Americans living in tiny houses have significantly increased in the past decade. And there’s a good reason for this.
The cost of an average American home is much higher than the average cost of a tiny house. Some people are tired of bigger houses and the expenses that come with it, and they feel that tiny living is the way to go. Whatever the reason is for living in a tiny house, it is a wise decision.
However, the decision to live in a tiny house need not be rushed. There are many factors that you should consider that will affect how you comfortable you will be in your tiny home. Read along to learn about the most common mistakes people make when buying or building tiny houses you should avoid:
1. Not Researching on Tiny House Living
Just because your friend or a relative is happy living in a tiny house is not enough reason to convince you to go tiny. Ensure to do in-depth research before deciding to move into a tiny house. Ask questions and read blogs related to tiny living.
What’s more, ensure to check the inside of tiny houses to see whether you can fit. You may realize after researching that living in a tiny house is not suitable for you after all.
2. Not Checking Local Building Regulations Before Buying Land
One of the main mistakes that people make when buying or building tiny houses is buying land in the wrong place. They only consider the land’s location and the view without considering the rules and regulations that govern the area. It is a very costly mistake.
Imagine buying land in an area only to realize that the local zoning doesn’t allow the building of tiny houses. Too bad, right? You can avoid this by ensuring you do your research about a given location before investing in it.
3. Approaching Tiny House Builders without a Clear Plan in Mind
Before you approach a tiny house builder, ensure to have a clear design plan in mind. Failure to this will make your project take longer and even become more expensive.
Having a clear design plan in mind will ensure that you get a good foundation for your house and that the builders don’t get stalled in the design process.
To avoid this mistake, ensure to research the various tiny houses designs to determine the one that will meet your needs.
4. Not Following the Building Process
This is another mistake that people make. After hiring professional time home builders to build their homes, they don’t want to follow the process to understand how the process works. Indeed, you may not have time, and that’s why you choose to hire some to build your tiny house.
However, the building can go much faster and smoother if you understand the basics of building a tiny house. This doesn’t mean that you should learn to build the tiny house yourself but have basic knowledge on how the whole process works.
Apart from saving time and money, this will ensure that you don’t fall victim to dishonest or even less skilled tiny home builders.
5. Choosing the Wrong Appliances
Appliances such as heaters and air conditioners are critical features of a tiny house. As such, ensure that the appliances you buy for your tiny house are of the right size. If you get it wrong, there is a chance they could break down or cause an incident to happen within your home. To help with this just in case it happens, looking into home warranty plans from companies such as First American Home Warranty, is a step to take to protect your home and everything in it.
For instance, buying a large heater will not increase the heart in your house but will also need a lot of space. To avoid such issues, ensure to check the unit’s specs before buying. After buying the right unit, ensure to keep in a suitable location that allows for airflow.
6. Not Considering the Required Size and Weight of a Moving House
If you plan to move your tiny home, then you should consider the maximum legal size of a tiny mobile home. Ideally, your house should not exceed 102″.
To that end, you may want to use a narrower trailer to avoid going past the required limit. Also, when planning, ensure that the weight of your finished house will not exceed the trailer’s capacity.
7. Failure to Create Enough Shelving
As expected, space in a tiny home will be limited. You will see a big difference from what you used to have in a standard home.
As such, you need to be creative to ensure you have enough storage in your tiny house. Among other places, you can create storage spaces under the seats and stairs.