Tiny House/Small House Resources

All the different ways of solving the shelter problem. To be static or mobile? Roots, legs, or wheels?
OldPro
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Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources

Post by OldPro »

Ydobon, planning permission is necessary where I live as well. But only if it is greater than a specified size which is certainly not 8x4 unless you are talking metres. I don't know if you just used 8x4 just as an example or not.

What I did was to build (not really) in sections. That is, one half one week and call it completed and one half next week and call it completed. No permission required for the first half and no permission required for the 'addition'. In fact, if questioned, I can say I build a small shed originally and then added on two additional parts later on. Might work in your area as well.

Here is a picture of the shed mine was based on. You can see how you could say you built the first part, then the second and then added on the pergola and patio (in my case a deck rather than a patio).
http://www.theclassicarchives.com/image ... hed-01.jpg

I did the same thing when building a deck on the back of our house. It has 3 areas on 3 levels. Each was 'built' separately if asked and impossible to prove otherwise. Each section is smaller than the size that requires a permit.

Ydobon
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Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources

Post by Ydobon »

That's lovely, would be well beyond my capabilities at this point!

I have checked and permitted development does allow me to build a reasonably sized outbuilding as long as it meets a few different criteria, none of which are *too* onerous.

enigmaT120
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Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources

Post by enigmaT120 »

In Oregon it's 80 square feet, or 8 x 10, before needing a permit.

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jennypenny
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Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources

Post by jennypenny »

This one is perfect for a bugout location. :lol:
Image

Image

Ydobon
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Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources

Post by Ydobon »

Until someone decides to steal your firewood - waitaminute!!!! :lol:

OldPro
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Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources

Post by OldPro »

EnigmaT, my shed is 9x8 plus 5x8 plus a deck area of 6x8. So each part fits within your 80 sq. ft.

enigmaT120
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Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources

Post by enigmaT120 »

That's clever. Maybe I'll make some peeled poles next spring. Make a vertical log shed.

George the original one
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Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources

Post by George the original one »

enigmaT120 wrote:In Oregon it's 80 square feet, or 8 x 10, before needing a permit.
Think it's 200 sq ft these days in Oregon, though counties make the decision. Clatsop County, Multnomah County, & Clackamas County all say 200 sq ft before permit is required.

peerifloori
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Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources

Post by peerifloori »

Where I live the cutoff for permits is 120 sq ft. However, they also stipulate that an unpermitted house can't be used for a primary residence (even under 120 sq ft). My husband doesn't agree with that interpretation, as we have an 8x10 building with an 8x10 add on porch and a 10x12 building. He has a friend who works for the city who did confirm that our housing is not according to city code. But, since he's a friend, he didn't report us or anything.

Rules are dumb. I realize the intention is that people live in houses that are safe, but when it gets arbitrary and expensive, I get irritated.

OldPro
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Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources

Post by OldPro »

"Rules are dumb. I realize the intention is that people live in houses that are safe, but when it gets arbitrary and expensive, I get irritated."

LOL peerifloori, well first your two statements are contradictory. Or did you mean to say that rules that are intended to have houses that are safe, are dumb. That is in effect what your two statements are saying.

Second, they aren't 'arbitrary', they are all based on sound principles and past evidence. When nearly a whole city burns down as they have in the past, you pass a building regulation that says a house has to be somewhat fireproof or there must be a given distance between houses to stop the spread of a fire. Just what rules would you say are 'arbitrary'?

The comment 'expensive' is more revealing. What you mean is that when YOU think something is expensive. Now it's about YOU, not the rules. Any rule you are happy to comply with is no problem, only the rules that cost you money or inconvenience you in some other way should not exist.

