Tiny Houses any suggestions/advice

[jamesintayside]

I have been looking at some Tiny House and eco cabins on You Tube - problem was I had no where to put one.
Now I may have a small plot in a back garden. Any ideas or suggestions along the way would help and be appreciated. I hope to build as much from re cycled items pallets etc. One thing was insulation?
I would not manage a sleeping loft area as is common due to disability so a pent roof would be fine.

[jamesintayside]

Meant to add this is in Scotland so rain tight and insulation are a must.

[diggernotdreamer]

Are you planning on having this as your main home? Have you seen the Walter Segal houses, Earthships, adobe. We restored an Irish Farmhouse on a shoestring budget. We used recycled glass insulation which was not too expensive at about 20 euro a big roll, we make pods in our barn for storing bikes and cars and they need to be insulated, so we make them out of wooden frames, insulation between marine ply boards, they may work out cheaper than plasterboard and don't look too awful, quite nice and woody. I

[jamesintayside]

Yes the plan is to have as main home. I have seen the earth ships etc i had not thought about recycled glass insulation so I can look at that.
Thanks for the idea.

[diggernotdreamer]

we used knauf, the loft insulation, but we used it all round the place, we also used the breathable membrane that you use in roofs just to make sure no moisture penetrated from outside

[fredc]

In Scotland I would go for a timber frame with cob and straw walls then a turf roof with a good waterproof membrane under it.

[jamesintayside]

Thanks for the advice - it is all good to learn of suggestions. One thing I had thought was building with good TandG pent roof good like 2ft overhang and stack straw bales around walls.

[peat]

It depends very much on what your budget is, what materials are available locally, how much time and energy can you put into building it, whether you think planning may be an issue, whether you might want to be able to dismantle or move it and what your needs are.

My personal approach has been to start small and simple and enlarge my set up as needed. I live out of a very small (5'x8') converted box trailer. I insulated it with celotex, ply lined it, put in windows, a caravan door and a small wood burner. It is mostly just a bed and storage. My kitchen, eating area, shower and toilet are outdoors (covered). Now, after a year, I have realised that I need more indoor space, and have built myself a 15'x15' bender with almost no budget. It is shaped a bit like a poly tunnel and is on a solid raised deck made of pallets. It has one end wall with 6 scavenged pvc windows and a door. It is a stud wall, built from 2x4"s, boarded out with pallet boards, waterproofed with free plastic sheet and covered in hand cleft shingles which cover the pvc window frames and makes it look lovely. Then it is insulated between the studs with foam carpet underlay, which I got from the skip outside a carpet shop, and then boarded out with more pallet boards. The rest of the bender is covered with dustsheets 1st as the inside layer - nice and light inside, then wool blankets then carpet (again from the skip) then old army canvases. The whole thing has cost about £150 so far.

I only write this to illustrate what can be done with little money and a little creativity. If you think it can be more permanent and you have a little more money then the posibilities are endless. I'd go for strawbale walls, covered in cob with a metal or shingle roof.
Pete