Family Builds "Tiny House" for $12,000

[Winston Smith]

I want to know where you get one of these, 2 years of my rent and I'd have a paid off living arrangement the same size!

[TacAir]

ONe could Google "tiny house" or tumbleweed house

http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/

The price of a pre-bulit is far higher than you think.

[Winston Smith]

Yeah, I'd looked at those, and you're right, the Tumbleweeds weren't all that cheap. If you're the top hit on google, you've probably paid for some ads etc to get there. I think if you built your own you could probably get closer to the figure this family had

[canuckdiver]

Looks very similar to the tumbleweed houses that Jay Shafer designs

tumbleweedhouses.com

I love his designs, plan on doing something similar myself. Agreed, I think the prices for the pre-built, and for his plans are a bit high. You could design and build your own for signifigantly less.

[CitizenZ]

Here they are called "shed-boy" houses. Literally sheds that people live in. Some of them are truly works of art built by wooden boat-builders.
Anther one is Pods, Greenpods is a local company.
The usual problem is you are still required to have all the fixings of a real house; legal sized entrance, alternate egress, water heater, sewage system, separate toilet room, insulation, heat, ventilation, rain drainage, foundation, radon ventilation, etc.
The local inspector still needs to check each of the boxes on his normal inspection report for a new home. Same as a 2000 sq ft house.

Same set back and density issues. So you still need a full sized build-able lot, plus all the system development fee's. Here almost $20,000 fee just to connect to the city water and sewage, not including the actual cost of digging and plumbing or the price of land. In the county that money would be needed for a septic and well. Some fee's but not as much as in the city.
PBS story on shed boys.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... Id=1123036

http://shed-boy.com/

[jamoni]

Here they are called "shed-boy" houses. Literally sheds that people live in. Some of them are truly works of art built by wooden boat-builders.
Anther one is Pods, Greenpods is a local company.
The usual problem is you are still required to have all the fixings of a real house; legal sized entrance, alternate egress, water heater, sewage system, separate toilet room, insulation, heat, ventilation, rain drainage, foundation, radon ventilation, etc.
The local inspector still needs to check each of the boxes on his normal inspection report for a new home. Same as a 2000 sq ft house.

Same set back and density issues. So you still need a full sized build-able lot, plus all the system development fee's. Here almost $20,000 fee just to connect to the city water and sewage, not including the actual cost of digging and plumbing or the price of land. In the county that money would be needed for a septic and well. Some fee's but not as much as in the city.
PBS story on shed boys.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... Id=1123036

http://shed-boy.com/

These are built on trailers, so you don't have to meet all the code requirements. They count as RV's, basically.

[ausher]

I want to build this on my gpas property. Cant have a trailer house on it. This may pass.

[TacAir]

Tiny hous from salvased material - as a pre-built.

In Texas

http://tinyhouselistings.com/creative-t ... y-cottage/

Kinda neat.

[majorhavoc]

And as an added bonus, those tiny houses are an excellent means of birth control.

[Winston Smith]

These are built on trailers, so you don't have to meet all the code requirements. They count as RV's, basically.

Thats exactly the conclusion I came to. Go get a 40' shipping container with the chassis to carry it on the road, park it on your parcel of land, and elevate the wheels off the ground, and you can build up in parts when it's convenient for you. Building codes can't touch you, and if the SHTF, all you do is disconnect your plumbing and electrical(shouldn't take more than a few hours at most) and any Big Rig can move you. As a bonus, I have a Class A so I could drive it myself. The only bad part with these is no one is going to finance you for the land and container etc., so you have to save it up yourself, but I'm going to give this a serious look.

[CitizenZ]

These are built on trailers, so you don't have to meet all the code requirements. They count as RV's, basically.

There are codes just for "mobiles". Most counties are cracking down on these RV's as "homes". Here they now require the RV to be moved for at least 2 weeks every year, no permanent connections, legal road licenses and road taxes, etc. How will you deal with sewage, water, trash, etc.
If it's not permitted as a road legal trailer then they may not let you claim it's an RV.

My point being; don't just assume you can duck the building codes just because it has wheels. The county inspector has more experience in this area than you.

[Resolute]

Does anyone see their $40/month electric bill as a tad high? I have a 1800 sqft house, and mine is between $80-110.

On topic - great idea, and it'd be awesome for a couple without kids. I've seriously considered doing something like this and plopping it on some land, but I think I need to get the land first.

[Doctorr Fabulous]

Look into using DC for the electronics. From my understanding, DC is much more efficient short-distance, and most of your standard RV and camping stuff is DC, as is solar power.

