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Dwellito Mini Office
- airstrike 7y agoWhat a terrible chair to sit on from 9 to 5. With a tiny desk to boot for only $9k? Hard pass.
- petepete 7y agoLooks like you're missing some copy in the 'Do I need a permit?' FAQ section. Interesting idea though, they look quite nice providing you've got the space outside.
- stronglikedan 7y agoI'm sure they know more about permitting than I do, but there's been a monetary factor to consider in the places I've lived. E.g., any home improvement greater than X dollars requires a permit, even indoors.
- kpmcc 7y agoAm I the only one who thinks the price of this is absurd? 9k for an 8x8 box?!
- stronglikedan 7y agoNope. I was looking at that thing thinking I could knock that out in a weekend, with the most expensive thing being materials. (the wood/drywall version anyway)
- notatoad 7y agoEven if you weren't the sort of person who could build one in a weekend, you could almost certainly hire somebody locally to do it for less than $9k. And as a bonus, they'd know your local codes and inspection requirements.
- dsr_ 7y agoIt's a shed, but it's a fairly expensive shed. Preparing the ground isn't mentioned. If you've never tried to make a chunk of ground perfectly level and compacted so that your shed won't sink and tilt... you won't get it right by yourself. Not the first time, anyway.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- codingdave 7y agoIs that included in the price? I was under the impression that this was going to be assembled somewhere else, then drop-shipped. From their site: "After the units are built in the factory, they are fork lifted into a truck and driven to your property address. Once the truck arrives, a forklift will take the unit out of the truck and place it in place on your property." This does not sound to me like they are doing anything beyond just building and finishing a box, and the price is fairly absurd for that.
- dubcanada 7y agoAll the rest of their modular homes don't include site prep so I assume you are correct.
- ape4 7y agoIts a business expense.
- wintorez 7y agoNo, the prices are indeed absurd.
- nogabebop23 7y agoI went top of the line and got mine up to $25K USD! Why are you skimping on your human tank?
- HeyLaughingBoy 7y agoWoah! I used to know someone whose entire house (about 900 sq ft in Beltrami county, MN) cost less than that!
- kroltan 7y agoI can almost see a more traditional tech company buying a bunch of those for their workers in the current climate, even at such a ridiculous markup, just to guarantee a "standard" workspace.
- csomar 7y agoDepends. I don't know which glass they are using but I did some back of the napkin calculations for a project I was dreaming of that had some "glass" and it would cost $8-9k just for the glass alone. It was not that much glass. Probably a bit more than this cube. That's if you are looking for some premium glass that won't shutter into a thousand pieces and hurt you. Same for steel, aluminum, high quality wood, etc... So yes, it can be very expensive. A cheap wooden dwelling can be pretty cheap though.
- ryanmarsh 7y agoThe didn’t mention if they’re storm windows so I’m going to guess not. That won’t work in the region of the country that deals with hurricanes.
- Reedx 7y agoActually the $31 basic power cord seems the most absurd to me. Couldn't just make that $0 with a $9k purchase?
- bruceb 7y agoYeah penny wise, pound foolish there by these people. $9k seem expensive, but I don't know the price of these things so half willing to accept it. Then seeing they are charging $31 for a power cord now makes know they are charging too much for the the main thing they are selling.
- coliveira 7y agoMy first observation here is: the person is supposed to work independently of outside temperature? Apparently there is no AC/heating in this thing.
- stronglikedan 7y ago> What heating and cooling unit is used? > You have several options when it comes to temperature control. Depending on your climate needs, you can save money by using a floor fan or go with a AC unit. Since the mini-office is...mini...it is a lot easier to heat and cool a small space. For the price, you'd think it would come with a central A/C and a mini beer fridge.
- cwiggs 7y agoThere is an option to add AC and/or a fan.
- antidaily 7y ago$3000 for the air unit. I paid about $800 for the hotel style PTAC unit I put in the office above my garage.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- dpeck 7y agoit's basically a green house, it is going to get uncomfortably hot and humid during 5 or so months of the year in most of North America. The single room air conditioners by mitsubishi would be a great option for a space like this though.
- coliveira 7y agoAt least in the summer you can use a fan, my worry is with the winter!
- dpeck 7y agoFeels like an easy pivot to quarantariums where you can keep family and friends safely contained for 2 weeks before allowing them into your home while being able to keep an eye on them.
- itronitron 7y agoTucson has lots of tiny 'TB' homes that were built in the early 20th Century. [edit] pg 130 identifies the boundaries of 'Tentville' which is/was just north of the UA campus https://www.tucsonaz.gov/files/preservation/TucsonHealthSeekersMPDFtext_AZ_PimaCounty.pdf https://www.tucsonaz.gov/files/preservation/TucsonHealthSeek...
