Mini house

[Hikergirl]

I have to be honest the whole toilet situation is really throwing me off unless I could find some kind of way around this side of it. Can't help but wonder why they can't have an option to use what they do with RVs? I wonder if septic can be hooked up

The toilet thing throws me off too LOL. I've been doing alot of reading about options because for us right now installing a septic system isn't in the budget. However dh knows that if we ever decide to permanently reside in a tiny house there will have to be or he will be living there by himself LOL

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

Nope, not interested. Not even remotely. I don't even want a trailer for weekends. Really. I don't.

I think it would be more economical and practical to buy a townhouse or small house in most areas.

There was one episode of Tiny House Nation where the family of 6 ended up buying a 600 sq. ft. home instead of a Tiny house. Even that would be too small with 6 people IMO.

My friend and I were so disturbed by that episode that we ended up googling it to see if there was an update. The people have a blog...I'll try to find it and link it. It came out really cute, but yeah...IMHO too small for so many people.

Here it is http://tinyhousefor6.com/ Looks like it's been a year since they updated the blog.

ETA - In googling that so many negative articles about this tiny house fad came up. It would be worth googling to read some of those...very eye opening.

 

[DawnM]

My friend and I were so disturbed by that episode that we ended up googling it to see if there was an update. The people have a blog...I'll try to find it and link it. It came out really cute, but yeah...IMHO too small for so many people.

Here it is http://tinyhousefor6.com/ Looks like it's been a year since they updated the blog.

ETA - In googling that so many negative articles about this tiny house fad came up. It would be worth googling to read some of those...very eye opening.

Maybe they don't even live there anymore.

 

[Hikergirl]

I have to laugh, there was a time when living in a house that size was the norm. Even for big families. My dad grew up in a house very similar to that. It was him, his 4 brothers and parents.
Maybe that is why I'm not bothered by the thought of living in one. Less housework is always a good thing LOL

 

[LuvOrlando]

I really don't understand the tiny house thing. If people want to live cheap, why not by a trailer home? I know they aren't glamorous or a particularly good investment, but they are way, way cheaper than the tiny homes I see people buying on HGTV.

They just look fun

 

[LuvOrlando]

I have to laugh, there was a time when living in a house that size was the norm. Even for big families. My dad grew up in a house very similar to that. It was him, his 4 brothers and parents.
Maybe that is why I'm not bothered by the thought of living in one. Less housework is always a good thing LOL

Agreed, I knew a family of 8 that did just fine in a tiny row home. No one there ever thought of it as a problem, nor did I.

 

[TwoMisfits]

The toilet/bathing/cooking/pantry would be problems for me, but the biggest issue for me is the path to the lofts. No way would I want to have to climb up/down some of those ladders/steps late at night or before my 1st coffee. And to think about carrying stuff up and down from them...

 

[kellia]

I totally don't get it. They spend at least $60k, travel trailers are so much cheaper! Not to mention they still have lot rent and utilities, too.

It makes me claustrophobic to think about living in one. I can handle a week or two in our travel trailer during the summer when we are outside most of the time, but even then it seems like we are running to the store all the time because we don't have a lot of room to store things. And we don't have any bulky clothes, shoes, or things we'd need for every day life.

 

[Judique]

I totally don't get it. They spend at least $60k, travel trailers are so much cheaper! Not to mention they still have lot rent and utilities, too.

It makes me claustrophobic to think about living in one. I can handle a week or two in our travel trailer during the summer when we are outside most of the time, but even then it seems like we are running to the store all the time because we don't have a lot of room to store things. And we don't have any bulky clothes, shoes, or things we'd need for every day life.

The construction and insulation of a travel trailer is quite different, I think.

You wouldn't think of spending a winter in a travel trailer, at least in the northern US.

Also, it seems most tiny houses put the sleeping areas in the loft above, leaving the main area for cooking and living.

Travel trailers don't have that extra loft space as a usual design and are usually designed just to sleep as many people as possible, ie sleeps 6, 8, 9 or whatever number they claim.

I like the tiny house concept but I can't get past the idea of giving up all my things. I have furniture I love and just a lot of stuff that in my present house I can keep, even if it is stored in the basement, lol.

 

[LuvOrlando]

The toilet/bathing/cooking/pantry would be problems for me, but the biggest issue for me is the path to the lofts. No way would I want to have to climb up/down some of those ladders/steps late at night or before my 1st coffee. And to think about carrying stuff up and down from them...

