Tiny Houses

[jerdog]

I don't understand the "tiny house" thing that I see on one of the Home improvement channels, either DIY of HGTV. Just buy an RV for cryin out loud if you want a mobile living quarters. Those things look way too heavy and some look as if you'd need an overweight permit, not to mention the stress on the axles/bearings.

[mitechie]

Originally Posted by jerdog

I don't understand the "tiny house" thing that I see on one of the Home improvement channels, either DIY of HGTV. Just buy an RV for cryin out loud if you want a mobile living quarters. Those things look way too heavy and some look as if you'd need an overweight permit, not to mention the stress on the axles/bearings.

I don't think the mobile bit is the key. They're done on trailers and mobile for tax and legal reasons.

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[TWP723]

Originally Posted by jerdog

I don't understand the "tiny house" thing that I see on one of the Home improvement channels, either DIY of HGTV. Just buy an RV for cryin out loud if you want a mobile living quarters. Those things look way too heavy and some look as if you'd need an overweight permit, not to mention the stress on the axles/bearings.

The wife and I had this same discussion.

[sennister]

I agree that they are on axles mainly for tax reasons and possibly code reasons. Some communities are allowing them to be placed on a residential property where a house may already exist. The idea is that with the increased cost of elder care, some may have a parent or in-law that can largely take care of themselves but maybe not 100% independent. Lets say they gave up their driver's license. Well you may not have room in your home for them but they could "camp" out back where they still have their own place yet be close enough for support. None of my parent's or in-laws are at this point in their life but my in-laws do keep their 5th wheel in our back yard with full hookups. They use it as a base to travel from and do week or two trips from there. In the winter it is winterized there, they pack up and head to their house in Florida. It works out well. They have a full hookup campground they can come and go from as much as they want all summer without fees. He cuts my grass all summer. That frees up time for us so we can go camping as I am not cutting about 3 acres of grass which takes a while even with a 60" deck on a commercial Zero Turn.

The thing with the tiny houses is that they sacrifice portability to gain durability. I think I read somewhere, maybe in the owner's manual for my Jay Feather, that campers like mine are not meant to be lived in full time. Can you do it? Sure but the durability isn't there because of the focus on light weight so expect stuff to break. Tiny houses are built more like mobile homes where there are more residential features and build quality which would add far too much weight to a travel trailer.

I have always kicked around the idea of buying some land up in Northern MN as hunting land and a cabin. My wife grew up camping and doesn't like the idea of going back to the same place every weekend. I like the idea of going back to the same place that has dirt bikes and ATVs. We are doing her thing for now but later I would like to start going to one place. Buying some land and slapping a tiny home on it would be a quick way to start. Then you can work on building a pole barn followed by a cabin. Once the cabin is done sell the tiny house.

[mike837go]

Originally Posted by jerdog

I don't understand the "tiny house" thing that I see on one of the Home improvement channels, either DIY of HGTV. Just buy an RV for cryin out loud if you want a mobile living quarters. Those things look way too heavy and some look as if you'd need an overweight permit, not to mention the stress on the axles/bearings.

I've tolerated an episode or two of the show....

Those are NOT RV's! They are custom built houses on a portable frame.

Only 1 electrical system. No holding tanks. All water connections underneath.

The project is to showcase how little space a bunch of humans can get by with. Plus what brand-name products are being marketed to the "Less is more" crowd.

Will I ever build something like that? No.

Will I copy some of the ideas presented in my RV? Yes, yup, oh yeah.

[DocBrown]

They aren't meant to be towed around from place to place any more than a park model or full size mobile home is.

My wife and I get a kick out of those shows. The people having them built have some very unrealistic expectations which causes the builders to come up with some very clever solutions. I also marvel at the use of space in those little homes.

[Mustang65]

The key point of these Tiny Houses is that they are well insulated compared to an RV. I can not see any other reason that I would want one.

There are more communities that have challenged the RV vs Permanent parked (as in Seasonal sites, and stay on site year round). We have locations in FL that you can only keep your RV on the campground for 11 months out of the year. The RV has to be removed and or stored off site. Some of these RV campgrounds that are adding Tiny Houses (on wheels) are going to be challenged by local governments, as they are being short changed on Tax $$$. The CG's could face the legal battle as to if they are a RV campground or a mobile home park.

HUD is the federal department that is in charge of the designations. I believe they updated their RV sizes since some 5th wheels (with 5 slides) have more square footage than the old RV specifications allowed... As far as I know, the numbers were never challenged.

I noticed lately that the Tiny House Nation verifies their total weight before turning it over to the owner. I remember seeing on these programs were they blew tires out while transporting the Tiny House. Just about every one they built, based on visual observations, were over the frames weight limit or had to be right on it.

I believe the LEGAL wars have just begun or will be in the near future. It sure will be interesting.

I now live in what I consider a Tiny House of 1000 Sq. Ft, downsized from 3,600 Sq. Ft, and love it!

Don

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[DanNJanice]

I really don't view the tiny house thing as much more than a fad.
The inlaw/parent argument, I guess I could understand.
But I just kind of chuckle when I see a growing family of 4 planning to live in one. It may be OK when the children are babies, but once they start to grow, you would be falling all over each other.
No thanks,

[mitechie]

Originally Posted by DanNJanice

I really don't view the tiny house thing as much more than a fad.
The inlaw/parent argument, I guess I could understand.
But I just kind of chuckle when I see a growing family of 4 planning to live in one. It may be OK when the children are babies, but once they start to grow, you would be falling all over each other.
No thanks,

I don't know. folks do it with kids living out of RVs. I guess it's interesting because I've got a friend with a house and a dozen acres in NC and he's got two different couples that are building tiny houses on the property.

As someone that's been trying to scale back and has an interest in spending a couple of years in an RV traveling around I can see bits of the appeal. That said, the shows just drive me nuts and you can just see the casting they did to come up with reality tv for others to shake their heads at.

[TWP723]

H e a v y

[Mustang65]

At the end of each program they show the owners after living 30 days in the Tiny House. They should do an ANNUAL follow up with the families, to see if they are still living in the TH or if they are even together an longer. In some of those episodes, it sounded like only one of the couple was 100% in agreement. It should also allow the owners time to do a PRO's/CON's of TH living, and televise it.

That would be interesting.

Don

My Registry

RVing with SOLAR

[chasfenwick]

We've watched some of the Tiny House shows with amazement. They avoid or gloss over so many questions of practicality, one doesn't know where to begin. Has to be a fad.