The Tiny House Movement

[offroad]

Sparky - very interesting how you found that land. Had read that you should always look for unincorporated towns. That means no land taxes for roads-fire-police services.

 

[sparky1]

front door picture shed kit I did,
other pictures I have are just outside ones, I did build 2 shelves on the back wall. 8' x 2'. 1/2" plywood. which 1. could be a bed. found a camper fridge runs on propane might install vent & set it up just inside left hand door. I have solar panel for it & led lighting for it. heater buddy there & a 12 volt cooler.
any questions let me know.
in the boonies in s,Va,

 

[jeanontheroad]

Sparky1: no frills.

Me: I have a hard time knowing if I am no frills or not. I don't need to have a lot, but what I do have has to be nice. When we had the van, I did not envy the huge MH we might have been parked beside. But the van had to be meticulously clean and maintained, and the sheets had to match.

Now, with the MH, it is the same. I don't lust after a huge wardrobe, but all 3 of my jeans need to be hole-free and in good shape. My 4 plates have to match and be chip-free. I am fine with a little low-end Fiesta, but it has to be clean and protected with both a skirt on the MH and a bra.

Can't figure out exactly where I am on the scale.

---

BTW, I have had to buy "paint clothes" because I didn't have anything that was worn out enough to use.

---

Sparky1: no frills.

Me: I have a hard time knowing if I am no frills or not. I don't need to have a lot, but what I do have has to be nice. When we had the van, I did not envy the huge MH we might have been parked beside. But the van had to be meticulously clean and maintained, and the sheets had to match.

Now, with the MH, it is the same. I don't lust after a huge wardrobe, but all 3 of my jeans need to be hole-free and in good shape. My 4 plates have to match and be chip-free. I am fine with a little low-end Fiesta, but it has to be clean and protected with both a skirt on the MH and a bra.

Can't figure out exactly where I am on the scale.

 

[sparky1]

i'm definitely NO frills guy.
when I retired this was the end of being dressed up & any thing fancy, I'm not out to impress anyone. clean clothes are fine, but relaxed & a possible hole in something doesn't change who I am.
the only things that could possibly break in the motorhome are the coffee pot, blender or a corning ware bowl or lid.
when in the van, Nothing in it to break I think. I use the same coffee mug no matter where I am.

I met a couple in a 45 ft Bluebird (COACH) as they called it-4 slides,--he "said snottily" "it was only a million Dollars !!!" LAA DE DAA. he stayed inside after parking she was in fancy clothes & High heels, he in a Suit. They never came out all weekend.
I'm sure they hated being parked beside me since my motorhome was 1/10 what they paid, But I was with friends, relaxed & having a great time (OUTSIDE) in the fresh air.
they would have been really disgusted if they had to park next to my Van, even if I had the Casita camper. but we both paid the same amount to be "Camping"

 

[Lucky mike]

I see that alot Sparky......it kills me that some will spend that kind of money and then they pull into walmart or the truckstop to save a buck ....LOL.....if they just saved half of what they spent they could have stayed in the better resorts for a year or 2!!

I bought mine at auction and put a bunch of work into it , but in the end I didnt have 5K tied up......I kinda miss the freedom of the van but modern convenience won over.

 

[sparky1]

glad you are enjoying life & happy as well. I was in a Good Sam club a couple thought they were so much better than the rest of us. funny He couldn't fix a thing, always coming to me---can you fix this & that- I did for a while, finally I got tired of it, left the whole bunch--of the 14 families in that club there are 4 left---no one to fix their motorhomes for them "free". 10 Have sold their motorhomes---said it was because of me---ha-ha. good.
once we were going camping & I took the Van & Casita---wow did I make them mad, ,
the nerve of me parking my 1989 Chevy van & a 13 ft Casita with their Motorhomes. I knew right there that was enough for me.
sparky1

 

[Donedirtcheap]

Wander, I agree as I've been very interested in them too. Some counties do have a minimum sq footage for house sizes. My min was 600 and at the time I built an 1800 sq foot ranch with a crawl space.
I wouldn't go down to a 90 sq foot house but I can definitely see 600 or maybe 400. It would be fine for me but the wife might have trouble with it right now, but she is changing as we age.

