Tiny Dreams on a Budget: Navigating Construction as Your Own Contractor

Aug 11, 2023

Ask episode

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

Laura Kuntz is an elementary school teacher and a mother of three grown daughters. She's here to share her journey of building her own tiny house. Since high school Laura has been obsessed with the idea of living in a small home and now as an empty nester, she finally had the perfect opportunity to make her dream a reality. In this episode, Laura walks us through the steps she took to go from being a tiny house enthusiast to a proud homeowner. She shares insights about finding the right location, navigating building codes and permits in the strict state of Massachusetts, and her unique choice of building her tiny house on a foundation instead of on wheels and acting as her own contractor. Stay tuned for an inspiring conversation with Laura about turning a lifelong dream into a tangible, beautiful home.

In This Episode:

Researching Resources 📚: Importance of finding books and online information for guidance.
Timing and Scheduling 🗓️: Coordinating schedules and jobs between contractors.
Delays and Patience ⏳: Experienced delays due to contractors' availability.
Finding the Right Location 📍: The process of finding the perfect location for her tiny house.
Navigating Building Codes 🏗️: Challenges of adhering to building codes and obtaining permits.
Building on a Foundation 🏡: Unique choice to build the tiny house on a foundation.
Learning During Construction 🏗️: Gained knowledge despite lacking construction experience and how a good support system makes a difference.
Communication Challenges 📞: Difficulties in a small town with communication and finding the right people.
Tailoring to Personal Needs ✂️: Designing and building a tiny house that is tailored to individual needs.

This week's sponsors:

FOTILE:
FOTILE’s new two in one in-sink dishwasher is bringing convenience back into your tiny lifestyle. It's a dishwasher built into a sink and perfect for tiny house living. The efficient design saves cabinet space and fits perfectly into a standard 36 inch cabinet base, making it ideal for tiny homes. But it's not just about saving space, it is also about saving time and water with a quick 20 minute wash cycle, saving nearly 50% of the water a regular dishwasher would consume. FOTILE is offering Tiny House Lifestyle Podcast listeners a special extended five year limited warranty. Visit us.fotileglobal.com/thlp to learn more and purchase your FOTILE two in one in-sink dishwasher today.

Disclaimer: 5-Year warranty is exclusive for THLP listeners. To register, customer must register their product warranty on FOTILE website, and enter "thlp" as purchase channel to be eligible