Tiny House Floor Construction 

I have watched every episode of Tiny Nest since you have started your build. You have gone out of your way to show a lot of behind the scenes and that has taken a lot of your time and energies. I want you to know that is greatly appreciated. I also have looked at the trailers on the market. I especially like the looks and the new additions Iron Eagle has made to their trailers. I am toying with the idea of making a build of my own one day and really like the Iron Eagle design. Keep up the good work and , give a thanks to Iron Eagle for showing their product when the time comes maybe we can get together one day. Peace.

There is barely any information on how to attach a house to the trailer even less videos. This was very helpful video. Thanks!

Typically the plywood subfloor is oriented so that the long edges of the plywood are perpendicular to the floor joists. The grain of the two exterior layers of the plywood (top and bottom) run the length of the plywood. It is manufactured this way to provide strength and prevent sagging between the joists or rafters (when used for roof sheathing). You still will realize the material savings you highlighted in the other video since the inside width of the trailer will be less than 96". If the trailer is 20' long you would use (5) 93" long by 48" wide pieces of plywood ( the last piece would be less than 48" once the width of the front and rear wall bottom plates are taken into account. The proper method (in my opinion) would also use (5) pieces. One run along the length of the trailer would include (2) full sheets plus (1) half sheet. The adjoining long run would also have (2) full length sheets cut to 45" wide and (1) half sheet also cut to 45" wide. The layout of the second row would be reversed so that you don't have a continuous seam along the length of any one joist. This also assumes you are using tongue and groove subfloor plywood that will again prevent sagging and rubbing movement along the long edges of the subfloor between joists. If tongue and groove subfloor plywood is not used, blocking would be required to eliminate the up and down movement along the long edge of the plywood between joists. Hope this make sense.....

I love this bouncing ideas back forth most people on your tube act much differently to someone making a comment pointing out a bad choice or i would have done it this way type of comment. But yall take it in stride an have always responded back with respect and even admiting the other idea was better ,for this i commend you and your gal. after thinking about it i do believe that if you run solid foam board all the way to the edge of the trailer let the plywood extend to the edge the sit the bottom plate ontop it would solve both issues of supporting the ply and giving you a single bottome plate .that foma board is super dense and running solid under the ply and plate should be rock solid..just a thought..please keep em coming love the little videos..i have as of recent retaught my self that my way is not always the right way although i have been in and around construction since the age of five and i am now 42. there is always more than one way to skin a cat lol.. My hats off to the both of you for doing this

by not running the plywood under the wall plate it will squeak and as the house dries out can possibly allow the edge of the plywood to curl up . another observation is that when you go to install the base board on the finish wall you have only half of the 2x4 plate to nail into so is is better to always run the floor out under the wall just my way of doing it

Love how you break down the steps of how to build a tiny house

I think your doing a great job. I hope that I have not said otherwise. I love the videos and how yall are doing your tiny house. keep up the great work

Amazing demonstration keep it up

Out of all of the tiny home videos that are out there on RU-vid. And I've seen a lot of them. You guys are the best keep up the good work. And I will buy a trailer from iron Eagle soon

MUITO LEGAL! MARAVILHOSO! AQUI NO BRASIL NÃO TEM AINDA ESTE TIPO DE CONSTRUÇÃO. EXCELENTE IDÉIA ESTAS CASAS SOBRE RODAS. COMPACTAS E ACONCHEGANTES. ESTE VÍDEO FOI MUITO INSTRUTIVO MOSTRANDO COMO PREPARAR O PISO PARA RECEBER AS PAREDES. PARABÉNS!!

Looks great. Love the design of the trailer.. Did you do any research about vapor barrier between the steel and wood? Is it needed?

You guys are so funny!

Good video, what are you doing for a vapor barrier?

Floor joists and plywood makes the floor. Subfloor is under that. In a house bearers and piles is the subfloor, on the the trailer is the subfloor 👍

good video

Hi love all your videos and recently used the tiny nest discount on getting a trailer ordered :) I was wondering if you could use 1" rigid foam insulation between the framing and trailer without compromising the flooring structure? basically sil gasket on steroids to bring down thermal bridging.

Hey Jake and Kiva, it was nice meeting you guys in Colorado Springs. Your videos have been a great help to me and my dad. I have a question though. How are you handling or planing to handle the water drains from the house. I am almost ready to start building my house, but I am running into a problem because I plan to put it up in Montana. I don't want the water in the lines to freeze. For the incoming lines I think I have it figured out, but the drains are a little trickier. Any thoughts?

Tiny Nest, Your videos are great. I just had a question regarding the subfloor. We start our tiny home this upcoming weekend, with a 24' Iron Eagle trailer with the galvanized steel bottom plate. Since I am extremely new to home building, I was curious as to the need or why use hangers for the joist? and why do you leave a gap between the galvanized steel floor plate and subfloor? Thanks again! Love all the videos

3/4" plywood is fairly stiff and with the joist at 16" for such a short span this should be ok, make sure crown is up and no big knots in the joist. Also as said subfloor can be installed lengthwise to be at right angles to joists.