If I figured out my basic needs and create what I really need, I think a 600 sq ft or less would be fine.
No matter where it is I would do minimum insulation values of R-19 walls, R50 plus ceiling, Caulk every gap, crack and joint as its framed up. If it is on a crawl insulate the side walls with thermax R-19. Go with an extended heel overhang design so as to have full insulation out to the wall ceiling junction. Solar with generator back up and a touch of wind power. Hot water heat with an outdoor wood furnace. Years ago I went to an energy efficient home building class. People always say oh you dont want to build a house too tight, it wont breath. The instructor said you want to build it with the key hole being the biggest leak in it and from there you control the amount of ventilation with the proper heating/venting devices. He said most homes are built with leakage equal to a 2 ft x 3 ft window being open all the time.
As I travel around I'm always looking for places that would work. I want to be rural yet with us being older I want it near medical care and stores so the travel/fuel use can be kept down. I think this is greener than living in my RV. Imagine the energy use reduction if people lived in what we need vs what we want. No, I'm not advocating anyone telling you what to live in.

http://devlin.h2web.com/plans/05.html

 

[creative_life]

We love the tiny houses too and plan to one day build a cottage of some sort on our own land. We're thinking Texas, southern Colorado, Utah or Arizona. I'd like something temperate but southern Colorado is beautiful. We're thinking of either building our own house or getting one of the 2 story sheds from Lowe's and refitting it. My brother bought the plans for a Home Depot shed and he's building it behind his current house. It's going to be an apartment for his college age daughter / guest house for family that come to visit. We looked at the Tumbleweeds but figured why build a tumbleweed when we can outfit a van or get a TT or class C that's already made to live in.

 

[Donedirtcheap]

We love the tiny houses too and plan to one day build a cottage of some sort on our own land. We're thinking Texas, southern Colorado, Utah or Arizona. I'd like something temperate but southern Colorado is beautiful. We're thinking of either building our own house or getting one of the 2 story sheds from Lowe's and refitting it. My brother bought the plans for a Home Depot shed and he's building it behind his current house. It's going to be an apartment for his college age daughter / guest house for family that come to visit. We looked at the Tumbleweeds but figured why build a tumbleweed when we can outfit a van or get a TT or class C that's already made to live in.

Texas seems to be number one on our list so far but its expensive if its not on the west side or flat and treeless. The cheapest stuff is to the west and flat and treeless. I like southern Colorado and I have found some great deals on acreage but its too far from a hospital and town. Its sure fun to look though.

 

[jeanontheroad]

I think that layout is more important than square footage if more than one person will be living there. There has to be place each person can be and do individual activities. You don't want to feel like you are always on top of each other.

 

[sparky1]

I had Taylor outside water stove...you can't ever go any where in the winter. water would freeze just got rid of the rusted out ton of metal, farm across the road from me--(HAD) one too---theirs did the same last winter rusted out..big bucks down the drain But it did a nice job heating the house & shop 200 ft away. IF you HAD power.
SNOWING...have a great day

 

[Donedirtcheap]

I had Taylor outside water stove...you can't ever go any where in the winter. water would freeze just got rid of the rusted out ton of metal, farm across the road from me--(HAD) one too---theirs did the same last winter rusted out..big bucks down the drain But it did a nice job heating the house & shop 200 ft away. IF you HAD power.
SNOWING...have a great day

Huumm. I understood that they used an anti freeze mix. Friend says that's what his uses but I have not owned one. I have had boiler/baseboard systems but they ran water with a city water make up valve and were 40 plus years old. I'll watch for that issue if I ever go with an outdoor unit.

 

[sparky1]

it held over 500 gallon water mix.as water boiled/heated up, steam some water make up fresh water eventually all water I had a underground leak didn't know it all water ruined it. oh well.
I have forced air wood stove now,
snowing very hard 1" already.
sparky1.

 

[Donedirtcheap]

it held over 500 gallon water mix.as water boiled/heated up, steam some water make up fresh water eventually all water I had a underground leak didn't know it all water ruined it. oh well.
I have forced air wood stove now,
snowing very hard 1" already.
sparky1.

You do know that "snow" is a four letter word around here dont you? Get some pictures of palm trees and sand, cut them to fit and paste them very neatly into all your windows.
At work I was always talking to a buddy about riding off and getting away from the winter. He kept saying no, what you need to do is build the pole barn, insulate it well, put an above ground pool in it with 4 inches of sand on the floor, fake palm trees and crank the heat up to 85 degrees and sit in a lawn chair with a 60 inch tv on the wall. Its not a real bad idea.

 

[Blue]

Been following tiny houses for a while, gonna start another thread because there's a specific piece of info I want to discuss...