[HKTackDriver]

For a BOL, maybe. For a house, not on your fucking life. I'd rather be saddled with a mortgage and debt, since both will afford me the opportunity to build equity in a house greater than my savings would have afforded me. Seeing stuff like that or the 120sq/ft apts and how everyone talks about how "fun" it is, just makes me realize how crazy some people are.

10 reasons it's ridiculous:
1) You cannot entertain normal people.
2) You're forced into the outdoors in order to have any space.
3) Sewage is a major and expensive problem, even with this midget house. You cannot just "dig a hole" and squat over it in most places.
4) Kids? No fucking way in that house.
5) Living the American dream is more like a pipe dream in that house.
6) It's one step better than a tiny apartment, which is one step better than being homeless.
7) You still need water and electric run to it.
8) You cannot "prep" since you have NO storage to do so. That means more frequent trips to the supermarket and more of a reliance on the grid and transportation systems for survival.
9) A fire would gut the house very quickly, it's a trap with the kids up in that attic.
10) If you're not married, you won't be able to bring a significant other back to this "house" without having most average women (and men) run for the hills.

[RoneKiln]

Many jurisdictions allow you to build up to 200 sq ft interior space without a building permit (you can add loft space to this as well). You may still need permits for all the utilities. Many jurisdictions are adopting very favorable policies for Accessory Dwelling Units (Mother-in-law Units) as well. So depending where you live it may be very easy to build one of these on a property with an existing home. Depending on your family and lifestyle, a tiny home can be awesome. I used to live in 300 sq ft that was very well designed, and I had more space than I knew what to do with. I hosted people all the time. All I needed was a garage to keep the woodshop and bike in.

My issue with a lot of these things is the misleading claims of how cheap it is. Most of the time people spent an insane amount of time finding used and salvaged items and did all the work themselves. This labor isn't accounted for. They're also not accounting for the cost of the land or utility hook-ups. The little house/trailer may have been built for 12k worth of materials, but someone still had to spend 20k on utility hook-ups and then had to buy the land.

[the_alias]

6) It's one step better than a tiny apartment, which is one step better than being homeless.

[RoneKiln]

10 reasons it's ridiculous:
1) You cannot entertain normal people.
2) You're forced into the outdoors in order to have any space.
3) Sewage is a major and expensive problem, even with this midget house. You cannot just "dig a hole" and squat over it in most places.
4) Kids? No fucking way in that house.
5) Living the American dream is more like a pipe dream in that house.
6) It's one step better than a tiny apartment, which is one step better than being homeless.
7) You still need water and electric run to it.
8) You cannot "prep" since you have NO storage to do so. That means more frequent trips to the supermarket and more of a reliance on the grid and transportation systems for survival.
9) A fire would gut the house very quickly, it's a trap with the kids up in that attic.
10) If you're not married, you won't be able to bring a significant other back to this "house" without having most average women (and men) run for the hills.

I think 168 sq ft is too tight. But 200 to 300 ft is easy, especially if a sleeping loft is added.

1) I did all the time, as did many other people I know that have or do live in tiny houses.
2) That may be differing personal needs for space. I was fine as were my many guests.
3) Agreed. Only relevance I see to this is the claim of how cheap it was to build. Doesn't really affect the function of the home.
4) I know young adults raised in similar spaces that seem just fine to me. I have friends raising kids in them right now. I myself would not want 3+ kids in that home.
5) Depends on your view of the American Dream. I think many people have distorted the American Dream in an unhealthy manner. If it doesn't fit your dream, I understand.
6)I think that ties into your conception of the American Dream. Obviously we disagree on that.
7) Yes, you're right. Doesn't change the function of the house.
8) If that little 168 sq ft space is all you have, you're mostly correct. It is very hard to prep with that as most of us define prepping. I can have an unconditioned garage and massive garden that allows me to prep just as effectively as anyone else and still live in a 200 sq ft home. Their specific living set-up may not allow our style of prepping, but many of the principles of their "living small" lifestyle can be adopted to make prepping even more effective.
9) Possibly. Mine was not, nor are most I have seen. I have seen a few that you would be correct about.
10) Myself, and others I have known have had little trouble bringing people back to tiny homes. In fact, I have had many friends living in "McMansions" whining about how they like some of our tiny homes better after coming for dinner. I had several girlfriends prefer staying at my tiny, cozy, easy to keep clean place than their larger more expensive places. While I have a number of "hippy" friends, I also have a lot of friends in engineering, software development, project management, and other professional jobs. I'm also well into middle age now. These tiny homes don't just appeal to college kids. I was having many people over in their 30's or 40's. One of my best friends is now looking at trading his 5000+ sq ft house for a 500 to 600 sq ft home (granted, still far bigger than 168). It's not like he can't afford the massive house either. He's just tired of feeling lost in a huge house.