- vhodges 7y agoSimilar to the md-100 (but much more expensive). ReadyMade Magazine did a piece on it. Plans: http://redcoverstudios.com/MD100/MD100-plans.pdf http://redcoverstudios.com/MD100/MD100-plans.pdf
- mcs_ 7y agowow!, Internet is still there...
- igneo676 7y agoHuh. Looks like that same company created a few other buildings but the plans have since vanished from the internet. Good find on that one!
- 0xffff2 7y agoIs there some context to who designed this and why? That framing doesn't look like anything a carpenter would produce and I'm 99% sure it wouldn't be code compliant in Oregon at least.
- vhodges 7y agoEdgar Blazona https://www.truemodern.com/about-us https://www.truemodern.com/about-us It was meant (I guess) as a DIY project and really it's a shed so the process is similar and the 100 square foot print is usually the largest structure you can build (in a lot of jurisdictions) without a permit/inspections/code.
- 0xffff2 7y agoI mean, just because you're technically exempt doesn't mean that building codes don't matter. It's still generally a pretty good starting point for how to build a safe structure that you shouldn't deviate from just for the heck of it.
- megraf 7y ago$128.65 per square foot in a shed. Let that sink in.
- Rantenki 7y agoPrice per square foot is less useful for a smaller size structure. consider the surface area of a box relative to it's volume: that's the materials. But yeah, that's still expensive for a box.
- thewebcount 7y agoWhat I don't get is that the price per square foot goes up as the size goes up. Doesn't it usually work the other way around?
- notkaiho 7y ago"workout area" because nothing inspires productivity more than the lack of fresh air and the stench of post-workout body as you sit back down at your desk in your shed.
- mplewis 7y agoYou underestimate how many folks like to take a break from work with a quick workout.
- GordonS 7y agoSure, but not in the same tiny shed they work in. Half the benefit of taking a break comes from getting away from your desk.
- chrisseaton 7y agoPresumably you still need to go and shower afterward, so back into your house, so why have it right next to your desk?
- function_seven 7y agoDepending on your house, treadmills can be very loud. Either second floor or the ground floor over a crawlspace or basement can be annoying to others. Or you might not have the space in your house to dedicate to exercise equipment. Having the outbuilding serve as both an exercise room and a separate office solves both these problems.
- chrisseaton 7y agoI guess the 'office' might work well as a mini gym by itself - forgetting about using it as an office at all.
- syntaxing 7y agoCostco actually sells a couple of these with a very similar idea [1]. Surprisingly very expensive too (9K+). But they sell sheds too that are 2K- so I'm not sure what the benefits are? Maybe better built quality and finishes? [1] https://www.costco.com/installed-sheds-by-yardline---flatiron-shed.product.100536694.html https://www.costco.com/installed-sheds-by-yardline---flatiro...
- karatestomp 7y ago> Surprisingly very expensive too (9K+). But they sell sheds too that are 2K- so I'm not sure what the benefits are? At a glance, better looks and insulated exterior doors like you'd have as an exterior door on a house, rather than thin shed doors that aren't designed for temperature control at all. Probably the windows are better, too. Hard to tell what else. Dunno what about it justifies that much higher a price but better doors & windows, wall insulation, some kind of interior wall cladding rather than just exposed studs, better sealing like you'd have on a house (guessing on the last three, see no evidence of it) and you could get up around a couple grand more on the materials cost.
- gregmac 7y agoThe Costco one is "installed". I can't tell if it's insulated, but it looks like it -- and that along with properly sealed doors/windows (like you'd have in your house), finished interior walls, electrical/lights (?) are a big difference from what you get with a $2000 shed intended for storing your lawnmower. Another good distinction is Dwellito says "delivered to your front door". I don't know about you, but for me that would be.. quite inconvenient. Getting an assembled 10x10 (? not sure exterior size) shed into my backyard would involve either disassembling a large part of a shared fence (which is 50% my neighbour's), or using a fairly large crane to lift it completely over the house.
- HeyLaughingBoy 7y agoIt's surprisingly inexpensive to rent a crane and operator for what they would consider a pretty light load. $200 might do it if they are nearby. http://duffycrane.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Combined-Duffy-Price-List_7-16-2014.pdf http://duffycrane.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Combined-Du...
- skummetmaelk 7y agoIs this a joke?
- andrewflnr 7y agoMy gut response as well. Reading that page was surreal, especially as the punch line failed to materialize.
