Whether you’re looking to DIY the entire project or you want to submit plans to a builder, getting blueprints for a tiny house can help out quite a bit. It’s one thing to wing it, but having the plans right in front of you will help assure the tiny house is built properly.
Where can I get Plans for a Tiny House?
You can get tiny house plans on the internet by buying digital downloads or physical blueprints. Many companies also offer guides and books to help you with the process. If you’re still stuck, many companies even offer DIY videos to help guide you.
Throughout this post, you’ll also learn about:
- How you can get tiny house blueprints for free
- The cost of plans and guides
- What to consider before you buy plans for a tiny home
How to Get Plans for Free?
Tiny house plans aren’t always expensive. You can spend quite a bit depending on where you buy them and what you want to get, but there are several free options as well. For example, the Spruce offers five high-quality DIY tiny house plans that you can use yourself or submit to your builder.
Another great example is to try the plans at Morning Chores. With over 20 plans split between the two sites, you’ll have more than enough content to look through. The great thing about free plans is that you can pick and choose certain features from several different plans to make the ultimate tiny house.
If you’re still having trouble finding tiny home plans after looking through all of the free plans online, it may be a good idea to find local building companies and to contract them to design plans for you. They often have plans leftover from previous projects. Sometimes, you might have to spend a little bit of money. However, many blueprints are disposed of or given away to the public and so you may get lucky.
Another option is to contact tiny house communities to ask about the blueprints that they use. While it’s not always a guarantee that they will give away their plans, it may be worth a shot. If you are able to get plans for free, or at a low cost, this will allow you to spend more money on other areas of the tiny house.
The last place that you could try to find tiny house plans for free is Pinterest. Thousands of people post their plans and ideas for you to check out. Many of them are free to the public, so why not get a few creative ideas? Even if you don’t use them, you’ll be able to get an idea of what you want your tiny house to look like.
Whether you settle for Pinterest or scour local communities for free blueprints, there are all sorts of methods to get free plans. Unfortunately, these freebies may not always be of the best quality. If you want better quality plans, you may have to spend some money out of your own pocket in order to obtain such plans.
Cost
If you’ve decided that it’s time to put down some cash to get premium, high-quality blueprints, then you’ll be happy to know that they don’t cost too much. In fact, most of them cost less than $1,000. Let’s run through a few examples so you can get an idea of what you’ll be spending.
The beautiful Desiderata tiny house on Tiny House Plans’ website costs $89 for a digital download and $119 for printed blueprints. Either way, you’ll be getting the plans for a 32’ x 8’ house for next to nothing compared to what you would spend on the blueprints of a regular sized home.
Another example is the Minim tiny house. It costs $349 for the digital download, or you can buy the printable blueprints for as low as $379. The tiny house measures in at 11’ x 22’5”, making it much larger than the previous example.
The House Designers sell countless plans for all sorts of homes. They have an entire page filled with luxury tiny house plans that you can review here. One of their plans is the 803 sq. ft. Clifton 2 bed 1 bath tiny house. It currently costs $938 for the plans, but you can buy additional sets for about $100.
The price of tiny house plans varies drastically for two reasons:
- Certain companies are much better at creating detailed plans than others. If you see a plan that lists what you need with basic instructions, you probably shouldn’t pay more than $100. However, companies that provided precise instructions regarding every last measurement often charge more.
- More amenities and bigger square footage often cost more. Getting a tiny house that only has the bare essentials won’t require as much money when you’re buying the blueprints. However, if you want two stories with a balcony and other luxuries, you can expect to pay more.
Things to Consider
When you’re getting ready to buy your tiny house plans, you should consider a variety of questions. After all, the plans are less than a fraction of the cost of the house.For this reason it might make sense to just spend a little more on high quality plans in order to get the tiny house that you desire.
Here’s a handful of questions to think about when it’s time to buy the plans for your tiny home:
- Are you getting plans because they’re cheap or free? You shouldn’t try to cut corners on plans. In most cases, you can get a high-quality tiny house for $70,000 and plans for $1,000 or less. On the other hand, a free set of plans might cost you nothing, but you may miss out on amenities that you would have liked included in the plans.
- What size are you looking for? Remember to review the exact interior dimensions of the plans before you start using them. Some of them will be twice the size of others, but it’s impossible to tell if you’re not looking for specifications. Engineering Toolbox states that there should be between 100 to 400 sq. ft. per person living in the tiny house.
- Did you settle for the first plans that you found? We’ve all been captivated by the beauty and affordability of tiny houses, but you shouldn’t buy the first plans that you find. They might look good at first, but it’s your new home that we’re talking about! Spend a few days or weeks trying to find the best plans for you.
- How much land do you have at your disposal? It might be tempting to buy the most luxurious, massive tiny house that you can find. However, there are all sorts of laws and regulations that limit the size and availability of tiny houses. Do extensive research prior to purchasing plans.
- What are your favorite things about your current home? Maybe you love the kitchen, or maybe you can’t stay away from the front porch. Either way, you should write down a list of your needs for the new tiny house before you purchase, download, or print the plans for it.
Conclusion
Getting the plans for a tiny house comes with a lot of decisions to make. If you want free plans, you have to be willing to sacrifice a few amenities here and there. There’s a reason that some plans cost $0, while others are more than $1,000.
Here’s a recap of the article:
- There are hundreds of free plans for tiny houses online.
- You can print or download most purchasable plans.
- Write down a list of wants and needs for your new house before you get the plans