Biobâtir › Alberta
A timber frame tiny house you build yourself in Alberta
Biobâtir is a timber frame builder in Quebec. We help you build your own tiny house — or tiny home — ideally as a timber frame, and you choose how much you do yourself. Here is what that means in Alberta, with the source of every rule.
1. Draw your frame, free
Give the width, the length, the height and your town in Alberta: the designer shows the frame in 3D, piece by piece, and gives its wood volume and its value at Quebec market prices, sawn or in logs. It shows no member size: sizing a frame is the engineer's work.
2. The frame itself: an engineer licensed in Alberta
3. The rest of the house: free guides for Alberta
Can I put a tiny home on my property in Alberta?
Free guide: “6 rules to check in 30 minutes to make your building project a success”. Your tiny house in Alberta, before you buy land.
How do you build a tiny house in Alberta, step by step?
Free guide: “Building your tiny house: the steps, in order”. From the land to move-in day, the eleven steps of a timber frame tiny house in Alberta, with what you must have decided before each one.
How do you build an off-grid tiny home in Alberta?
Free guide: “Land with no water main or sewer: what to check before you buy”. The soil, the room, the setbacks and the well decide whether your tiny house can have its septic system: check them before you sign.
Can you live in a tiny house year-round in Alberta?
Free guide: “Insulating your tiny house in Alberta: the required RSI and R values”. The minimums of the National Building Code – 2023 Alberta Edition for each assembly of your timber frame tiny house, with their R equivalent, and what to check before buying your materials.
How to build a tiny house with no experience: start with a roof that does not leak
Free guide: “The roof of your tiny house: the mistakes that make it leak (and how to avoid them)”. Six mistakes that make a tiny house roof leak, what the Code asks for each one, and a checklist before you order your roofing.
These guides are written for a timber frame tiny house: the envelope goes outside the frame. Our guide on cutting and raising a timber frame exists in French only for now.
The guides for the build, Alberta edition
Cut and raise a timber frame
PDF, in English — Alberta edition.
David Ménard, 1019, chemin du Lac-Kiamika, Rivière-Rouge (Québec) J0T 1T0 · [email protected] · PDF by download link, right after payment, and by email · If the guide is no use to you, write to [email protected] within 90 days of purchase: full refund, no reason needed, and you keep the PDF. The refund is issued within 15 days.
Level, square and form the slab of your tiny house
PDF, in English — Alberta edition.
David Ménard, 1019, chemin du Lac-Kiamika, Rivière-Rouge (Québec) J0T 1T0 · [email protected] · PDF by download link, right after payment, and by email · If the guide is no use to you, write to [email protected] within 90 days of purchase: full refund, no reason needed, and you keep the PDF. The refund is issued within 15 days.
Insulating, air-sealing, ventilating and heating your tiny house
PDF, in English — Alberta edition.
David Ménard, 1019, chemin du Lac-Kiamika, Rivière-Rouge (Québec) J0T 1T0 · [email protected] · PDF by download link, right after payment, and by email · If the guide is no use to you, write to [email protected] within 90 days of purchase: full refund, no reason needed, and you keep the PDF. The refund is issued within 15 days.
The stairs of your tiny house
PDF, in English — Alberta edition.
David Ménard, 1019, chemin du Lac-Kiamika, Rivière-Rouge (Québec) J0T 1T0 · [email protected] · PDF by download link, right after payment, and by email · If the guide is no use to you, write to [email protected] within 90 days of purchase: full refund, no reason needed, and you keep the PDF. The refund is issued within 15 days.
Straw and lime
PDF, in English — Alberta edition.
David Ménard, 1019, chemin du Lac-Kiamika, Rivière-Rouge (Québec) J0T 1T0 · [email protected] · PDF by download link, right after payment, and by email · If the guide is no use to you, write to [email protected] within 90 days of purchase: full refund, no reason needed, and you keep the PDF. The refund is issued within 15 days.
The furniture of your tiny house
PDF, in English — Alberta edition.
David Ménard, 1019, chemin du Lac-Kiamika, Rivière-Rouge (Québec) J0T 1T0 · [email protected] · PDF by download link, right after payment, and by email · If the guide is no use to you, write to [email protected] within 90 days of purchase: full refund, no reason needed, and you keep the PDF. The refund is issued within 15 days.
Water and wastewater for your tiny house
PDF, in English — Alberta edition.
David Ménard, 1019, chemin du Lac-Kiamika, Rivière-Rouge (Québec) J0T 1T0 · [email protected] · PDF by download link, right after payment, and by email · If the guide is no use to you, write to [email protected] within 90 days of purchase: full refund, no reason needed, and you keep the PDF. The refund is issued within 15 days.
The roof and roofing of your tiny house
PDF, in English — Alberta edition.
David Ménard, 1019, chemin du Lac-Kiamika, Rivière-Rouge (Québec) J0T 1T0 · [email protected] · PDF by download link, right after payment, and by email · If the guide is no use to you, write to [email protected] within 90 days of purchase: full refund, no reason needed, and you keep the PDF. The refund is issued within 15 days.
Your land, your down payment, your financing
PDF, in English — Alberta edition.
David Ménard, 1019, chemin du Lac-Kiamika, Rivière-Rouge (Québec) J0T 1T0 · [email protected] · PDF by download link, right after payment, and by email · If the guide is no use to you, write to [email protected] within 90 days of purchase: full refund, no reason needed, and you keep the PDF. The refund is issued within 15 days.
These guides explain laws, regulations and codes read at the source; they are not legal advice, not a sealed plan and not an engineer's opinion. Rules change: always call your municipality before you buy.