Now that you are totally enclosed and the cold weather is hitting, I'd be interested in seeing if you can get some thermal images along the base of the walls. I really like these trailers, but I am concerned about that uninsulated strip along the walls. It would be interesting to see if there is a lot of heat that escapes through this region that would make raising the floor a couple of inches worth the loss of headspace.

I guess concept means no lock washers or self locking nuts?

Hi guys. Read you mention that HGTV had shown interest (though no offers yet) in your building series and the like. I read this on your Photos page of your website www.tinynestproject.com/photos/ a comment at Sept 10, 2015. So good to hear. That makes sense. Am I the only one who likes to hear Jake say the word "subfloor"?

also, if T&G plywood is used leave a tongue on one edge and a groove on the other by cutting a little off each outside edge thereby keeping a tight fully supported center joint.hope this helps folks.

Did you folks use treated wood for the bottom plates when in came in contact with the trailer? I wonder if it would be prudent to use a sill gasket under the bottom plates like they do in homes? Great vid guys...Thanks

How much weight would you save by using steel or aluminum joists instead of wood? And how much more do those cost? It seems like that could be an easy way to save a significant amount of weight.

has anyone thought of filling the frame with insulation?

Do they make the trailers out of aluminum? Would the consider it love the design

awwesome info! whats the height from road to the under side of your floor with this trailer? did you gain any height from using this design?

Unfortunately, I am certain that method will still lead to issues down the road. Thermal bridging isn't just about slightly higher energy bills for climate control... but it is a direct precursor to rot, due to the resultant condensation. Almost without regard to what you'd try to do to stop it, the problem is that steel is indeed an excellent thermal conductor. The cool and warm will meet (lumber is a terrible insulate), and there's your condensation (and it will rise up before it falls and weeps out the bottom, if it can at all). The foremost issue with this is, the rim boards being in direct contact with the trailer. The rot that will begin there will spread to the joists, then the substrate, and thereby compromise the entire structure, because that substrate is in direct contract with the sill plates too... you might get away with a rotting floor for a good while, but the sill plates finally start going and your THOW will have to be entirely demolished and rebuilt. For such reasons, I would personally prefer there to be an option with flush-mount cross rail members (same 6" depth, but at least 24" OC spaced), to drop the rot impervious insulate (rigid, spray-in and roxul in example) straight in-between them, and not have to use lumber for that. Sill seal at least over top all metal, then poly wrap over the entire deck, and THEN put the substrate down. Not directly contacting metal whatsoever, and vapor-barrier where it need be also. Any condensation that will still occur (again, no avoiding it outright), will not so grossly affect the structural integrity (at least not within anyone's lifetime, as metal takes considerably longer to disintegrate than lumber after all) - this would however require that to be able to escape to the under-side (just don't completely air-seal your under-belly. Just enough to keep vermin out). That's the Iron Eagle PAD V.II that I'd like to see happen. Yes, it would weigh more, and cost a bit more too for the additional material, but the peace of mind to me, a sub-floor that will truly last, would be well worth that extra GVWR, even added expense.

Hello guys What's up 🙌🏼 ! Nice video good job 🤜🏼🤛🏼 ! Please, i want to buy the black trailer inside your video please can you tell me Where ? Thanks x1000

How much is one of those trailers? Do they deliver? I have lots to think about now. :) Thanks in advance for the answers to my two questions!

what is the first layer on that trailer? is it tin? or plastic? or....?

So we are not supposed to put any insulation in the bottom, then do we need any vapor barriers under there?

How do you deal with condensation from the steel to the wood connections, such as your rim boards? Also it appears your bottom wall plates are mounted to the steel frame without any thermal breaks? Did I miss a step?

Really like the trailer design, especially the flashing welded onto the wheel fender. Seems like you'd leave a drafty spot by not running the plywood underneath of the perimeter sill plate plus you loose a lot of strength that way. Whether you loose 3/4" or more in usable build height, just wouldn't build it that way myself. Finally it scares me; even though it is just a demo; to see you using drywall screws on the joist hangers. Should have a HUGE disclaimer/warning that drywall screws are only good for, um, drywall.

if you build the base frame at max 102 inches you eliminate all of that and keep a low projection. in other words build the trailer frame the same size as your 102 inches wide floor at the trailer factory, then all you need to do is screw your floor sheeting to the top of the trailer frame. insulate frame after running pipes wires, simple smart! this trailer is built around the axles.

Hi, thanks for sharing your experience. As of now, as you built one with timber structure, what do you recommend among timber, steel and SIP?

You gave that guy free advertising AND free labor? He'd better give you a discount on your next trailer.

@2:25 Normally you would put the crown up... ;-)

how much cost this trailer the big one......im in italy........

The outer joists, the longer ones since they are 5.5" tall and the trailer is 6" deep wont they be sitting a half inch off of the frame? Is this OK?

Used car hauler trailers are better to build into tiny homes then used travel trailers Because they don't have enough trailer structure and axle capacity.

How far apart are the Joists

all these "tiny Homes" are WAAAAY over built..