So i'm planning to build a tiny...ish home. Or at least the same construction method so i'm posting here - built onto the frame of either a schoolbus or a mobile home frame, possibly shortened. I need something that can at least theoretically be moved or rolled - not necessarily on the open road, even just on
land, because I cannot afford to clear all the land i'd like first so it's going to be parked next to the road the first few years until I can.
Now there's one critical change...
My best low cost simpler-to-DIY housing idea so far is to build what i'm calling a panel house. Meaning every or nearly every part (insulated panels of floor, walls, roof) of the house breaks down into 4x8 panels because I will need to build those panels off-site where I have power, haul out fitting in the pickup bed, and then try to rapid-assemble on site. Where strength and length is needed like under the floor or for a 12-16 foot wide roof i'm thinking of building something like ladder trusses which would break down into a 4x8 segments to fit in the pickup and then quickly assemble into something longer. One reason i'm keen on that is it's a way to turn less expensive 2x4's or 2x3's into a longer support piece - thats not written in stone, just... brainstorming. Offer alternatives if you've got good ones. This is all about inexpensive and easy to DIY with limited woodworking skills not much beyond building utility shelving, and not expecting to afford much better equipment, trailers, or anything until after it's built. (including fearing material/tool theft if I can't get the house built into a complete habitable unit fast
enough)
One reason i'm wanting a "panel house" is the plan is to be able to DIS-assemble this later (back off the frame), the panels might be built onto a fixed land foundation (something like post/pier probably raised from the ground a bit) OR I could add more panels to make a larger structure reusing what I already have. Modularity and the ability to disassemble/change things later is fairly important to me, because it's the only way I currently can think of to solve other problems.
I'm pretty sure the walls would go up like nothing, and the ceiling/roof i've been expecting to use a form of falsework so I can basically lift panels up to the roof and assemble them in place. But first i'd need a proper floor...
So that made me have to ask what is the proper way to build a floor.
By which I mean what kind of engineering loads am I designing it for, in terms of how it would tie into a metal frame (from the schoolbus/mobile home), what thickness bolts how far apart, through some kind of metal bracing on my ladder floor trusses so the bolts dont pull out... i'm sure there's a science to this (and it's probably called 'housing code') i'm just looking for a simplified understanding of it. My goal isn't to have a non-code compliant house by the end of everything, it's to put up a safe structure with minimum oversight and hassle to work as ultra-basic housing which I can repurpose the panels into a few outbuildings or something as soon as I no longer need to live in it. Not knowing whether that will take 1 year or 4 years because life is unpredictable.
Revised.. a proper way to build a floor, that can break down into 4x8 panels or 8 foot long truss segments to fit my truck that I can prebuild offsite in a storage garage with power, then haul out and quickly assemble onto a metal frame that i've already placed on the land, since i'm not worried about an old vehicle frame getting stolen if that sits out there.
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