Houses built by the Tiny Texas Houses company are constructed primarily out of salvageable material. Photo courtesy of Tiny Texas Houses.

Tiny houses cost a fraction of what a bigger house costs, but the math will still surprise you: $15,000 to $45,000. Others might go as high as $90,000. It depends who you hire to build your home, what the materials are constructed out of and what amenities you want. But many of the tiny home builders take great pride in their work and argue that the craftsmanship and quality of the materials dictate the higher prices.

And while $90,000 may seem astronomical, the homeowner is still making out like a bandit when paying for maintenance costs. "We waste a huge amount of space, heating huge giant vaulted ceilings in those McMansions, " says Brad Kittel, 53, who owns Tiny Texas Houses in Luling, Texas. "In these cases, the vaulted ceiling is your bedroom, which is a good thing."

Kittel's specialty is building tiny houses out of salvageable material. The wiring, insulation and plumbing are all new, but everything else from the shingles to the hardwood kitchen floors to the front doorknob was salvaged from a previous home or building. And he takes great pride in what he salvages. He'll devour the hundred-year-old wood from a house built in 1930, but he won't touch a home that was built in, say, 1994. Because chances are, the house isn't made of anything of value.

"There are too many hazardous materials," says Kittel, citing sheet rock (also known as dry wall), vinyl and plastics as some of the usual suspects.

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