Really all you are saying is that you like everyone else want things to suit you. As the saying goes, 'You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time'. The rules aren't 'arbitrary' or 'expensive' peerifloori, they're just the rules that work best MOST of the time for MOST of the people. I don't think anyone has ever come up with a rule for anything that suits ALL of the people ALL of the time.

peerifloori
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Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources

Post by peerifloori »

I see the point of rules. I get that they work best MOST of the time for MOST of the people. But to follow a rule because it's a rule, even if it doesn't make sense, is dumb. I am happy to follow rules that make sense. There are times at work when I need to follow rules even when they don't make sense, because it is a greater benefit to have a structure than to do the most logical thing. And it's dumb. I much prefer breaking rules when they don't make sense. It's fun.

Anyway, I have no problem in admitting that my problems with rules lie entirely with me, not rules.

At any rate, this is a tangent, though I suppose it does apply to tiny houses in the sense that they are frequently "against the rules", not because they are inherently dangerous, but because they are not part of the scheme of buildings previously imagined in building code.

enigmaT120
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Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources

Post by enigmaT120 »

George the original one wrote:
enigmaT120 wrote:In Oregon it's 80 square feet, or 8 x 10, before needing a permit.
Think it's 200 sq ft these days in Oregon, though counties make the decision. Clatsop County, Multnomah County, & Clackamas County all say 200 sq ft before permit is required.
You're right, it's 200, not 80. I would like to say they changed the rule since I last looked it up, but it's more likely that I remembered wrong.

http://www.permitsprotect.info/structural.html#4

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GandK
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Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources

Post by GandK »


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jennypenny
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Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources

Post by jennypenny »

Lots of pretty pictures ... http://tinyhousesgalore.com

A few pics of a tiny house in a pantry article ... http://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/ ... your-mind/

EMJ
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Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources

Post by EMJ »

"Fuck the Banks, I'll Build My Own Damn House
or
How I Learned To Stop Worrying, and Build a Custom Camper Van

Introduction
Oh boy, there's a lot to say!
My name is Sean, and I'm a 32 year old software developer. Most of my career has been in web development, but ever since I was a young lad slinging code in upstate New York, I've dreamed of making games.
In order to realize this dream -- and, honestly, just to have some fun too -- I've decided to sell all my shit, buy a van, build it out, and travel around the United States.
Because, why not? Fuck it. You only get one life, so you might as well have some fun, and chase your crazy dreams. Does anyone actually enjoy being in a cubicle, all day?

About This Document
I have attempted to catalog the build process of the van, in hopes that it will be useful in some sense, to someone, somewhere. Even at the very least of curing your boredom, temporarily, while you sit in your cubicle and pretend to work."

http://syntheti.cc/van-build/

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GandK
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Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources

Post by GandK »

Ecocapsule, the little egg-shaped off-grid homes that use wind and solar for electricity and capture rainwater for reuse, are now for presale: Ecocapsule is Now Taking Orders for First 50 Off-Grid Tiny Homes.

Price for one of the first batch is €80k; they "guarantee" the price will drop as more are produced.

Image

black_son_of_gray
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Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources

Post by black_son_of_gray »

Apparently, Texas is the place to build a tiny house

Interesting, if not bitter, take on US zoning laws WRT tiny houses.

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jennypenny
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Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources

Post by jennypenny »

Tiny houses with income potential for sale in Cannon Beach OR ... http://www.trulia.com/property/32238251 ... h-OR-97110

Did
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Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources

Post by Did »

In Oz it is pretty well impossible. I think it is a conspiracy between the building industry and the government. If people could just live in pods, small houses, or even I think coffins (was that Thoreau?), then how would people be employed, taxes collected and so on. At least in Ireland, the old, small cottages have already been built. So they can't ban them. But I doubt they could be built now.

It really irks my single gay mate that he is essentially forced to purchase a multi hundred thousand massive family home that takes a lifetime of work to repay just to own his own place.

George the original one
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Re: Tiny House/Small House Resources

Post by George the original one »

jennypenny wrote:Tiny houses with income potential for sale in Cannon Beach OR ... http://www.trulia.com/property/32238251 ... h-OR-97110
Believe these these would have been "motor court" motel units when originally built in 1950. Post-WWII, there were a lot of mom & pop motels like this built along Hwy 101 and other tourist destinations.

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