What are the advantages of solid wood horizontal construction?
With a tight grain and few knots, Nordic Spruce is a species of wood known for its light weight strength. Given the finished weight of a tiny house on wheels is one of the biggest factors when choosing a trailer — or even a transport vehicle — building from Nordic Spruce can offer a distinct advantage.
The solid wood, log cabin style horizontal construction eliminates the need for sheathing, siding and insulation for a tiny house on wheels, further reducing the finished weight of the structure as compared to a similar structure built from 2×4 vertical framing. This can perhaps result in easier and less costly transport, and may even play a role in safety during transport.
To date, Roger Lehet’s Unforgettable Tiny House™ Caboose model has suffered no ill effects to the integrity of its structure, although it has now traveled over 15,000 miles on the tiny house show circuit. If anything the double tongue & groove walls have settled in and become tighter (and thus stronger) because of the road stress, leading us to believe that the solid wood horizontal construction of the Unforgettable Tiny House™ kit designs may hold up better on the road than similar structures on wheels framed with 2×4 methods.
Do I have to put my Unforgettable Tiny House™ on a trailer?
While our tiny house kits are sized for trailers, they may also be placed on a foundation, such as a cement slab or on skids. We recommend that you check with your local officials about the building codes in your area, as in many places, a structure under 200 square feet in size does not require a permit to build.
How long does it take to assemble an Unforgettable Tiny House™ kit?
The answer to this question depends upon the size and complexity of the kit’s design and the construction experience of the individuals assembling it. With that said, our Unforgettable Tiny House™ kits were designed for the DIY-er in mind!
Each kit comes with an awesome easy-to-follow instruction manual. Most Unforgettable Tiny House™ models can be assembled in a few days by 2-3 people with little to no construction experience. This would provide you with a shell home which can be divided and finished according to your needs, tastes, and budget.
Cost? How much do the Unforgettable Tiny House™ kits run?
Our designs begin as low as $65 per square foot and our Unforgettable Tiny House™ kits come in all shapes and sizes. Therefore, costs vary according to square footage and potential extras such as a “twin skin” and insulated floors for cabin models in colder climates. Contact us today for more information!
What about doors, windows and roofing materials?
Each Unforgettable Tiny House™ Kit Includes:
- Double Tongue & Groove Nordic Spruce Walls
- Highest Quality Doors with Double-Glazed Windows
- European Tilt & Turn Double-Glazed Windows
- 28 mm Nordic Spruce Tongue & Groove Floor Boards
- 19 mm Nordic Spruce Tongue & Groove Roof Boards
- Stronger-than-Steel Glu-Glam Beams
The Following Options Are Available At An Additional Cost:
- Specs & Plans for RVIA Certification
- Custom Fabricated Tiny House Trailer
- Custom Fabricated Fold Down Deck
Note: Roofing materials, stains & sealants, appliances, etc. are not included. Transportation costs to the delivery site are not included.
What floor plans do you have?
When assembled, this tiny house kit provides a shell which can be divided up or left open according to one’s needs, tastes, and budget. We encourage you to think of the shell as a “blank canvas” with nearly limitless possibilities for you to express your personality and creativity.
I want a THOW. Where do I purchase a trailer?
Prices for each Unforgettable Tiny House™ kit include pre-milled components required to construct an empty shell, as well as the doors and windows specific to the design of each kit.
Roofing materials, stain & sealer, solar systems, composting toilets, and the Kimberly™ or Katydid™ gasifier wood stoves by Unforgettable Fire™ may also be ordered as optional upgrades, and are not included in the listed prices.
What is the R-value of your Unforgettable Tiny House™ kits?
Given our collective need to conserve energy for the health of our global environment as well as ndiviidual budgets, most people have been trained to consider the R-value of a completed structure. However, R-value applies to insulation. R-value does not apply to solid wood construction.
You should understand that structures of solid wood construction do not lose their heat as readily as 2×4 or 2×6 frame structures with even the best insulation. Our double tongue & groove construction in the Unforgettable Tiny House™ kits make for an airtight lock. The wall thickness in our pre-milled tiny house and cabin kits begins at 40 mm and graduates to 120 mm (1.57 inches to 4.72 inches), with thicker logs offering greater insulative properties.
With that said, we do offer optional double skin walls and roofing for cabin kits which will be assembled in the coldest climates; optionally insulated floors are also available.
