# who has lived in a camper while building?



## landdweller (Mar 12, 2011)

We just bought our 7 acres 1/2 wooded and its beautful. Electric and water already there. We are a family of 6. I was wondering if anyone out here ( I am sure there are many) that have lived in a camper while building? Give me your pros and cons. We also have a 35 foot camper and figured we could add a leanto on it to do us. WE are thinking it will save us in the long run. Our land payments are only $200 a month but our house rent where we are now is $700 a month. Wecould do alot on our property with $700 extra a month. The property we have has no restrictions and no neighbors except across the street way far back a drive in the woods. Tell me wht y' all think.


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## lamoncha lover (Mar 1, 2009)

You don't say where you are or how old your kids are. My husband and I lived in a 30 ft camper for 4 months last summer. We did not have electric and so it did get awful hot. But I truly did love it. 
Congrads on your land. I think much will depend on your kids.


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## dragonfly1113 (Nov 29, 2006)

We bought land that had electric, water and septic on it. We started out in a camper. Me and my husband lived in it for 5 mos before i said i cant do this anymore. We then pulled in a trailer and lived in it until we built our house. for me I felt closed in and that drove me crazy. It may have been different if it had of been summer time but we moved in at the end of Nov. We you get mad at your spouse there is really no where to go. U just have to look at them. lol It really depends on how everyone will get along in a very small space. I am terrified of storms and living in the camper had me scared to death. I was even like that in the trailer. So to be honest with you..... It is very hard to do. Some can make it. I could not.


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## 10kids (Jun 24, 2010)

Never done it, but have seen others move in the spring/early summer, and work to get a barn/shop type building up first, put the trailer in it and use the building as additional living space while a home was being built. Your kitchen and bathroom facilities would be in the trailer, and even sleeping quarters, but you could set up daily living space in the building, as well as storage space.


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## CJ (May 10, 2002)

We lived in our RV for 4 years... then I couldn't take it anymore. One of the things that helped me more than anything was an outdoor kitchen. A nice propane grill, gas burner, and an insulated electric smoker. I did most of our cooking outside.

With 6 people, get a solar shower. There's no way an RV hot water tank will even begin to keep you all in hot showers, heck they're barely enough for 2 people. Plus all that moisture will destroy your RV.

So my top tips... cook and bath outside


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

2 people, even 3, I'd say it could work well, but 6? 

A lot would depend on where you are, how long you are going to take building, and how the kids feel about it. (and what their ages are). 

Outdoor kitchen a must. Camper kitchens are just too cramped...although a 35foot is larger than the normal camper. You could put a lean-to on it for storage, or maybe a games room? reading room? 

The solar shower would be an excellent idea...if you make it semi-permanent, you could use that for your household shower in the summers even after your house it built. 

Good luck with your new home!


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## landdweller (Mar 12, 2011)

Our land is in Ohio. Our kids are 11 6 4 and 2. But I have to say we live in a 3 Br house right now and the only rooms getting used are our living room, kitchen bath and my husband and I have our room. THe kids all insist on sleeping downstairs on the couch and love seats. I have tried to split the kids up in seperate rooms but they all end up back together no matter what I do. The closeness doesnt bother me cause they are always right there by me no matterhow big of a place we have. I will most definitely cook outside and shower outside as well. We might even put a " shwer house" in at first. I think we are going to just say in trailer briefly while we look for a sed mobile home and then build from there.


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## jamala (May 4, 2007)

We looked at campers today at a camper show and we are a family of 5--3 kids are 15,12, and 5. And I do think it could be done if you make a large outdoor covered outdoor area and do most of the cooking outside. We were looking at one just for vacationing and my hubby said the only bad thing would be rainy days and being stuck inside for long periods of time.


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## PyroDon (Jul 30, 2006)

does a school bus count , rebuilding after a flood . 
lived in it for a little over a year . worst part was when the dog had gas she could peel the paint


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## houndlover (Feb 20, 2009)

You can do it, sure, lots of people live in RV's or trailers while building. You may have to find out about zoning and if you'll be breaking the law by living under those conditions - the county would be most concerned about black water (sewage), not the gray water from washing. Most places absolutely won't allow an outhouse, plus, you don't want to deal with that, trust me. Rent a portable toilet from a company who will come and service it or put in your septic first and hook the trailer to that. Solar shower idea is fine if you are sure you'll have sunny weather until the house is done. A better idea is a propane powered on demand system in an outdoor enclosure, either wood or the premade tent type. I lived in a 32' fifth wheel with the husband and 4 kids when our house was being built - it wasn't fun. In warm weather the kids put up a big cabin tent and slept out there. We plumbed in and enclosed the bathrooms in the new house before any thing else was done, and that was a good decision.


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## tallpines (Apr 9, 2003)

We lived in a tent for several weekends while a 16 X 24 foot cabin was built.

And then we lived in that cabin for 2 years while the house got built.

Good memories ------ I enjoyed it!


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## buckinghorse (Sep 26, 2010)

My wife an I lived in a 33 foot 5 wheel while we were building our house We used a portable storage building to keep washer and dryer inand other supplies in.We built a two story barn and converted the inside to a house.We used ruff cut lumber from a saw mill for most of the inside walls.It took us two years.So after living in the camper when we go camping we use a tent.


