Tiny Houses

[Fergal]

The global economic downturn coupled with an increasing awareness and concern for the environment might just provide the perfect market conditions for companies selling tiny houses.

I first saw the concept at Tumbleweed Houses (http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/). This site is very professionally designed and it sells house plans for houses as small as 65 Sq. Ft. The price of the plans appears quite expensive, especially considering that they don't include instructions on how to build the houses.

I think the concept is excellent given that many people, the world over, are looking for ways to reduce the price they pay for houses and also looking to minimise their impact on the environment.
Do you think there are business opportunities around the area of tiny houses?

Would you live in a tiny house / would you buy plans for one?

[Nazreen]

I find the tumbleweed tiny houses to be quite cute. :) I think that this is a very good idea. Since the house is so small, it would definitely be more eco-friendly. You can save on aircon, water and lights because of the tiny space. I think that gypsies would also like the idea of these tiny houses because they can also come with wheels.

But I don't think that the tumbleweed tiny houses will have any success in Singapore though. We only have a very small land area of 699 square km so the price of land is extremely high. Only millionaires/billionaires, live in landed houses here in Singapore. Most of our population live in HDB (Housing Development Board) Flats and Condos which are usually medium to high rise buildings. One foreigner once said that we live in Bee Hives. :)

Here's a pic of an HDB block.
http://img.st701.com/cms/property/highlights/property_sellHDB.gif

[DEADMAN]

Actually, making small home doesn't depend only on your interest. It is totally upon country's area and what community say. Sometimes a country is poor and making small house is not possible. So, you need to invest totally on making large building and flats for community to stay. Because, tiny houses may make small family but building can store more people. That means,

If you look, while you make small home there may be capacity for maximum 5 members to stay where building or making flats can take more than 150 people. So, beneficial for building where more people can live.

So, living in small house may be good but it depends according to country income and people's thinking.

[divyun]

Well, the idea is good and new, and i appreciate it. i just saw the video of jay shafer's house, and it was pretty compact. the area of his house's plot is almost same as my room.
good for singles but are not useful to families. though i like the idea, i do not want to live in such a house where most of the people may be prone to suffocation. the thing i like the most about these houses is that they have wheels beneath them.

I live in a metropolitan city and it is quite crowded out here. we have no alternative to building houses on houses. Yes, i do live in a appartment flat and we have jungles of buildings everywhere.

[devilbatista]

Living in tiny house might be better for small members family or for couples. But it might not be suitable for families with many members. There will be housing problem. As people will only buy such small house for settlement. Business of clothes, foods which are needed for people in everyday life may be possible.

It depends on each person whether to buy a small house of a big house according to their need and family size. It might be better for couples.

[Fergal]

The video of the Jay's tiny house reminded me of a holiday I had in a caravan, as a child. It was great for a holiday but it would probably get claustrophobic after some time. I'm a bit of a hoarder and that would definitely cause problems in a tiny house.

[Nazreen]

Same here. My mom's a hoarder too but not just your regular hoarder. She's the champion of all hoarders. She's got things stored in my old home's storeroom and also in my sister's flat. When our flat (with my hubby) will be finished by January 2009, she also said that she wants to keep some of her stuff there. My mom needs a mansion not a tiny house. :)

One good thing about this is that when we move to our new home, we'll basically have most of the kitchen appliances and silverwares already so it saves us the hassle of buying them.

[akhanna18]

in today's world the population is increasing day by day the area on the earth is fixed it cannot increase so the people have to live in tiny houses these days because of not availabilty of space...

[spare change]

I love compact living quarters, BUT, I have to have plenty of nooks and crannies for storing things. I insist that everything should have a place in the home. I hate unorganized living.

I am not currently practicing what I preach in regards to organization. Perhaps I need to tear down this place I live in and create a tiny house for each family member :D

[prettysue]

This is a great business idea. We know that there are people who live by their own so they just need a small space. And I think this will do great in cities where there are many professionals working. Here in my place, many of the people who are working live in subdivisions where the wall of the first house is the wall of the second house.

Since I was a small child, I dream to live in a spacious house since I grow up living in a small house. For now, I won't buy house plans of this kind.

[Fergal]

Yes indeed many of us do aspire to living in a large modern house. But in tightening economic climate and increasing focus on the environment more and more people may find themselves restricted to a compact living space.

[Zantetsken]

I find the idea of tiny houses to be kind of funny... Many of the houses where I live have a basement and even an upstairs; living in Canada, I suppose I'm just used to that luxury. Being the second largest country in the world, there's obviously a lot of land here, so I don't think people will step out of their comfort zone to live in tiny houses or get cramped up in apartments.

I personally think I'd be fine living in a tiny house, though. My mother has similar habits to Nazreen's, so I've never really had much space to move around in.

[Fergal]

I've read that Canada has the highest quality of life in the world. Having visited the area round Sault Saint Marie, in Ontario I can appreciate this. You are fortunate to live in such a great country.

