Tiny Houses - And the Big Brains that like them

[DrunkenDozing]

So, trailer parks. They slapped a new label on an even shittier version of a trailer park. Instead of working on the image of owning a trailer or modernizing trailer parks to have a communal coffee shop or some other millenial shit, instead advertisers are tricking dumb, I'm sorry, """"educated""""" young people into wasting their money on meme houses that will have zero resale value when they could just grab a few friends and rent out a house or something.

 

[Dysnomia]

I lived in a 400 sq ft apartment with my husband for about 4 years in our early 20s and it sucked. Zero privacy both from each other and from the neighbors because the walls were so thin that you could actually hear someone cough, taking dishes out of the cupboard, and I even heard both sides of a phone conversation sometimes if the volume on the phone was high enough. It's bad for mental health. The place was also really hard to clean because you have to pretty much rearrange everything to clean one area, move it back, then clean the area you moved it back from, etc. It's like playing tetris just trying to clean your fucking living space, and because it's such a small space, it gets dirty faster. Not worth it.

I have been looking for a shoebox I can afford in Philly (lots of luck there) but it's only for one person. These tiny houses are crazy if you have a family or even a significant other or roomate. I can live happily in a small space. By myself. I will be damned if I would live in a tiny house with others. Well unless it was that or homelessness. Don't want that again.

 

[Least Concern]

You know what's very similar to the tiny house life?

The van life.

I ain't saying, especially now that not all the facts are out, that the constant close proximity played a cause in that girl's death. But I will say that from time to time, people need their own space, ya know?

 

[TiggerNits]

I've been debating grabbing one of those tiny cottage/cabin things that they repurpose a tuff shed in to just to have as a guest house on my property so when family comes to visit, I don't have to deal with them in my home. I wish I had gotten one 4 years ago when they were WAY cheaper, though

 

[Picklechu]

Guest house, pseudo-pool house, or a different sort of branding for a cabin in the woods and/or on the water are the only reasons a tiny house makes sense. Anyone who wants to live in one full-time is a fucking psycho.

 

[Least Concern]

Resurrecting my first new KF thread for some updates.

Something that's often considered for use as a tiny home are shipping containers, either singly or in combination.



Shipping containers have a lot of negatives to use as a building material. Being made out of metal, they absorb very little heat and will require more additional insulation than wood to be livable in extreme temperatures; they will be noisy in rain; rust is obviously a concern; they require additional exterior decoration to not look like a big metal box originally intended for industrial use. But a huge benefit is that modern society has developed infrastructure for moving these boxes around the world efficiently, whether by boat, truck, or rail. So what if you could make a house which had the form factor of a shipping container and could be moved around using the same equipment, but wasn't made from a literal shipping container with all the negatives that goes along with that?

I think that's what the people at Boxabl have in mind. They've developed a prefab house called Casita which ships at a shipping container size, but on site "unfolds" to be quite a bit larger. They eventually intend to develop the idea further to allow for multi-story and multi-room homes. They say the Casita will sell for only $50k, which is definitely a bargain for a "tiny home" (or regular home) of comparable size in many markets.

When looking up more info on them, it's currently kinda hard to tell where the investor pitch ends and the actual, soon-to-ship product begins, but if they can keep their word on the Casita at least, I think it stands to be the most practical product to come out of the whole tiny house "movement."

 

[robobobo]

The thing looks decent, it's pretty miniscule but covers the bases for a person or a very cozy couple. My question would be how well it actually lasts. That foldy roof top and the walls will have seams in them, how long until they start to leak? I remember being in prefab trailer rooms back in school that they stuck on when the space started getting tight, and while they were technically sound, like they weren't falling apart and kept the rain off, they were hot in the summer and cold in the winter, air kept creeping through the joins in the walls.

 

[PipTheAlchemist]

Nice cuckpods

 

[Pee Cola]

Shipping container houses can look pretty cool, but they're nowhere nearly as cheap as some articles make them out to be. Especially if you're planning on joining two or more containers together. Turns out that if you cut a hole in a shipping container, it reduces structural integrity... who'd've thunk it? To mitigate this, a steel frame has to be fabricated and installed, adding to the costs.

