13-year-old builds tiny house for $1,500

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© Special to The Register Luke Thill, 13, of Dubuque built his own tiny home, right in his parents' backyard.

Luke Thill is 13 and built his own house.

He doesn’t consider it a playhouse, and neither did those who invited him to speak Saturday at a tiny home festival in Colfax, Iowa.

The eighth-grader from Dubuque, Iowa, calls the 89-square-foot structure in his parents' backyard a “starter home.”

He built it for $1,500 by cutting lawns, raising money online, gathering reclaimed materials and bartering for labor.

An electrician neighbor helped him wire it — if Thill cleaned out his garage.

A Scout leader he knew helped him lay carpet in the loft bedroom — if he cut the man's lawn.

He used leftover siding from his grandma’s house and a front door he got from his uncle’s friend.

“I liked the minimalism,” he said, sounding much older than 13. “And I wanted to have a house without a huge mortgage.”

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/marketplace/real-estate/2017/09/22/13-year-old-iowan-built-his-own-house/689545001/

It’s Thill's first speaking engagement after gathering attention and more than 700 subscribers with his YouTube series on the build.

Luke Thill of Dubuque, with guidance from a neighbor, learned to do some of his own wiring on the tiny home he built. (Photo: Special to The Register)

You build it. And you own it

Thill’s dad, Greg, told him when he started the project 18 months ago that if he was going to do it there were simple rules: You raise the money. You build it. And you own it.

Greg Thill said he worked alongside his son to guide him, but that Luke learned much on his own — framing a structure and wiring, dealing with adults, making tough financial decisions and staying on budget.

“It was a chance for a kid to do something more than play video games or sports,” he said. “It teaches life lessons.”

Luke says his home, which is 5½ feet wide and 10 feet long and includes a loft, is made of 75 percent reclaimed materials, including several windows.

He built a small deck outside. The siding is half cedar shakes, half vinyl.

Inside, a small kitchen area with a counter and shelving leads to a back sitting area with a large ottoman for a couch, a flip-down table and a wall-mounted TV.

A ladder leads to an upstairs loft with a mattress. It’s wired for electric but has no plumbing, so Greg Thill says city codes consider it “a glorified shed.”

The living room is tight in Luke Thill's 89-square-foot home but it's functional. (Photo: Special to The Register)

Luke Thill said he learned how to overcome disappointment. A big moment was his “counter-top fail.”

He placed broken colored glass below what was going to be a lacquer surface. But when he poured the lacquer, it was “too watery,” and ran all over. But he made the most of it — the lacquer created a bond that held the counter to the wall.

“Doesn’t have a screw in it,” he said.

He attached a traditional counter surface over the messed-up lacquer surface with a hinge for a lift-top storage space.

The kitchen counter area includes hot plate and refrigerator storage below. (Photo: Special to The Register)

He sleeps in it a couple of nights a week, does homework there after school and entertains friends.

“The main purpose is to be my starter home,” he said. “I’m going to save money and expand.”

In a couple of years, he hopes to build a larger tiny home on a trailer so he can perhaps haul it to college for cheaper living.

His message at the festival is this: “I want to show kids it’s possible to build at this age