All the ‘Rules’ I Broke
When I see people telling others in absolute terms what you can and cannot do to accomplish your tiny house I get mad. That is just complete BS. Sure, there are suggested ways, and there are ways that are better than others maybe, and there are valid reasons to have opinions any which way but there is nothing absolute about a tiny house. It is a fairly complicated equation, anyone that says there is one solution has no idea what they are talking about. Everything is a give and take and there is definitely more than one way to build one! So, I want to talk about the ‘rules’ that I broke all along my build, let just say for example. These are just a few, there are plenty others!
#1 – I built on a used trailer!
Oh Noes! ;-). When I was building there were no ‘tiny house trailers’, now there are. Sure, it’s a good way to go, get a trailer specifically designed FOR a tiny house. Is it the only way? NO! Sometimes ‘deals’ don’t always work out to be deals when looking at a used trailer but sometimes they do! It could be a good way to save a buck if you are comfortable inspecting the trailer for structural integrity (check welds, check outriggers, check tires ad axle strength). Parts may need to be upgraded. Assess your costs before making a purchase to verify it’s still a good deal in the end. You may be surprised to find some specialty TH trailers don’t seem as expensive after doing the cost comparison. Then again you may find a heck of a deal used! It happens! Do what is right for you.
#2 – I have a very heavy tile floor
That didn’t pop or shift at all! Sure I had to make design considerations to make that happen, so I did! I added a third axle to carry the weight and made sure I hired a truck large enough to pull it. I added extra bracing to make the frame nice and rigid so if it did flex in transport it did so more uniformly. You can use flexible grout, decide what your decisions will affect and how to make what you want to work, work. I did it. Moved it. I have not had a single issue with the tile on my floor OR in my shower. Do what is right for you.
#3 – My walls are drywall
And not even the thick stuff! OH no! Ok, I want to consider a worst case scenario here. You move and you have places in your house where the drywall cracked. ANY home improvement stores carry patch kits for drywall. If you can build a house you can patch drywall. Sure, may not be the best to use if you plan on moving often, may not be the best to use if you’re a builder who has to guarantee work for others, for me, drywall was the solution. I also wanted to save on weight and labor so I used 3/8″ thick drywall instead of the standard 5/8″. If you like drywall, use it. If you like bubble wrap you can find a way to use it! Do what is right for you
#4 – I live with a great dane AND a baby
And it’s officially been 6 months and everyone still smiles every single day (dog included, it’s a good trick!)
Yeah, I heard CONSTANTLY that it will never work, I won’t make it to 7 months pregnant, then I won’t make it through the summer, then the winter… its all horse crap. I’m here and not a single thing has even been a tough adjustment. This is just my house. We play, we wrestle, we sleep, we cook, we eat and we pee here and it all works. Just. like. other. houses. Only cheaper! And easier to keep clean!
Do what is right for you and find your helpers to support you and keep the naysayers at bay!
Furthermore, I have been both criticized for being ‘ripped off’ for paying ‘that much’ for my house as well as called a liar and been told that ‘there is no way I bought this for that cheap’. There is no pleasing some people.
What I want to express with this post is that there will always be naysayers, information hoarders, information spouters and pessimists to distract and overcomplicate your path. Be a doer! Follow your dreams. Take those people and their comments as ‘concerned parties’. If you can hear their ‘concern”, think about it and can provide a logical rebuttal that maintains your path then you’re good, if not adjust your path until you are comfortable with the ramifications. Thats part of the learning. There is no need to actually express that rebuttal, just be confident and move forward knowing that not everyone has the tenacity to explore what you are looking at exploring. Not all of the naysayers deserve any of your attention either. Find your supporters and please do know that there are lots of us out here who want to be good helpers!
There is a great video shared by my friend Sheliah over on the Tiny House People Facebook page, it is worth linking here.
Fortunately, you are great at calling out BS and ignoring the dunder-headed. Good on ya, MM.
you can do just about anything you want, if you want. you have to want. when i say anything i don’t mean structurally unsound, just the opposite. there is a correct way to do this. find it. i’ve been doing this since i was 4, vou have figured it out. life, too.
ice cream raz
agree!
Didn’t you address this once before. WOW people get over it, if you can’t say something nice leave the page and go to the next one. Not everthing is done your way but it is done the way the person wants not yours. Good for you and love your last video. Tell the BS’ ers to take a hike. LOL
I’m no stranger to telling people to take a hike where needed,it breaks my heart when others get discouraged, I hear it far too often and unfortunately I understand their situation, it seems that there are a lot of uninformed ‘experts’at every stage,this is just me offering MYsupport to those who may need a little extra!
Can’t view video on Tiny House People unless you join….. application pending. I like the quote on the background. Good for you to speak out about the nay-sayers. Common sense rules. I found your house by looking for bed that could be made by a person growing older faster than younger.
