Living in a cubby

[MaximumRide]

<span id="post_message_1273377626" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; "><div><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-align: center; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-size: x-large; ">Max's Master Plan #2- The Cubby</b>&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>I've got a slightly altered plan now. Let me know what you think.</div><div><ul><li>save for land.</li><li>put up big fence so people don't see i'm living in a cubby. (Wondering about council rules on living style.)</li><li>buy cubby- see google-&gt; tuff cubbies. (Wondering if this would be&nbsp;appropriate&nbsp;as there seem to be no small home builders in oz. and a cubby is far cheaper.)</li><li>buy second cubby as an expansion. (Will have to figure out how to join the two.)</li></ul><div>I'm also worried about stumping,(I don't want under the cubby to rot or shift if it is placed right on the ground.) water, gas and electricity connection. Unless I act like I'm camping and supply all my own utilities. But I'm thinking that this may turn out more expensive in the long run.</div></div></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline">

 

[Les H]

Hi Max, glad to see you again.
Is a "cubby" a steel shipping container? Iknow there is a story about someone who has one in Arizona set up for living in either here in the forums, on the main site, or on Vandwellers on yahoo.

 

[MaximumRide]

<div>Thanks for the rewelcome. <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"></div><div><br></div>I mean like a kids cubby house, but a really&nbsp;extravagant&nbsp;one.. (I'm not using an Australian term am I? not sure.)<div><div><br></div><div>See here:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.google.com.au/search?rlz...ourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;q=tuffcubbies" target="_blank">http://www.google.com.au/search?rlz...ourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;q=tuffcubbies</a></div></div>

 

[dragonflyinthesky]

I just had to look up Cubby.&nbsp; An American term is 'shed' or 'cabin'.&nbsp; Never heard stumping either but I think I know from its usage.<BR>It would probably come on a floor with joists? support. You would maybe put cement blocks at key points.&nbsp; There are plans online of how to build them, not that you want to build your own but it may be easier to figure out what to do if you know the how and why of its construction.<BR><FONT color=#ff00ff><B>Dragonfly</B></FONT><BR>

 

[cyndi]

Nice to see you posting, Max. I have been hoping you were doing well.

 

[Les H]

Ok, gotcha. Yup, entirely possible to live in one of those sheds. You can build one, ( lots of plans in books and online) buy a prefabricated one and move right in, or get a kit and assemble it ( the hard parts, cutting measuring, squaring and angles are done for you) . Most of them come with or at least offer a floor, though it might cost extra. And the usual method of setting them up is either concrete( cinder) blocks or on chunks of pressure treated timbers. After that, it's just up to you how to set up the inside .
Take care-

 

[Nemo]

just be sure to check the zoning and permit laws for the applicable area, dont know what you have to deal with down there, but here, depending on size, it could be mandated to have concrete foundations, septic, all that kind of thing..&nbsp; <br><br>I found a piece of land with some slope to it, and dug a section out of the side of a hill, then built my own shelter inside of that hole... fully contained, cooler in the summer, can harvest water off the roof, and cost under 1k $us.&nbsp; but made sure I didnt directly violate the county building restrictions.<br><br>

<span id="post_message_1273377626" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; "><div>I've got a slightly altered plan now. Let me know what you think.</div><div><ul><li>save for land.</li><li>put up big fence so people don't see i'm living in a cubby. (Wondering about council rules on living style.)</li><li>buy cubby- see google-&gt; tuff cubbies. (Wondering if this would be&nbsp;appropriate&nbsp;as there seem to be no small home builders in oz. and a cubby is far cheaper.)</li><li>buy second cubby as an expansion. (Will have to figure out how to join the two.)</li></ul><div>I'm also worried about stumping,(I don't want under the cubby to rot or shift if it is placed right on the ground.) water, gas and electricity connection. Unless I act like I'm camping and supply all my own utilities. But I'm thinking that this may turn out more expensive in the long run.</div></div></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline">

