Tiny House Movement

I am a huge fan of tiny houses. These are the type that might be 100-200 SF and built on a flatbed trailer. They are designed to be pulled just like any camper or trailer. Most are self-contained and can run off of solar or propane or both. They are different than campers and in my opinion much better. Some people build one for 5K or even cheaper, and other people spend way to much! Do you have one? Is anyone here living in one?

 

My cousin and husband built a 500 square foot tiny home as they live in Oklahoma and tornadoes love houses on wheels. They have a vaulted ceiling that makes it seem so much bigger. Plus they have 2 lofts: one side for storage and one side for sleepovers. They really love it.

 

I've seen the TV shows about them, and I love the idea. I think buying a used RV would be less irritable way to go about it. But I've said it before in the forum that people will start to catch on and stop living excessively and live their whole lives paying off their mortgages. All the really need is a solid roof over their heads and 4 walls. You might not get all of the modern conveniences, but who cares. As long as you have very little bills and you can live with a piece of mind that you don't owe money to a financial institution for the next 20 years.

 

I've actually been looking into tiny houses a lot lately after seeing a show on TV about them! I've been planning on saving up for one, since it would be the perfect amount of space for just me. Plus with the space constraints, it makes you have to think of interesting storage solutions and a lot of the ones that I've seen are awesome.

 

I too love tiny houses. Bigger houses give me anxiety and cost way too much to power. The tiny apartment (a little under 200 sq. ft) I have now in Japan is actually considered large for the area, but it's perfect for me. Being in a smaller place than my parents' house in America has taught me the meaning of "less is more." Everything is right where I need it, it's easy to clean, doesn't take up a lot of energy and has plenty of cross-flow from a bunch of windows.

 

We don't have tiny houses here and an RV is a rarity as well. But I have seen some designs in a magazine before however, it is not that self-supporting home that we envision with a solar panel to supply its own electrical needs. My parents-in-law lived in a trailer for some years when they migrated to California way back in 1992. They said that it is like a real home except that it can be moved to another location by being pulled. But it comes complete with the facilities. I sometimes wonder how they lived in that small cramped space because they have a big house here.

That idea of a tiny house would be great to try for a picnic where you go to an open space and you have a tiny house that can give you a place to sleep not to mention the conveniences that goes with it.

 

I've been starting to practice minimalism and the idea of a tiny house really appeals to me. Of course I am starting to see some really tiny houses for a lot of money now that they are getting more popular. Seems the best way to really save is to build it yourself, and I'm not sure I have the skills to do it yet. I'd love to learn a bit more about construction techniques and try someday though, I think it would be wonderful to live in a small, simplified space and free up my time and money for artistic pursuits and socializing!

 

I am a big fan of the tiny house movement. I have watched tons of YouTube videos. I don't know of anyone living in a tiny house though. I want a 400 square foot tiny home. Land is expensive here in Southern California. It's going to be a challenge to live off the grid in my city. I might have to move to a rural area which I not excited to do. I am determined to simplify my life.

 

This actually belongs in the container home thread I created elsewhere, but I'll post it here. This is sparking a few ideas in my head. I can make one of these in my homestead.

 

The bigger the house, the more there is to keep clean. A small house his easy to get organized and keep organized. It would be imperative to do so. Though we have other space in our building, our climate controlled living space in only about 650 sq ft. I love it and would not want to live anywhere else. But really, you must keep it orderly!

 

My cousin and her husband built a 500 square foot tiny home with a cathedral ceiling and two lofts. They love it. It has a tin roof and a front porch. She really has enjoyed living in it.

 

I think a big part of where it can get costly is when you want a lot of things stuffed into one little house - like a full kitchen, or an extravagant bathroom. If you're going to buy one that's premade, you also have to take into consideration all the little hacks that have been put into it for storage that make the house more appealing. From watching shows on TV, I can definitely see why they get pricy.

 

@joshposh I have watched many videos on container homes. I love this one! There is an architect who built a home out of shipping containers in Venice, California. It's beautiful, but it's not a tiny house. It's huge. I am definitely going to be check out your thread on container homes. I like the idea of using a shipping container as tiny home.

 

There are small containers that can be bought and used. Check this one out. A used one shouldn't cost that much. If you can retro fit it to open up like the one I posted earlier, I should be enough for you to sleep in. Just buy one at a time, and add them when you have the resources.

http://mysurvivalforum.com/threads/shipping-continer-homes.871/

 

I love this movement as well, It really is economically sustainable to just create your own tiny house. I have seen some on 20ft flatbeds. Lots of people use containers and make them permanently connected to trailers. Pretty much all of the ones that I have seen tour on all look better than most people homes. The benefits are so much better than actually owning a home in the city.

