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Site Prep for a tiny home on wheels

June 9, 2021 Leave a Comment

So you want to live in a tiny home or place one on your property maybe as an Airbnb, Mother In Law unit or backyard office? Congrats! The first step in the tiny home journey is a giant leap of faith but a rewarding one. First off if you not handy we highly recommend working with a licensed contractor to make your dreams a reality. My name is Brent Tulloch and I’m a professional licensed contractor for TrueLand Developement, LLC. A company Todd McKellips CEO of Seattle tiny homes, INC and the executive director of the Washington tiny house association and I started back in 2014 to address housing affordability and equity. Working hand in hand with Seattle Tiny Homes, Inc we have developed backyard spots as well as tiny home community spaces all over Washington and I’m here to share some tips on developing your spot!

Sure you can park your RV tiny home most anywhere, run and extension cord across the lawn and fill your tanks, use a portable Camco tank rolling it around to find a dump station which can be backbreaking work and just not sustainable long term. Ideally for ease you want to not only invest in your forever home but also the space is occupies.

Areas of focus:

PAD & PARKING

Optimum for stability assault or cement is ideal and runs about $6-15 a square foot depending on the work. A Less pricey way is to pour road base 5/8s minus gravel and compact it. Normally good to have a depth of 7inches.  

More on Pads…

ELECTRIC & WATER

Code dictates in Washington Water & Electric need to be a certain depth, 30inches is great to run PEX or PVC water lines to the home, insulate when you start coming up and make sure electric is outdoor usage and the right gage wire.

Utility Connects…

SEPTIC & SEWER

Septic and Sewer must be installed to local health dept codes and by a septic certified professional. There are lots of codes permits and options when it comes to septic or sewer connections but I recommend using a professional and asking them to install a Dump station for an RV. 

Utility Connects…

WIND & SECURITY

Home Depot has a great set of anchors to help with wind. but ideally to include them in cement pad is extra security. Lighting the tiny home area is a great security tool as well as removing wheels, skirting, locking trailer and installing a doorbell camera especially for vacation homes .

Anchoring and Security More…

Blocking

Ideally its good idea to remove wheels if parking permanently on your property, using cement blocks makes home more steady. 

More on blocking…

Leveling

Perfect leveling is an art and even dirt can settle after weight on it for some time. Leveling may need a few tries before perfecting. 

leveling how to…

Tires & Wheels

In RV parks you’ll have to level with levelers and keep tires on the unit but otherwise on your own property removal and storage underneath is advised.

 

All this maybe overwhelming, If you don’t know where to start give me a call and I’m here to help.

Brent (at) truelanddev.com 425.988.LAND

Filed Under: parking

Tiny Homes, Tiny Houses, Laws and the homestead act of Washington

February 23, 2021 Leave a Comment

WASHINGTON STATE TINY HOUSE BILL – SB 5383

WASHINGTON STATE TINY HOUSE BILL – SB 5383

Tiny houses have become a trend across the nation to address the shortage of affordable housing. As tiny houses become more acceptable, the legislature finds that it is important to create space in the code for the regulation of tiny house siting.  Individual cities and counties may allow tiny houses with wheels to be collected together as tiny house villages using the binding site plan method articulated in chapter 58.17 RCW. The legislature recognizes that the International Code Council in 2018 has issued tiny house building code standards in Appendix Q of the International Residential Code, which can provide a basis for the standards requested within this act. 

“This legalization is the first step we needed in Washington to legitimize tiny home living though this bill helps establish a precedence, and was the most proactive legislation state wide ever in the United States. There’s more work to be done in Washington state”. Todd McKellips WA Tiny House Association

Originally sponsored by Senators Zeiger, Palumbo, Nguyen, Short, Van De Wege, Wilson, C., and Wilson, L. –

Proposed to Senator Hans Zeiger by Todd McKellips (executive director of the Washington Tiny House Association, Chapter leader for the American Tiny House Association and now CEO of Seattle Tiny Homes, INC  

: GETTING STARTED

It’s becoming easier than ever to make your tiny living dreams come true in Seattle and the surrounding areas. According to the Seattle Times, “King County views tiny homes as ‘an affordable and efficient method of providing housing,” and “current building and zoning codes do not specifically define or specially regulate tiny houses, other than requiring they meet all general housing standards.” Furthermore, in 2019, landmark tiny home legislation was passed (bill ESSB 5383), which enables the development of tiny house eco-villages and reduces restriction of tiny houses on wheels around the state of Washington!

