Real Tiny House Living

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NoSmoke
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Post by NoSmoke » Mon. Oct. 29, 2018 6:38 am

This is my second Tiny House, having lived in one years ago back in 1994 long before "Tiny Houses" were considered cool. I did it because I was 18 years old, married and just starting out. It was okay, but there was just (2) of us, and even then, within a year we were adding on.

This time we are a family of (6) so it is much different, but what is it really like? Assuming people are on this DIY-Sub-Forum they inevitably have watched Tiny House on HGTV and whatnot.

Honestly, we love it. Unlike our other 3000 sq ft home, we cannot get away from one another. Even though I might be on this site, I am in the living room surrounded by my wife and daughters. That is true family time.

In the tiny 18 x 12 kitchen, everything is right at hand which is far different then our old 24 x 24 kitchen that kept us hiking miles in preparing meals.

Our old house had big bedrooms, but only (3). That meant our (4) daughters shared bedrooms. In this house, while small, they each have their own bedroom. They really like that, with loft beds making things a lot more roomy in their tiny bedrooms.That means Katie and I do not have our own bedroom, but with a big bathroom, we keep our bureau's there and sleep on the couch/recliner. In Tiny House concept, we are thinking about fixing up the basement so that we can have a master bedroom in a day-lit basement, and use every inch of this Tiny House without having to add on...eventually. Surprisingly, we found teh couch/recliner to be comfortable to sleep on.

It is a little too early to tell what the utility costs will be like electricty and heat, but being 1/3 the size, and due to its shape (4 square), it should be less expensive. I'll keep you posted, but for now, we really like it.

 
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hotblast1357
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Post by hotblast1357 » Mon. Oct. 29, 2018 6:58 pm

What’s the dimensions of the house, and sq ft, I’m just curious what your opinion is of tiny house.

 
NoSmoke
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Post by NoSmoke » Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 7:56 am

hotblast1357 wrote:
Mon. Oct. 29, 2018 6:58 pm
What’s the dimensions of the house, and sq ft, I’m just curious what your opinion is of tiny house.
It is an 18 x 22 Foursquare (Sterling Design) with a attached bathroom for a total of 1100 sq ft.

 
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lsayre
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Post by lsayre » Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 8:57 am

The house I grew up in was probably on the order of 800 sq-ft.


 
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Sunny Boy
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Post by Sunny Boy » Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 9:27 am

NoSmoke wrote:
Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 7:56 am
It is an 18 x 22 Foursquare (Sterling Design) with a attached bathroom for a total of 1100 sq ft.
That's the size of the cape I grew up in - for a family of 6.

My first house was a 24 x 24 foursquare and it seemed spacious by comparison. Then four kids later,.... made that one crowded, too. Moved to 4000 sq ft of 17 room Victorian and finally didn't feel crowded.

But, now that all the kids have flown the nest and it's just the two of us, there's alot to be said for small houses. Especially when it comes time to heat, clean, pay taxes, or work on them. I can see the appeal of the simplicity of a small house. :D

Paul
Last edited by Sunny Boy on Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 10:11 am, edited 2 times in total.

 
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warminmn
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Post by warminmn » Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 9:38 am

They must make houses bigger in Maine for that to be considered small. I have noticed old homes are larger in New England compared to here from pictures and stories I see.

 
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hotblast1357
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Post by hotblast1357 » Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 10:06 am

We are in a 30x38, put it in last year, modular home, total of 1140 sq ft. But I do have a full walk out downstairs. Seems spacious but there are only 3 of us and a dog, with a 4th on the way.

 
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tcalo
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Post by tcalo » Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 10:09 am

My ranch is 1200 sq ft, not tiny by any means...at least not to us! Cramped with 3 kids...but not tiny!


 
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Sunny Boy
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Post by Sunny Boy » Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 10:11 am

warminmn wrote:
Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 9:38 am
They must make houses bigger in Maine for that to be considered small. I have noticed old homes are larger in New England compared to here from pictures and stories I see.
If you were to research them, many of those big-looking new England old homes started out small and were added onto as families grew. Typically they were built close to the road and added on rooms at the back, giving them that long, narrow floor plan, with occasionally some rooms added out the sides, that you so commonly see in New England homes.

While not technically in New England, my place is an example of that mindset. Originally just a 5 room post and beam two bed room "English cottage" of less than 1000 sq ft. (what we call a Colonial today) as described being built in the local paper in April 12th, 1866. In1892 a new owner expanded into a 5 bed room Queen Ann Victorian. If you didn't go up in the attic to see where the post and beam construction only makes up the front 1/4 of the house, then transitions to Victorian balloon construction, and where the original 6/12 roof line still shows on the chimney bricks, you'd think it was always this big.

Post WWII the housing boom was typical of when those old homes were first-built trend. They range from 1100-1200 sq ft. By now, many of those development houses, like in Levittown NY, have also been added onto over the years.

Paul

 
NoSmoke
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Post by NoSmoke » Mon. Nov. 05, 2018 7:24 am

My first house was 24 x 24; a two car garage and was supposed to be such, but after moving in, my 1st wife and I added on 16 feet to make it 24x40.

Then when my daughter was born, my 2nd wife and I decided to add on a 28 x 40 addition making the house T-shaped.

Then with my 3rd wife (Katie), we added on some more, but chose to move buildings by doing so. We snagged a 13 x 18 garden shed of my Grandmother's to use as a mudroom, then added on a 6 x 18 porch, and finally a 14 x 22 single car garage to use as a recreational room. That was too big to pull with my tractor, so we cut it in half with a Sawzall then pulled it across the road in two sections and put it back together.

All that took 26 years, but mortgage free!!
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NoSmoke
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Other Heating: Munchkin LP Boiler/Englander Pellet Stove/Perkins 4.108 Cogeneration diesel

Post by NoSmoke » Sat. Nov. 10, 2018 5:59 am

warminmn wrote:
Sun. Nov. 04, 2018 9:38 am
They must make houses bigger in Maine for that to be considered small. I have noticed old homes are larger in New England compared to here from pictures and stories I see.
I was always told, "In Maine, small house, big barn."

The idea of course was to have something small to heat, and yet plenty of storage undercover for all that snow. To me it only makes sense, as in the middle of winter, something as simple as a repair can be tough, if I cannot find that piece of scrap steel I need to fix it. IT does not have to be heated storage, just storage.

A lot of the bigger, older houses in Maine have a lot of area that are not heated and just used as storage.

We like this house, and there are many great things about living like this, BUT there are some downsides too, like not having a room we can put our trash until trash day. We got a dumpster instead, which is cheaper then having a room dedicated to storage for that like our old house, but in a Tiny house we do not have the luxury of just keeping a bag of trash inside until the garbage truck comes in a few days: we need that room.

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