I like that you can move your home when your ready, but I also checked out the cons of owing one. Although there are no laws to building a tiny home, some cities still want you to be connected to city water, they don't want you dumping waste, some even get fined for living out of one, so the owner have to tell the city that it's not actually their permanent residence. Zoning.

 

I hear the same thing about people living in RVs. Some places let you sit in a particular spots for no more then 48 hours. So the trick it to move every 2 days to a different location. Most of these trailer homes that people have built do have compost toilets. They will sometimes cover up the waste with ash, as you look for places to dispose of it. I'm not sure if this is legal, but you could try and place a garbage bag in the bucket and handle your business in that. When you are done, just tie the bag up and throw it away in the dumpster. I don't see a difference between that and a diaper.

 

@joshposh You are a fountain of knowledge. I have seen many videos on storage container homes, but I haven't seen one this size! It is perfect for starting small.

I was chatting with a man who turned a storage container into a cabin in Northern California. He stated the price of storage containers has risen because people are using them to build living spaces. He purchased an old container with dents for a good price. He chose the container very carefully. He planned to cut out the dented areas for windows.

 

There are so many options on these containers. There is no building code so you pretty much can do whatever you want. Those dents can be covered with planks, stucco, of the foam. It's up to your budget and taste levels.

You can also try to buy a used one. Even the ones with some rust will go for cheap. All you need to do is sand it and treat the rust and it last 2 lifetimes if you treat it with the right facade.

 

You can make this so easily out of natural materials, and my favorite is cob. I only have minor experience with building with it (small shed, benches, oven), but I know how to mix it like I know the back of my hand now. It's super intuitive and you can do a thousand things to form structures, it's like play-doh but for way better purposes. I would estimate that a full-scale cob tinyhouse could be built in a day (easily) if you know how to mix it properly, takes a bit to dry but it's so easy to use...

 

This is so gorgeous! I would love to have a place like that. My only concern would be that it might be a little TOO small. If it was for just one person of course, it would probably be fine. More than one person would get pretty cramped though.

 

@chelsknits I agree. That container home is gorgeous. It would be perfect for me since I am single. I don't think it would be difficult to expand if my status changes.

@OfTheEarth I have never heard of cob. I had to do some quick research. One of the main appeals of using the shipping containers was the recycling aspect. Cob (or cobb) being natural materials makes it very attractive.

I am so very happy to have discovered this forum!

 

Then use a larger container or just add more containers when your budget allows it. This isn't a traditional house where you have to spend half a mil and then another 100k USD just for an addition.

Just get a container and retro fit it. Then when you're ready add another one. You can stack it or join it on the side.

You have to think out of the box.

 

They get expensive because of personal taste which usually leads to more expenditures. Its also high demand. So they charge more.

People forget why they went tiny in the first place. In the west I would think at most a car payment over 5 years is the cap at what most people should pay for a tiny house on a small plot of land or wheels.

The point is not to get stuck paying a mortgage for 20 years and all the time paying utility and maintenance bills.

Life should.be about experiences and not being a slave to bill collectors and government utility fees.

 

People have been building tiny houses for hundred of years (perhaps longer) when faced with a survival situation. They are called hunting cabins or hunting shacks and are small structures with very little modern amenities but provide the necessities of shelter and a place to store the equipment needed for hunting or trapping. In more extreme climates, these 'shacks' are very important since transporting the equipment needed to catch and kill wild game is practically infeasible at certain times of the year.

 

You can pack a lot away if you build enough storage space. Every nook and cranny should be used for storage. Its not hard to do. Its just people want something pretty and to show off to their friends.

Things you need to survive should be able to fit in a bug out bag. The extra supplies can be stored in the tiny house. A tiny house is feasible if you make it to be. It has to be built with a preppers mentality and not for showing off to your friends.

 

Iam a big fan of the tiny house movement. I have watched tons of YouTube videos. I don't know of anyone living in a tiny house though. I want a 400 square foot tiny home. Land is expensive here in Southern California. It's going to be a challenge to live off the grid in my city. I might have to move to a rural area which I not excited to do. I am determined to simplify my life.

 

You can't just drop into an area, even a sparsely populated area, then get by -- especially during days when everyone is having trouble just getting by. Ain't gonna happen. Talk about sticking out like a sore thumb!