THE BASICS OF THE BILL:

PROS: SB 5383 cleared a pathway for developers to work with cities and counties to develop tiny home communities and allow for tiny dwellings.

CONS: The bill did not mandate cities must allow tiny houses, tiny homes or tiny home communities.

PROS: SB 5383 Brought Appendix Q to Washington – To establish baseline for the Washington Building Council To Adapt Construction Standards.

CONS: The bill required anyone who wants to build a tiny house to go through a very extensive tiny house Labor & Industries inspection process.

PROS: SB 5383 Established tiny houses on wheels to be lived in and requires to be placed on property and assessed as REAL PROPERTY

CONS: To assess and tax as real property removes the wheels and locks home to land and won’t allow you to move the home away from property ever.

PROS: SB 5383 allowed for mobile home parks and rv parks to allow for tiny homes on wheels to be parked and resided in in parks.

CONS: The bill locked in tiny houses outside of mobile home parks to have to be tied down to a permanent foundation and tax assessed.

PROS: SB 5383 allowed schools, colleges and nonprofits a way to build to actually place homeless folks into houses.

CONS: The bill did not mandate cities to create safe places for homes so development of tiny house communities is slow and expensive.

PROS: SB 5383 cleared a pathway for tiny houses on wheels 

CONS: RVIA fought against tiny homes on wheels certified as RVs being used as primary residences and anything but a vehicle.

Affordable housing threatens RV industry ARTICLE 

STEPS AND LEGAL LOOP HOLES:

Seattle Tiny Homes, INC specializes in RV certified tiny homes which helps lower your cost of living in the home but you might be asking by now, where’s the good news? Where can I live legally? How can I live in a tiny home? Since Tiny Houses are more costly than a normal house to develop what are my options? Is it worth putting a tiny house on a trailer only to be told by a local city or county that I must remove the wheels and pay enormous fees to lock it into property and assess it as real property? 

THE GOOD NEWS: Leaning on the TEMPORARY concept of RV tiny homes can tiny home dwellers a lot of cash. Estimations of $50,000 on average to be exact. If you legally put in Utilities cities and counties do not have control over parking and living on your property per the Washington state Homestead Act.

WASHINGTON STATE HOMESTEAD LAWS:

Washington homestead laws allow a maximum exemption of $125,000, but don’t specify a maximum acreage.

Keep in mind, the homestead exemption doesn’t protect you from secured creditors such as your mortgage holder. If you don’t make your mortgage payments, your lender can foreclose and sell your house at auction to pay off the loan despite a “homestead exemption.”

HOMESTEAD PAST HISTORY 

One of the first projects for any homesteader was the construction of a residence. The law stipulated that a domicile suitable for permanent residence of at least 10 by 12 feet with a minimum of one window must occupy the property. Most of these homes were built with either logs, sod or cut lumber, depending on what material might be easily at hand. Living quarters on Washington homesteads were almost exclusively built with wood. Log cabins required few tools and no nails, but needed a ready supply of logs and were better suited to smaller houses. Many homesteaders chose plank houses or shanties instead, for several reasons. Washington had a ready supply of trees and numerous mills, especially in the heavily forested areas near the Puget Sound and on the Olympic Peninsula. Homesteading in Washington began in earnest later than many other states, the bulk coming after railroads had connected Seattle and Spokane to the Midwest, which provided better access to construction materials and tools needed for cut lumber homes. Plank homes were easier to add on to, and more mobile. It was not unheard of for homesteaders to move their home to a new claim if abandoning an old one. Unfortunately for those living in areas with colder winters, the plank homes were harder to heat.

