# Tiny house for $5000?



## Cornhusker (Mar 20, 2003)

Might be worth looking into

http://notonlydoesthishousecost5000...-can-also-spare-you-worrying-about-bills.html


----------



## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

we have friends that live in , while not tiny , not very big house it is 12 wide by about 32 long with a covered porch outside that is almost as big , it has a small loft at one end over the bath room and one small room.

it is very livable , especially considering the travel trailer they lived in the last 2 years 


I think for the cost I could build a cabin 24x24 with traditional 2x4 framing but this was an Amish built cabin that was moved into place and they could live in it day 1 and work on finishing it while they lived in it 

and that saved them in other ways


----------



## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

I can build a nice little home (tiny houses usually involve setting on a trailer, which is nice for moving around.... but adds a 'grand' to the cost)... for right around $10/foot. 5K would get around 500sq. foot.


----------



## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

Tricked out ice fishing houses go for around $5,000 and up. They are pretty plush and easy to move.

https://www.google.com/search?q=ice+fishing+house+pictures&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8


----------



## Jolly (Jan 8, 2004)

texican said:


> I can build a nice little home (tiny houses usually involve setting on a trailer, which is nice for moving around.... but adds a 'grand' to the cost)... for right around $10/foot. 5K would get around 500sq. foot.


Would that include the inside finish work?


----------



## jg83 (Dec 27, 2015)

Watching those shows where people pay upwards of 50 grand for a 200 sqft tiny house makes me wonder if I'm in the wrong business. 

I see where their would be interest in living in a tiny house, when the kids are moved I wouldn't mind building a small off grid cabin for the wife and I.


----------



## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

Jolly said:


> Would that include the inside finish work?


Just the shell. Not much finish work to those. All the walls are 2" tongue and groove, no insulation in outside walls, or roof/ceiling. Almost have to build a house inside them to insulate. Basically a thin wall log cabin....James


----------



## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

jg83 said:


> Watching those shows where people pay upwards of 50 grand for a 200 sqft tiny house makes me wonder if I'm in the wrong business.


Clearly you are !

We've watched the Tiny House series and "The Premier Tiny House Builders" bunch up in Portland, OR, seems to get in the $300 per sqft range for theirs......240sqft models selling for 70k. It's 3 families doing the building, so I figure they start with $10,000 profit per family per house...their 'base' model of *nothing* being 30 grand......and then add the actual costs on top of that..  

I watched them put granite counter top in one the other day, and it talked about what a "high end finish" it would add to the kitchen. The price on the granite at the store was about $25/sqft.....but the thing was, they only needed 7 square feet of the stuff ! So big deal....$175 for a counter top......then they put $3.69/sf cork flooring....but AGAIN.....only looking at about 150sf of it.....big deal....

Seems completely ridiculous to me....last time I built a house was 10 years ago, but I built a BRICK, 4 bedrm, 2 1/2bath, 1800sqft with a single attached garage for around $35sqft.

I don't know if I could match Texican's 10 buck figure, but for 20-50 bucks/ft, I could build a pretty decent house. Now the smaller you go, the more the price would increase per sqft, because a stove or toilet or sink costs the same no matter how much floor space you amortize it over....so smaller does cost more per square foot....but the prices these 'tiny' houses are going for is completely ridiculous in my book.


----------



## molonlabe (Dec 28, 2015)

Cornhusker said:


> Might be worth looking into
> 
> http://notonlydoesthishousecost5000...-can-also-spare-you-worrying-about-bills.html


Does that site seem like a trusted source?


----------



## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

Doesn't seem like much of a website at all to me. They claim the pre-fab "Coco" model is $5,000, but nowhere do I see much about it, or how one would order it. Am I missing something ?

The 'contact' is a gmail address....nothing physical or a phone.

When I see that little info on a site, my BS meter starts to peg out......


----------



## Steve_S (Feb 25, 2015)

Agree with TnAndy: BS Meter is pegging in the Red.

These look like a Take Off from norwegian log and similar builder's using interlocking 2X lumber. Or like this EZ Log Cabins (Canada)

Even if you got a good RV Trailer which could be knocked apart, salvaging everything possible (appliances etc) and used all recovered, upcycled materials, you'd be hard pressed to build a "complete" Tiny Home for 5K. Unlike a "typical" RV with 2x2 walls and light bonded construction, a Tiny House uses heavier materials and you'd likely be tipping the scales over 10,000 Lbs (empty & dry weight) which would be more than what an RV Trailer would be setup for... thinking of a typical 20' RV trailer to 20' Tiny House on trailer.


----------



## cjennmom (Sep 4, 2010)

That sort of thing wouldn't suit me at all. Cute as it is, you need a bit of size to deal with putting your stuff in and when it comes to room needed to deal with your harvest? It wouldn't work too well. 