True, lots of people wonder about pets

 

[LuvOrlando]

I totally don't get it. They spend at least $60k, travel trailers are so much cheaper! Not to mention they still have lot rent and utilities, too.

It makes me claustrophobic to think about living in one. I can handle a week or two in our travel trailer during the summer when we are outside most of the time, but even then it seems like we are running to the store all the time because we don't have a lot of room to store things. And we don't have any bulky clothes, shoes, or things we'd need for every day life.

That much? On tv they were hovering around 20k

 

[LuvOrlando]

The construction and insulation of a travel trailer is quite different, I think.

You wouldn't think of spending a winter in a travel trailer, at least in the northern US.

Also, it seems most tiny houses put the sleeping areas in the loft above, leaving the main area for cooking and living.

Travel trailers don't have that extra loft space as a usual design and are usually designed just to sleep as many people as possible, ie sleeps 6, 8, 9 or whatever number they claim.

I like the tiny house concept but I can't get past the idea of giving up all my things. I have furniture I love and just a lot of stuff that in my present house I can keep, even if it is stored in the basement, lol.

I was thinking a shed for storage.

Probably would need to store some things - still sounds fun to me

 

[tvguy]

The toilet/bathing/cooking/pantry would be problems for me, but the biggest issue for me is the path to the lofts. No way would I want to have to climb up/down some of those ladders/steps late at night or before my 1st coffee. And to think about carrying stuff up and down from them...

Me too. And given how many people I know who have moved to get rid of their 2 story houses because they were sick of traditional stairs, I can only imagine those ladders would get real old real quick.

 

[Ranger111]

I agree that some Americans are spoiled. A percentage live in much too big houses, etc.

Like a lot of you, my family of five, grew up in an 820-square-foot house. but, we did not have to climb ladders to get to bed (actually we used a trundle bed) and our bathroom was not in our kitchen and we had a real toilet, bathtub and shower (only one bathroom, of course). We also had a fairly large formal dining room, a large kitchen, etc. A couple of hundred extra feet can make a real diff.

So, you can do a lot with a small space. But those tiny homes...ugh...and again, the prices are up there.

 

[DawnM]

I have to laugh, there was a time when living in a house that size was the norm. Even for big families. My dad grew up in a house very similar to that. It was him, his 4 brothers and parents.
Maybe that is why I'm not bothered by the thought of living in one. Less housework is always a good thing LOL

What size?

 

[Hikergirl]

What size?

The size of the one that family of 6 is or was living in. Not the real tiny tiny ones.

 

[DawnM]

The size of the one that family of 6 is or was living in. Not the real tiny tiny ones.

So, around 600 sq. ft.?

 

[DawnM]

I hope you aren't offended that I am one of "those" people, but you had me curious. 600 for 6 people doesn't seem the norm to me, even in the old days.

So, yup, I googled.

Here are the median norms per year:

https://www.census.gov/const/C25Ann/sftotalmedavgsqft.pdf

Nothing below 1400. Now, of course there were SOME or this wouldn't be the median, but I don't think tiny homes were the norm.

 

[Hikergirl]

So, around 600 sq. ft.?

Yes, but I don't know exact square footage, its a very small house. 2 bedroom, 1 bath, living room and kitchen. Next time I visit my Grandmother I will measure

 

[Judique]

I hope you aren't offended that I am one of "those" people, but you had me curious. 600 for 6 people doesn't seem the norm to me, even in the old days.

So, yup, I googled.

Here are the median norms per year:

https://www.census.gov/const/C25Ann/sftotalmedavgsqft.pdf

Nothing below 1400. Now, of course there were SOME or this wouldn't be the median, but I don't think tiny homes were the norm.

Those are the medians for NEW homes built each of those years since 1973.

I think most of the smaller homes that people remember were built from 1945 on.

And many of them were definitely small. And they still exist and have families living in them.

I live in Maryland and when I drive through some parts of DC and Baltimore I am looking at shotgunned homes and townhomes built on lots that were subdivided back in the 1920's. Some of the townhomes in Baltimore are only 10 feet wide and the square footage is very small. I shopped for a place to buy my daughter a few years ago there when she was going to school in that area.

The lots subdivided for the first time in some parts of Maryland and DC in the 1920's were in 20 ft wide increments with high neighbourhood densities. Those are the same still today when people buy and sell.

We here on this board may not see this as the norm but we are the exception in many cases across our country.