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## Contrary Mann (Feb 24, 2011)

My wife and I are doing it right now, and have done it on other land in the past. We think it is a great way to go to get started. The kids will make it a little more difficult. An addition on the the trailer works better, we have done that too. 
We think it best to go this route and build a house out of pocket, instead of financing. Financing just costs so much more, by the time you add fees, points, interest, it just gets ridiculous.
We took it one step further, since we had to take down some timber (fir, tamarack, and pine) we decided to build our own bandsaw mill, and mill the lumber for our building needs.
For most of us who work for a living, it is always difficult to come up with ready cash, so anything that cuts costs is a good way to go, you just have to be able to put up with doing without some things at times. But better to do without a little than to spend a life time paying off debt.

A chronicle of our efforts so far:
http://ournaturalfarm.blogspot.com/

Good luck.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

Just remember, building a house will almost certainly take longer than you expect, even if you hire all of the work done. 

That said, we found a 14x70 trailer house to live in while we build and it's still pretty cozy.


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## Betho (Dec 27, 2006)

Haven't! but will be watching this thread. We have thought about living in a trailer but when it comes down to it, building an insulated 16x16 shell with a loft, camp stove or woodstove, and a sawdust toilet in an attached lean-to or something will be cheaper than buying a trailer for a couple thousand. We already have a very small trailer that isn't good for much besides sleeping, and if/when I have another baby even that will be tough. My hubby has to sleep diagonally on the bed because he's so tall! It would be ok to live in for a week or so while we got the shell built, and then we'd have a place to live while we build our actual house. That's the initial plan, at least. The nice thing is once that's all done, then we'll have an insulated shell cabin for visitors or projects or storage or whatever we want. We could even turn it into a fancy chicken coop


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## Betho (Dec 27, 2006)

Oh and PS - if I was in your situation, i would do it in a heartbeat. Actually I sorta am in your situation except we don't live close enough to our property to do it, and the job is tying us to where we are at. The object is to get the income to be independent of income, which will then allow us to move out there.

6 kids in a big trailer with a lean-to is doable temporarily... though I wouldn't do it until it was a bit warmer. My brother has about a 30 foot trailer with 5 kids, and they usually are out in tents during the summer but he just built a bunkhouse that didn't cost too much and that's easy, insulated and secure sleeping conditions.


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## gina kay (Sep 12, 2007)

Dh and I lived in a 40 ft fifth wheel for 5 years until we moved a used mobile home onto the farm. By living in the RV we were able to get the mobile home livable alot sooner than if we lived off the farm. While in the RV there were times we had company spend the night and had the grandbabies over all the time. One thing dh did when we moved into the RV was build a screened in patio with simple plywood shutters that hinged at the top so when we raised them we propped them up with posts. We put our bed on the patio along with the washer and dressers. Eventually he closed the shutters on the bedroom side and insulated that so it'd be warmer in the winter. The water heater in an RV is a 5 gallon so it won't be enough for even one person. What we did was use a huge soup pot and heat water on the stove for baths. 
You can do it. We have a storage shed under the goose-neck portion and another aluminum shed for storage. That helps alot.


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## City Bound (Jan 24, 2009)

Erin is right, building ALWAYS takes longer. In my experience it usually takes three times whatever your initial time estimate is. I found that to be true with myself and I have found it to be true from observing others. Three times whatever you expect.

What state will you be doing this in? A cold winter is something to consider.

It could be nice if you built two little ten by ten cabins for the kids to sleep in. They could sleep there and hang out there most of the day, then eat and visit you and you husband in the trailer. You could build the little cabins right next to the camper, run some extension chords into the cabins for lights and tv's, and when the house is done, you can take those two little cabins and use them as out buildings, killing two birds with one stone. the cabins could rest on blocks so you could lift and move the cabins to wherever you will eventually need an out building.


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## landdweller (Mar 12, 2011)

We werent going to do it until my oldest is out of school at the end o May. We own 2 humungus tents and a eay set canopy. My boys want to build a tree house to sleep in.lol
We have huge piles of 2x4s and 2x6's inmy front yard and my landlord asked waht we were going to do with all that wood. We told him once it got nice ouside it would be moved. We have been stockpiling it all winter. There is a place here in town that ships lead. They incase it with 2x4 and 2x6's. U can have all you want for free. U only have to take the nails out. THeres only like 4 nails in each board so its woth it. We have a stockpile of windows in our shed and things piling up everywhere, because we have been looking for 2 years for a piece of property we could afford and now we have it. 
I think my kids are more excited thatn I am. THe property we have has no restrictions and theres water at the road its 1000 to tap and electrics there. We already have it lined up for the electric ompany to come in and juice us. I know my family who I say are snobbish uppity tpes would frown on me having my 4 kids in a camper, but if they do I'll tell them u r so rich buy me a house. LOL THis is probubly the only way we could ever afford to do it it to move there so we dont have all our money tied up in rent and utilities. I am actually counting down the days til my boy gets out of school.


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## pistolsmom (Mar 19, 2005)

We have never actually lived in it but have stayed for extended periods of time in our 23ft. camper in the mountains. I see no reason it can't be done. One of our neighbors there lived in a camper with kids for a couple years while building. He had a big deck on the front of the camper to which he added walls, floor, and a couple windows, and a door. You actually entered this room first and then the door to the camper was inside. He put a woodburner in that room ( free wood from his property) along with a tv, living room furniture etc, and they pretty much only used the camper to cook, sleep, and use the bathroom.


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## City Bound (Jan 24, 2009)

Landdweller, setting off to build your new house sound so wonderful. Good luck with that.


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