- fpgaminer 7y agoI built a small (8x10) shed in our backyard from scratch, mostly as a stress reliever from actual work. I realize the irony in doing more work to relax from work ... but carpentry is so tangent to computer work that it felt like an escape. A sort of real world Stardew Valley. In terms of material cost it was maybe $2k at the end, but could have been cheaper (I splurged on slightly nicer versions of some things like plywood instead of OSB). If you're even slightly handy it's a nice project to undertake. All the work is light enough on a shed that size that you can one man all of it. It's hard to describe the primal feeling I get when I'm inside this shelter I built with my own hands. For all the back breaking work of it and all of its mistakes the feeling of satisfaction is immense. Photo (was still working on the doors when this pic was taken): https://i.imgur.com/FogNzBP.jpg https://i.imgur.com/FogNzBP.jpg Ever since the shelter in place order went up I've been out there working on little woodworking projects. Recently finished two small tables for around the house (https://i.imgur.com/ea67ANO.jpg https://i.imgur.com/ea67ANO.jpg) and a few misc house improvements.
- bmsleight_ 7y agoI did the same[1] Great relief from work. Its worth it s weight in gold as I have a separate building to commute to in the morning. My costs £2,497. As I wanted a bigger shed split into two parts. With double insinuation and lots of power outlets. Plus a big (MDF) desk. [1] - https://www.barwap.com/projects/shedshedshed/finished-shed/ https://www.barwap.com/projects/shedshedshed/finished-shed/
- fpgaminer 7y agoLove that siding! > With double insinuation Yeah, insulated mine as well to help out with summer heat and cut the noise down a bit (don't like bothering my neighbors with power tools and such). Planning on covering the wall cavities with some 3/4" plywood soon for even more sound isolation.
- bmsleight_ 7y agoThanks. Yep - noise as much as heat. I have the siding, then (paper) waterproof layer, then wool layer, then plastic (condensation) layer. Then 3mm board, then wallpaper-brick-effect.
- whytaka 7y agoWhat is that type of workout machine called?
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- chrisseaton 7y agoLooks like a stair climber.
- whytaka 7y agoThanks!
- dsalzman 7y agoHalf the price plus Sauna = winning https://www.costco.com/almost-heaven-fayette-6-person-steam-sauna.product.100493472.html https://www.costco.com/almost-heaven-fayette-6-person-steam-...
- Rantenki 7y agoYou read about pound dogs that are finally adopted, and they can run and frolic outside... but they still have to sleep in a crate because otherwise they suffer from anxiety. Is this the same thing for cube-dwellers?
- cagenut 7y agoIf you look at the hero image just on its own, it looks like a joke from a blackmirror episode: https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5bc925f2e2b045600ce997a5/5e8e4e809587ca5456c132f3_mini-office-backyard%20(2).jpg https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5bc925f2e2b045600ce997a5/5e8...
- jackewiehose 7y agoAnd the guy seems to be floating. This one is also great. Highlighting how you have to use the lamp even though the sun is shining: https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5bc925f2e2b045600ce997a5/5e8e7f801014dc0d6b3fb9d7_Mini-office-Sunset.png https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5bc925f2e2b045600ce997a5/5e8...
- exolymph 7y ago> but they still have to sleep in a crate because otherwise they suffer from anxiety. Do you sleep on the kitchen floor when it strikes your fancy, or do you sleep in a bed? You may notice that sleeping on the kitchen floor never does strike your fancy, which is instructive. Would you rest well in other random locations in your house? My point is, wanting to sleep in the crate isn't modern canine neuroticism, it's just normal mammalian behavior. We like to sleep somewhere secure and comfy, and we like for it to be consistent.
- Rantenki 7y agoI don't disagree, but I don't want to sleep on the kitchen floor because it's uncomfortable. I also wouldn't want to sleep in a bed _in_ a cage, given the option of sleeping in a bed _outside_ of a cage. And I think that we agree on the underlying reasoning; the consistency. I am just arguing that cubicles aren't an optimal place to spend your time, merely a convenient one for those that want to warehouse you while you work. The fact that it's consistent doesn't make it good.
- addajones 7y agoThis reminds me of Animal Crossing.
- kazinator 7y agoSeems fairly pricey. When more players get into this niche, it will come down.
- navd 7y agoHow is the security? Can someone just bust the window to grab my computer / equipment?
- vondur 7y agoI just had a shed installed for my wife as a place for her to sew and other stuff. I luckily was able to get an electrician out to wire it up for power. All together, I spent like 6K for everything, although I need to get drywall put in. It was a 20th anniversary gift for the wife. Now it's her office while she has to work from home.
