Tiny House Hunters (2014–…): Season 4, Episode 15 - Traveling Couple Builds Tiny - full transcript

Homebuyers across
the country are saying
goodbye to big houses...

Wow, look at that!
That is tiny.

...and hello to small spaces.

With the push of a button,
this house contracts

to half its size.
Wow!

What is this?
This is the bedroom!

It's a fold-down sink.
That's so cool!

Wow, this just got weird.

But the smaller the house,
the bigger the challenge
fitting inside.

It'd be six of us up here.

- Where am I gonna sleep? Whoa.
- This swings back...



- That's the loft.
- Whoa.

I think I see a problem already.

- Oh, my goodness, it's adorable.
- It looks really well done.

Bangor, Maine, couple
Charlie and Shenee

are building
their own tiny house.

I like wood--
I don't like it this much.

Fitting everything
they want into a home they can

take on the road
is a serious challenge.

I don't know how I feel about
walking in, and the first thing
you see is the bathroom.

I kind of feel like I'm in,
like, a club or something.

The floor is, like, glowing.
It's really weird.

Have a dance party
- in the kitchen.
- Yeah, with five people.

Whoo-hoo!

I'm Charlie, I'm 28,
and I'm a Civil Engineer.



I'm Shenee, I'm 27,
and I'm a traveling nurse.

I grew up in New Hampshire.

And I'm from right here
in Maine.

We like to do anything
in the outdoors.

We do whitewater canoeing
in the spring, skiing
in the winter,

hiking, camping in the--
in the summer.

Riding our motorcycles
together, um,

just anything outdoors.

So our current
living situation is

- a mess right now.
- That's an understatement.

We moved into my buddy's house
about three months ago,

and so I'm doing handyman,
you know, fixing the house up

to save on rent so that they can
sell it in a few months.

Since their friend's house
is about to hit the market,

Charlie and Shenee need to
figure out a more permanent
living situation.

It was my idea to go tiny.

I got the idea after spending
two summers for work

living out of a motel room.

I just thought, "Yeah, I can
bring my house with me,"

and it was just kind of
a natural progression for me.

It just so happens
that I started doing
traveling nursing.

I think going tiny would take
a lot of the stress
out of finding

- a place to live.
- You just hook the house up
to the truck,

and, you know, we're on our way
to wherever we need to be,

and you pull up,
and you're home.

We're going to be building
our tiny house,

because I'm so handy,

and if I think that
I can do it myself,

I'll do it, and if don't
think I can do it,

I'll do it anyway.

Since they're building
a place themselves,

they'll be looking
at tiny model homes

with available plans for sale
that they can customize

to their liking, and they have
$25,000 to spend

on plans and materials.

I want the tiny house to have
kind of a camp feel,

um, a lot of exposed wood,
neutral colors.

This is where we disagree
a bit, Yeah.

because I don't want to feel
like I'm camping
everywhere we go.

I want it to be modern.
I want it to look like
an actual home.

Charlie, I found another box of
stuff for us to go through.

We have started to downsize

by creating a huge
yard sale pile.

Well, you know how much I want
a loft--if we build a loft

in the tiny house, we can put
them up as our lamps.

I need to have a loft.

I don't want to have
our sleeping space
on the first floor,

'cause that just takes up too
much room, and then we can't
really have room for guests.

Can you just start getting rid
of some of this stuff so
we can...

get it out and have room?

He has more clothes than I do.

I don't have more clothes,
they just take up more space.

I have, like, two pairs of shoes
in this whole pile.

I don't know
- what you're talking about.
- And these are
for the motorcycles.

No!

She does have more shoes,
and she needs--I do have more shoes.

She's going to get rid
of some shoes.

He's gonna get rid
of some beer stuff.

I mean, if you look at this
room, this is about the size

- we're gonna be moving into.
- Yeah, I guess you're right.

We could definitely
use this space a lot
better than having

a huge kegerator in it.

My wish list for the tiny house
is to have lots of storage

for all of the stuff
that I'm not going to sell
at the yard sale.

I do like the kegerator, but
personally, I'd really like

a full-size fridge
in the tiny house.
Yeah, I guess you're right.

