Tumbleweed Tiny House (/RV) Village + Group-Build of Tumbleweeds

NYC ERE · Post by **NYC ERE** » Thu Sep 01, 2011 2:59 pm

What if we gathered somewhere for some weeks/months and had a rotating volunteer staff of Tumbleweed builders?
* Everyone who wants a Tumbleweed puts into a fund

* We try to salvage what materials we can

* We use our economies of scale to get discounts on the materials we must buy

* We use our division of labor and economies of scale to build many Tumbleweeds

* We possibly also cooperate in acquiring transportation resources to get the Tumbleweeds to where they need to be, without necessitating truck ownership by every individual

dragoncar · Post by **dragoncar** » Fri Sep 02, 2011 1:50 am

In theory, they are garden-shedlike only in size, not in quality. How much do you really insulate your garden shed?

Post by **jacob** » Fri Sep 02, 2011 1:56 am

@firefighter - I think the intention is to use economy of scale to build tumbleweeds for the participants to later live in so as to avoid everyone renting their own warehouse, their own electrician, etc.
In terms of the tumbleweed company, you can build ONE house for each ONE plan you buy. Legally you can't buy a plan and build two houses with it [as far as I understand].

Chris L · Post by **Chris L** » Fri Sep 02, 2011 2:21 am

These are not hard to design or build. There's not much reason to buy the plans.
There are many drawn backs to the house style though. A trailer, in many ways, is superior to a tumbleweed. Think trailer, then make it look nicer, then make it a lot heavier and a lot less portable.
It's a nice concept but it's not livable long-term. A family needs about 900 sq ft or so to live at any human convenience.

Post by **jacob** » Fri Sep 02, 2011 2:30 am

@Chris L - Many families live in RVs and on boats full time. A really big RV (38'+) is <400sqft. A really big boat (50'+) is <120sqft. Obviously comfort levels are personal and vary widely

EMJ · Post by **EMJ** » Fri Sep 02, 2011 3:11 am

More tiny houses:
http://www.tinyhousedesign.com/

http://tinyhouseblog.com/
I've just built a 8x18' - to live in for at least a few years.

dragoncar · Post by **dragoncar** » Fri Sep 02, 2011 6:51 am

Tempting offer, jeff, particularly the expertise. I agree we probably couldn't/shouldn't use an actual Tumbleweed design. But we can make a "Tumblweed inspired" design easily. I personally like their more modern/simple one here: http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/houses/popomo/

NYC ERE · Post by **NYC ERE** » Fri Sep 02, 2011 4:56 pm

Jeff, thank you for the generous offer. I'm excited about making this happen, and I think it could be a great, beneficial way of having a "national" ERE meetup with at least a particular subset of our little subculture--namely, the tiny house subset.
Regarding whether to use Tumbleweed plans or not, I think Jay Shafer has put a lot of thought into designing some really pleasant spaces, so I'd suggest we try to get an above-board group buy of plans. I'm sure they (Tumbleweed) would be game, because it could generate some press if we wanted it to, plus some revenue for them.
Dragon, I really favor the Popomo too, though it does break the 120-foot zoning threshold of many locales in the US; for that reason, I might opt for one of the "triangle"-style ones, but use more drywall than wood for the interiors, a la Popomo.
Some nuts and bolts: Jeff and other experts, what do you think would be a good number to really get cooking and gain some significant economy of scale? Five, ten, 20 little houses being worked on concurrently?
re: raising a family in a Tumbleweed--agreed! Even Jay Shafer isn't raising his family in one.

jennypenny · Post by **jennypenny** » Fri Sep 02, 2011 6:05 pm

@dragoncar--I'm curious what the advantage is of the popomo vs. an RV? Is it just that it feels more like a home? We have a '95 popup with a king bed, a queen bed, a casette toilet and shower, and dining area. It also has heat/ac and a detachable screen room. It can be had for less than $1000 now.
I liked the look of the popomo, but I think I'd choose the permanent version of that model.