 

[MaximumRide]

<b style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-align: center; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-size: x-large; ">Money Battle</b><div><br></div><div>&nbsp;Hi Cyndi, thanks for comment. It's nice to know people here are thinking of me. I love my little rv family. <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"><div><br></div><div>I'm going to break this post up, because I feel a long one coming on and I want to make it easy to read.<br><div><br></div><div>I am on centrelink (Government&nbsp;benefits&nbsp;for people who earn a low income.)</div><div>and no bank around here is going to give me a loan for even just land alone. (Land here in victoria, closer to the city is $120,000 +)</div><div><br></div><div>And i would have to live in a caravan for 5 years and have a job to be able to afford my land. I have learnt a bit more about myself, I know that I would not be able to live in something so small. So again I have been racking my brains and spending long hours on the internet trying to figure out a plan of action.</div><div><br></div><div>I just cant live here any more with my land loard hitting on me and my erm... 'lovely' parents next door.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div></div>

 

[MaximumRide]

<div style="text-align: center;"><font color="#663366" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="5"><b>Building a Small Home- A modest beginning</b></font></div><div style="text-align: center;">I have downloaded a copy of a book called The Small House Book. It looks like a great start. It's about a guy and how he started out building small homes. (60ish- 107 foot squared!!)It has plans in it for floor plans for mobile houses and then you can pick the one you like and pay to download the full plan for the one you like.</div><div><br></div><div>I have measured the flat im in now, it's 107 sq foot. So these houses would&nbsp;defiantly&nbsp;be doable for me. but I&nbsp;wouldn't&nbsp;want to go any smaller.</div><div><br></div><div>I have also uploaded a pick of a cubby for y'all. <img src="/images/boards/smilies/tongue.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"><img src="http://"></div>

 

[MaximumRide]

<b style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-align: center; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); font-size: x-large; ">Stumping</b><div>&nbsp;I've been looking up stumping. (I like this definition for stumping:&nbsp; <b style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">.&nbsp;</b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">An artificial leg.</span>&nbsp;<img src="/images/boards/smilies/wink.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"><div>Basically what it means is to build a base for your house. you need to have your house raised off the land so that your sink and it's pipes can be connected to the water main.</div><div><br></div><div>I've watched some videos on it, basically you dig holes in the ground, fill them with concrete and a steel pole then build a ... deck ? or base for your house to stand on.</div><div><br></div><div><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"<span style="font-weight: bold;">What is stumping?</span>&nbsp;</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 1px; ">Restumping&nbsp;also known as restumping is the replacement of rotted and defective stumps which cause structural damage to your hom</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 1px; ">e.</span><strong style="font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 1px; ">Reblocking </strong><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 1px; ">(also known as Restumping) is seperated into five stages:</span></span></div><p style="font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 1px; "><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Stage 1 – Preperation</span></p><p style="font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 1px; "><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Stage 2 – Lift House</span></p><p style="font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 1px; "><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Stage 3 – Dig Holes</span></p><p style="font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 1px; "><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Stage 4 – Attach stumps and set in concrete</span></p><p style="font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 1px; "><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Stage 5 – Clean up</span></p><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 1px; ">Reblocking may entail the re-leveling of floor areas, and could involve the replacement of sub-floor timbers and floor boards.</span>"</span></div></div>

 

[MaximumRide]