I want to have a window,
like, and have the sink
set up right here,

and then , I mean,
we could really have
a full-sized kitchen.

I would really like to have
a washer and dryer,
'cause it costs so much,

and it's a hassle
to have to tote everything
to a laundromat all the time.

I'd like to have privacy
in the bathroom,

which means having a door,
so if we do have guests,

they can feel like
they have some privacy.

I think that moving
into the tiny house is gonna
be super intense for us.

I...At first.

We'll find out really quickly if
it's gonna work or if it's not.

Helping them in their search
is friend and local real
estate agent, Tonya Allen.

Charlie and Shenee have
a relatively low budget,

which makes it a little bit
difficult to find everything

that they're looking for--
hopefully with Charlie's

ability to build it,
they'll be able to get

most everything that they're
looking for within the budget
that they have.

She's starting them off
with a model tiny home

that if they bought outright
would cost $35,000,

but plans and materials
are just under budget

at $23,500.

It's like a little cottage!

I'm not
a huge fan of the colors,
but I like the shape of it.

I like the colors. Well...

So this is 224 square feet.

Nice.
Oh, wow.

Oh, my gosh, it's adorable!

This is really nice.
- I love the ceiling.
- I knew you would.

How nice, the wood, yeah.
Look at all that wood.

So this is your living area,
so you have two seating spots,

and that could double
as a second bed.

Yeah, someone could sleep here
- if we needed.
- Yeah, could probably fit...

It feels like everywhere
in here just has a purpose,

which is really--
I love that.

- Check out all the storage.
- It feels like there's
storage everywhere.

Oh, look at that--it's got
shelves and everything. Yeah.

- Check out the coat closet.
- Oh, look--
I could fit a shoe rack.

Yay. This is awesome.

Oh, wow.

You have your gas stove
with an oven.

Uh, there's the fridge!
Oh, there's the fridge!

- There you go.
- I mean, I like that
it's tucked away,

but I really wanted
a full-sized fridge

so I could have a freezer
- and a refrigerator.
- Yeah.

This kitchen is pretty tight
as it is.

I feel like if we took that
inset and just popped it out, Right, to right here.

we could maybe fit a fridge
there or put a countertop

in right here, and that... I didn't really think of that.

Yeah, that would
make the kitchen feel
a whole lot bigger.

Tight squeeze.

I'll let you guys go in first
- and have a look.
- Oh.

It's a little small,
but it does have a door.

It does have a door,
that's important.

So you do have storage
over the toilet,

and that is
that composting toilet.

Awesome.
Okay.

This is really kinda awkward,
and there's nothing to really
grab to, like, help.

You're gonna have to pull me up.

So, Tonya, it does fit
a queen-size bed,

but you can't really use all of
it unless you want to be

cuddling with a, like...
The ceiling.

I like wood.
I don't like it this much.

I bet without really impacting
the budget too much,

we could probably take this
and just blow the ceiling
out right here

and give us a lot more space.

I really think
it's a cute design,

and it's well within budget.

I mean, it had a little bit
of everything we wanted.

I mean, it has a door
for the bathroom,
so there's privacy.

- A lot of storage space.
- There's a lot of storage space.

I really liked that.
I don't like that
there's no washer and dryer.

Yeah, and no full-size fridge.

But all in all,
it was a cute setup.

Tonya's found them something
with the space they want,

but it comes at a price.

Oh, my goodness, it's adorable!

- I told you it was.
- And now I see
why it's so expensive.

- You think we can do this?
- I think you can do it.

- Yeah?
- You're pretty good
at building things.
I think you can manage.

Bangor, Maine, couple
Charlie and Shenee

are constantly on the move
for work, and with a budget

of $25,000 to cover
plans and materials,

they've decided to build
their own tiny house

that they can take on the road
wherever they go.

They've seen
a 224-square-foot cottage

that has plenty
of storage options.

Shenee loves the modern-looking
exterior,

but Charlie would have to modify
the cramped kitchen and loft

to give them more space.

Friend and real estate agent,
Tonya Allen,

has found them something
with more room, but at
a much higher price point.

The price on this one,
unfortunately, is outside
of your budget.