Post by **jacob** » Fri Sep 02, 2011 6:49 pm

@jennypenny - Having lived in an RV (class A with the luxury interior option) and having been in a tiny house (Jays's Open House in Sebastopol), I can say the latter feels MUCH more like a stick house. Beyond that, the only advantages I can think of is 1) If you built it, you can fix it. 2) Very superior insulation (most RVs have none).

NYC ERE · Post by **NYC ERE** » Fri Sep 02, 2011 8:56 pm

Jacob: stick house = good/bad?

NYC ERE · Post by **NYC ERE** » Fri Sep 02, 2011 9:21 pm

Asked Tumbleweed on FB about a "package deal."

dragoncar · Post by **dragoncar** » Fri Sep 02, 2011 10:35 pm

jennypenny -- what's the advantage of any of these vs. an RV?
I think it boils down to:

Appearance

Quality

Insulation
anyone else have an idea of the appeal?

Post by **jacob** » Fri Sep 02, 2011 11:27 pm

@dragoncar - Oh right, appearance

... Also, bragging points that you built your own home. More importantly, you can fix any problem with the house (I'm really frustrated with finding hidden screws in the RV). You're also making a clear statement that you live in a small home by choice. To mainstream consumers, living in an RV sometimes suggests some form of involuntary destitution. I've been called "homeless" for living in an RV on a few occasions.
@Zev - I'd say good. It feels more homely. An RV feels more like an expedition. So it depends on what you like best. The traveling types might prefer the RV. I suspect the RV will have storage optimized whereas I could see the tiny House as something that's still being optimized.

Post by **jacob** » Fri Sep 02, 2011 11:38 pm

Just looked at the facebook page. I think he misunderstood it as us wanting to build a village [in this thread] rather than just getting together to order lumber in bulk.
Actually, I WOULD like to build a village(*) by buying an RV park and mainly catering to long term renters in tiny houses. I think that would be awesome.
(*) Then later, I'm going to buy a small country, just watch me

Riggerjack · Post by **Riggerjack** » Fri Sep 02, 2011 11:45 pm

i agree with Firefighter Jeff, that this doesn't seem like a big deal to build. The main difference to a shed is appearance and wind sheer/siesmic factors. to make this road worthy, you have to build tough and light. look at simpson strong ties. whatever you need to brace this, they have it, and you can order them thru HD.
i like the look, but i don't think you will see much economy of scale when building these. not to rain on anyone's parade, but think of the scale of a typical 2011 residential build. everyone together is barely going to make a marerials list big enough for a supply house to have any interest in. lumber prices are low enough that the gas from coast to coast would more than eat up your savings.
That being said, nothing speeds a project up like expert assistance and dedication to completion. Since the former is available in Kentucky, it may be worth the trip to find the latter.
In any case, good luck!

dragoncar · Post by **dragoncar** » Fri Sep 02, 2011 11:58 pm

Where are people planning on parking these guys?

Post by **jacob** » Sat Sep 03, 2011 12:02 am

In the RV park I'm going to buy

dragoncar · Post by **dragoncar** » Sat Sep 03, 2011 12:21 am

jacob, might it be easier to incorporate our own town and zone as we see fit?

jennypenny · Post by **jennypenny** » Sat Sep 03, 2011 12:26 am

We used to pay $15 a month to store the popup. Not bad.
I agree appearance is a big factor with an RV. And we do have to insulate from the outside in extreme weather (which doesn't help the appearance issue). I can see paying the premium for the tumbleweed if you could keep costs down. I would still feel uneasy building something new instead of buying used (doesn't seem very green to me), but I like the idea of promoting small house living.
I love the idea of the RV park. That's the first idea I've read here that would entice me to ante up. Unfortunately our timeline is probably longer than yours. I can't fit any kids into a tumbleweed so I'd have to wait until they were all away at college. (unless I could talk my boys into building their own and living next door to us)