wow, so a couple I helped pick out a bus.....

[roach711]

Originally Posted by crazycal

That sounds like some members here.

Unfortunately, it sounds like too many people everywhere.

[teambadass]

Originally Posted by charles_m

Well, I guess I am part of the problem. There was a cable TV show about my bus that is about Tiny Homes. Over the course of a year, I spent $30k on my bus, all told and did all the work myself except the custom sheetmetal on my roof raise and the fine-cabinetry. That's a lot, but I'd need 3x that for a downpayment on a home in the denver area, plus the monthly payments.....I can't do it.

I saved my money, worked full-time while I built it, lived rent-free for 6 months, and took out a smaller loan for $10k to cover the rest. A lot of sacrifice, but it all worked. This was my one shot to go big and make it how I'd always wanted to in my previous buses.

I am a busman, however. Not a tiny home person. Ive been living in buses (3 total) on and off for about 10 years. I chose to live a bus, because I love them and I live them and they have been very good to me. I liked sharing my bus as a viable alternative to a tiny home for less money. I'd never spend $50k on a bus. I mean, I would, if it wasn't my money... but I got all the bus I wanted for far less $$$. I still dont like a lot about tiny houses, but I do like some of the things we've been raggin on.

I like living with less ****, I like being mobile, I like having a steering wheel and gas pedals in my living space, I like a nicely finished interior. I dont like modern, I like nice with clever woodwork and I do like steel and copper, too. I guess the inside of my bus might be a little 'hipster' but whatever. Ive been into this for long before tiny house stuff ever hit me. I was inspired by the house trucks of the 60s and the gypsy wagons before them.

That said, school buses are a great platform. For a few grand, you get a lot of equipment that is very solidly built. I use a composting toilet for a lot of reasons--main one being that I am not on hookups, and dont want hookups inorder to drain my pooptank. That's a choice, that's what I chose.

I use a big solar system (not 20 batteries! lol) because I dont want hookups.

and I really dont need more than 200sqft to live comfortably. I dont work out of my bus--I have a shop and studio for that, so its plenty of room to sleep, ****, eat, screw, and have a few few guests and it never feels cramped. I also think that's a testament to good design, but I'll save the pats on the back for other people

I help other people build their own skoolies, too. I like that the DIY spirit is coming back and I think it is in a different style than what some of us are used to. I appreciate the creativity people have in their finish choices and I appreciate the idiots who dont know what they are doing but still want to try.

People are tired of being in debt for a home that's too big on land they dont love thats full of crap they dont need. I support anyone who decides to refine their living and get on with less of the excess. I bet most of us here feel the same. This is one awesome way that my generation is doing that and yes, it's encroaching on our turf, which I love and I have been a member of for many years before I joined this site, but I am glad that other people, even those in the mainstream are rethinking how they live.

The unexamined life is not worth living!

Most people dont know enough about buses to be good owners, but that is their expensive loss. I love knowing how to operate my machinery to its fullest.

I'm a lifer, and anyone who choses to take this journey can't be too different

I am in agreement with most of your thoughts here, and I share many of your sentiments. I invested in an amazing machine, and I intend to learn as much as I can about the bus itself for as long as I own it. That's where a forum like this is essential for people wanting to go beyond just the "tiny house"... Sometimes people do seemingly crazy shizz, but most often if we seek to understand why with an open mind, it can be most fascinating and even educational.

[aaronsb]

If it helps, I build my "tiny house" out of flat bar and krylon spray paint, drink my tequila straight with a half cut lime chaser, and my beer cold. Sometimes I might hold my pinky finger out.

To all the folks doing some sorta high falutin' cedar shingled trailer queen, let them. It'll be the first for sale next to the apache pop up trailers and 1970's pace arrows on the used lots. Whatever you're doing, you don't have time for their crap because you're not beholden to an Instagram feed.

Originally Posted by bansil

I reckon I am an Appalachian Hillbillian with front porch tendencies
+ + + =
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[crazycal]

Sometimes I might hold my pinky finger out.

This just made me chuckle. I had a girlfriend years ago that would stick her pinky out when she started drinking. The more she drank, the more the pinky would stick out. When she was trashed, that sucker would be straight out.

[superdave]

Originally Posted by Hank's P-O-S

I know we aren't really talking about tiny homes.
Any one building a tiny home in a bus or on a trailer is kinda dumb. Un less you plan on moving twice a year, why on earth wouldn't you use a 53 foot reefer trailer?
Pre insulated to R30, more room, higher ceilings, tones of room for custom under-body storage...
Any one living in under 200 sq. ft. is going to hate themselves if they ever break a leg or throw their back out.

whats dumb about the tiny house movement, no matter what they use as a shell. its not an rv, its a tiny home.rvs are junk and the reason im using a bus. to many judgemental people in this world.