How far outside
the budget, Tonya?

Well, the materials
are $40,000.

Ooh.
Wow!

In addition to
the cost of the materials,

they would also have to spend
$1,000 for the plans,

giving them a total build cost
of $41,000.

If they were to buy the house
they're seeing today outright

and not build it themselves,
it would cost $65,000.

It's definitely outside
of your budget.

Yeah, just a little bit.
And it's 240 square feet.

- Oh, my goodness, it's adorable!
- I told you it was.

And now I see
why it's so expensive.

- It looks really well done.
- I really like the color
of the outside.

Mmhm.
Not a huge fan of the color.

I don't like how this looks
so permanent, though.

They built this
as a permanent structure,
so if you didn't include

the slab and the skirting,
it would be less expensive
for you.

Oh, wow.

This is very nice.
Yeah, it really is.

And if you guys could take off
your shoes, because these
are cherry floors.

We don't want to scratch them.
Ooh, those are expensive.

We can save a little
bit of money there.

What is this?
Do you like it?

No! Not at all. Why...

No, I'm not a fan of
these colors, either.

And no exposed wood in here
other than the floor.

We could do something like
tongue and groove
- with exposed wood.
- Yeah.

It is listed as two lofts,
so you have your king-size
sleeping loft

on this side, and this is really
more of a storage loft.

These are both storage units.

- That's kinda cool.
- Yep, this lifts up,
and that slides right in.

I really like that.

Oh, Charlie, look!
They've got a washer and dryer.

Yeah, and it's, like,
the focal point of the house.

That's just like,
"Here's my washer." Great.

We wouldn't have to have
the washer/dryer right here.

I just love
that they have one.

Oh.

I mean, it's got... a decent
amount of counter space

for a small house.
Yeah, it does.

It's not bad at all, and... It's very modern.

- Oh!
- I can't believe you walked
right by that.

- Full-sized fridge! Yes!
- Full-sized fridge.

It's a very up-to-date,
modern kitchen.

Behind you, if we all
make this awkward move,

that's a saloon door
- to the bathroom.
- Oh!

I feel like I should be walking
into a bar right now,

not a tiny bathroom.

I think you should put handles
on it so you can actually
pull it open

- and not have to walk in.
- Yeah...

And watch out, because it'll...

Ooh!...it'll get ya.

- Ooh!
- Ooh.

I think we can do a sliding
door or something like that.

You have a sink,
a flushing toilet,
and a full shower.

It's actually
relatively spacious.

It is spacious.
This is a full-size shower.

Charlie, you want to pull out
the ladder for us?

This thing is fancy and rolls,
- I like that.
- Yep.

What do you think of up here?
So you have a king-size
futon mattress.

Yeah, but it's not a lot of
space, and I don't really like

how the only place to put
your clothes is where
everybody can see them,

and I've been looking around,
I haven't seen a single spot

- to put all my shoes.
- We'll have to get rid of them.

Come on.

Yeah, what I was thinking,
if we do make the--
get a queen-size mattress

and put some storage here
along the windows,

we could take these shirts,

put them in there,
and then this could
be shoe storage.

It's not as bad as having
our underwear showing
for the world to see.

- Not even close.
- No.

I--I think it definitely
would give us enough space

- for what we wanted to do.
- Pretty spacious.

It does, but I am concerned
about the price of this one.

I think Charlie's definitely
capable of making

a design like this work,
I just don't personally

know what materials cost,
so we'd have to sit down

and really crunch
some numbers and find out

what our expenses are gonna be.

There are a lot of spots where
we could save money on this--

the slab outside, the skirting,
the washer and dryer.
Right, of course.

I really like the washer
- and dryer, though.
- Oh, but it's so expensive!

The fridge is great.
You're gonna use that.

So hopefully we can find a way
- to make that work.
- Right, I hope so.

Tonya's found them something
that fits their budget,

but the layout might
need some changes.

This is not the welcome
that you want

when you walk
into your house.

We could always build it
on a pontoon boat.

Take it off the trailer
and put it on a boat.

Charlie, a civil engineer,
and Shenee,

a traveling nurse, are
constantly on the move
for work,

so they're building
their own portable tiny house

that they can move wherever
their jobs take them.