And of course, we highly recommend the Kimberly™ and Katydid™ gasifier wood stoves manufactured by our sister company, Unforgettable Fire™.
Our Kimberly™ and Katydid™ gasifier wood stoves are EPA/CSA Certified and UL-tested and they both offer a small footprint for your tiny space and make efficient use of their fuel for longer burn times.
Can I wire and plumb my Unforgettable Tiny House™ shell?
Yes! Our Unforgettable Tiny House™ kits can easily be wired for electricity and plumbed once the Unforgettable Tiny House™ shell has been assembled.
Where are the Unforgettable Tiny House™ kits milled?
Our Unforgettable Tiny House™ kits are milled in Eastern Europe, where the Siberian Spruce trees that they are milled from are native. This offers the additional advantage of time-tested old-world European craftsmanship in the manufacturing process. The double tongue-and-groove design provides long-lasting durability even in the wettest of climates.
What is the delivery time on an Unforgettable Tiny House™ kit?
Depending on our shipping schedule at any given time, you should plan to order your Unforgettable Tiny House™ kit at least 12 weeks before you need to have it on hand. Longer lead times are highly recommended.
Shipping times are approximate due to circumstances beyond our control regarding ocean freight shipping schedules, customs clearances, etc.
I live in a very cold climate - what are my options?
Unforgettable Tiny House™ offers a variety of log thicknesses in 28/34/44/70 mm, plus twin skins (insulating with an air space) in 34/34 and 44/44 mm is a choice you will not find elsewhere. While “twin skins” are not an option for a tiny house on wheels, they are a great option when building a tiny house or cabin of any size on a foundation.
How do I finish and maintain the exterior of my Unforgettable Tiny House™?
Unforgettable Tiny House™ recommends the Perma-Chink® brand products to prep, stain, and finish our tiny house and cabin kits. Not only are the Perma-Chink® products safe and easy to work with due to their zero-VOC formulation and soap & water cleanup, but the Perma-Chink® products are offered in a variety of aesthetically pleasing colors choices.
As well, we have found the Perma-Chink® products to be extremely durable. Although the variables in your climate will determine the longevity of the Perma-Chink® finish on your finished structure, on average, one should expect the need to reapply the Perma-Chink® finishes only once every three years or so.
I'm chemically sensitive. Are your Unforgettable Tiny House™ kits non-toxic?
Our Unforgettable Tiny House™ kits are milled from Siberian Spruce. The wood is treated prior to assembly in patented autoclaves under pressure, using 100% non-toxic treatment. There is no formaldehyde used in our products, unlike OSB board or plywood which is required for traditional 2×4 or 2×6 framed structures. Therefore, there is no outgassing of manmade chemicals from the shell itself. It is therefore likely that even the most severely chemically sensitive or chemically injured person could live comfortably in one of our Unforgettable Tiny House™ assembled kits.
How big are your sleeping lofts?
Our Unforgettable Tiny House™ lofts can accommodate up to a king-sized bed.
How Do The Unforgettable Fire™ Gasification Wood Stoves Squeeze More Heat From Less Wood?
Traditional wood stoves typically burn their wood in a hot and fast fire. While traditional wood stoves are very effective at heating your home, a great deal of heat unavoidably escapes up the chimney. We know this to be true because all EPA/CSA Certified wood stoves (except for the gasification wood stoves manufactured by Unforgettable Fire™) require Class A chimney pipe for the entire length of the chimney — or the use of a masonry chimney, which can also withstand the high flue temperatures which result from burning wood in a traditional wood stove.
The gasification wood stoves manufactured by Unforgettable Fire™ utilize patented two-stage combustion technology. The patented gasification technology restricts oxygen in the lower part of the combustion chamber, resulting in a slower smoldering fire, which deliberately creates wood smoke. The wood smoke is then re-burned as fuel in the upper part of the combustion chamber in an intensely hot fire during a secondary combustion before the smoke can exit the stove and the chimney. Due to the better utilization of the wood through gasification, the patented gasification technology in an Unforgettable Fire™ wood stove results in much lower flue temperatures. Less heat lost up the chimney results in more heat remaining in your home to warm your family.