Even if you manage to build your dream container home in just one 40' container and you can do all of the work yourself, it'll cost you at least $17k. Well... it would have cost you at least $17k in 2019. It's probably more like $20k by now.

I think that's what the people at Boxabl have in mind. They've developed a prefab house called Casita which ships at a shipping container size, but on site "unfolds" to be quite a bit larger. They eventually intend to develop the idea further to allow for multi-story and multi-room homes. They say the Casita will sell for only $50k, which is definitely a bargain for a "tiny home" (or regular home) of comparable size in many markets.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=PrJhijCd8kI
When looking up more info on them, it's currently kinda hard to tell where the investor pitch ends and the actual, soon-to-ship product begins, but if they can keep their word on the Casita at least, I think it stands to be the most practical product to come out of the whole tiny house "movement."

This isn't a new or original idea. Here in Australia, there are a few places that make/sell these types of houses; usually marketed as temporary worker or guest accommodation (the latter known as a "granny flat").

 

[BelUwUga]

Resurrecting my first new KF thread for some updates.

Something that's often considered for use as a tiny home are shipping containers, either singly or in combination.

View attachment 3355514View attachment 3355516

Shipping containers have a lot of negatives to use as a building material. Being made out of metal, they absorb very little heat and will require more additional insulation than wood to be livable in extreme temperatures; they will be noisy in rain; rust is obviously a concern; they require additional exterior decoration to not look like a big metal box originally intended for industrial use. But a huge benefit is that modern society has developed infrastructure for moving these boxes around the world efficiently, whether by boat, truck, or rail. So what if you could make a house which had the form factor of a shipping container and could be moved around using the same equipment, but wasn't made from a literal shipping container with all the negatives that goes along with that?

I think that's what the people at Boxabl have in mind. They've developed a prefab house called Casita which ships at a shipping container size, but on site "unfolds" to be quite a bit larger. They eventually intend to develop the idea further to allow for multi-story and multi-room homes. They say the Casita will sell for only $50k, which is definitely a bargain for a "tiny home" (or regular home) of comparable size in many markets.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=PrJhijCd8kI
When looking up more info on them, it's currently kinda hard to tell where the investor pitch ends and the actual, soon-to-ship product begins, but if they can keep their word on the Casita at least, I think it stands to be the most practical product to come out of the whole tiny house "movement."

A couple things: pretty much every intermodal container is made in China and made from the Chinesium that was too sub-par to even fraudulently sell. Really it is a metallurgical content to even unintentionally get steel this bad. Further, since most of these will spend time at sea, they need some kind of non-fouling coating. Which if you didn't know is one of the few compounds you're still given wide latitude to include shit like lead. Even when you can't, it's frequently cheaper. Plus many of the alternatives are no less toxic. Pretty much the best you'll do on a budget is wear PPE when working and putting all that shit under a thick layer of Kilz. Pro shops will not want that shit fouling equipment and with how outfitted abatement companies bill you're well into normal-house budgets at that point.

A mobile home is about 40% less for more space and while we can debate the components' quality, at least they set out to build a house and not a metal proxy for a corrugated cardboard box.

 

[ToroidalBoat]

I lived in a 400 sq ft apartment with my husband for about 4 years in our early 20s and it sucked.

Living packed like sardines in apartments - especially in modern cities - is not how people are meant to live.

I think it's better suited to machine life.

 

[Least Concern]

This isn't a new or original idea. Here in Australia, there are a few places that make/sell these types of houses; usually marketed as temporary worker or guest accommodation (the latter known as a "granny flat").

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ne_CPbsaLEg

That's interesting. I wish the video would have shown more. Does the house come with any furniture or appliances? Is it put on a permanent foundation?

Further, since most of these will spend time at sea, they need some kind of non-fouling coating. Which if you didn't know is one of the few compounds you're still given wide latitude to include shit like lead.

Yeah, I've heard some of the people who build with these will sand-blast the coatings off of them and re-coat them. Having lived in old houses that had lead paint, I'm not so sure it's really a big deal, though, especially in the inside where you'll have insulation and drywall between you and the original container. Just don't go around licking the exterior walls and you should be fine, right?

 

[OldGuy]

"Tiny House" yeha sure buddy... i know a Cuck Shed when i see one

 

[Pee Cola]

That's interesting. I wish the video would have shown more. Does the house come with any furniture or appliances? Is it put on a permanent foundation?

