4 ms·

I like some of the ideas in a tiny home but I couldn’t see myself enjoying it long term. I definitely would want it on a slab foundation instead of a trailer an

by hk1337 4y ago

I like some of the ideas in a tiny home but I couldn’t see myself enjoying it long term. I definitely would want it on a slab foundation instead of a trailer and maybe expand it out a little bit. I’d really like it outside of the city, have a simple kitchen and living room inside and more elaborate outdoor kitchen and living space outside. Build a barn big enough to house my truck, piddle in, storage for lawn and garden, and an office to work from home.

walrus01 4y ago
Most of the "tiny house" that are on a trailer are because it's legally registered as an RV, same as a real travel trailer. With a trailer title for the underlying frame registered in your state with a license plate in exactly the same legal way as if you bought a boat trailer or a flatbed cargo trailer. Theoretically this means it doesn't need to meet building code and go through the approval process in whatever rural location you put one on land as its only dwelling, or as an ADU. It's an attempt at a legal workaround saying to the local government "this is totally NOT A HOUSE it's my RV trailer!". But by the time you hook it up to water supply, electricity and sewage disposal it effectively becomes fixed in place.
- hk1337 4y ago
  Yeah, what I have heard is that it’s technically not a “tiny house” if it’s not built on a trailer. Which I’m okay with but I guess it also means there might be other housing regulations from whatever city I setup in.
  - alistairSH 4y ago
    In the US, there are basically two categories of building codes. Local codes for normal permanent buildings (which differ from town to town). And the federal HUD code for mobile homes (of which tiny homes are a subset - basically just trendy/stylish mobile homes). A mobile home is different from an RV in that an RV is not generally intended for full-time living. It also isn’t meant to be permanently/semi-permanently placed in one location, as mobile homes are. It’s pretty common to have a mobile home placed such that it’s externally indistinguishable from a permanent home of similar size. The interior layout is the tell. Or the fact that it’s located in a trailer park. The “problem” is most local zoning (different from the building code) in urban/suburban bans mobile homes and also bans permanent homes smaller than some arbitrary size. So, without a carve-out for ADUs or some other change in zoning, you can’t actually live in a tiny home, small permanent home, or anything in between. Apart for the rare urban mobile home park, it’s not until you get well outside most metro areas that you can drop a mobile home on your own land without a zoning problem.
- alistairSH 4y ago
  Theoretically this means it doesn't need to meet building code Not entirely true - mobile homes are supposed to meet a federal code published by HUD. The typical “tiny home” should be built to this standard. Actual RVs are indeed a bit of a free-for-all. Some of them are really cheap and definitely not built to last.
- dsfyu404ed 4y ago
  You have it backwards. The whole point is that it's not technically a mobile home so you can get around the "no mobile homes" rule that every city/town run by snooty jerks inevitably adopts.
  - walrus01 4y ago
    It is often both. It is true that in many jurisdictions you cannot have a manufactured home, full stop. You also have minimum home size laws in residential single family zoning areas, which either limit to one dwelling per lot (meaning no legal addition of an ADU when an existing home exists on the lot, no matter how it's built), or would not allow a stick built on concrete slab 300-350 square foot separate unit because the square footage is too small. Or because the local municipal laws do not allow for installation of a separate water supply, sewer service and electrical grid connection for a 2nd home on one lot. They only permit things like a detached garage which has a sub-panel attached to a home's primary 200A panel. So even if you solve the problem of it being not a "manufactured home" but legally a trailer you still can't drop it on a concrete slab or pilings and it has to legally remain a "RV trailer" with yearly vehicle registration/plate/tabs.

by hk1337 4y ago

walrus01 4y ago

Most of the "tiny house" that are on a trailer are because it's legally registered as an RV, same as a real travel trailer. With a trailer title for the underlying frame registered in your state with a license plate in exactly the same legal way as if you bought a boat trailer or a flatbed cargo trailer. Theoretically this means it doesn't need to meet building code and go through the approval process in whatever rural location you put one on land as its only dwelling, or as an ADU. It's an attempt at a legal workaround saying to the local government "this is totally NOT A HOUSE it's my RV trailer!". But by the time you hook it up to water supply, electricity and sewage disposal it effectively becomes fixed in place.

hk1337 4y ago
Yeah, what I have heard is that it’s technically not a “tiny house” if it’s not built on a trailer. Which I’m okay with but I guess it also means there might be other housing regulations from whatever city I setup in.
- alistairSH 4y ago
  In the US, there are basically two categories of building codes. Local codes for normal permanent buildings (which differ from town to town). And the federal HUD code for mobile homes (of which tiny homes are a subset - basically just trendy/stylish mobile homes). A mobile home is different from an RV in that an RV is not generally intended for full-time living. It also isn’t meant to be permanently/semi-permanently placed in one location, as mobile homes are. It’s pretty common to have a mobile home placed such that it’s externally indistinguishable from a permanent home of similar size. The interior layout is the tell. Or the fact that it’s located in a trailer park. The “problem” is most local zoning (different from the building code) in urban/suburban bans mobile homes and also bans permanent homes smaller than some arbitrary size. So, without a carve-out for ADUs or some other change in zoning, you can’t actually live in a tiny home, small permanent home, or anything in between. Apart for the rare urban mobile home park, it’s not until you get well outside most metro areas that you can drop a mobile home on your own land without a zoning problem.
alistairSH 4y ago
Theoretically this means it doesn't need to meet building code Not entirely true - mobile homes are supposed to meet a federal code published by HUD. The typical “tiny home” should be built to this standard. Actual RVs are indeed a bit of a free-for-all. Some of them are really cheap and definitely not built to last.
dsfyu404ed 4y ago
You have it backwards. The whole point is that it's not technically a mobile home so you can get around the "no mobile homes" rule that every city/town run by snooty jerks inevitably adopts.
- walrus01 4y ago
  It is often both. It is true that in many jurisdictions you cannot have a manufactured home, full stop. You also have minimum home size laws in residential single family zoning areas, which either limit to one dwelling per lot (meaning no legal addition of an ADU when an existing home exists on the lot, no matter how it's built), or would not allow a stick built on concrete slab 300-350 square foot separate unit because the square footage is too small. Or because the local municipal laws do not allow for installation of a separate water supply, sewer service and electrical grid connection for a 2nd home on one lot. They only permit things like a detached garage which has a sub-panel attached to a home's primary 200A panel. So even if you solve the problem of it being not a "manufactured home" but legally a trailer you still can't drop it on a concrete slab or pilings and it has to legally remain a "RV trailer" with yearly vehicle registration/plate/tabs.