# Anyone have an interest in tiny homes?



## summerdaze (Jun 11, 2009)

I've been looking for tiny home builders in Ohio, but haven't really found much. I'd love to go through some model homes if I can only find some.

I've been steadily downsizing for several years now, and am to the point that I think I could live in one of those tiny homes. I AM finding that SOME of the tiny homes don't have a tiny price tag though! 

Any kind of info from others that have some experience with them, or at least a genuine interest in them would be appreciated.


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## Sourdough (Dec 28, 2011)

My main cabin is 11' by 23' one room, and I have been warm and happy in it for 15 years.

I have a small cabin 6' by 9' that is one of my fall'back cabins. I have spent much of my life living in an 8' by 8' tent with hunting clients for months on end.

People need big homes because Madison Avenue advertising sells happiness. They tell people you will find happiness and sexual satisfaction "IF" you buy this. People have a house full of crap that gave them 15 minutes of happiness.


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## roadless (Sep 9, 2006)

Sounds awesome Sourdough, love to see some pictures!


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## DaveNay (Nov 25, 2012)

Sourdough said:


> ...you will find happiness and sexual satisfaction ...gave them 15 minutes of happiness.


That's a 300% increase! 

Sorry....

Personally, I agree the current fad of "tiny houses" is nothing but pure overpriced marketing hype. A true subsistence level tiny house is going to have a budget about 1/5 what I see those glorified RV trailers sell for.


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## roadless (Sep 9, 2006)

I love the idea, I don't want my possessions to own me. Every time I'ved move I got rid of much.....except shoes for some odd reason!


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## summerdaze (Jun 11, 2009)

I think it'd be fun to build one, but don't know if I have what it takes to do it. I think I'd be very happy in a one room cabin too. All I know, is that I'm thinking that living as simplistically as possible is the way to go. I DO love the idea of being portable though, and a tiny house would give me that.

Another thought is to buy a teardrop camper and travel a bit this year. I don't need the latest, greatest, just big enough for a bed and some camping gear.


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## KeeperOfTheHome (Dec 16, 2015)

DH and I have serious, short term plans to build our own. It might not qualify as "tiny," but we want 400-600 sf. We want not so much to be tiny or minimalist or sustainable or whatever as to live moderately. Everything in moderation- calories, shoes, square footage. We also want the stuff that we do have to be high quality, and on our budget/ within our means, that means pretty small.


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## tree-farmer (Jul 5, 2015)

Our house is 1000 sq ft plus an unfinished basement. Two of the three bedrooms we rarely use and the living room is bigger than we need. I could be happy with 500 sq ft for just the two of us but it would be nice to have some additional storage.
The cool thing about a smaller house is it doesn't cost that much to finish it with high quality materials.


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## itsb (Jan 13, 2013)

I'm not sure what type of tiny house you are speekin of!Whitch either the ones on wheels or the perminate ones in my opinon are silly,dont get me wrong,I live in less than 1000 sq feet and I don't need that,if you want to be moble a travel trailer w slides would be cheeper and more room,now if it is to be stationary you can build a little bigger in a fashon that can be added on to down the road if it isn't working out,or reasale if something chages as in life its likely to,it would also be a LOT cheaper to build and have alittle bit more room I think you can go too small. this is just my op.the prices I see to have either built are crazy and I don't see that as downsizeing. so good luck


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## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

I never really caught the "tiny house" vision. If it's a matter of being on wheels, the RV folks pretty much have been working on that for like 100 years now, maximizing space to the n-th degree. Some of them are pretty cheaply made but there are some that are well built, too.

If it's a house a person wants, build it to suit, whether it's 500 square feet or 5,000 square feet. 

A few things to consider...

Many tiny houses have lofts that are not easily accessible by people who have physical limitations. You may be perfectly healthy and able today but an accident tomorrow could change that in an instant. 