As for hunting on new turf, that's one dynamite way of getting hurt. Know that deed or no deed, there are wilderness-type folk out there who consider certain hunting areas to be theirs, period. Talk to any game warden and he'll blister your ears with stories about what he and his fellow officers have run into "out there".

I've got monster stories -- one about a psychopath father (huge, 400 lbs) and his psychopath sons. They'd find a way to farm the land of others, then bully them (break things, burn things, beat people) if anything was said against them. They were perpetually in and out of jail -- they didn't care, couldn't care, didn't have the brains to care. They'd buy & not pay for farm equipment. The machines had to be re-possessed, often with violence. Thinking about shooting such monsters? You'll have to get permission from the power people, including the sheriff, of that county -- if someone goes missing, the power people will be expected to know what's gone with that "human", even if they had wanted it to "simply go away" more than anyone else.

Nope. You'd best know people or have kin in the area to which you're going to move. Having a trailer or whatever small portable living structure would take the burden off your kith and kin to put a roof over your head. Maybe they've got some scrub land for you to land on -- that would be grand serendipity. You need to think about what you can do for them. Think about how you are going to fit in. If you don't fit in, at best you are gone gone gone ... with your hide.

All God's children have to have good people on their six-o'clock and you have to be the kind of person who will guard the six-o'clock of others. Welcome to your species.

This tiny house talk may be fun, but it is pie in the sky. My advice is to do your homework and scouting. Find a small community that has a need for the work you know how to do. Buy cheap. Make friends. Get prepared for a beyond nasty economic downturn. The lower the profile you keep, the better. Make no waves. Smile a lot. Find out everything you can about who actually runs this rural community. If you can't co-exist with the latter situation, then you gotta move.

If anything goes wrong with fitting in and getting by, move. Small community DOES NOT necessarily mean "nice community", no no no.

Then too, it's not all gloom and doom. There exist good small communities and good people therein. But again, it is on you to do a bunch of homework and scouting.

 

I have to admit that at times the tiny house thing looks nice and the streamlining of your life looks good...but then I look around and laugh. It just wouldn't work for me. I mean I guess we could live in a tiny house but I am not giving up my three shops and three carport covered work areas/boat covers so whats the point. We have a sort of compound. I have a fab shop with power tools like metal lathe milling and drilling machines, welders, table saw, compound slide miter saw band saw wood lathe... Then there is another building that is devoted to fishing gear, leather work, reloading, wood carving , fly tying and electronics... Then I put up another shop for my wife for her crafts and painting so she would leave my stuff alone LOL. She has her own drill press, miter saw and a scroll saw. We are not big TV people. We both have creative interests and pursuits and those take a lot of space. My library alone takes up 300 square feet! My guns and long knives would cover the walls three deep in a tiny house.

 

As a hunting cabin, sure, but for steady living, where would you keep all your stuff? Family? Pets?

 

I used to have a camper on my truck that I could have lived in.

Billa I think you are giving most people too much credit for having the intelligence and sense to bail out of the cities before it is too late. Most people are going to sit right where they are until they are totally out of food and water. When they decide to get out they are going to find the roads blocked, no power means no gasoline other than what they have in their cars and most will have used that up running from store to store hunting food.

I honestly don't think that most will be able to get out and most will not consider walking until it is too late. How far do you think they will get walking with no food or water. They will be drinking out of ditches that other people are throwing their garbage and sewage in and be sick immediately.

The gang bangers are going to be the last to even try to leave because they will be busy in the cities looting and basically rioting. Most of the basic criminal element is sadly lacking in both intelligence and forethought. Even sadder is that most people are not much smarter and will be sure that if they will just sit and wait the government or someone will come along and save them. I've seen it too often. I've watched people that live in flood zones sit in their flooded houses waiting for someone to come and get them even when the water is only a couple of feet deep. Then if the water keeps rising they will just move higher and higher in their houses until, trapped in their attic, they drown.

Most of these poor people wouldn't know what to do with a cow if they killed one and I will tell you shooting someones cattle will be a fast way to die. I live in ranching country and most ranchers take crap like that pretty personally and there is no such thing as a liberal gun hating unarmed rancher.

So sad but people have been coddled for so long that I'm just not sure that many are going to survive long enough to be a threat to those that planned ahead and got out of the ant hills long ago. The urbanites will STARVE fast as in less than a couple of weeks. They will flood and the suburbanites will be a little better off and will fight them. They have a little longer before they HAVE to leave and some may actually survive in place. My Dad could have feed us out of his garden in the suburbs he lived in. and suburban people are not as passively natured as the masses that are in the big cities. Suburbs don't burn up as easily as cities do and there is more land to search for food in and on.