<div style="text-align: center;"><font color="#663366" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="5"><b>Plan Update</b></font></div><div style="text-align: center;">I'll never be able to save up enough money on my own with out the banks house, so i thought if i built a portable home, i could save up over time. I am currently paying $150 a week in rent. I love the idea of being able to save that instead and put it towards land of my very own.</div><div><br></div><div>I've also started a scrap book, ill post pics later. it's been great for planning out what I want in a home.</div><div><br></div><div>yes Nemo, i will have to be careful about zoning, got to look that up next.</div><div><br></div><div>The image I have included below is the book I'm reading. After this im going to:</div><div><br></div><div><ul><li>&nbsp;buy the plans for the one I like.</li><li>buy a book on building an eco home (So that it will cut costs of running the home and save the environment.)</li><li>Research cheap&nbsp;building&nbsp;materials and where to get them. www.gumtree.com looks like a good place to get some free stuff.&nbsp;</li><li>Look up zoning.</li><li>look up construction rules for building a house on wheels.</li><li>save money.</li></ul><div><br></div></div><div>Wow, I sure wrote a lot. but it feels so good to be able to share this with you guys.</div><div><br></div><div>Fly on,</div><div>Max</div>

 

[MaximumRide]

Can anyone find what is the smallest building allowed on a block of land. I've been looking at codes for ages for Victoria and can't find what I need.

 

[MaximumRide]

I found this GUIDE line for NSW:<div><br></div><div><div>Single-aspect apartments should be limited in depth to 8 metres from &nbsp;a window.</div><div>ï The back of a kitchen should be no more than 8 metres from a window.</div><div>ï The width of cross-over or cross-through apartments over 15 metres deep should be 4 metres</div><div>or greater to avoid deep narrow apartment layouts.&nbsp;</div><div>ï Buildings not meeting the minimum standards listed above, must demonstrate how satisfactory</div><div>daylighting and natural ventilation can be achieved, particularly in relation to habitable rooms</div><div>(see Daylight Access and Natural Ventilation).</div><div>ï If council chooses to standardise apartment sizes, a range of sizes that do not exclude</div><div>affordable housing should be used. &nbsp;As a guide, the Affordable Housing Service suggest the</div><div>following minimum apartment sizes, which can contribute to housing affordability: (apartment</div><div>size is only one factor influencing affordability)</div><div>- 1 bedroom apartment 50m2</div><div>- 2 bedroom apartment 70m2</div><div>- 3 bedroom apartment 95m2&nbsp;</div></div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/programservices/pdf/designcode/03_part03_a.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/programservices/pdf/designcode/03_part03_a.pdf</a></div>

 

[MaximumRide]

<a href="http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/products/xs-house/" target="_blank">http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/products/xs-house/</a><div><br></div><div>I have decided on this design.</div>

 

[MaximumRide]

I LOVE this idea, a cheap way to get things for my tiny house is to buy a rundown old caravan cheep and then pull out the bits I want from it.

 

[Les H]

Hi max, you seem to be posting to yourself, soo...
7 metersx7 meters= 49 sq meters ,( or roughly 21'x21' us), I have built a 16x20 cabin for someone, and I can tell you it was DEFINATLY livable, being easily twice as wide as a camper ( caravan) and much taller. And your stumping is what I call putting up on piers. I think you are on the right track, with much of an old camper being usable in your new tiny home. Keep at it and keep us posted.
Btw, I'm a builder and remodeler here in the states, just getting used to the Aussie terminology though!

 

[Romana-S]

Max, you're in Australia right? Must be doing well to get rent for $150 a week. I pay that in Canberra for a tiny 1 bedroom unit. But I want to go back to living in my little bus.<br>

 

[MaximumRide]

Hey Les, don't worry, I'll keep the aussie terms coming. Thanks for responding. If you like, check out my blog.&nbsp; <a href="http://maxlife888.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">http://maxlife888.blogspot.com.au/</a><div><br></div><div>Hi Rom- yeah I am in Australia, Victoria to be exact. The price for my place was going to be $170 but my landloard knows my parents. (LOL, they live next door.)</div>

 

[Cubey]

Down around here where I live, some folks openly live in travel trailers out in the county where there's no laws against it. <br><br>I would do that before I'd try to convert a shed-like building unless it was one of those big pre-fab ones like from Lowes/Home Depot.<br><br>But maybe that's just me.<br>

 

[MaximumRide]

Sounds good, I wonder if its the same here.