House listings

[rebeccmeister]

Last night, after looking at a handful of tiny houses, I idly started perusing the rv's and campers section of Craigslist here.

Lots of fascinating stuff going on in that section. Tucked among the ridiculous luxury money-holes, there's the occasional old/vintage trailer in various states of repair or disrepair, that makes me think, hmm. Then there was the ad for a FEMA trailer, which kind of makes me scratch my head a little. I guess this sums up the FEMA trailer situation.

But scrottie has a real point, with all this. There are plenty of interesting older campers out in the world that could potentially be converted into something reasonably functional for someone in a semi-nomadic situation. That said, I also think he's right that spaces this small aren't entirely functional for long-term living. On top of that, I'm not very familiar with the fabrication methods used for trailers or RV's, but I suspect they're reliant on a lot of aluminum and plastic - materials I don't particularly enjoy working with. And there's the whole matter of having or finding vehicles to move things around, and places to put the thing.

So, back to the housing section.

Comments

[scrottie.livejournal.com]

From my understanding of it, and from having observed a few of things in states of decay, the older ones don't use much plastic except for things like fridge door handles and toilet seats. They're mostly plywood and pressboard (loaded with polyurethane). The shells are aluminum.

I don't know if this is encouraging or discouraging, but, aside from the steel chassis, they're very much in composition like an inexpensively constructed house you might find in Texas: aluminum siding, lots of pressboard, laminate floors and counter tops. Except of course they're smaller and less likely to be demolished but more likely to be left to rot.

My father got a small tow along camper for camping but wound up just living in it for ages after his second divorce. I have fond memories of cross country trips with the thing and then visiting him while he lived in it. Construction isn't ideal, but for a lot of people, these are real tiny houses.

[rebeccmeister.livejournal.com]

My aunt and uncle and cousins have lived in a collection of 2-3 such trailers for years at a time, while in the midst of crazy house-building shenanigans (man...they've built 3 houses over the years). That's a point that I find kind of reassuring. When it gets down to it, I think they highlight that a human being doesn't really require anything all that fancy in the way of shelter. I still don't know how to repair aluminum siding, pressboard, or laminate floors and countertops, though. Two-by-fours, window glazing, and roof shingles I can handle.

Apparently my uncle emitted a loud shriek one time when he opened a silverware drawer and discovered it was full of tiny, baby mice. So, trailers also may or may not be secure from visitors.

And while I know that winterized trailers exist, I still wonder about the ability to insulate and the energy-efficiency of them in warm climates. Also about their ability to withstand hurricanes and tornadoes. Not that Texas houses are that much better-built or anything.

[scrottie.livejournal.com]

They really aren't well suited to climate control. If you're camping, I think it's assumed that the weather is nice. I have to wonder how they do compare to trying to heat/cool a McMansion, though. Still, a small 2x4 or adobe house with intelligent insulation is a clear winner there.

Your aunt and uncle had much larger ones than my father had. His was closer to this: http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/rvs/4444415731.html ... but shorter, still, if memory serves. There was a bed in the back that transformed into a sofa, with a loft bunk above it, and a small dining room table in the front that also transformed in to a bed. The middle was just the door, a tiny bathroom, and a tiny kitchen. It could sleep 6 if transformed into 80% bed mode or two if left untransformed.

I think Edward Abbey's description of the shack with the gopher snack reminded me of my father's camper and staying with him there. We definitely did make breakfast or whatever and then just sit outside in front with it, plus lots of hikes, fishing, day trips, etc. I guess it was a sort of space that promoted going outside, in contrast to large, comfortable dwellings that remove incentive to go out.

I don't have a tiny house but I do have a pretty tiny room, and I'm very happy with it if I can keep some balance between inside and outside. Walking to the store seems to be part of that for me right.