If you decide to build a tiny house, and then change your mind about some of its features a year or 2 later, you might not be able to change them.
Like ever.
You’ve probably spent a good deal of time picking out the perfect sink, but you can change that whenever you want. But you paid hardly any attention to your plumbing layout because, let’s face it, that’s boring as heck. The issue is that you can’t change that later on.
Some decisions you make are 100% permanent, and most of that stuff isn’t fun. But with that being said, if you don’t take the time to make sure it’s done just the way you want, it’ll come back to bite you.
And there won’t be anything you can do about it then.
The Decisions You Won’t Be Able to Reverse
Even if everything is perfect when you move in, if you’ve neglected to pay attention to some important stuff before the house was done, you’ll probably have some regrets in the future.
Of course, you don’t have a time machine, and you can’t undo this, but if you’re still in the process of building, here’s what you’ll want to think about.
The Overall Floor Plan
This determines pretty much everything when it comes to where you’ll put your furniture, whether you’ll bump into something, whether there will be space to entertain, and so on.
Where and how the rooms are placed will have a bigger effect on your everyday life than you realize. If you don’t pay attention to what’s happening, you might end up with a bathroom door that opens into the kitchen path or a bedroom loft that has a ceiling so low you have to squat.
Technically, it’s possible to change walls after construction, but that means you’ll need to move wires, patch flooring, redo some sections, and generally make life chaotic for a while.
Utility Routing Behind the Walls
Your finished walls look neat and nice, but there’s a lot going on behind them.
There’s wiring, plumbing, ducts, and cables that make modern life possible. And since it’s all literally invisible once the drywall goes up, it’s easy to ignore all of it. But you shouldn’t.
What if a pipe leaks and you have to cut open finished surfaces to find the source? Or what if you want to add a new outlet, but can’t access an electrical wire? It’ll be a nightmare.
Be smart and plan accessible shut-off valves, service panels, and access points right from the start.
Window Placement and Natural Light
Natural light is really important for your health, so you want your house to have plenty of it. Naturally, you need properly placed windows for that, but windows do more than let light in. If you plan this, a window that’s in the right place can warm a room in winter, and at the same time, if it’s placed wrongly, it can bake it in summer.
Another reason why this needs some planning is cross-breezes. If they can naturally flow through your house, you don’t have to keep the ceiling fan on 24/7.
Once the house is done, this isn’t something you’ll be able to change easily.
Or at all.
Electrical Planning Beyond What You Need Right Now
Just because your house is tiny doesn’t mean you don’t need all the appliances a regular house has. You still have a laptop, kitchen gadgets, space heaters, and entertainment systems, and it all needs power and outlets.
There’s also lighting to think of, and if you think one overhead fixture per room will do the trick, you’re sorely mistaken.
The good news is that MSBOC requires residential license holders to complete 2 hours of continuing education per year, which means your contractor will be up-to-date and able to give you plenty of advice on building codes and on what to think of when it comes to electricity.
Structural Elements You Can’t Easily Move
Take load-bearing walls, for example.
If you want to move one of them, that’ll require steel beams, engineering calculations, a lot of construction, and even more Tylenol because you’ll have the migraine of your life. Roof framing is another feature that’s really difficult to tweak later on, and the same goes for loft supports.
Basically, if it has to do with structure, it’s better to leave it alone.
Best-case scenario – you get what you want after spending a lot of money and going through a crazy amount of stress. Worst-case scenario – your house falls apart, and you have to move into your mom’s basement.
Conclusion
Planning is boring. It’s one of the most boring things involved in building a house.
Nobody wants to think about wire gauges and pipe diameters when you have furniture and tiles to pick out. But if you just focus on the fun stuff, you’ll be really unhappy with the way your house works a year or 2 later.
Yes, your little nook will still be cute, but it’ll annoy you if you can’t reach the breaker box behind it.
Make your peace with being bored to death for a while. It’s better than living in a space you hate for years or even decades.