Cornhusker said:


> Might be worth looking into
> 
> http://notonlydoesthishousecost5000...-can-also-spare-you-worrying-about-bills.html


----------



## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

Here in this county the Building Inspector's department would not permit one to live in it!


----------



## Sumatra (Dec 5, 2013)

You'd be better off building it yourself. Not only is it between $5-6000, instead of a stable $5000, there's a minimum order of 2 sets/houses, AND there's no way to tell what the shipping/import costs are going to be. Oh yeah, and have you heard about how awful Chinese construction generally is?


----------



## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

Jolly said:


> Would that include the inside finish work?


Have one 12x20, with metal roof, pressure treated 'foundation' material, wood exterior walls, drywall interior and ceiling, all painted, and vinyl flooring.... electric outlets, lights, windows etc.

Add water and a toilet in a corner, for less than two hundred.

Everything is up to human code. After getting the vinyl sheet flooring, it came in around $2400.

Not rocket science. "Permits" would cost more than the building. Check out a basic building book in the library, learn how to set up a 'square' foundation, set it all on either cement blocks (special ones meant for building on are available everywhere now) or cement 'pylons', get your foundation square, and slap 3/4" T&G plywood on it.... build your 2x4 walls, stand them up, brace them, etc....

I can frame out the floor and walls in a day.... if I was feeling as good now as I did 20 years ago, could put the roof on, tar paper it, and put the metal on....

~$10 square foot.... but, kicker is, you have to do ALL of the work yourself, or have free help....


----------



## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

Steve_S said:


> Agree with TnAndy: BS Meter is pegging in the Red.
> 
> These look like a Take Off from norwegian log and similar builder's using interlocking 2X lumber. Or like this EZ Log Cabins (Canada)
> 
> Even if you got a good RV Trailer which could be knocked apart, salvaging everything possible (appliances etc) and used all recovered, upcycled materials, you'd be hard pressed to build a "complete" Tiny Home for 5K. Unlike a "typical" RV with 2x2 walls and light bonded construction, a Tiny House uses heavier materials and you'd likely be tipping the scales over 10,000 Lbs (empty & dry weight) which would be more than what an RV Trailer would be setup for... thinking of a typical 20' RV trailer to 20' Tiny House on trailer.


Imho, not much salvageable in the average RV.... besides the metal substructure.... perhaps windows and doors...


----------



## Steve_S (Feb 25, 2015)

texican said:


> Imho, not much salvageable in the average RV.... besides the metal substructure.... perhaps windows and doors...


I bought a 20' Terry Taurus, with the standard dual axle trailer circa 1983, last year. While it had suffered over the years structurally, it was clean and everything worked fine.

I salvaged the Wedgewood T-2130 Propane stove/oven (nice stainless unit), the Dometic RM-660 Fridge (propane/electric), the Duotherm 65920-18 12 volt furnace. The windows, some of the aluminium sheeting, hinges, brackets and electrical components.

The appliances work, and the furnace is doing duty as my Powerhouse heater (solar system, well & pressure tank in there) , the fridge is going into the "office trailer" which is being built onto the trailer frame.

The office trailer could likely be a Tiny House I suppose but to keep it light & insulated I will be using metal studs (back to back " ][ " welded) with 3-1/2" ISO foam between the studs, X strapping in & out. I have the ISO (4x8 sheets) that I bought from a roofing company as "take offs" for $4 a sheet, metal studs recovered from a commercial tear out. To that I'll be installing a propane Direct Vent Fireplace which fits perfectly into the space where the tongue is. I won't reuse the old RV windows (single pane, you know) or door as I need everything insulated.... I'll be also upcycling the recovered 12V fixtures with LED Bulbs. When I'm done with that, it will weigh in less than the original trailer which was rated @ 2450 GVW.

What will the cost be ? Haven't a clue as I am using a lot of recycled materials and doing it all myself as time allows, it may tally out around 5K BUT this won't be setup as a Tiny Home.

Building Inspectors: a Trailer is a Trailer NOT a Cabin... Building Inspectors have nothing to do with vehicles, that's your DOT / MOT or whatever it's called in your area. Townships, Counties, Cities decide if a Trailer is allowed on a property or not as habitation... Most will allow it as Recreational Use or as a Hunt Camp (all depending on your locality of course).


----------



## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

You got a good one Steve! 

I was actually talking about the materials in them. Appliances are a bonus.

There's a steady stream of free mobiles/rv's on craigslist around here.... right now, one person has three he wants hauled off... just have to pay a licensed 'hauler' to move them. Have had full 'mobiles' offered for free, before the net... alas, my road 'turns' were always too tight to negotiated, or I might have had some serviceable storage areas.

I have seen many, that I'd want to toss gasoline into and burn out, before even setting foot in them... :stars::stars:


----------



## Forcast (Apr 15, 2014)

around here they have the shells rent to own, and you can do what ever you want on it even while paying.


----------

