Choosing the right building materials is important for any home, but even more so for tiny houses. To ensure your tiny home is a maximum of 4.5t and can, therefore, be towed on Australian roads, all tiny house building materials should be chosen not only according to their appearance and quality, but also their weight.
Tiny House Building Materials for Quality and Functionality
At Aussie Tiny Houses, we only choose high end, quality materials with consideration for the comfort, longevity, ease of maintenance and weight of your completed home. Whether you’re doing it yourself or looking for a builder to bring your tiny house project to life, understanding building materials will be important in your journey to tiny living.
To help out, here are some of the materials we use, and why.
Trailer
A strong, durable purposed-built tiny house trailer is a necessity for a moveable tiny home, which is why ours are engineered specifically to hold the weight of tiny houses. They all have standard rust-proof paint protection and low profile tyres and wheels to allow for extra ceiling height—a life changer if you have a loft bedroom. They come in a variety of sizes and are delivered ready to start building your future home.
Subflooring
All subflooring needs to be insulated and, unlike standard homes, waterproofed throughout. At Aussie Tiny Houses, we use a 33mm lightweight and waterproof single sheet that’s insulated at R1.4. To allow for worry-free transportation, all underfloor running gear is robust and engineered specifically to ensure the structure isn’t compromised during towing.
Frames
At Aussie Tiny Houses we choose to build your tiny home with steel framing rather than timber, for various reasons. It’s lightweight (40 to 60% lighter than timber), durable, stronger than timber, termite free and borer, fire and storm resistant. Our selected supplier, Bluescope TRUECORE ® also designs their steel with technology that provides enhanced corrosion resistance and the strength to ensure it won’t shrink, twist or warp over time.
Insulation
The type of insulation used in your build will have more impact than you may realise. On the walls and ceiling, we use Earthwool® Sound Shield R-2.5 as it’s not just an insulator, it also has great soundproofing qualities to reduce outside noise—particularly important in a tiny home! For those of you choosing tiny living for sustainability, it’s also made using up to 80% recycled glass.
Internal Walls
To increase the liveable space within your tiny home, we build our walls to be 70mm thick. For modern finishes, and to create the perception of height they’re lined with Easy VJ panelling. In the shower, we use non-porous and grout free Laminex® Aquapanel. They’re lighter than standard tiles while remaining strong and durable.
External Walls
Our external walls feature Colorbond steel cladding and it’s consistently proven a good choice.
Colorbond steel has been chosen for its easy maintenance, fire performance and durability in any Australian climate. It also features technology that’s designed to reflect more of the sun’s rays and improve the thermal efficiency of your home.
For an optional upgrade, we also offer Cedar timber for a feature wall which is lightweight and easy to maintain.
Flooring
Our chosen flooring is the Polaris 1200 Vinyl Plank from Godfrey Hirst, which comes in a range of colours that look and feel like natural timber. They’re durable, water and slip resistant, and easy to maintain. When compared to standard timber floors, which can expand in humid weather and need regular sanding and polishing, vinyl flooring was the clear choice.
Roof and Ceiling
Our roofs are insulated with Earthwool® Sound Shield R-2.5 and finished with a weather resistant material like Colorbond Trimdek or corrugated iron. The ceiling is then lined with Easy VJ panelling for a stunning finish that lengthens the room. Shiplap cedar profile can be used in the bathroom or under the loft as a feature ceiling, or as an upgraded ceiling throughout the house.
Doors and Windows
We have various door and window options for our tiny house designs. Dowell aluminium doors and windows are durable and strong, and come in a powder coat finish. For extra insulation against heat loss, heat gain and sound, Bradnam’s Windows & Doors offer high performance double-glazed options. All our doors and windows come with fibreglass fly screens that have a tight weave and won’t rust, rot or corrode. As an upgrade, Invisi-Gard screens can provide an extra level of safety and security to your home.
Cabinetry
In the kitchen and bathroom we use Laminex cabinetry as it’s designed to withstand everyday use. All drawers and cupboards are soft close to reduce the wear and tear that may occur when slammed regularly. Our benchtops are chosen from a collection of decorative Polytec and Laminex designs that are all durable and low maintenance for stress free cooking.
Paint
For paint, we use the highest quality Natural White Low Sheen Dulux paint. It’s the lightest of the warm whites offered by Dulux and will give your tiny home a bright and spacious feel. It’s also stain-resistant and tough to reduce maintenance and prolong the freshly painted look.
For a non-toxic option, we also offer Ecolour which is completely free of volatile organic compounds.
Sealants and Adhesives
Good quality sealants and adhesives are vital for the comfort and safety of any home. Our most trusted option from Adheseal is durable, paintable and weather resistant. Our non-toxic option from Mapei is stain and mould resistant, solvent free and suitable for both internal and external surfaces.
Tiny house building materials should be chosen according to much more than just their aesthetics. They also need to be practical, durable, and lightweight. We’ve considered all of these factors for each and every material used in our builds; to see how they turned out, head to our online gallery. Or, to walk around and see how they feel and function in person, get in touch about visiting our display homes.
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