ReadyMade: Instructions for everyday life

FRAMING:




1. It takes 24 standard 40×48-inch shipping pallets to frame the walls of a tiny house. Prep your shipping pallets by attaching 2×4’s to each open end. This makes the pallets stronger and gives you four sides on which to nail, screw, and bolt. Salvage the lumber from other pallets by cutting through the nails with a reciprocating saw. It’s a fast way to dismantle a shipping pallet and leaves you with the most usable wood.

2. Lift each pallet into place. It should stand on its edge. Bolt to floor, then screw together as you stack them. To avoid one long weak horizontal seam, alternate full and half pallets as if you were stacking bricks.

3. To build a pitched roof, nail two pallets together maintaining a 3:12 pitch. You’ll need to notch the pallets at their outside edge to fit the walls. Then, enlist two strong friends to help you lift the section into place. Lift the end sections into place first before lifting the center pieces.

   

FLOOR:




1. Before you lay down the floor, you’ll need to locate a flat, stable surface to build on, such as a concrete slab. For mobility, try a flatbed trailer. A completed palette house weighs roughly 4,000-5,000 pounds, so carefully chose a surface that will support that tonnage.

2. Prep shipping pallets by attaching 2×4’s to the open ends. This makes the pallets stronger and gives you four sides on which to nail, screw, and bolt. Salvage the lumber from other pallets by cutting through the nails with a reciprocating saw. It’s a fast way to dismantle a shipping pallet and leaves you with the most usable wood.

3. For the subfloor, arrange pallets to fit the size of your slab or trailer. Janzen likes to clamp and screw his pallets together before bolting them into place. If you are using a double-axle trailer, keep the arrangement to less than 8½ feet wide in order to fit under the legal width limit on the road.

4. Attach 4×8 sheets of plywood to the pallet subfloor. If you want to insulate, this is your chance.

WINDOWS AND DOOR:




1. Use a reciprocating saw to cut out spaces for the windows and door. To ensure straight, plumb openings, frame the rough holes with new 2×4 lumber or some from your best pieces of dismantled pallets.

2. Once your window and door holes are cut, slide the 2×4 window and door bucks into place. As you build the bucks, make sure they are squared up before fastening a lot of screws. First put in one or two screws, square up the buck, and then fasten a temporary plywood brace to hold it while you work.

WALLS AND ROOF SHEATHING:




1. Use 4×8-foot sheets of plywood (or the most weather-resistant material you can find) to clad the interior and exterior of your tiny pallet house. To ensure an airtight house, insulate the interior and cover the exterior in house wrap before sheathing the facade—this will keep your little abode warm in winter and cool in summer.

2. 2. Lay down roofing felt (tar paper) before applying the final roofing material, and edge the roof in flashing. Janzen prefers metal roofs to asphalt shingles. Sure, the rat-a-tat of rain is loud, but shingles might fly off when you tow your tiny house down the highway.

This project was adapted from tinypallethouse.com; the method also works well for a doghouse, office, or garden shed.