The process of releasing wood gas (i.e. smoke) from wood is called, pyrolysis, and is defined as, “decomposition brought about by high temperatures”. The purpose of the first combustion in an Unforgettable Fire™ wood stove is to deliberately create smoke. It is the re-burning of the wood gas (i.e. smoke) in the secondary combustion that produces most of the heat to heat your home. During the process of pyrolysis, active live flames will gradually diminish, leaving coals. The coals will continue to burn and will continue to release heat into the room until they too have extinguished, or until another load of wood is added to the combustion chamber to begin the burning cycle again.
The Unforgettable Fire™ gasifier wood stoves are the only EPA/CSA Certified wood stoves that have been UL-tested and approved to vent with pellet pipe. This is possible because the patented gasification technology used in the Unforgettable Fire™ wood stoves results in sufficiently low flue temperatures. To be clear, all other wood stoves require Class A chimney pipe, or a masonry chimney, for the entire length of the chimney. The Unforgettable Fire™ gasification wood stoves require that pellet pipe is sleeved by only a short section of Class A pipe that extends from the ceiling through the roof.
Because pellet pipe is far less costly than Class A chimney pipe, our unique UL-approved venting system often saves our clients hundreds of dollars on a new installation of an Unforgettable Fire™ gasification stove as compared with a new installation of a traditional combustion wood stove. The total installation costs for a Kimberly™ and Katydid™ gasifier wood stove are similar to the total installation costs of a $2,000.00 traditional combustion wood stove, although the funds are allocated very differently.
It is critical to the function of any wood stove that the chimney be warm enough to breathe properly; this requirement is not unique to the Unforgettable Fire™ wood stoves. Afterall, the relationship between any wood stove and its chimney is very similar to the relationship of the lungs and heart in the human body. When the lungs are not able to breathe properly, the performance of the heart suffers. Likewise, when the chimney does not draw properly, the performance of the stove suffers.
Because our patented gasification technology results in significantly lower flue temperatures, our greatest challenge in colder climates has been to keep our interior flue temperatures sufficiently warm enough to draw properly. We have overcome this issue with good ‘ol American ingenuity. We therefore highly recommend that our clients purchase the custom-manufactured insulated pellet pipe, available from Unforgettable Fire™ or its dealers for an easier and more straightforward installation.
The highly controlled EPA/CSA Certification testing for emissions and UL-testing has proven that our Unforgettable Fire™ wood stoves burn exceptionally clean and result in exceptionally low flue temperatures. Although Unforgettable Fire™ has never performed any documented tests to back up our marketing claim that the Unforgettable Fire™ gasifier wood stoves “squeeze more heat from less wood”, many of our clients have reported to us that they burn far less wood than they did with their previous wood stove. It’s a simple concept: with less heat escaping up the chimney, more heat remains in the house to keep your family warm. A warmer house means you can potentially cut and split less wood for each heating season.
As you can imagine, the EPA/CSA Certification testing and UL-safety testing are highly controlled and regulated. Consumer results can and will vary, as there are many factors which can affect the amount of heat that can be produced in any wood stove, and therefore the amount of heat which will escape up the chimney, including the species of the wood, the moisture content of the wood, size of the load, the frequency of the loads, the brand of the previous wood stove that was replaced, along with its model, age and condition, as well as your current chimney. Understandably, it would be impossible for any wood stove manufacturer to test the performance of each of their models against all other stoves in existence, so we are only able to report the results of the EPA/CSA Certification and UL-safety testing through our Owner’s Manuals, and share with you in good faith what our clients have reported to us, as well as our own experiences.
As with any wood stove, there are many variables that can affect burn times and heat output. Softwoods such as Douglas Fir and pine will burn more quickly and produce less heat than hardwoods such as oak, ash, hickory, maple, or madrone. The temperature of your space will be determined by many factors including the square footage and ceiling height, the stove’s placement, the size and frequency of your loads of wood, the species and moisture content of your wood, and the ability of your space to retain heat. The ability of your space to retain heat is influenced by local climate and weather conditions, type and thickness of insulation, number of windows and window quality, air flow, and humidity levels.
Burning dry, seasoned wood of 20% moisture content or less will produce more heat, longer burn times, and less creosote than wood containing greater than 20% moisture content. Your investment in a moisture meter with an accuracy of +/- 1% will help you get the most heat from the least amount of wood.
For approved installation instructions and diagrams, consult the Unforgettable Fire™ Owner’s Manuals regarding your specific application. For additional questions, call 1-855-872-7868 or email [email protected], or contact your authorized Unforgettable Fire™ dealer.