Amazing Tiny Houses/Small Houses. Would you downsize? [PIC HEAVY]

I'm so surprised that tiny houses are having such a big moment right now when you really consider the number of people who could really, really., actually live in one.

They really are fascinating. I lived in a tiny house (just under 280 sq ft) for 3 years when I was younger and this is what I learned.

The tiny home I lived in was built for 25000 and had a nice stand up shower, small gas oven and water heater, a mini fridge, and a loft bed.

I could never take more than a six minutes shower due to the tiny water heater/large shower head combo. If you love luxuriating in the warmth of a hot shower, tiny house living might not be for you.

No freezer space = no frozen food for 8-9 months of the year, which means no stocking up on sales, no freezing veggies from the garden. If you build a tiny house, do yourself a favour and install a small deep freeze or fridge with a freezer.

Tiny houses cost nothing to live in, almost....except if you want to move it. Tiny houses are built to be lived in all year round and most are extremely heavy. Way heavier than you might be able to pull with your pick up. Moving the tiny house can cost $3000 or so depending on distance, it can really add up if you don't have a permanent space.

All the stuff you have....you will forget about. Unless you're some kind of hoarder, your brain just isn't really that sentimental about stuff. Once you make the move to really tiny space, you quickly adapt. Having room to move takes precedence over that giant collection of DVDs/kitchen gadgets/decorative African bongos.
When I moved, I put boxes and boxes of stuff in my parents basement...3 years later...I threw it all in a donation box without even looking through it.

Pets are ...not as fun. Imagine your beloved Fido is wet, comes inside, shakes...and everything you own now smells like wet dog. Your cat doesn't go outside to use the bathroom? Expect to clean the litter box twice a day. Is your pet rambunctious? Don't put them inside of ..what is essentially..a crate fro humans.

Tiny houses are amazing and for the people who can adapt to the conditions, great, for everyone else...really, really do your research before jumping on the band wagon. Some people are bettersuitedto an RV or fifth wheel trailer for impromptu get aways.

Ummm...I just built a 12'x16' shed for about $5000. No way a 400sq' cabin would be $4000. Maybe, if you cut all the wood yourself from your own property. You still have the cost of windows and a well/plumbing and insulation and heating/cooling. Probably some electrical too. As well as all the furniture/ finishing.

a reply to: Atsbhct

Tiny houses cost nothing to live in, almost....except if you want to move it. Tiny houses are built to be lived in all year round and most are extremely heavy. Way heavier than you might be able to pull with your pick up. Moving the tiny house can cost $3000 or so depending on distance, it can really add up if you don't have a permanent space.

brevardtinyhouse.com...

We estimate that fully loaded, our tiny homes will weigh at least 12,000 pounds. This amount includes the trailer. This weight is safe for traveling.

A normal pick up will tow it. It's on the high side of the towing capability, but it's better than paying out 3 grand.

originally posted by: Ghost147


Very good question. One I have contemplated, myself. As you can see in the graph at the top of the OP, the majority of tiny-home owners are over 50. I would say that you are very much correct in the fact that age can determine the design of the home. Fortunately, they do not cost a lot to build; so you could simply build another, or of course, plan ahead.

There are a number of tiny homes that do not have a loft at all, or any stairs, but instead make use of space-conscious furniture (such as Murphy beds and pull-out beds)

The original kill joy here LOL!!

50's piece of cake!! A few years down the line places ache that

you didn't even know you had

Pulling out that bed and making it daily will get harder, I had something

similar years ago in the small spare bedroom it came out to make a single

bed into a double.

Oh ... and I would miss lying and soaking in a bath.

originally posted by: Sparkymedic
Ummm...I just built a 12'x16' shed for about $5000. No way a 400sq' cabin would be $4000. Maybe, if you cut all the wood yourself from your own property. You still have the cost of windows and a well/plumbing and insulation and heating/cooling. Probably some electrical too. As well as all the furniture/ finishing.

Just looked at the article and it has updated the price for a more accurate one in 2015 being $6000.

If you read the article you can understand where he gets his numbers from. Here's a link to the specific page for more details on his specific costs: Link

I wouldn't mind a couple of those tiny houses. They would make great guest houses.

a reply to: Ghost147

My issue with this Mother Earth News article is that a) the author never built the cabin he's writing about, he built this one:



...for $550 with no bathroom facilities.