Many tiny houses have quite limited kitchen space. Yes, some things can be done outdoors. It's nice to have the capacity to do it indoors when you want to without being overly cramped. It's also nice to have plenty of room for canned and frozen food convenient to the kitchen.

Many tiny houses really do not have room for guests. That may or may not be an issue. If you like to have family or close friends come to visit and also like having them overnight, it's going to be cramped. A few cold and rainy days that weren't expected while company was there might not be as comfortable or fun as anticipated.

Almost repeating, but maybe to add perspective, if there is more than one person living in a tiny home (and this includes most RVs), traffic flow can be an issue. It's not uncommon for one person to have to stop and move out of the way while another passes by. It's not uncommon for more than one person to want to use the bathroom at the same time. It's not uncommon for more than one person to want to be in the kitchen at the same time. As a fulltime RVer of over 10 years, I have personally lived those things. And our RV is larger than many tiny houses.

Having too much 'stuff' can be a bad thing, no issue with that. But if that 'stuff' is things that make your life better, I don't see the piety in self denial just for the sake of minimizing 'stuff'. If you are a woodworker, is there some kind of honor in selling all woodworking tools save a hammer, a saw and a tape measure? That would be foolish. And if you happen to do something like building kitchen cabinets, those kinds of tools require space. If you're a cook and a baker, your kitchen also would have tools that you'd use all the time that need space. If you have some kind of a home business, it's likely that it would also have tools that would need at least some space.

There is a bit of "romance" that goes along with a tiny houses. There is also a bit of "romance" that goes along with homesteading. The same goes for many other things. Reality often doesn't quite mesh with the romance, though. People find out that the big garden takes more attention than they thought it would when they were looking through those beautiful coffee table books. They find out that having that family cow means milking every day, morning and evening, holidays, weekends, when the weather is miserable and they'd rather stay in bed. They find out that leaving the chicken door open all night can lead to a mess of dead chickens when a wild animal decides you're not paying attention and you get to clean it up. And they might even find out that the tiny house they once thought was the bee's knees, well, may not be quite as comfortable as they thought it might be when they walked through with a salesman at the county fair.

Just saying. And not trying to discourage you if the tiny house really is just right for you. Hate to see someone have the rose-colored glasses come falling off after having spent $50k on that little tiny house and figure out they could have built twice the house or more for the same price and been much happier.

Good luck!

EDITED TO ADD: Something I typed once and ultimately left out was in regards to many of the tiny homes having loft areas, often for sleeping quarters. As we get older, steps can become more difficult and ladders even harder. Even if age doesn't cause a problem, an accident can happen in an instant that could keep a person from handling even a few standard steps and make anything even remotely resembling a ladder totally impossible. I wish I didn't know that from personal experience. A fall down a few steps on ice last January and some severely broken bones caused me to find even the three steps in our RV to be impossible for months. Thankfully, I can walk again but over a year later, I still limp a little and am not comfortable with going down steps or using ladders of any kind. I think I'll continue to improve but doubt I'll ever be where I was before that fall. Maybe worth putting into the mix of things to think about.


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## moonspinner (Jul 2, 2002)

I only need no more than 500 sq feet but the tiny houses I've seen (there are several websites out there advertising them) are priced way too high.


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## Mish (Oct 15, 2015)

I wonder why a tiny home instead of, say, a mobile home? Is it the stereotype involved with mobile homes or is there something I'm missing? It seems to me, with a mobile home you get a more functional (especially taking Bellyman's points into consideration) small home at a better price than some of these crazy expensive tiny houses. 

I'm not being snarky at all, my husband LOVES watching tiny house videos and it's just something I've wondered and wondered about.


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## cindilu (Jan 27, 2008)

I LOVE the tiny houses and by that I do not mean one being towed on the back of a truck. I mean a tiny house on a foundation type of thing. Look into Old Hickory Storage Sheds and then find a dealer in your area. That is the route I am going to go. Mine will be 14 by 40 feet with a bathroom extension. Still tiny compared to the McMansions everyone seems to think they need. Now just to find someone who loves tiny houses as much as I do and doesn't mind living on the rez with me, lol.


