Tiny homes conversations

[Lakota Wolf]

Ok,,, While sitting with a few friends in the RV life,, we was patronizing the local choke and puke,sipping bitter coffee and attempting to talk logical shop talk.The topic that came up was the so called Tiny Homes movement,,, The yuppy generation seem to think that having a home thats on wheels and portable is something NEW. (you can take a moment and chuckle). It seems that they havent been outside in quite awhile and have lived a sheltered life with their faces buried into some type of social media device, and some even venture out at night to local clubs. Seeing,, that at night they dont really see a lot of their surroundings.Then they get this new kick,, Tiny Homes that you tow with your vehicle,,, Just Wow,!!!  What an awesome concept.

Who would have thought that you could put a *house on wheels and move it to almost anywhere you wanted to take it? Can you imagine the possiblities?  You want to take a vacation and don't like Motels, or even the cost of one,, you have at your fingertips an awesome solution. A House on wheels. And with this house on wheels, not only do you get to stay dry if its raining,, you can put in a small kitchen for cooking. But dont stop there,, ohhhhhh no,,, Put in a bathroom. So say in the middle of the night you get a call from mother nature,,, no more running to the gas station around the corner and getting the door key, and then be obligated to buy something,,, you can just use your own built in potty. Sinse we are on a roll,, you can add an a/c unit,, you know, for when those hot summer days beat down on you,, you can step inside and stay cool. But wait,,,, what if it gets cold at night?

Well,,, no worries there,, You can put in a heater,, and be all roasty toasty warm..    Now now,, we arent done yet.. Now everyone has had to wash dishes in cold water,, brrrr,,,, no problem,, They have companies that make small water heaters,,, YEA, Can you believe it? Me neether.

Not only can you still wash your dishes,, you can wash them in Hot water. And speaking of hot water,,, in your Tiny Home you can even put in a small shower. NOW how cool is that?   I know,,right? You can take a nice relaxing HOT shower,, with no more brrrrr freeezing.

But now your thinking,, what about the water you used,, doing the dishes and showering and not to mention, flushing the toilet,,, Well, Im here to tell you,, They have these cool plastic containers in different shapes and sizes that can hold all that used water.. So no worries about getting in trouble letting it splash all over the ground,, and making a nasty mud pile near your front door.

Boy ole Boy,, Im sure glad these young kids thought about this concept,,, They just seem to be smarter then us Older folks,

(ok, you can take a minute to laugh).

The real problem that all of us sitting around the table found is,, Are They a HOUSE or an RV.?

If they want to classify them as a House,, they need to be U.L. and H.U.D. inspected,, (instant fail on minimum square footage).

The Electrical, Plumbling, and Structures must be up to building codes, And under housing guidlines MUST become a permanent structure in order to OCCUPY. So now, it can only be called a TINY,

(excluding the Home now). Now its sitting on wheels,, ok, technically a trailer you bought at a trailer place or if your thrifty and cheap, Harbor freight,, You know the kind of trailer at H/F,, the 4x6 ,,1150# garden tractor utility trailer that folds nicely upright to store in your gargage. Yea, That one,  Anywho.. You build your Tiny, (excluding the home now).. getting a nice curb weight of around 3,000lbs.  But ut oh,, your leaf springs are flattened out,, so, ding,ding,ding,, the light bulb goes off above your head,, add a leaf,, maybe 2 or 3, Yea,, problem solved. Ok, now,, You all set to hold your TINY upright.Now sinse you have built the main structural framing with top grade 2x4's and  2x6 and 2x10 header beams, you can now install wiring and plumbing.

So you get a roll of Romax wire, (probably 12-2 w.ground, Cuz your cost savy).Then you buy a dozen or so 1/2 inch pvc pipes and assorted elbows and couplers and 60's and 90's and 45's, and of course the primer and glue. (Your not using gator or shark bite fittings, because your building this brand new TINY and dont know about short cuts yet). So lets say, you get all the wiring done and plumbing done, including putting in holding tanks,, You still have to finish the walls inside. Now putting thin paneling up, just wont do, You have to do it properly, 1/2 inch sheetrock it is. Walls and ceiling,, tape it up and mud it and it be looking real real good,,, Now dont forget the Nice flooring.. Your thinking carpet,, but realize you wont have room to store your Kirby vacumm. You choose hard wood flooring, because its durable and looks nice. You shop around and decide on some high quality Bamboo import flooring,,,, You dont go cheap here, because you have to be the envy of your neighbors. You get it all installed and it looks fabulous, Lets not forget the queen pillow top matress,

Now not just any pillow top,, it has to be a sleep number adjustable matress. And throw in the Mahohany hard wood small kitchen table and your all set. Curb weight, 5,990 lbs, About this time you notice those 8 inch trailer wheels bulging a little on the bottom sides, But its ok,, your Tiny is still standing straight. Before your 1st trip, dont forget to pack in all your RONCO kitchen gadgets.