- Really?
- So far, they've seen

a 224-square-foot cottage.

Charlie loves the creative
storage options,

but the kitchen is smaller than
what Shenee's looking for,

and they'd have to raise
the ceiling above the loft.

Next was a larger,
240-square-foot tiny home

that has full-sized appliances
and a spacious loft,

but the build cost was over
their $25,000 budget,

and they'd have to down-scale
the materials

in order to make the build affordable.

Real estate agent and friend,
Tonya Allen,

is now taking them to see a more
budget-friendly design

that's easy to take on the road.

This looks pretty small!

It's about as big
as our bathroom at home. Yeah.

Well, it's actually
145 square feet.

Okay.
So it is a tiny house.

- Yeah.
- Keep in mind,
if you were to buy this,

it would sell for $20,000.

The plans are only $250,
and the materials run
about $11,000,

so it's well within your budget.
That is.

That's actually under budget
quite a bit, so maybe...

So we'd have room
to kind of build on

or add a little bit extra...
Yeah, we've got
some wiggle room.

- We could make it longer.
- Can we upgrade the stepstool, too?

I think we could probably
make that happen.
I think you should keep that.

Oh, wow.

I don't know how I feel about
walking in, and the first
thing you see is the bathroom.

Yeah, this is not
the welcome that you want

- when you walk into your house.
- It's really tight, too.

- It is really small.
- I really think this tub
needs to go.

It looks like it's meant
to bathe a dog.
Yeah, a really small dog.

I also don't like that it
doesn't have a door for privacy.

If we have guests, they're not
gonna want to go to the bathroom

with a wide-open door.
Yeah, that's
definitely true.

I do like that it has storage,
though, in here.

We need some sort of storage
to put towels

- or toiletries.
- Yeah, no, this is good.

Oh, wow.

I like this, it's kinda--

the tall ceilings make it feel
nice and airy.

Is there a washer and dryer
anywhere in this unit

- or hookups?
- Unfortunately, there isn't
anything here,

so again, if you're thinking
about expanding this

and maybe maximizing
the bathroom space,

you could put a small laundry
unit in there, as well.

That might be something
we have to consider.

You have the cooktop,
but it also has a small oven.

I don't know how I feel
about these LEDs.

I kinda feel like I'm in, like,
a club or something,

and the floor is, like, glowing,
it's really weird.

You can have a dance party
in the kitchen.

Yeah, with five people.

On this side here, it does flip
open to be a kitchen table,

so you can have dining,
probably three seats.

Okay, wow, this is pretty cool.

Then it just folds out,
and it props up like that.
That's cute.

The only problem I have
is there's no fridge.

Maybe if we took the bathroom

and kinda put it under
this second loft space here,

and then the fridge could still
go here, and you'd have room

- to sit at the table.
- It's got the loft that I wanted.

- Yep.
- And that would fit a queen bed.

- Yep.
- This is a full sleeping
area with a queen bed,

and then you have an additional
space on the other side.

- Awesome.
- You're probably gonna want
to build a permanent ladder

- to access this loft.
- I guess this works for now.

I mean, I can easily
sit up up here.

No place to even build
storage up here.

That seems to be a common
theme with this house.

There's just no storage,
which when Shenee has
her pile of shoes

that she thinks is coming, uh...

But what if we look
over at the second loft?

We can put some stuff over
there, but maybe even build

a little bench, like a built-in
seating area that we can

put our clothes and shoes in.
Actually, that's a really
good thought.

I don't like that there's
no bathroom door. Mmhm.

Or that when you first walk into
the house, that's the first
thing you see.

- Yeah.
- We'd have to change that.

Yeah, we would definitely
have to do that.

I really want
the full-size refrigerator.

I don't like that it doesn't
have one or a space
to put it right now,

so we would
have to work that in,
and I would also really like

to work in a washer and dryer.

Well, I think if we,
you know, stretch
the whole house

by a couple of feet, I think
that extra two feet would

really make a big difference.

Having seen several
unique ways to build

their own tiny house, it's time
for Charlie and Shenee

- to pick a plan.
- So what are you guys gonna do?

