Appendix Q Tiny House On A Foundation Premium Course

Learn the total commitment required to take on an ADU, including costs, estimates, and schedules.

Created bySaul Rip Hansen

Last updated 6/2025

English

What you'll learn

Which type of ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit) is the best option for you
Break down your project into every stage of progress by cost and trade
Identify common project risks and how to minimize and manage them
Estimate and create a schedule and budget for your ADU project
Complete a cost breakdown and plan to manage your project from start to finish
When to hire out, and when to self perform. DIY vs. Hiring a contractor.
Accurate time and cost estimates from a case study ADU (costs 2023)
What you will NOT learn. This course will not teach construction skills. i.e. framing, drywall, etc.

Course content

9 sections • 62 lectures • 6h 27m total length

Introduction: What you will get out of this course and tools included in course8:15
This is a course that gives an accurate and current breakdown of costs and what to expect with every aspect of building an internal ADU, a detached ADU, and using appendix Q of the IRC to build a tiny house on a foundation on it’s own parcel as a standalone rental property. The purpose of this course is to minimize risk, and empower you with all the information you need to build an ADU or rental property to start generating additional income for yourself or your family.

A lot of this course is establishing expectations, so you know the full scope of what you are getting into before you commit to it. I walk through considerations to review with a new or existing site, how to do a site analysis, which permits to expect within city limits with a strict building code, cost breakdowns for materials and man hours required for each phase of the project. Using this course, you can learn what it really takes to do this, and whether or not it makes sense for you and your family to pursue it. I am Saul Rip, join me on this specialized course and empower yourself to succeed on your own journey in small empire building. It’s possible and it’s worth it.
Getting Started: Permits, zoning, site requirements and site analysis3:21
Utilities: Tie In to Existing vs. New Construction Utility Connection6:20
Foundation and Radon system12:04

Tiny house on a trailer: Total material cost breakdown, and lessons learned. The3:32
Internal ADU material cost summary, and lessons learned3:02
Total Project Cost and Appraised Value (2023)4:14
The Importance of Having a Fairy Godmother: Cinderella Meets Pip12:07
Estimator Template - Calculating A (Ballpark) Total Cost Estimate For Your Build1:26:23
Summary: This lecture walks you through how to use the Estimator Template. To be able to use this section to its full potential, you will need the latest version of the National Construction Estimator (book). This lecture provides you with a powerful excel spreadsheet file you will use to help you build an estimate for your project. As labor and materials vary drastically by region, the best way to get an accurate estimate is to hire a local contractor specific to your area. By watching this video and following along through the excel spreadsheet, you will get a really good idea of every aspect of a project of this kind that you can expect. Even if you do hire a local contractor, I highly recommend that you follow along through the video using the provided excel spreadsheet.

Full Lecture Sketch:
There is a powerful estimating template included in this lecture, by which you can estimate the cost of your project with great accuracy. However, it may not capture every cost associated with a project. I recommend hiring a professional to provide you with an accurate cost of building your project. The purpose of this estimating tool is for you to understand all you should expect to be involved in the project, and to attempt to get close to the actual construction cost of your project. The template is designed to be used with the National Construction Estimator, a book that must be purchased in order to obtain the most up-to-date costs to plug in to the template. Nationally averaged costs will get close to most construction costs, but will not be specific to the construction labor costs of your area. By coming up with a realistic cost for your project that is as close as you can estimate using the best tools available, you can then look into how you will finance your project.

This estimating template is time intensive to use. You cannot rush through it. You will have to look up the local costs of lumber and hardware that are specific to where you live, and enter those values one by one into this template. Only by being so thorough can you come up with an accurate estimate for your project.

Note: This template has math formulas that are connected across dozens of tabs that cross reference each other. Before deleting anything, select a cell, and look at the command bar ribbon at the top of the page on Excel, to see what contents are in that cell. Never delete a cell that has a formula in it, or you risk breaking the template. I recommend downloading and saving a copy of the template, so that you can revert to the original template if you break the template on accident.

The fourth tab in the template is labeled, "BasicInfo". On this tab, you can update all of the most basic information that is specific to your project, and get an overall project cost. You must have the floor plan for your project on hand to extract lengths and areas to plug into the BasincInfo tab. To make that total project cost more and more accurate, you will have to go to each tab, one by one, and update all of the information to match your project.

