# Sq Ft minimum in Arkansas



## busybee870 (Mar 2, 2006)

My boys are leaving the nest soon, and i want to do a tiny home, maybe from a Derksen building, but i keep reading things online about zoning and sq ft minimum, anyone know what that would be, or who I call to find out, and if theres any loopholes? I dont need alot of room, just room to sleep and sew, and room for my pc to work. I want to go off grid as much as possible, but will need a landline phone for work.


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## homstdr74 (Jul 4, 2011)

I don't know the "official" rules and regs, but we lived in the Boston Mountain area of the Ozarks in Arkansas for a while and there was no code. "Whatever you're big enough to build" was the code there.


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## bobp (Mar 4, 2014)

There are few county building related codes, and they relate to septic systems / plumbing...other than that the 'state building code' takes precedence.... and it's only enforced in municipalities, that have inspectors.... 
A homeowner, can frame, wire , plumb and anything else to they're own home as longs as it's per code... 
Alot of the counties still have the 10 acre exemption on septic systems too... if you have 10 acres, and you can have all portions of the system atleast 200' from roads, property lines etc you can install your own system per code..

If it makes you feel better there are tons of the portable building houses among other types, all over the ozarks.. be sure you shop around however as they are not all built to the same standards... We just bought a Graceland...16x40


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## busybee870 (Mar 2, 2006)

did you get the one with the porch on front? and mind me asking how much that was, do they do payments like derksen?


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## bobp (Mar 4, 2014)

We chose to not get the one with the porch, (although they do look better) we got the 16x40 with 2 man doors, tyveck wrap, and radiant barrier under the roof deck. 

We are building a full deck with cover across the front and a partial in the back

We paid right at 11 grand.... 
yes they do have a payment plan program, similar to Derksen, however the long term interest is extreme in my opinion.... but alot of folks go this route, as they will deliver a building with 2-3 payments down, no credit check... They told me they actually re-po 25%.... and they make deals on the re-pos..... The Gracelands in my opinion are better constructed, they use 16" stud spacing rather than 24, 2x6 floor joists on 16s... etc....


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## Solar Geek (Mar 14, 2014)

busybee870 said:


> My boys are leaving the nest soon, and i want to do a tiny home, maybe from a Derksen building, but i keep reading things online about zoning and sq ft minimum, anyone know what that would be, or who I call to find out, and if theres any loopholes? I dont need alot of room, just room to sleep and sew, and room for my pc to work. I want to go off grid as much as possible, but will need a landline phone for work.


Zoning and square foot minimum means the county has/had a rule about how small/large the house can/must be. For example, if you had 1/10 acre as your lot, most counties and cities won't let you build a "McMansion" on it. The size of the structure must match the size of the lot by a formula they will apply.

Not all counties have this type of limitation. 
To find out whether or not the county you want to build in has one, call the county and ask to speak to the person in "building", or "residential construction" or "house permits". 
Many times they have a 1 page document that says stuff like this:

Driveway must be 11' wide
House must be setback 100' from any county highway
House must be setback 75' from neighbor property line
House size must be [insert formula here] square feet.
House cannot be over 35' tall.

Ok you get the idea.


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## CJ (May 10, 2002)

We're in Pope county, no building codes here outside of city limits.


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## AR Aaron (May 26, 2010)

busybee870 said:


> My boys are leaving the nest soon, and i want to do a tiny home, maybe from a Derksen building, but i keep reading things online about zoning and sq ft minimum, anyone know what that would be, or who I call to find out, and if theres any loopholes? I dont need alot of room, just room to sleep and sew, and room for my pc to work. I want to go off grid as much as possible, but will need a landline phone for work.


As stated check with the county if outside city limits. We have land outside city limits and the septic is only thing that has to be approved. Land we bought had an existing house on it so was exempt from inspection when we build next house in future. (White County)


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## Muleman (Nov 8, 2013)

BusyBee NC, arkansas You got to be close to where we are in Mountain View. We are in Stone County. I know here outside the city limits you can build what you want. Must have 3 acres or more to install a septic system and the property must perk for that. No size or construction limits as far as the that goes. You will have an issue if you run electric to it. Energy will not run electric to a portable building, you will have to install a separate pole for them to run electric to, that is by your building. Unless you do as I did once and cement some blocks in and set the building on it then bolt it down, thus making it permanent (in a grey area kind of way, will really depend on the inspector). Other than that you could build a chicken house and live in it if you wanted.


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## xbigp (Apr 9, 2011)

Muleman said:


> BusyBee NC, arkansas You got to be close to where we are in Mountain View. We are in Stone County. I know here outside the city limits you can build what you want. Must have 3 acres or more to install a septic system and the property must perk for that. No size or construction limits as far as the that goes. You will have an issue if you run electric to it. Energy will not run electric to a portable building, you will have to install a separate pole for them to run electric to, that is by your building. Unless you do as I did once and cement some blocks in and set the building on it then bolt it down, thus making it permanent (in a grey area kind of way, will really depend on the inspector). Other than that you could build a chicken house and live in it if you wanted.


we aint far from clinton and its the same around here. you can lean some cardboard together and throw a tarp over it and put a mailbox outside and you'd be just fine


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## TraderBob (Oct 21, 2010)

Hi, we are building in Boone County, near Bergman out in the country. Went I went to the concrete place, he asked about permits, and as soon as I said where we were, he said oh...no worries then, you can have an outhouse if you want. Lol, we had a septic system installed 

As to construction, no zoning here, we did a post and pier foundation, 16x32. Just check your local/county laws...here in Boone Co, if you are outside city limits, you can pretty much do whatever you want.

Ours will be totally offgrid as far as power...they want far to much to run it in.

We had looked at Derkson, since I drive by them everyday, but when you tell them it's for a cabin/home, instead of just storage, they wanted 50% down and higher monthly payments...at least the one here locally did.


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