- vijaybritto 7y agoYou're a good man
- uk_programmer 7y agoFor the amount you could rent a small office out for the whole year or buy a shed or if you are renting you could just move to a bigger place.
- dutchrapley 7y agoCan you imagine the echo in one of those things? Plus, for the price of one of those, I'd be tempted to pick up a used storage container and renovate that.
- cordite 7y agoSeems a rush job on copy. Do I need a permit? In most municipalities, you do not need a permit for under 100 square feet. That said, it varies city-by-city so the best (....?????)
- justrudd 7y agoAs my neighbors have found out, you don't need a permit till you try to sell :)
- crispyporkbites 7y agoI have one of these http://garden2office.co.uk/ http://garden2office.co.uk/ - it is excellent. Cost about £15k all in (about 10sqm) and is better insulated than my home. For WFH it completely isolates me from my family, and gives us a completely new room in our house for far less than a "real" extension. I'll definitely build another one in the garden of the next house I buy.
- colinrand 7y agoOmg, I would love this. I just need to be able to afford the land it would be on first!
- kratom_sandwich 7y agoNot judging whether this is useful or economic in anyway, but I love the concept. Some time ago, I found a different site offering larger modular homes. [1] [1] http://www.loftcube.net/ http://www.loftcube.net/
- erikig 7y agoI'm not sold on the Mini Office but I'm loving their catalog of Modular Homes: https://www.dwellito.com/modular-homes https://www.dwellito.com/modular-homes
- driverdan 7y agoTheir prices are absurd. You can get a local builder to build something like these for significantly less.
- fumar 7y agoWould they architect the home or does one need to provide that? Genuinely curious as some of these seemed reasonable to me.
- driverdan 7y agoThese are pretty simple sheds. Anyone with experience building sheds should be able to build one.
- mynameisvlad 7y agoThe modular homes are far from "pretty simple sheds".
- driverdan 7y agoSorry you're right, I mixed up who I was replying to. You'd talk to a regular home builder. Some may not want to do a project that small but many would be happy to. If you really want plans there are many places on the internet that sell them.
- fossuser 7y agoDepends where you live - in Palo Alto you probably can't build for less than those prices (and likely it'd be substantially more).
- crazygringo 7y agoIt's an intriguing concept, price aside. I can see people paying for a space where they just can't hear the kids yelling and screaming. I guess I'm just wondering how it would work in the northeast, when you've got 0°F days and 98°F days. I get that it has an AC/heat pump (for $3,000 extra), but the fact that every morning you're going to need to heat/cool the thing from scratch feels like it could get real expensive real quick. Does this thing have decent insulation? (Judging from how thin the walls look from the photos, it seems no.) Are the window/door double-paned? I suppose this is really intended for more moderate climates, no?
- makkesk8 7y ago$31 for a c13 power cable, what?
- lallysingh 7y agoHow long?
- mmphosis 7y agohttps://www.auxbox.ca/ https://www.auxbox.ca/
- lostmsu 7y agoHow well is this ventilated and insulated?
- rsync 7y agoI note the small power station listed in their accessories ... Anyone interested in such a device should really consider the Dewalt Flexvolt power station (DCB1800B) because it lets you use your tool batteries as the modular, replaceable source of the power: https://toolguyd.com/dewalt-portable-power-station-review-dcb1800/ https://toolguyd.com/dewalt-portable-power-station-review-dc... ... which is a nice intersection of utility. Output is a very strong 15 amps (although non-perfect-sine-wav) which I have used to start and power air compressors and other motors. ... and then you can use the batteries in your tools. If you get the 9ah batteries you can run a fridge for a few hours. I find this setup to be much more utilitarian than a dedicated battery station
- outworlder 7y agoThat's fantastic. It's almost like a game mechanic, where batteries can be charged by a device, but also power the same device. I think this is the direction we are heading. Solar panels (or other form of local generation), sending energy to any connected storage devices (an EV, this power station), and then later on sent to other devices that might need it.
- fpgaminer 7y agoI have that thing and it's got a few nitpicks. The non-perfect sine wave means I'm afraid to plug anything important into it (say, a laptop). It drains faster than I thought it would (I think its efficiency isn't very good). I've got the 6ah batteries on it and can only work with my small table saw for about two hours (not running continuously, just the normal off-and-on of working). Charging is very slow, the individual charger works faster. You can't charge and use it at the same time. It's HEAVY; I think it weighs more than the four huge batteries I put on it. That said, it has its uses. Wait for it to go on sale; it frequently sells for half or less of its MSRP.