They can either stay on a trailer or can be permanently attached to a foundation. The company's website has a gallery of what this looks like.

In terms of furniture and appliances, they come with a basic kitchen and bathroom including sinks and tapware, but no appliances such as hot water heater or cooker. Looking at the floor plans, I'm guessing that the bathroom and kitchen cupboards are pre-assembled.

A composting toilet is an optional extra (it comes with a conventional unit as standard, which is a bit odd given that having to plumb a traditional toilet into a septic or sanitation system would be more difficult than just having a self-contained composting toilet in the house).

tbh I've been umming and ahhing over buying something like this and putting it on acreage out in the country. There are some parts of Australia where you can put one of these on your property without needing to get approval. That's one of the reasons why these are sold with a trailer as an option, so that it can be classed as a caravan rather than as a tiny home. Either way, they look OK for the $35-$50k dollarydoos they're asking for one of these (depending on configuration and options).

 

[BelUwUga]

I think it's better suited to machine life.

I know it's not what you meant but I manage surprisingly well in cramped quarters as long as it's for a purpose or actually doing something like on a ship. I was surprisingly okay in a tiny windowless room as my house for a time because I was on a behemoth over a quarter-mile long and regardless of where you stood if you paid attention you could feel the hum deep in your bones. Medical/PL-stuff has delayed things but machinery/tools to do cool shit with easily takes up twice the space I actually regularly do in my home. What I cannot wrap my head around would be someone subjecting themselves to the same thing to go sit in front of a PC they could remote into in some bland office where they do shit like answer calls from a VOIP PBX. Something they could do almost anywhere on the globe and they chose to do it there for a wage they can barely survive on. This is worse than living in a machine or somewhere meant for them. At least things are happening and happening for a reason in places like that.

That's interesting. I wish the video would have shown more. Does the house come with any furniture or appliances? Is it put on a permanent foundation?


Yeah, I've heard some of the people who build with these will sand-blast the coatings off of them and re-coat them. Having lived in old houses that had lead paint, I'm not so sure it's really a big deal, though, especially in the inside where you'll have insulation and drywall between you and the original container. Just don't go around licking the exterior walls and you should be fine, right?

Yeah the problem is doing it right is very expensive on a compliance end. It doesn't really matter so much that you've removed 99.99% of the toxic material when you inhaled the .01% while doing so. If it's the wrong compound and your containment is poor, the EPA loves buttfucking people over site contamination like that. It quite clearly doesn't make it impossible but it's a hurdle that goes frequently unmentioned. Which honestly makes me a bit mad on the internet. Imagine only discovering this risk now after you'd spent hours breathing the magic smoke around your plasma cutter? Stuff like lead/asbestos is overhyped because idiots would ignore it otherwise. If you know what to look for and have some common sense in dealing with it you can mitigate almost all of the risk.

 

[Pee Cola]

Y'know that $17k container home video from 2019 I posted? Welp, the same dude repriced the same container home again in 2022, and now it's $42k.

 

[Alex Hogendorp]

That's basically what Hong Kong is like.

Families of 5 Children living in a one room apartment or even a closet.

 

[T0oCoolFool]

Resurrecting my first new KF thread for some updates.

Something that's often considered for use as a tiny home are shipping containers, either singly or in combination.

View attachment 3355514View attachment 3355516

Shipping containers have a lot of negatives to use as a building material. Being made out of metal, they absorb very little heat and will require more additional insulation than wood to be livable in extreme temperatures; they will be noisy in rain; rust is obviously a concern; they require additional exterior decoration to not look like a big metal box originally intended for industrial use. But a huge benefit is that modern society has developed infrastructure for moving these boxes around the world efficiently, whether by boat, truck, or rail. So what if you could make a house which had the form factor of a shipping container and could be moved around using the same equipment, but wasn't made from a literal shipping container with all the negatives that goes along with that?

I think that's what the people at Boxabl have in mind. They've developed a prefab house called Casita which ships at a shipping container size, but on site "unfolds" to be quite a bit larger. They eventually intend to develop the idea further to allow for multi-story and multi-room homes. They say the Casita will sell for only $50k, which is definitely a bargain for a "tiny home" (or regular home) of comparable size in many markets.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=PrJhijCd8kI
When looking up more info on them, it's currently kinda hard to tell where the investor pitch ends and the actual, soon-to-ship product begins, but if they can keep their word on the Casita at least, I think it stands to be the most practical product to come out of the whole tiny house "movement."