Judge rules Seattle homeless man’s truck is a home:

King County Superior Court Judge Catherine Shaffer ruled that the city’s impoundment of Long’s truck violated the state’s homestead act — a frontier-era law that protects properties from forced sale — because he was using it as a home. Long’s vehicle was slated to be sold had he not entered into a monthly payment plan with the city. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/homeless/judge-rules-seattle-homeless-mans-truck-is-a-home/

The operative language of the HOMESTEAD Act is codified generally in RCW chapter 6.13. Of significance, RCW § 6.13.010 defines a homestead as simply “real or personal property that the owner uses as a residence,” which would include a vehicle resident’s personal vehicle. The only relevant limitation expressed in the statute is that the owner of the property must intend to utilize the property as their principal residence. Once this definitional requirement is met, the Act is equally clear about its application of an automatic exemption from any form of forced sale to satisfy a judgement. In fact, the Act expressly requires that a claimed homestead be presumed valid unless its validity is successfully contested in court. In addition to these unambiguous mandates, the Act has historically been construed liberally and given broad effect. In fact, from a public policy perspective, homestead exemptions have been described as necessary “to prevent the weak from being overpowered by the strong.” This combination of unambiguous mandate and liberal construction sets up a perfect playfield for judicial activism. However, even from this seemingly favorable statutory background, asserting homestead rights to protect a vehicle from authorized extrajudicial impoundment presents a few thorny questions that could allow a prudentially inclined bench to avoid the type of judicial intervention being sought. One obstacle, a potential interpretative conflict between the operative statutes, also appears to be the easiest to overcome

https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2567&context=sulr

“For now the association is working with NFPA to create a new standard to establish construction standards as well as allow for the temporary needs of tiny home sitting across the country. We all know that tiny homes do not pose a threat to different industries and make a great investment and we at the association are going to continue fighting for less government control over housing and more options for the people who want to live legally in smaller sustainable housing. ” Todd McKellips

 

Filed Under: News

Parking Options for Your Tiny Home

January 6, 2019 4 Comments

Many people would live a minimalist lifestyle if they were given the opportunity. However, tiny home builders get asked one question more than any other. “Where can I park my tiny house?”

The issues have shifted from Why would anyone want to live tiny? To I want to live tiny, but how?

There are dedicated people and organizations who have devoted their time to furthering legislation to make tiny living legal in all 50 states, but we aren’t there yet. So research remains your best tool. We aren’t your local municipality or state government so it is important to know your zoning and coding restrictions and regulations.

If you are one of those who are sold out for tiny life but feel held back by parking restrictions and state by state illegalities, here are four options for parking your tiny home.

A Tiny House Community

Tiny house communities are becoming more common across the United States as those pioneers of the tiny house movement continue to push for the legislature to legalize tiny homes. These communities are hosted by a diverse group of landowners who lease spaces–some full-hook-ups and some boondocking–to tiny house owners. Many are designed like a typical campground, though most are focused on sustainability so they may have a shared spaces such as a garden. Others are more wooded and offer much more privacy and seclusion than a typical RV park.

RV Campground

Not all tiny house communities are RV friendly much like not all RV parks are tiny house friendly. However, legally, if your tiny home has been built by a manufacturer who certifies them with an RV or RVIA certification, an RV campground should be an option for you. There are, however, other stipulations to research such as your size. For instance, most national parks will not allow any rig to park overnight if its length exceeds 42 feet.

On Residential Land or Agricultural Property

This can be shaky ground, so tread lightly and do your due diligence with researching your local area. Every municipality is different. However, many people are parking in a friend’s back yard, or renting a spot from someone looking for extra income. While the situation may not be permanent if local officials decide to make an issue, this kind of space can be a great option for an extended period of time.

In states that frown upon tiny houses, folks get around that by parking on land that is zoned agricultural. Because many farmers hire seasonal help who might pull and RV or have small campsites or cabins for them, not much has been said to disrupt these more full-time parkers.

So the answer here is clear: Do Your Research. Start at the top within your municipality and ask questions. Otherwise, check out the other options for where to park your tiny.