He and his wife lived in it while they built this house:



The price of $6000 for the cabin he's describing is incredibly low. Add in electrical, plumbing, storage, etc and the cost is well above $10000. It's interesting as a reference for building if you are either...all ready an experienced carpenter; or are willing to make a lot of mistakes and fix them, but it isn't a realistic overview of cost all in.

I welded and fabricated the modifications to convert regular trailers to accommodate for tiny houses for some dude from Harvard in Boston about 3 months ago.

a reply to: DAVID64

just don't try pulling it with those wanna-be "pickup trucks", don't think the transmission can handle pulling 6 tonnes for any real distance

a reply to: Atsbhct

Very good find. I suppose that settles it then. He does mention several cabin kits later on in the article with prices above what his original claim that will hopefully be more accurate.

a reply to: FamCore

Yeah, some SUV owners may want to rethink their definition of "truck"

That's not a truck




THIS is a truck

a reply to: Atsbhct

So... Things I will be taking away from this thread.

1) I live in a very small property. I have no idea what the dimensions of our place are, but I am guessing that it comes in way smaller than the largest of the featured homes here.

2) If contemplating building something like these, do yourself a favour and own the land its on, so that you never have to move it, meaning you can build it STURDY, rather than being terrified of adding weight.

3) Do not make the mistake of compromising water tank size to save space...long showers are a must when you get as grubby as I do.

4) Build your freezer into the floor on an elevating platform, so that you can raise it up when you want to access your food.

5) Build with eco passive heating/cooling techniques and materials, so that you only need to plumb hot and cold water in. Spending energy heating a home when it is possible to make a home regulate its own temperature without any energy being burned to do the job is bloody stupid.

6) Make maximum use of the least remembered room in the house, the great out doors. Put a deck in, get some chairs out there, and make sure the house opens up really well, maybe with a nice bifold door, so that you can vent the excess heat from the passive heating system when it gets too much in summer.

7) Do as much as you can without spending a single pound on it. Use reclaimed wood, recycled materials as much as possible, dumpster dive, trash sift, and generally refuse to spend money unless absolutely necessary.

a reply to: DAVID64

Neither of those things is a truck. One is an SUV and the other is a straight up utility vehicle, what the Aussies might call a ute.

A truck is the height of a small house, and weighs more than the trailer, small houses, and the pulling vehicles that are required to yank them around!

a reply to: Ghost147

I'm already doing it, mate. It's called a one-bedroom flat.

Come to England...there's millions of 'em.

If I moved in to one of those "tiny houses" I'd probably have room to stretch.

This is the go-to place if you want to downsize.

Hooray for tiny houses! Hooray for minimalism!

We rent a dirt cheap 600 sq ft farmhouse in the Pacific NW. Our utilities are less than the price of internet, you could heat it with a candle, and the price allows us to save, and even pay off one of my husband's student loans. I love that it takes so little time to clean. I love that it has all the 1920's architectural details. Sure, our three year old sleeps in the living room, so we can't stay forever...unless the landlords let us build on... But we will be able to pay for her college!

In my area, I see tons of small old houses turning to slums by landlords who don't see how valuable they are. Such a shame...that's what we would want to buy when the time comes.

We have a 5-year-old. Not happening anytime soon.

originally posted by: ketsuko
We have a 5-year-old. Not happening anytime soon.

If you've ever seen a TV show that focuses on tiny homes, there seem to be quite a lot of people who have kids that make the choice of going tiny. It definitely comes with it's own challenges, but, as has been pointed out by several other members, large houses are an exception in societies. Most of the other world is already living in these sizes, if not smaller

a reply to: Ghost147

Myself ?

I could easily live in a micro home, have wanted to for many years (less home to clean).

But with my hubby ?

Not a hope in hell.


I'm a very organized, minimalist type of person. Which is an absolute necessity when you live in a tiny place, you need to take full advantage of every inch of space you've got.

Whereas hubby is the exact opposite to me... I call him my "walking tornado packrat". Not only does he leave a trail behind him everywhere he goes, the packrat still has his original Tonka trucks and 4000 comic books from when he was a kid... piled in boxes somewhere in the basement with all the other junk collecting dust.

I'd have to hold a 12-gauge to his temple before he'd even consider purging any of his precious 'treasures'.


*grumble grumble*

The ones I reappropriated were 16 foot long by 8foot wide trailers, roll ons, in my opinion the mobile home from the 80s r probably alot better.

Those are tiny? Blimey you haven't been up north in the uk.
I want one but actually smaller.