With that, the best of fortune to you on your journey into building an ADU or rental property using Appendix Q of the IRC.
Also included in the section is a pdf document that has a comparison between my estimated project schedule, and how long it really took to complete. The main portion of the build took place over three months, and I slowly finished the project for a few more months. However, if I had needed to, the total project schedule could have been completed in much less time. With that said, taking a look at how long each aspect of the project took me to complete, you will be able to assemble your own schedule estimate for your project, and provide an extra buffer of time for each phase of work, to help your project stay on schedule.

Introduction: What you will learn in this Sketchup Course2:17
How to set up your workstation4:25
The basic tools of Sketchup13:36
Review groups and components4:36
Reverse faces and modeling clean3:25
Importing models2:17
Recommended shortcut keys2:36
How to use layers1:08
How to use Outliner1:23
How to use edge and face styles2:08
Recommended Plugins6:17
Importing topography and geolocation3:23
The sandbox tools3:56
Stitching topography and soften edges2:12
Reorient axis1:46
How to make custom logos with Adobe Illustrator2:22
Import and export from AutoCAD Truview and 3D CAD files4:28
Import DWG elevations and floor plans1:49
How to model from elevations and floor plans1:41
How to model matching a photo2:53
How to speed up your model6:10
Making seamless textures in Adobe Photoshop4:06
Making custom colors and materials in Sketchup4:09
Saving a template with your preferences and styles2:18
Setting up and saving a materials library2:59
Setting up and saving a components library2:25
Setting up default editors and other preferences1:39
Saving views1:08
Composition: A crash course on illustrative design4:49
Composing views using perspective and two-point perspective and field of view2:20
Installing Thea. (If not Thea, install Lumion, Enscape, or Twin motion).1:34
3D Plants and vegetation4:25
How to make Faceme components4:52
Explaining proxies and dealing with layers2:10
Animations5:02
Conclusion to Sketchup Tutorial Series1:24

Requirements

No prior construction experience needed: The greatest qualifier for success is interest
It will be helpful to have a basic understanding of common construction terminology, but not required.
Having a Beginner Level competence with Microsoft Excel is required for this course
To use the Estimator Template to its full capacity, you will need access to the latest version of the National Construction Estimator (book).

Description

This is a course that gives an accurate and current breakdown of costs and what to expect with every aspect of using appendix Q of the IRC to build a tiny house on a foundation on it’s own parcel. The content in the course will also apply to external ADU projects. The purpose of this course is to minimize risk, and empower you with all the information you need to build a tiny house on a foundation using the codes of Appendix Q.

A lot of this course is establishing expectations, so you know the full scope of what you are getting into before you commit to it. I walk through considerations to review with a new or existing site, how to do a site analysis, which permits to expect within city limits with a strict building code, cost breakdowns for materials and man hours required for each phase of the project. Using this course, you can learn what it really takes to do this, and whether or not it makes sense for you and your family to pursue it. I am Saul Rip, join me on this specialized course and empower yourself to succeed on your own journey in small empire building. It’s possible and it’s worth it.

I will be throwing out a lot of numbers and costs throughout this course. At the very end, I will present all of these numbers again, so that they are all in one place, and we will go through all of the costs line by line, so that you can see the total costs associated with a project of this type and scale. From there, you can go over the numbers and substitute numbers, or remove line items that don’t apply to your project, so you can get an accurate cost estimate for your project.

Resources Provided In The Premium Course:

A full set of construction documents for a tiny house on a trailer, and a tiny house on a foundation, with cost breakdowns for each.
A comprehensive Product and materials list with associated costs
A powerful Excel spreadsheet for generating estimates for your project.
Tutorial series teaching how to use Sketchup to assist you in designing your project, and extracting material estimates.
What to expect when undertaking an internal or detached ADU.
Costs for a 720 square foot internal ADU.
Costs for a 400 square foot tiny house on a foundation (Costs from 2023).
(This is BIG) How to schedule a project of this scope
Lessons learned. Things to do, and things to avoid.

Who this course is for:

This course is for home owners interested in generating rental income via an ADU
This course is for Contractors and Developers interested in learning the hard costs associated with building Tiny Houses on foundations using Appendix Q of the IRC

Appendix Q Tiny House On A Foundation Premium Course

What you'll learn

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Course content

Introduction4 lectures • 30min

Use an Existing tiny house on a trailer, or build from scratch?1 lecture • 4min

Framing4 lectures • 9min

Exterior Shell4 lectures • 8min

Interior Systems and Finishes5 lectures • 10min

Landscaping and Site2 lectures • 23min

Totals and Lessons Learned5 lectures • 1hr 49min

Sketchup Tutorial Series36 lectures • 2hr

Leveraging Appendix Q of the IRC for Entry Level and Aging-in-Place Communities1 lecture • 1hr 15min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: