Building a tiny house with no experience is possible. Learn how to turn a shed into a tiny home.
Turn a Shed Into a Tiny Home: Everything You Need to Know
Tiny home popularity is still rising and will be for the foreseeable future. The benefits of living intentionally in a custom-designed space can appeal to anyone in almost any demographic. Reducing our impact on the planet, living sustainably within our financial means, and getting more out of life by valuing experiences over possessions are all benefits of downsizing to a tiny home lifestyle.
Can You Turn a Shed Into a Tiny House?
You can turn a shed into a tiny home—And building a tiny house starting with a storage shed is less labor and material-intensive than building a tiny home from scratch. However, avoid the expectation that the project will be easy. Building any house, tiny or otherwise, requires a number of detailed steps to follow in the right order.
You can turn a shed into a tiny home in most locations. You can even build a tiny house from a shed with little or no experience if you have the time and patience to develop some basic skills. But there are rules to follow. Your city or municipality will have specific requirements and building codes related to the construction of your tiny house.
Build a Tiny House Vs. Converting a Shed?
The main reason to turn a shed into a tiny home is to avoid some labor of building a tiny house from nothing. You’ll still need to put your shed on a foundation of some sort, but skipping the framing steps saves time and requires fewer specialized skills
Shed kits from a home center retailer often (but not always) cost less than the lumber and other materials necessary to stick-frame and seal up a tiny house.
Even with limited carpentry skills, you can erect a shed kit over a week or so without too much trouble.
Will Converting a Shed into a Tiny House Save Money?
With popularity comes price—It’s simple supply and demand economics. Unfortunately, the cost of building a tiny home from scratch is rising as quickly as the movement’s popularity. But there are still ways to save money over building one from the ground up.
Building any small house is certainly not free, and the materials cost savings to turn a shed into a tiny home won’t be huge over stick framing one.
However, avoiding unnecessary labor costs by converting a shed you build or already own could be the difference between affordability and a pipe dream.
The big money savings come from not needing extensive house framing experience. Putting a shed together yourself avoids the high cost of hiring a specialized labor crew.
Turn a Shed Into a Tiny House: Potential Framing Cost Savings
You’ll still need to hire professionals for some parts of your shed conversion to a tiny house. However, you can start saving money during the framing stage. The early savings can be substantial if you can construct a store-bought shed kit yourself.
How Much Would It Cost to Turn a Shed Into a Tiny House?
The cost to build a tiny house ranges from $30,000 to $160,000, depending on your level of luxuriousness. That number holds true for shed conversions and building your tiny house from scratch. However, in most cases, you can often and more easily stay on the lower end of the pricing spectrum when you choose a shed conversion.
There are outliers and stories of conversions for far less and far more than those figures. Stories of extremely low costs to turn a shed into a tiny house are fun to read. However, most of us must adhere to local building codes, which costs money.
That said, the cost to build a shed for pursuing hobbies or to create a workspace can be much lower than the cost of a full-fledged tiny house creation. Electricity will still be necessary, but skipping plumbing and major HVAC installation can reduce construction costs by $9,000 or more.
Is Turning a Shed Into a Tiny House Worth It?
While converting a shed to a tiny house is often worth the effort, there are some things to consider before diving into the project—Not the least of which is that you won’t be able to use your shed as a shed anymore. More importantly, factors like location, land ownership, zoning laws, and municipal restrictions all need consideration before starting your conversion project.