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## cindilu (Jan 27, 2008)

Here is another option. I took this to my county to see if they would approve and they would, IF I added 8 more trusses to make the snow load 40 pounds per square feet type of deal. Easy enough to do and would give extra storage for the loft. 

http://www.barnkits.com/product/Richmond.php


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## daveandheather (Dec 22, 2015)

My wife and I live in our 39' 5th wheel camper. I think our square foot is something like 140.


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## mike554 (Jun 9, 2012)

We have been trying to get people interested in our small timber frames. So far everyone wants larger ones. They can be bought as a kit and erect it yourself or we can come and put it up. They can be covered with structural insulated panels which are very energy efficient. There is a tiny home show coming up in April in Tenn if anyone is interested. Frankly, I don't get the whole tiny home on wheels thing. 


www.mktimberworks.com


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## mike554 (Jun 9, 2012)

Here is the link to the tiny home show in Tn.
http://www.tinyhouseroadshow.com/


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## cindilu (Jan 27, 2008)

mike554 said:


> Here is the link to the tiny home show in Tn.
> http://www.tinyhouseroadshow.com/


To bad I do not live in Tn, because that is a beautiful house structure you have going on. Oregon is a long ways to Tn, but maybe you should start a facebook page and go from there. Facebook is a free way to get a lot of business going and who knows where it will go from there. :idea:


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## mike554 (Jun 9, 2012)

I already have one. That is a barn we put up in Mi last fall. I get lots of inquiries for tiny homes but they seem to think the only tiny home is one on a trailer.

https://www.facebook.com/MK-Timber-Works-310451113777/?ref=hl


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## mike554 (Jun 9, 2012)

12x16 porch we put up this weekend. It would make a nice tiny home.


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## green5acres (Aug 13, 2004)

daveandheather said:


> My wife and I live in our 39' 5th wheel camper. I think our square foot is something like 140.


We are in a 37 ft motor home while our small shop is being transformed into a tiny house.. 2 dogs also. I love it. Got rid of all my 'stuff' I had collected over 50 yes.. Don't miss my house or 5 acres at all. Getting older , less stress less work.


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## Declan (Jan 18, 2015)

They fascinate me, but even in a modest 1400 square foot house I am not sure I could live in less square footage without going bonkers. I have too much stuff that was inherited that I don't want but cannot pass off onto anybody else yet and don't want to toss.


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

daveandheather said:


> My wife and I live in our 39' 5th wheel camper. I think our square foot is something like 140.



Assuming it is 7' wide, (most are closer to 8') and no slide outs, 7 x 39 = 273sqft


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## eXo0us (Nov 14, 2015)

I don't get the tiny houses. 

They are not mobile like camping trailer. Nor they are stationary like mobile home. 
Yet they are more expensive then both 

I mean you can get a Single wide mobile home use pretty much anywhere for less then $10k a New Single wide starts as little as $25k 

We two had been living for a while in a 29 foot Motorhome with Cat and Dog. I don't think I could do this forever, but maybe in something like a 5th wheeler with Slideouts.

Park this under a Giant Shed and you got a decent home for many years and you can move or sell the whole thing. 
Who wants to buy a personalized tiny house ?


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## Jokarva (Jan 17, 2010)

There was a tiny house show this weekend in Asheville, we missed it but afterwards saw some of the houses rolling down the highway pulled by regular pick-up trucks. They were cute as could be, and I could live in one alone, but never with another person.

My sister and I have sketchy plans to form a tiny house village for us and our widowed/single women friends. Extra house for visitors, community space to cook dinners and watch movies...that sort of thing. But the houses would need to be old-lady-friendly, so lofts and tiny bathrooms would be out.


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## vicki in NW OH (May 10, 2002)

Backyard barn shed that I like.

http://tinyhousetalk.com/woman-converts-barn-shed-into-192-sq-ft-tiny-home/


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