[bansil]

great feedback, I can care less how they spend their money...I just can not grasp it

They paid more than $50k for the land, and will have a well drilled (no septic tank and drain field tho')

and then spend another chunk on building a bus to park to save on taxes, I don't like or agree with taxes, it doesn't make since to me

I would install a septic tank and drain field and build a small house on the land instead and then you can travel in the bus and have a place for full hookups etc

[somewhereinusa]

Mumsywumsy and I watch the tiny house shows. There is one called Tiny House Hunting or something like that. Many are just very small apartments. You will never convince me that you can "own" a few rooms that are part of a larger building. Anyway, many of these "homes" seem to be in someones back yard. IE: converted the tool shed into a "home" and are selling it now.

There was one the other night. $600,000 (I did NOT put in too many zeros) for about the same sq footage as my bus. Kitchen didn't have a stove, just a small microwave and a single induction hotplate. Even if all of that isn't enough to get you to plunk down $600,000 to get to this dream home you entered through a door that was maybe 6 feet tall, went down a long (30ft ?), really narrow hallway (36in?) with bare plywood walls. Coming out into a small yard (shared with two other families. Apparently this was the only way to get to it.

I just can't get over the fact that many people seem to enjoy living on top of one another. I have seen my next door neighbor more this winter than ever before. But only because he crosses my property to haul wood from the back of his property that he can't get a vehicle to.

[Stu & Filo. T]

Quote:
Sometimes I might hold my pinky finger out.

As the saying goes, "If In Doubt Pinky Out"

[M1031A1]

Originally Posted by somewhereinusa

I just can't get over the fact that many people seem to enjoy living on top of one another.

Somewhere, kinda like this:

[onenationundergoat]

Originally Posted by bansil

2) I can not wrap my head around 2 people and a couple dogs living in 280 sq feet or so, their choice tho'

Hey, I resemble that remark! Tehehe. Well, add a few cats and a rabbit and a goat....

It's not for everyone. Most of these "tiny houses" are 400-1000 sq ft. And people can't handle that. Mine is about 200 sq ft. We make do!

[Hank's P-O-S]

Originally Posted by onenationundergoat

Hey, I resemble that remark! Tehehe. Well, add a few cats and a rabbit and a goat....

It's not for everyone. Most of these "tiny houses" are 400-1000 sq ft. And people can't handle that. Mine is about 200 sq ft. We make do!

No it is not..... 1000 sq feet is larger than a single wide.
most of the tiny homes i have seen are built on some sort of a trailer shorter than 30 feet long.

with a maximum inside width of 7.5 feet if you use 2x3s that's closer to 220 sq feet, that's less than a 40 foot shipping container.

1000 sq feet is not a "tiny" house.
Its a small house, but its still more than plenty for two or three people.

[crazycal]

Most of the one on the show were under 300 Sq. Ft. Some were under 200 SF.

[onenationundergoat]

I swear once I was watching that show and that's what they said. I know for sure most of them were 400sq ft on that particular episode, and I was surprised that some of the "tiny" houses they were showing were bigger than single wide trailers. Although that's probably because they had a second floor loft and was calculating that into the square footage.

[2kool4skool]

First house I owned=210 sf, the current= 742sf. Tiny living is nuttin' new to me

[Tango]

Typical Paris apartments were 200-300sf and selling for 800,000+ Euros as of 2014. Make Skoolie life look real good.

[superdave]

1st house i owned was 800 sf, 2nd was 1200, 3rd was 1600, 4th was 2100, 5th is 710 and off grid, 6th is 240 on wheels soon to be off grid. It's the learning curve.

[bansil]

Onenationundergoat...this is for you

Our friends new princess



back to original thread

[EastCoastCB]

I like my house. Its 1250ish sq ft.
Paid 46k cash when the real estate situation here was at an all-time low.
Cute lil goat there, Bansil.

[keiffith]

I dont get it much either, HOWEVER, some of the ingenuity the tiny house people employ to make the most out of space is definitely useful. AND the fact they see this rat race called the "american dream" is a big joke, and a waste of ones life. life is for living, not perpetually consuming and getting deeper into debt.

My generation is too focused on making a new path, forgetting all the mistakes of the past. The fact my generation is full of socialists scares the **** out of me.

[crazycal]

My generation is too focused on making a new path, forgetting all the mistakes of the past. The fact my generation is full of socialists scares the **** out of me.

Let them vote for Bernie. All I can tell you is I won't be paying for it. We'll see how they feel the burn.