How to Finance Turning a Shed Into a Tiny Home
While your tiny home won’t likely qualify for a typical mortgage, there are some financing options to consider if necessary. In fact, some financing options are quite attractive simply because you can borrow on different loans and loan types for various parts of the project.
| Loan Type | Potential | Average Interest Rate Range |
| Unsecured personal loan | For borrowers with good to excellent credit, an unsecured loan can help purchase materials and labor. | 11% – 20% |
| Secured personal loan | For borrowers with debt-free assets and fair to good credit, a secured loan can cover materials and labor costs. | 6% – 36% |
| Land loan | For land purchases to put your tiny home onto, a land loan is an option for borrowers with good to excellent credit. | 4% – 10% |
| Credit accounts | Credit accounts such as credit cards, store cards, bank lines of credit, and retailer credit accounts can help finance material costs and some labor costs if there’s a cash option. | 12% – 36% |
| Home equity loan | For homeowners with equity, a home equity loan can serve as funding for any tiny home-related costs. | 7% – 10% |
Turn a Shed Into a Tiny Home Pros and Cons
Pros
- Saving a large amount of labor costs is possible if you provide some elbow grease.
- Financing the shed can help make the project fit a budget.
- Converting a shed can save a great deal of time over stick-framing your home.
- Your home’s framing, siding, and roofing are all but completed once the shed is constructed.
Cons
- Local laws may prohibit or restrict the use of a shed as a living space.
- Relying on a shed layout may limit your design options.
- The amount of money you’ll save may not be as impressive as hoped.
- Tiny homes generally don’t qualify for traditional mortgage lending.
Tiny House Building Codes
A world of myths surrounds building codes and how they relate to tiny home construction and use. And while most tales contain truth elements, many are just anecdotal. Turning a shed into a tiny house, or even a hobby shed you’ll spend time in, is generally governed by the International Residential Code (IRC) and subject to local regulation and restrictions.
A working knowledge of the IRC and local codes is important if you’ll be doing much of the work as a DIY project. However, input from professionals is highly recommended at the planning stage and throughout the foundation and mechanical installations to avoid inspection troubles after construction.
IRC building codes are the minimum code requirements municipalities more or less follow. They’re a good starting point to help you understand how to create your tiny home. But check local zoning laws, municipal building codes, and any other regulations your city, county, or state may have regarding accessory dwelling units or ADUs.
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How To Turn a Shed Into a Tiny Home: Getting Started and the Foundation
Turning a shed into a tiny home is a big undertaking. Starting with a basic plan will bring the project into focus so you can make informed decisions during each step of the build.
1. Make a Tiny House Plan
Whether you hire a designer or planner, draw up your own plans, or find design plans online, the more detailed your tiny house plan is from the start, the better. Ensure your plans include a floor plan at the very minimum. Better is to have an elevation drawing and site map for your reference and to breeze your way through the permitting department.
2. Obtain a Building Permit
Your new tiny house, ADU, office space, or whatever you would like to call it, will require a building permit and a series of inspections. Permits generally cost between $250 and $1,200. The permit cost is often a percentage of the construction cost of your project.
3. Get a Shed
Shed kits are available from several sources. Perhaps the simplest places are big box retailers. Of course, you may already have a shed that fits with your plans—Or, you can fit your plans to your shed or your shed to your plans.
4. Build the Foundation
Your location and local laws may dictate what type of foundation your permanent tiny home requires. If you have a choice, there are several foundation types to choose from, each with its own features and benefits.
5. Set Your Home on its Foundation
Place your soon-to-be tiny home on its foundation before going further.
How To Turn a Shed Into a Tiny Home: The Shell
When you purchase a shed to turn into a tiny home, much of the shell work is already complete. However, there’s plenty of work to do to make a shed a livable space. Namely, add doors, windows, and mechanicals.
1. Install Tiny House Windows
Installing windows on a prefabricated shed is a bit more complex than cutting a hole for the window to fit into. Decide your rough opening size and add interior wall framing to maintain the wall’s integrity—This will likely mean adding a header and some support lumber. Cut a hole in the exterior sheathing within the new framing. Tape-seal the hole’s edges and install the window. Add trim, flashing if required, and sealant around the new window.
2. Add a Tiny House Exterior Door
Depending on the shed you have and the style of door you choose, you may have to frame up some of the exterior wall and add sheathing to accommodate a smaller door than the one that came with the shed. Remember to tape seal, flash if needed, and add trim and sealant.