Anyone who lives tiny will always tell you that parking is the biggest fear for potential buyers. However, they will also attest that they know very few folks who have been asked to move their tiny house. As long as you do your research, and be mindful of your location, living tiny can be the dream you’ve always hoped it would be for you.

Please note that nothing in this article should be construed as legal advice. Because every municipality is different, it is critical that you do your own research and make your own decisions about parking a tiny house.

Filed Under: News, Photos

Seattle Tiny Homes Named a Top 40 Seattle YouTube Channel to Follow

October 25, 2018 Leave a Comment

Seattle Tiny House

We’re honored that Seattle Tiny Homes was just named #22 in a list of top 40 Seattle YouTube channels to follow by our friends at Feedspot. These Seattle YouTube channels were ranked based on criteria like:

  • Total YouTube channel subscribers, video views, and video uploads
  • Quality and consistency of videos
  • YouTube search ranking

You can check out the full list of the top 40 Seattle YouTube channels at Feedspot’s blog.

And, take a moment to visit Seattle Tiny Homes’ YouTube channel for the latest videos. You’ll want to subscribe to our channel while you’re there. Thanks for checking it out!

 

Filed Under: News, Photos

Loft Ideas for Your Tiny Home

October 25, 2018 Leave a Comment

Tiny house loft bedroom

We’re pleased to feature a guest blog from our friends at Tiny House Society. Check out their work at www.tinysociety.co.

By Molli McGee

Interested in moving into a tiny house? You’re not alone. Tiny houses are sweeping the nation with their charming looks and clever functionality. And speaking of functionality, it’s one of the things that tiny houses happen to do best. With a small space comes a need for purposeful designs and simplified spaces; and a loft space is a great example of just that. Let’s take a look at some useful loft ideas for your tiny home.

Big Bed, Small Space

If you want to feel extra cozy on those chilly PNW nights, a bed that fills out the entire loft is the way to go. Think wall-to-wall mattress, blankets, and pillows! You’ll be able to scoot right out of bed in the mornings and right into bed in the evenings–what could be better than that?

Safety Railing

Nervous about falling over the edge? Safety railings aren’t just for toddlers! Add a decorative and functional railing to the edge of your loft space. You’ll enjoy your space much more.

Windows

A loft space is the perfect place to watch the stars with the people you care about. A few windows or a skylight not only make a great viewing point–they also allow for a lovely breeze! The addition of windows also spreads more natural light throughout your tiny home, making it appear more spacious.

Kid Space

Everyone needs a place to have some “me time,” and that includes the kids! A loft can be like a little treehouse in your tiny home. It’s a space where the kids can keep their toys, play board games, and even have sleepovers with their friends!

Tiny house loft for kids

Extra Room

Assuming your vertical clearance is high enough, a loft space works well as an extra living room or home office. If your tiny house is extra tiny, an additional place to read a book or watch a movie might be a welcome idea. For the digital nomads out there, a loft office is also handy for productivity as it keeps you away from everything else on the ground floor. 

Ladder or Stairs

Another aspect of having a loft is deciding how you want to access it. There are a number of options out there, and it’s up to you to decide which works best for your lifestyle! A rustic ladder (think vintage, rolling library ladder) can look aesthetically pleasing, but also take up minimal space. Metal rungs attached to the wall take up even less space and also look stylish in a tiny home. If climbing a ladder isn’t your cup of tea, then stairs can even be included in some tiny house plans. Add a few drawers or cupboards in the steps and you’ve got valuable, additional storage space!

Feeling inspired? Hopefully these tiny house loft ideas have given you some excellent design ideas for your own home. If you’re interested in designing your own tiny, a great way to do this is by first drawing out the floor plan yourself or by contracting a professional. That way, you’ll have a better understanding of exactly what you’re looking for.

Do you have your own tiny house loft ideas? Let us know in the comments below!

Author: Molli McGee

Bio:

Molli is a U.S. citizen currently living in Cape Town, South Africa. Aside from writing about tiny houses, Molli loves to be at the beach and eat food (often at the same time). As an avid surfer and beach-goer, she does her best to promote a sustainable way of living.

Website: www.tinysociety.co

Filed Under: General, Photos

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