House hunting just got
a little bit smaller,

with people on the hunt
for tiny homes.

Could you live
in such close quarters?

- Whoa.
- Yeah?

Bangor, Maine, residents,
Charlie and Shenee are
building their own tiny house

that they can take on the road
for work.

With a budget of $25,000,
they've seen several homes

with plans available for sale,
and it's time to pick

which one they want to tackle
building themselves.

Did any one of these plans seem
to be a good fit for you?

I really like the little
cottage at the campground.

This home's floor plan
measured 224 square feet.

I thought it was a cute
little design.

So that cottage was
$23,000 in materials

and then $500 for the plan.

So just under budget, and that
would give us a little room

to play around and make the
- adjustments that we'd need.
- Right.

I felt like every bit of space
in that house

was just very well thought out.

Um, there were definitely
a couple things you'd change.

The entrance
was a little bit wonky.

The loft was super small.
Yeah, it was tight.

That was a big problem
that we'd have to find
a solution to.

But the downstairs was great. Yep.

Do you know, I also really did
like the layout

of the--the tiny green house.

At 240 square feet,
this was the largest home
they saw.

I just didn't like
the skirting that was around it

and how permanent it kinda felt.

With $1,000 for your plans
and then $40,000 for materials,

it definitely puts you
way over budget.

I do think that we could bring
that materials budget down.

I'm not sure if we could get it
all the way to $25,000,

but if we lost
the concrete pad,

the skirting,
the cherry floors,

I think we could come
pretty close.

We'd have to cut
a lot of corners.

Yeah, and if we went
with that plan,

we're changing
the bathroom doors.

What did you think of that
little micro-bungalow thing?

The materials were $11,000.
The plans were only $250.

But keep in mind, it was only
144 square feet.

It was small, but...

that's way--I mean, that's not
even half of our budget,

so if we wanted to, we could
take that and expand it

an extra two feet and really
gain a lot of space there.

There was absolutely
no storage.

There was really no room for
a second sleeping space,

and the bathroom,
the second you walked in,

that was the first thing
you saw, so we would
really have to make

a lot of adjustments.
Yeah, I agree.

The plans for the green house

are kind of what
we want already,

if we can make it affordable.

Even though it's out
of our budget,

I think we're gonna go
with the big green house.

Yep, I agree.

I think between Shenee and I,
we're creative enough

to make our budget work
with that plan.

Excellent--I can't wait to see
the finished result.

After spending 12 months
building their house,

Charlie and Shenee
have already driven it

2,500 miles cross-country.

I've been to Bozeman, Montana,
a couple of times before,

and I really liked it,
so when we left Maine,

we kind of made that
as our destination,

and I think it was a good
decision, 'cause so far,
we both love it here.

They've been renting land
near downtown to keep
their house on

while they both search
for jobs in the area.

That looks great!

We chose the plans for
the expensive green cottage.

Uh, the plans cost us $1,000,
and then we spent

about $15,000 in material
to build our tiny house.

We definitely had to find ways
to, you know, cut corners.

We actually came up with
our own floor, which we made

out of reclaimed boards
from a barn in Maine.

Which was actually given to us,
- so that saved a big expense.
- Yeah.

And you remember,
in the plans, they had

a washer/dryer unit right here.

We don't have
a washer/dryer right now,

which saved us money and space.

As you can see, it gave us
more space for storage.

And over here is our shoe box,

Very important.which is plum full of shoes.

Not only do our storage
boxes act as the couch,

but they can also
turn into a second bed

just by
sliding them around.

You can sleep two--
probably two people on there

if they're comfortable
with each other.

So the loft is kind of bumped up
on either side,

and there's enough room to sit
up there, queen-size bed,

and there's also storage
for our clothes up there.
The kitchen's great.

He let me pick the color
for the cabinets,

so I did get to have a little
say in the decorating.

I got my full-size fridge, um,

but as you can see,
it's fully functioning.

We have a stovetop here--
we don't have an oven,

but we didn't really cook much
in the oven, anyway.

I do really like it
here in Bozeman.

We've already got a couple
job prospects,

and I'm excited
for what lies ahead.