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The Tiny House Handbook. Charlie Wing
Читать онлайн.Название The Tiny House Handbook
Год выпуска 0
isbn 9781119581864
Автор произведения Charlie Wing
Жанр Сделай Сам
Издательство John Wiley & Sons Limited
Although homeowners in Australia, Canada, and the US apparently think bigger is better, the 2009 map below shows the feeling is not universal. Homeowners in Hong Kong, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, get by with (almost) tiny homes of 484 sq.ft. and a thoroughly Thoreauvian space per occupant of just 150 sq.ft.
New Life for an Old Idea: The ADU
What Is an ADU?
An accessory dwelling unit (ADU) is a compact independent dwelling sharing a single-family lot with a larger primary dwelling. While tiny, it contains its own bathroom, kitchen, living, and sleeping areas.
As illustrated, the ADU can be created within the existing primary dwelling, converted from a garage, added as an extension to the existing dwelling, or built on or delivered to the site.
Why an ADU?
The ADU offers a host of housing solutions:
Older homeowners would rather age in place than be shipped off to a prohibitively expensive assisted living or nursing facility. Grandma and Grandpa can enjoy their last years at home and in the old neighborhood while their children take over the family residence.
Young singles and couples, often saddled with college debt, can live for little or nothing while saving up for the downpayment on their first home.
When family members no longer require the ADU, it can provide rental income to the homeowners, possibly paying the mortgage.
In this age of decreasing housing availability and increasing cost, cities and towns are beginning to view ADUs as solutions without changing the physical character of neighborhoods.
Finally, the great unspoken issue with tiny homes is where to put them. Even when zoning permits, the costs of land and site services usually equal or exceed the cost of the building itself. With an ADU the cost for the site is zero, and the costs of extending the already existing site services is minimal.
Options for ADUs
OPTIONS
① A single-car 16’ × 20’, 1-story garage makes a perfect, groundfloor accessible apartment.
② A 12’ × 24’ groundfloor addition is accessible and private, and adds just 30% to the house footprint.
③ A 12’ × 24’ apartment within the house first floor requires only 15% of the original house floor area.
④ A 12’ × 24’ apartment in a walkout basement makes a perfect, groundfloor accessible apartment.
⑤ A 12’ × 24’ (or up to 400 sq.ft.) tiny house is totally private and can be placed anywhere.
⑥ An additional parking space can usually be created for an ADU just by widening the original driveway.
2 LEGAL ASPECTS
You are excited; you are motivated; you are ready to begin a life based on need, not greed, in a shelter that sustains you, not drains you. This book is designed to provide the information you need to realize your dream, but first a dose of reality.
While 90% of the world’s 7,800,000,000 people live in just 200 square feet per person, the average allocation for Americans has bloated to 832 square feet. Why so big? Because, like so many other aspects of the American way, we could. The size of one’s home has become a status symbol. The towns we live in speak to who we are. This has been going on since the end of World War II—long enough for minimum lot size and minimum house size to creep into our zoning ordinances. The reality is that you will have a difficult time obtaining a building permit for your tiny home in affluent residential areas.
But there is often an out. Even the affluent like to have family nearby. There is an equally long history of zoning allowances for accessory dwelling units, so-called “granny flats.” Very often the size minimum, if there is one, falls within the 400 square foot “tiny house” range.
Then there are the building codes. Your house may be tiny, but it still must meet building, electrical, and plumbing codes. But relax. These codes are not designed to stop you. They are designed solely to keep you safe and healthy. Embrace them.
Zoning and Building Codes
Assuming you have prepared mentally and emotionally for the tiny house lifestyle, and assuming you have the financial resources or credit to fund your project, what legal hurdles remain to be cleared? Principally, they fall under two headings: Zoning and Building Codes.
Zoning
A town zoning ordinance specifies how its land may be used. The ordinance is enforced by an appointed planning board of 3 to 7 residents. Items in the ordinance usually include:
Use zones, for example: agricultural, commercial, residential, conservation
Minimum lot size, for example 2 acres for residential
Minimum setbacks of buildings from property lines, for example 20 feet
Minimum habitable area of residential buildings, for example 800 sq.ft.
Maximum building heights, either in feet or floors, above grade
Activities permitted and forbidden
Offstreet parking requirements
Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) regulations
In most jurisdictions the zoning ordinance is posted online. It may also be available for purchase. After choosing a geographic area for your site your first step is to become familiar with each candidate town’s zoning ordinance with an eye to spotting possible roadblocks to your tiny house plans.
If the tiny home of your dreams is on wheels, chances are great you will encounter a problem right away. Although your tiny home is an actual wood-framed house built on a trailer it is, strictly speaking, neither a house as commonly defined nor a trailer. The closest legally recognized category is a camper trailer, and most zoning ordinances forbid the permanent occupation of camper trailers on residential lots. This is, one hopes, a temporary issue because tiny houses, on or off wheels, offer affordable solutions in a time of increasing housing shortages. If you find your town’s ordinance is not favorable to tiny homes, then request they update it to include them. Contact your local tiny home manufacturer if you need help. In the meantime you will probably be able to park your tiny home on wheels in back of a friend’s or relative’s home—at least until someone complains—or in a designated mobile home or tiny home park.
Provided, however, your vision of a tiny home is one sitting on a foundation in a permanent location, familiarize yourself with the zoning ordinances of each of your target towns. Then schedule appointments with a building code official in each. IMPORTANT: These are human beings performing an important service for the good of the town and its citizens. Treating them with respect for their public service and their knowledge (many are retired builders, plumbers, or electricians) will usually result in their respecting you and your project in return. You are not there to demand their approval; you are there to request their guidance in realizing your dream.
Your first meeting