Tiny tour - Builders and community get a look at Huot Center's tiny house

By MICHAEL KITCH, LACONIA DAILY SUN

LACONIA — The students building the "tiny house" at the Huot Career and Technical Center won high marks from members of the Lakes Region Home Builders who cast their professional eyes over the project on Thursday evening.

"It's awesome," exclaimed Kurt Clason of K.A. Class Fine Woodworking Corporation of Laconia. "It's generating a lot of excitement in the school and should draw more kids into the Building Construction program. The benefits of this project will go beyond this year."

Scott Johnson of the Deadriver Company, which has contributed a floor-mounted propane heating system along with a supply of fuel to the project, described the work underway as "spectacular."

Jeremy Doucet of the Lighthouse Construction Group in Gilford, who has assisted with the work on Friday mornings, said the tiny house posed more challenges than a conventional home. Built on a trailer, with just 192 square feet space, he said that it must be secured against moisture yet provide proper ventilation. It must be plumbed, heated and wired in confined space. And the seven-ton home must be built to withstand the rigors of rolling down the road at 60 mph. "There are lots of challenges, enough for my crew," he said.

Doucet said that much of the credit for the success of the project rests with Matt Towle, the instructor, who began with a off-the-shelf design and refined, re-engineered and improved it.

"It's very well built, said Dan Ludwick, a builder from Tuftonboro, as he eyed the framing in the interior of the home. He said that he has a client interested in building three tiny houses to rent in the summer and the project offered some useful examples of how to go about it. A young couple from Concord building a tiny house of their own said that, had they seen the project before they began, they may have been spared from challenges of their own.

Towle said installing the metal roof, spray foam insulation, windows and siding are the next tasks on the agenda. Mike Schofield's plumbing and heating class will be finishing the plumbing for the bathroom and kitchen as well as installing the heating and hot water systems. The siding will highlight the gable ends of the house with bark while lining while the remainder of the house will feature novelty and board-and-batten siding. The windows, aluminum on the exterior and wooden on the interior, are both durable and decorative.

Remarking on the materials and elements of the house, Bob Glassett of Pella Windows and Doors, said "we could have gone cheap, but no. We decided to do it right." He said that along with providing the students with a unique opportunity to construct an entire home, the project is intended to contribute to developing a workforce by generating interest in the building trades among high school students.

Brenda Richards, executive officer of the Lakes Region Homebuilders Association, said that the project has engaged and excited both the students and her members, who have contributed to and assisted with the project. She said the association has already begun planning to do it again.

"If I'm going to do another one," Towle said, "I have the background."

The Huot Technical Center is among four Career Technical Centers participating in this workforce development initiative sponsored by the New Hampshire State Lottery and the New Hampshire Home Builders Association. Altogether, five tiny houses will be built, one each at the Huot Technical Center, Mt. Washington Valley Career and Technical Center, Alvirne High School and two at the Seacoast School of Technology.

When the five tiny houses are complete, they will be displayed and judged at the New Hampshire State Home Show in Manchester in March. Meanwhile, in January, the New Hampshire Lottery will introduce a "Tiny House Big Money" scratch ticket with the winning house as one of the top prizes. The remaining four houses will be auctioned and the proceeds distributed between the schools and New Hampshire Home Builders Association.

The tiny house at the Huot Center so far. (Michael Kitch/Laconia Daily Sun)

Siding on the house will incorporate bark for a decorative touch. (Michael Kitch/Laconia Daily Sun)

The loft space in the house. (Michael Kitch/Laconia Daily Sun)

People attending the open house at the Huot Center Thursday night were impressed with the work done so far. (Michael Kitch/Laconia Daily Sun)