Classic Texas Ranch House, Double Porched and Sitting Pretty in the Shade

Maximizing Space with Style

This Texas country home makes good use of its 312 square feet of space. The home sits in the midst of giant Oak trees and looks as classic as it gets for a Texas Ranch House. This is a great example of what tiny country homes can look like when you use salvaged materials to save money and make a unique home that you won't find anywhere else. The home you see here was one of the first homes built by Brad Kittel of Tiny Texas Houses and Pure Salvage Living. He started this as a way of showing people how possible it is to build homes using materials that have already been used. Not only is this a way to save money, which is something on most people's minds, but it's also a way to reduce the amount of waste going into our landfills and the number of resources needed to create new building materials.

Reusing and Recycling for Sustainability

So everything in his tiny houses is reused and recycled. This includes the lumber, windows, sinks, countertops, cabinets and hardware that you need to build a home. 51% of the contents in landfills is building materials, which means there are a lot of different items that can be used to create new homes and buildings. They use pretty much all salvaged materials and add in new insulation, underlayment for the roof, and a new radiant barrier for the house wrap.

Cost-Effective Tiny House Design

The first Tiny Texas house was only 12 feet by 26 feet and it even had fold down porches. When it comes to building anything the cost of the build really comes down to the cost of building materials. If a person is creating their own tiny house design and doesn't mind implementing reused and repurposed materials, this can save them a lot of money in the long run. Doing it this way might require a bit more time, however because of the time it takes to track down and acquire all of the necessary materials. So the overall tiny house cost could be quite low, but lots of extra work goes into going about it like this.

DIY vs. Professional Tiny House Builds

You can also save a lot of money if you build your own tiny house rather than having it built for you. The cost of labour for professional carpenters can add up pretty quickly, and most companies selling their pre-assembled tiny houses charge at least $40,000 for a fully built tiny house. When you build your own tiny house, you are in control of the budget and can build more as you can afford to. There are tiny houses that only cost $8000 or even less to build. Keep in mind that these are the tiny houses that are mainly built from recycled materials.

Budgeting for Tiny House Projects

A tiny house built from partially recycled materials and new materials could cost anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000. Again, just like any building project, implementing high-quality finishes and appliances will, of course, drive up the price. This is just a great idea that will help people think outside of the box when it comes to building and hopefully reduce waste and lower building costs.