I respect this may not appeal to you. There are a lot of advantages for some people's lifestyle.

[Florida_Tony]

For a BOL, maybe. For a house, not on your fucking life. I'd rather be saddled with a mortgage and debt, since both will afford me the opportunity to build equity in a house greater than my savings would have afforded me.

That plan didn't work out so well for a lot of people I know. They are foreclosing, or they are upside down with their house. With the bursting of the housing bubble, I wonder if the concept of building equity in a house is changing.

I love the idea of a tiny house. I'd like to see one that catches and stores its own water. That would be sweet and it would eliminate the need for a water hookup. Sewage can be managed with a self-composting toilet, gray water can go to the garden, and electric can be done fairly well with solar, wind, or micro-hydro, depending on the climate.

[TheLastOne]

And as an added bonus, those tiny houses are an excellent means of birth control.

That lady looked ready to snap at any moment to me. That dude is going to be found in tiny pieces.

[Silent Kube]

When I was in high school we used to build something similar for our construction class, although they were about half the size. We built them in a couple weeks and sold them as children's playhouses but tor all intents and purposes they were a fully functioning house with full wiring and even plumbing if you hooked up your garden hose. I wouldn't imagine it would be too difficult to scale it up a bit. Maybe they were a quarter of the size but the premise still stands.

[RickOShea]

Tiny hous from salvased material - as a pre-built.

In Texas

http://tinyhouselistings.com/creative-t ... y-cottage/

Kinda neat.

Those "Cowboy cottages" are a helluva lot more snazzy lookin' than the "Katrina cottages" we had around here:

http://tinyhouselistings.com/katrina-cottages-for-sale/

[TacAir]

Tiny hous from salvased material - as a pre-built.

In Texas

http://tinyhouselistings.com/creative-t ... y-cottage/

Kinda neat.

Those "Cowboy cottages" are a helluva lot more snazzy lookin' than the "Katrina cottages" we had around here:

http://tinyhouselistings.com/katrina-cottages-for-sale/

Just under 400 sq ft.
Interesting, still, it costs 20K. To be fair on these small houses, the kitchen and bath areas of any home are the most expensive parts of any structure. I built a 10 x 12 shed with solid floor and a 'loft' for a few hundred dollars - so bedrooms etc are the least expensive part of a home.

My daughter lives in a 900 sq ft home with a husband and 3 children. And a dog. It can get a llittle tight in the dead of winter.

[KnightoftheRoc]

I would go out of my ever-lovin' MIND if I had to live in a place that small, for any extended period. Prison inmates have more personal space than that affords. I have a tool shed that size, give or take a few square feet. And another for storage, slightly smaller. While I can see the appeal to it for some, on a purely intellectual level, I just can't get on board with the idea for myself.

For what it is, it's pretty nice, seems well put together. But, for anyone wanting to prep for something long term, the only answer I can see is a storage unit, either on-site, or a rental (which would blow the saving the small house provides) unit- which means your preps are where you aren't. Buying in bulk, another savings method for the fiscally minded, is right out- where would you even put the big package of toilet paper? Never mind canned goods- the shelves don't look that extensive to me. A freezer to compliment the fridge would mean selling the kids, or getting a divorce, just for the floor space.

For something like a weekend getaway, I could see having one, but as a permanent thing, I just couldn't do it. I'd end up a headline. For those who can, more power to ya.

[RoneKiln]

For what it is, it's pretty nice, seems well put together. But, for anyone wanting to prep for something long term, the only answer I can see is a storage unit, either on-site, or a rental (which would blow the saving the small house provides) unit- which means your preps are where you aren't. Buying in bulk, another savings method for the fiscally minded, is right out- where would you even put the big package of toilet paper? Never mind canned goods- the shelves don't look that extensive to me. A freezer to compliment the fridge would mean selling the kids, or getting a divorce, just for the floor space.

Having a garage/workshop and storage shed helps a lot with this. I loved my 300 sq ft place. Yet I needed a workshop. That workshop doesn't need plumbing or even insulation. Just needs to be dry and fairly rodent resistant. I can keep the freezer in it and a lot of my bulk preps. Even people with large houses often have seperate garages and storage sheds.

I also really wanted a bit of garden space.