.

-Michelle Lamerato

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I read a sample chapter to see if it's right for me?

Of course! Click here to download a 10-page excerpt from over 180 pages of Tiny House Decisions.

Can I get a refund if this doesn’t work for me?

I very much doubt that will be the case, but if you hate the guide, just reply to your purchase receipt email within 30 days and I will issue a refund.

What if I have more questions?

Send me an email to support[at]thetinyhouse.net and I’ll get back to you within 24 hours.

Who created Tiny House Decisions?

That would be me, Ethan Waldman. I’m the author of Tiny House Decisions, Tiny House Parking, and the host of the Tiny House Lifestyle Podcast.

There are two ways to put Tiny House Decisions to work for you:

Guide + Workbook

$69 $49

Tiny House Decisions alone contains over 180 pages of time-tested advice on planning, designing, and building your tiny house.

You’ll find yourself referring back to its best practices throughout your journey toward tiny house ownership.

  • Tiny House Decisions in PDF, ePub, and MOBI formats
  • Tiny House Decisions Workbook in PDF and DOC formats

The Multimedia Experience

$129 $99

The Multimedia Experience gives you everything you need to get your questions answered and your tiny house underway. You’ll hear insights and experiences from myself as well as other tiny house experts. In addition, I’ve created 12 detailed video tours of the crucial systems in my tiny house so you can see the inner workings.

It includes:

  • Tiny House Decisions Guide (PDF)
  • Tiny House Decisions Workbook (PDF & DOC)
  • 8 insightful interviews with tiny house experts (nearly 2 hours’ worth)
  • 12 detailed video tours (downloadable or streamable) of crucial systems so you can actually see the inner workings of my tiny house.

Plus

Any package can be upgraded to include a gorgeous, full-color 8.5”x11” physical copy of Tiny House Decisions at checkout.

“Ethan, I just wanted to let you know that last week I finished my tiny house with the final inspection completed. It all started for real with the guide I got from you. I've attached a few pictures, to let you know what a retired almost 70 lady can do.”

-Sharon Green

“One year. Today marks one year of living life on my own terms. One year of living in this little house I built for myself. Everyone talks about “going tiny” and all the things you have to give up. I’ve gotta say this feels a lot more like taking life back. Thank you for doing everything you’ve done for this community. I literally couldn’t have started without you. This photo was about 4 years ago, when the whole thing was just an idea…. now look what you’ve helped accomplish, along with countless others. What a gift ❤️”

– Erika Guli