[Hurbel2k]

This site is very professionally designed and it sells house plans for houses as small as 65 Sq. Ft.

That's huge man. When I arrived here in HK my first two week I lived in about 50 sq ft. check the picture:

http://yolearnchinese.com/archives/customized-suit-sir-massagee-lolex

On the topside You can see the Bathroom (14 sq ft)
My living room (14 sq ft)
An at the bottom there is my bed (20 sq ft)
There is also a hallway between bathroom and living room (1 sq ft)
And there is a half sq ft hallway (usable space) at the outside door and at the window each.

Another time I was here I had an even more tiny room, maybe 45 sq ft, but no photo, sorry.

Anyways this style of living is quite interesting for a short time. Check it out.

[Tesa]

This is so cool. If you're a single career person, it would be perfect. Or even a student who doesn't spend much time in a dorm. Little cleaning, little waste of utilities, and like someone said, very eco friendly. No pets though, unless it's a goldfish in a fish bowl.

[Fergal]

That's huge man. When I arrived here in HK my first two week I lived in about 50 sq ft...

Hurbel, sorry but I somehow missed your post. What was it like living in that small a space?

[Kay]

It looks cute but I don't think I'd like it for too long. I like my own space too much. Being able to take it anywhere satisfies my flighty nature though! I'm not a hoarder but my husband is, so he'd never be suited to something like that.

Although the idea of just hooking it up and heading for the highway does have a certain appeal. :) Reminds me of the days in my parent's VW caravanette!

If you want eco-friendly, how about this cardboard box house? (http://www.triplepundit.com/pages/designers-create-cardboard-box-003634.php) $35,000 no less.

[Fergal]

I don't see many pictures of the Cardboard Box House, but don't think I'd fancy living in one of those, especially at a cost of over $35,000. We had pretty strong winds here last night, I wonder how it would withstand those.

[pendelton]

Fergal, they still have to be built to local codes, so it should stand like yours did last night.

[Fergal]

Do normal building regulations and codes apply to cardboard houses?

[pendelton]

I don't see why not. Isn't the cardboard just compressed in to a wood like piece? The articles I read about it before explained that as the method used. This article doesn't seem to state much other than it is a big erector set, but, at $35,000.00, you would hope it lasts a good long while.

In most areas of the US all living structures are covered by building codes and regulations, mainly for the fees they collect, but safety is a small part of it.

[Sajid]

Do normal building regulations and codes apply to cardboard houses?

Hello

the structure of both buildings is same but the regulations of building are different from the normal building the cardboard building requires more supports than the normal building thats why!

[Fergal]

Thanks for the replies, it would appear that these houses are a very new concept. Local authorities may not have regulations in place, to deal with them just yet.

[scifi]

Tumbleweed tiny houses are indeed very good concept for small families of two to three or perhaps those who are singles.
Being a civil engineer I would like to point Otherwise as per design guidelines there should be some minimum sqm of area reserved for every member of the family so as to live a comfortable & healthy life.
Also I am doubtful regarding the success of these types of houses in India.!!!!

[Fergal]

...as per design guidelines there should be some minimum sqm of area reserved for every member of the family so as to live a comfortable & healthy life...

Can you give a guideline figure as to what that should be?

[scifi]

These guidelines differ from city to city as per the layout plan of the city & local byelaws issued by the development authority of that city.
As an eg I am stating one such requirements of BANGLORE-
In case of schools min. is 1.5sqm for each student of college level.
For residential it is as follows------
1)No habitable room shall have a floor area of less than 8.0 sqm.
for plot sizes upto 120 sqm with a minimum width of 2.4 m.
2)The minimum height of all rooms used for human habitation shall be 2.75 m
measured from the surface of the floor to the lowest point of the ceiling (bottom slab).
In case of air conditioned rooms, the height of not less than 2.4 m. measured from
the surface of the floor to the lowest point of the air conditioning duct or false ceiling
shall be provided.
4)Also in case of Residential Occupant load-gross floor
area in sq. mtrs per person should be 12.5.

These are the standard guidelines of another city Of Maharashtra......No habitable room shall have a carpet area of less than 9.50 sq. m. except those in the hostels attached to recognized educational institutions, the minimum size of a habitable room for the residence of a single person shall be 7.5 sq. m. ; the minimum width of a habitable room shall be 2.4 m. One full side of a habitable room shall abut on the open space. Where there are more than one room, one shall be not less than 9.5 m2 and other 7.5 m2.

The size of the room in a single room tenement shall not be less than 12.5 sq. m. with a minimum width of 2.4 m.

I have stated two eg. as shown above...For all those who wants to know more about such requirement in India I am giving two links---http://jmc.nic.in/forms/byelaws.pdf
http://www.bada-bhavnagar.com/e-citizen/dcr/chap-16.pdf

Hope the information is sufficient !!!!!

[Fergal]

Thanks for that Scifi, I didn't expect quite that level of detail :)