I thought this looked really cool. It would be good for people like my uncle, the type of person who wants to own a house but find most traditional homes a bit too big for their tastes, while tiny homes are too small. Even if you can find a traditional house that's on the small side, the costs right now are through the roof. So $50,000 for a small-ish home seems like a good deal.

That being said, after reading more into Boxabl, I find myself not liking it anymore. For one thing, the $50,000 is for the home only. On their website, they say that the price for shipping and setting up the home is a separate cost, and states that shipping from Las Vegas will cost $3-$8 a mile, and paying for set up will cost $5,000 to $50,000. So this $50,000 home is really going to cost a lot more than they're making it out to be.

The other issue I have is the layout. After looking at it more closely, I can't see the average person liking the way it is set up unless they live alone. Like tiny homes, the only separate room in the whole house is the bathroom, everything else is in the same room. Good luck trying to sleep or get any work done if your partner or child(ren) decide they want to watch TV, do laundry, eat, etc.

This makes me wonder who this home is for? It's not as cheap as they're making it out to be, and the setup is not ideal for more than one person. As a temporary dwelling it doesn't make sense, as it would be cheaper to just go rent a nice apartment or even a house. And long term it makes even less sense, especially if you plan on having a family.

One of Boxabl's main selling points is that this can be built quickly, but really, who cares about that? Like, does it really matter that much if a house can be built in an hour? What are you in such a hurry for that this would be appealing to the average person and make them want to buy this over renting or buying a small traditional home? The only people I see this appealing to is wealthy city dwellers that suddenly want or need to move (due to covid, or sudden crime in the area such as riots, or natural disasters such as a wild fire/tornado, etc).

To me, this seems like an upgraded version of tiny homes, and it's going to be mostly hipsters that buy these.

 

[Damocles_Sword]

Jesus, that house walk through in the OP. Even the shittiest single wide I've ever had to live in would be paradise compared to that. That isn't a house, that's people storage. That's where you go to consume a nourishment cube and sleep for 6 hours before having to return to work. The ridiculously rich van life hobo cosplayers will hate it because it's stationary so no way of posting different pics on insta. The cabin in the woods types will hate it because the space sucks for that kind of life. No place for necessities. The urban bug hive drone won't even like it because there's no room for the consumption portal to get them excited for next product or the funko wall.

My current hive has a little village of tiny homes meant as a halfway house/gateway to hobo rehab. The retarded altruists running it made the mistake of thinking that hobos would value a basic need like warm place to sleep over drugs. The village has sit nearly empty for around a year and I read recently that the morons are going to lower their standards.

 

[Least Concern]

That's basically what Hong Kong is like.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=mYNwd89cnPYFamilies of 5 Children living in a one room apartment or even a closet.

Hong Kong, like SF, is a bit of a special case where humans have hit the limit on buildable area (without completely paving over the parks, anyway). I do think it's kinda nuts for anyone to live in either place if they're not making at least six digits, but some people will prioritize living in poverty in an exciting city over living in comfort in the sticks. Well, good for them.

The other issue I have is the layout. After looking at it more closely, I can't see the average person liking the way it is set up unless they live alone. Like tiny homes, the only separate room in the whole house is the bathroom, everything else is in the same room. Good luck trying to sleep or get any work done if your partner or child(ren) decide they want to watch TV, do laundry, eat, etc.

This makes me wonder who this home is for? It's not as cheap as they're making it out to be, and the setup is not ideal for more than one person. As a temporary dwelling it doesn't make sense, as it would be cheaper to just go rent a nice apartment or even a house. And long term it makes even less sense, especially if you plan on having a family.

I definitely wouldn't want to live in such a place if I had a child old enough to walk, but there's still plenty of people for whom that does not apply; single people, couples with no children yet (or who will never have them), downsizing empty-nesters, etc. Even for families with kids it might have to do in extreme, temporary cases like natural disaster. Just because these aren't for everyone doesn't mean they're for nobody.