Now,,,,,,, where shall you go?   Road trip, You back your Mercedes S300 S.U.V. up to the 1 7/8ths ball hitch and secure it and attach the safety chains and plug the light wires in. Off  you go,, as you pretty much have to floor the throttle and get that little 4 banger to push out all the horse power it can muster,, creek and groan it starts to roll forward, tires being a little *spongy  as they are bulging just shy of blowing out. You get to the end of your driveway and notice the telephone wire seems to be hanging a little lower then you thought it did, You talk the better half into climbing up on the roof to lift the wire over the roof line of your nice TINY. You make a mental note,, Avoid, overhead wires and under passes. Meanwhile your better half gets back in and suggest that you two just go to local campground and rough it for the weekend just to get accustomed to it. You drive slowly because for some strange reason,, your TINY is swaying funny and is a bit heavier then you anticipated. 3 hours later, driving at approx, 11.5 mph, you arrive at the local RV campground. You pull up in front, park and go inside. The desk manager asks, what year is your RV? And you stand up all tall and proud and pronounce,, Its a TINY (home), and NOT an RV,(thank you very much).  The RV park manager snickers at your Yuppy better then all attitude and tells you,, I'm sorry,, this is an RV park, NOT a Tiny (home) park. But you stand your ground and say, its kind of an RV, ( but you mention Recreation Vehicle), built for recreation, but with the comforts of HOME. The RV park manager says sorry, can't let you stay,, itys NOT an RV or even close to it.

Your all but hurt because you just spend a ton of money and time, getting only the best, and you cant park it at the local campground, all because your TINY isnt an RV.. You drag it home,,,slowly (lol) and park it in your driveway.  Dont feel bad,, at least it looks kind of good sitting in your driveway, and you can be the envy of the neighbors, and the big plus,, you will have a nice DOG HOUSE to retreat to when arguments get heated up. At least till local housing ordanance rolls around and tells you that you can;t keep that out front,, Not to mention the home owners association isnt pleased with you.

You sit in your lawn chair next to it,sulking,, and BOOM !! one of the 8 inch tires blow from the exceeded weight.

Now to add insult to injury,, Your neighbor across the street pulls up in one those Fancy Recreation Vehicles, all purdy with fancy graphics and murals, and he tells you that hes taking the family to the local campground to do some serious fishing. At least he can PARK there.

[Lakota Wolf]

Thats an RV'er dream,,,, Have the ole RV AND Room to tinker,, and I like that idea of a huge living room,  and trapeze? hmmm, That would be different,,lol... I could go for a trampoline and a big sand box for my Tonka trucks,,lol,,  Hey, no one said I had to grow up,,

[Dawn Michelle]

Yup. What you all said. Plus have you seen the price of those things????? Now, to play devil's advocate a friend of mine who is retired, single (and planning to stay that way) is planning one - but I think with the right goals. She did fulltime RV for several years so she knows the ins and outs of living small. In her case though she is picking a community first, and building second. She's relishing the design challenge and not planning to move it. It seems in any sort of these intentional communities might be a good idea. Now me? I just want a barn on some unzoned property with some solar on the roof, and I'll pull the RV in. We'll just have a huge living room that smells like hay, the chickens are welcome in, and Rick can put in the trapeze he always wanted. Best of all worlds, right?

[Rich Thomas]

There is a show on TV about tiny houses and I finally figured out that some one is a genus. Come up with a plan to build these tiny houses; you know because they'er not trailers because they have drywall and shingles and stuff. stuff is very important here. They figured out how to market theses to a bunch of yuppie fools and get rich doing it. I mean some of these hacks sell for big big money. what a bunch of crap. I mean heck just buy a vintage RV and throw some ceder shingles on it and viola a tiny house. Sounds like a business plan to me. 

[Russell E Johnson]

LOL, oh you are so good. I was laughing thru the whole thing. Tiny cannot go to the RV park and they are sharp enough to find someplace to rough it because they forgot to install a 15KW generator and propane tanks.