3. Add and Seal a Tiny House Skylight
Your shed may or may not have come with a prefabricated roof. If your shed incorporates asphalt shingles in its design, accommodating a skylight is a matter of interweaving a skylight flashing kit with the shingles. In the case of a metal roof, a flashing kit and sealant may be all you need. However, that likely sounds easier than it really is.
4. Tiny House HVAC
How you’ll use your ADU will determine the extent of its HVAC features. HVAC contractors like to install their rough-in work before other mechanicals because it often takes up more space. HVAC installations will also require plumbing, electrical, or both to reach it, so it just makes sense to do this part before the others.
5. Tiny House Plumbing
Whether installing a bathroom, wet bar, or kitchen sink and accessories, plumbing is next up. Excavation for a sewer and a supply line is likely necessary. The climate and local rules will dictate how deep you must dig and other related specifics.
6. Tiny House Electrical
Depending on whether your permanent tiny home resides in your primary home’s backyard, is on its own land, or is on or off the grid will determine how you’ll get power to your tiny house. Now is an excellent time to consider solar or wind energy solutions for your new lifestyle.
7. Insulate the Shed Roof
Proper insulation and venting of your home’s roof is crucial. While good insulation will increase energy efficiency, incorrect insulation installation and venting can cause serious damage from condensation problems.
Ensure adequate roof venting, whether you use batts or foam insulation. If you need clarification about the requirements, inquire with a local pro. It may cost more now, but it could save tons in damage restoration costs later.
8. Insulate the Shed
Shed walls tend to be thinner than traditionally framed house structures, making them excellent candidates for spray foam insulation. However, in some climates, foam insulation has suffered some setbacks recently. The best alternatives are fiberglass or mineral wool rolls or batts.
9. Insulate the Shed Floor for a Tiny House
Insulating your shed floor in preparation for turning it into a tiny house depends on your foundation type and climate. For the best energy-efficiency, build a framework of 2x4s on end into the floor. Fill the cavities with your choice of insulation (foam, rigid, batt, or roll), and install a new subfloor on top.
10. Close the Walls and Ceiling
With insulation and mechanicals in place, it’s time to seal up the interior walls. Drywall, plywood, shiplap boards, and paneling are all excellent options. Local fire safety rules may require one type of wall covering over another, so be sure to check if there’s any doubt.
How To Turn a Shed Into a Tiny Home: The Interior
1. Add Paint
Starting with the ceiling, protect and beautify your tiny home’s interior with a couple of coats of paint. Remember that repainting a tiny home’s interior is a larger project than it sounds like, and using premium paint now may delay the need to repaint for a long time.
2. Add Flooring
Though there won’t be much of it, perfection is in the details. Like paint, replacing the flooring in a tiny home is more work than it sounds like it should be. Choose a durable and attractive floor for your tiny house.
3. Tiny House Storage Spaces
In a tiny house, storage is space-expensive. Be creative when designing and installing clever storage spaces such as under-bed solutions, under-stair spaces, seating bench storage, outdoor accommodations, and multi-purpose cabinetry.
4. Install HVAC, Plumbing, and Electrical Fixtures
Your tiny house is becoming a home by now. Next in are the heating and cooling components, a restroom, sinks and faucets, lighting, and outlets.
5. Add Foldable Components
To maximize function in your small space, consider adding foldable and storable components like tables, work surfaces, chairs, and even a bed.
6. Create a Workspace
If you’ll spend time working in your tiny home, create a workspace that’s comfortable for multiple working hours at a time. Staying comfortable while working will help you enjoy your home more, and could increase productivity so you can get outside and play sooner rather than later.
7. Complete the Details
Finally, make your tiny home’s interior yours by adding trim work, art, and final touch details to your liking.
How To Turn a Shed Into a Tiny Home: The Exterior
When you purchased a shed to turn into a tiny home, essentially, you bought a tiny house exterior. You can leave the exterior just as it came or add paint, trim work, siding, or even a tiny house deck for outdoor living.