- rsync 7y agoAll valid points. I personally use the 9ah batteries and am fairly happy with the capacity. It is, indeed, known to be (relatively) slow at charging the batteries as opposed to the individual charger. Motor start/stop is fairly energy intensive so it doesn't surprise me that you can only run the table saw for two hours...
- ilaksh 7y agoHow does it cost $3000 for an air conditioner and a hole or a duct or whatever?
- sitzkrieg 7y agolmfao at the overpriced power cord
- nogabebop23 7y agoI can buy a really big aquarium tank for less than ten grand, with the added bonus it's water-tight.
- jjice 7y agoI've been dreaming of building something like this since I read a blog post from Mr Money Mustache [1]. I'm still in university right now, so I don't have the means or the property to do this, but I love the idea of being able to separate my work from my home. I'm a firm believer (at least for myself) that doing too many diverse tasks in a single environment tampers the way we think of that environment. I teach students study skill and time management at my Uni, and this is one of the most important things for a lot of them to learn, especially for students in the dorms. A single room where you eat, sleep, hang out, and study is a bad place to be productive. If you need to get work done, it's going to be easy to get distracted because everything around you will have some association with Smash Bros or anything else you do in your spare time in that room. I tell them to find places that they only associate with work (the library is very common). I'd love to have a space like that that is close to my home, but has some physical separation from the home. Not to mention how it would be a fun and rewarding project. These are cool, but a bit pricey for me, and I'd want to challenge of building it, but I can see this being neat for other people. [1] https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2018/06/30/tinyhouse/ https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2018/06/30/tinyhouse/
- taborj 7y agoWe built a garden shed for my wife many years back. It started as a wood shed kit from Home Depot, then we re-designed some of the walls to put in some windows and French doors. We put a skylight in the roof, insulated it all, and put up chipboard for walls after I wired it for electricity. Some cupboards/counters from the local building recycling store, and the result is a nice space. It was fairly straightforward, a lot of fun, and extremely useful.
- pkaye 7y agoIn the bay area, I used this company to build a unfinished shed for storage. But they can also finish it with drywall, insulation, etc. They have the pricing all on their brochure. And you can visit them and experience the sheds at your leisure. They are familiar with permitting requirements of bay area cities. https://www.shedshop.com/models-prices/studio/ https://www.shedshop.com/models-prices/studio/
- evaneykelen 7y agoI've placed a converted sea container in our backyard (photo: https://www.msgtrail.com/about/ https://www.msgtrail.com/about/) a few years ago. Insululation, floors, walls, windows, wiring, and transport (75 km by truck) cost approx EUR 12k. I had to install AC after the first summer because, although well-ventilated, it simply became too hot inside during warm days even though the studio is surrounded by trees. Using a sea container is a great start for this kind of object because it's sturdy and easy to adapt e.g. by cutting out sections for windows and doors. Cell phone reception is not stellar but adequate (2 to 3 out of 5 bars).
- hnmonkey 7y agoThis is so cool! Erik, would you mind posting some more pictures of your container office? It looks very Ex Machina like from the picture and I'd love to see more and maybe even learn how you did what you did with it if possible.
- patrickserrano 7y agoA buddy of mine built his house and office out of shipping containers. Really cool project, I wish I had some pictures of it. I love seeing stuff like this repurposed.
- megavolcano 7y agoJust when I thought a "tiny house" was ridiculous - suprised again!
- Niccizero 7y agoLaughable. $9k for a tiny ass garden shed?
- whalesalad 7y ago$17 grand for an outdoor office shed and the power cord is a $31 add-on? This has got to be a joke.
- yellowapple 7y agoMaybe it's a really thick and really long power cord?
- jp57 7y agoAlthough their shed is quite nice looking, the idea is definitely not new: https://shedsunlimited.net/collection/home-office-sheds https://shedsunlimited.net/collection/home-office-sheds
- mceoin 7y agoDamn. Dwellito have done a really good job here. I was trying to figure out how anyone "wins" in this space and it looks like they've aggregated all the supply to create a comprehensive marketplace for the built environment. Nice work to whomever made this.
- tohnjitor 7y agoThese are similar in concept. Available with wood stove. Wish my desk at work had a wood stove! https://www.cubistengineering.com/available-now https://www.cubistengineering.com/available-now
- g8oz 7y agohttps://amishsheds.ca/ https://amishsheds.ca/
- muttled 7y agoFor 9 grand you could buy a used RV and have a bathroom, shower, break room with kitchenette, battery, generator (engine), rest area, and the ability to move your office wherever you need to work.
- WorldPeas 7y ago>$31 power cord That cord better be """"audiophile quality"""" with golden prongs for that ridiculous price.