You should be in now! (Let me know if not)
I really needed to read this today! Gosh, we’ve heard it all and sometimes the doubt gets to me, though a LOT less so now that we’re so close to done. I’ve gotten to the point where 95% of the time, I get a worried comment or a judgmental comment (or Casey does) and I just laugh like, “Ha! Guess what? Our house is nearly done. Where’s yours? Oh, you don’t have one. And you never will because you’re convinced that any action you take is a mistake, so you’ll never begin.”
But especially on the motherfrakking drywall; every time Casey posts a YT video someone makes a comment on it. It finally occurred to me one day: what is the worst case scenario? It cracks! And…that’s why it’s drywall! It’s so easily patched. It happens in regular foundation houses as well. Like you said: if we were planning on moving it a lot, well. We would have renovated an RV instead. 🙂
You’re my favorite! 🙂
Dear family of three,
What, it can’t be six months? Oh my goodness!
I have been in an Earthroamer(earthroamer.com) for 3 years sleeping in upper bunk, planning to never do ladder or be in tiny space, claustrophobic and still don’t understand how the whole thing could possibly work and yet those daily smiles go on and on and on. Thanks. Beth
😀 !!
Love this article! My tiny house family has only been on social media for less than a year, and it blows my mind how many people say mean things to others while hidden behind their computer screens. We had someone comment that our dog was fat once. Really?! We have been criticized for all of us living in one tiny house (and we actually don’t, this person just didn’t read – but we don’t see a problem with it if we did). We teach our children not to bully, and yet adults do it daily on Facebook. Have you been on some of the tiny house community pages lately? Wow. It’s brutal out there. I stopped reading them. There are a lot of unhappy people in the world. Luckily, there seem to be many more happy, nice people in the world!!! I choose to ignore the haters and keep smilin’! 🙂
I’m right there with ya! Yes, it’s funny how they even pick on the pets, Denver has been the butt of many a jokes! It’s simply amazing. I started Tiny House People (https://www.facebook.com/groups/tinyhousepeople/) JUST bcause of all the negativity, my most important rule is to be KIND! It’s been pretty good but even in that group there are a couple wild cards who make it through all my filters and say something nasty, only to be met with a boot! It’s nice to have a POSITIVE for the most part place to find like minded friends!
Thank you for booting them!! I actually went and signed up for Tiny House People after I was on your blog the other day, and it’s great. I told my hubby, look these people are NICE! I will introduce us to the group today. Also, I forgot to mention what we have in common! We have a HUGE dog (NOT fat! 🙂 he is a Newfie mix) in a tiny house, and we have a 2 year old daughter named Hazel. She is named after my hubby’s grandmother. 🙂
YOu’re kidding! That’s awesome, parallel lives! Great minds think alike! 🙂 I’m glad you have liked it in the group, I am very serious about wanting to know if people are being mean, at the very least I correct the behavior, worst case they aren’t the right fit for the group. It’s hard to read everything at this point so I rely a lot on group members flagging and PMing me!:)
You know, we got similar flack building a small house – it was often too big OR too small depending on the unpolished critic.
Build what makes sense. What works in one place for one person, may or may not work elsewhere for someone else. It’s all subjective
And don’t forget to laugh. Laughter is immeasurable!
Laughing IS sanity! You’re totally on point! 🙂
Realize for a moment that there are people who exist solely and unfortunately to leave poisonous criticism for everyone and everything. They are bitter, petty and jealous and are often fighting a debilitating battle of some kind of which I won’t mention or allude to.
I realized this when I became a mother and chose to uncomplicated my life in order to put my child’s needs first. I wasn’t married and chose to live in smaller communities where we had better access to good schools. Like you, I had so many naysayers and doubters to shrug off and learn how to avoid altogether.
As a result, I raised a child who was awarded a full academic scholarship for an honors program at a top state school where we live. My son turned 19 this summer, has never had a drivers license but immersed himself in school and advanced French courses. He is now living in France attending college and returns to his U.S. studies in January. Everything and I mean everything he needs is covered by his scholarship and when he works he will help sustain the scholarship by contributing financially to it.
By the way, I think you are a wonderful mother, citizen and a perfect example of what a woman with a conscious can do. Best wishes to your entire, beautiful family and home built with love.
Awww, thank you so much for your kindness! Your son sounds like he’s pretty amazing! Good luck to you both!
Amen!! My motto is everything is figureoutable..there’s so many ways to do the same thing!
So glad I found you again. I wrote when you were pregnant and didn’t know what happened to you and lost your name. I had to smile reading this as I do believe it was the same back then also! Wow people are just not to nice out there. I am not in a tiny house but would love to be, maybe someday. I just showed pictures of Hazel and Denver to my husband and said they live in a tiny house. Your house is beautiful and I know I mentioned that before. Your Hazel is a cutie and is a very happy baby! Love the pictures of them together. Stay strong lady! Will keep this site handy so I can keep up with you.
Thank you so much Sue! 🙂 This made ME smile!
Thank you so much for this! Love that you call out the BS! Keep up the good work chicky!
🙂 Will do! Thank you!