Seattle Tiny Homes

Creative Innovative Tiny Home Solutions (Seattle, Washington) Backyard Houses, DADU, ADU, Home Builder.

  • Home
  • Financing
  • Models
    • Photo Gallery
  • Design
  • Shop
  • Contact

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

The Importance of Proper Plumbing in a Tiny House

June 7, 2017 Leave a Comment

Have you ever felt an earthquake? Do you remember what that was like? Imagine what a house experiences during an earthquake: it has to bounce, bend, stretch, and sway, hopefully all without structural or superficial damage. Now think what a tiny house on wheels must endure in everyday travel down the road.

Each component of a house on wheels must be engineered to endure the jarring gauntlet of potholes, speed bumps, rumble strips, railroad crossings, and stop-and-go traffic, and come out unscathed on the other side. Though largely invisible, a tiny home’s plumbing is no exception to this rule, and is among the most important systems to preserve intact in a tiny home.

At Seattle Tiny Homes, we know how vital a sturdy plumbing system is, both for the comfort and quality of your living experience as well as the protection of your home. We commit to providing you with leading-edge technology that will keep the water flowing for many years to come.

Ben Klassen, our craftsman in charge of construction, wants to show you some of the secrets of our tiny homes’ plumbing, which he says can be one of the most complicated steps in the building process. With years of experience in remodeling and new construction, Ben calls Wirsbo plumbing hardware, which comes standard in all our new units, a “bullet-proof system.”

Produced by Uponor, Wirsbo AquaPEX crosslinked polyethylene tubing is both simple to install and highly reliable. The strength of the AquaPEX tubing and of the compatible ProPEX expansion fittings makes it an ideal fit for homes on wheels, whose water lines, among other unique stresses, can be susceptible to freezing. Not to worry, says Ben, as the Wirsbo system can withstand freezing. That said, each home comes with low-point drain valves for easy winterization, just like an RV.

Before our tiny homes are finished, you can see parallel half-inch red and blue (hot and cold) AquaPEX pipes threading their way around the house, connecting kitchen, bath, and laundry areas. The elbow and tee joints we use to route the plumbing through the house are attached to the tubing with the ProPEX expansion fitting system, using a tool designed specifically for that purpose. These expansion joints allow for more flow capacity than standard crimp or clamp connections, and the tight bends achieved with AquaPEX tubing help save space, which is always at a premium in a tiny home.

plumbing in tiny house
Red and blue (hot and cold) Wirsbo AquaPEX plumbing pictured in an Alki tiny home under construction

The finished product—which uses no glue or minimal threaded connections—only grows stronger with age, producing a plumbing system that will last a lifetime. That’s why you can rest easy in our tiny homes after a long and bumpy day on the road, knowing that, though you can’t see it, you are surrounded by premium plumbing that won’t let you down.

Wirsbo plumbing benefits include:

  • Glueless, threadless connections that strengthen with time
  • Freeze tolerance
  • Space-saving joints and tight bends
  • Full-bore joints and fittings that don’t restrict flow

As you can see, proper plumbing in a tiny house is critical. If you would like to learn more or want to get started on your tiny house dream, contact us today!

plumbing in a tiny house
A finished Alki hitting the road!

 

Filed Under: News, Plumbing

Tiny Home Success Story: Chris Silva

March 1, 2017 Leave a Comment

Meet Chris Silva

As an advocate of sustainable living, the tiny home movement was quick to catch Chris’ eye. Chris believes that it is important to show the world how easy it is to live simple and that the amount of work put into building a tiny home may be a lot less than people realize. Here is his tiny home success story.

Although Chris was a recent UCSB graduate and crafty in the ways of woodwork- the skills needed to build and frame a tiny house were new to him. But with his DIY dream in sight, he wasn’t going to let anything stop him.

How He Did It

First, Chris did a lot of research.  There are many different companies making tiny homes so he had a lot of options. By observing as much as he could, talking to other tiny home builders and learning from their mistakes, Chris worked to make his dream a reality.

Along with finding the right materials, Chris also had to find a temporary place to park the home while he was building. With his construction site secured and materials selected, it was time for Chris to find the right foundation for his tiny house.

Just like any other tiny home, Chris’ vision was specific and personalized. Based on certain design aspects, Chris’ trailer had to be specifically designed to make sure his house would sit securely. A foundation is vital to any house and a tiny home is no different.

Because Chris chose a Seattle Tiny Homes trailer, he was able to customize the trailer build. He ended up spacing the axles further apart than normal to give his home the maximum stability.

tiny home success story with trailer

The End Result

With hard work and help from some friends, Chris successfully built a tiny home for a low cost.

A unique learning experience later and Chris was finally ready to unveil his idea to the world. He first showcased his DIY tiny home at the Santa Barbara Earth Day festival. The tiny house on wheels generated a lot of interest and excitement.

Displaying his tiny house at events is how Chris is able to communicate his message and promote his movement called “Sustainable Obtainable.” Chris has lived in his tiny house for the past eight months and plans on continuing to do so.

Ultimately, Chris hopes to continue to display the benefits and conveniences that living tiny can bring. He also has interest in creating a sort of community café based around tiny homes.  Chris has found that living tiny is a great way to save money. And he has realized that choosing to build it himself saved even more.

If you’re ready to move forward with building your own tiny house like Chris did, we are here to help. We offer trailers that are completely customizable to meet your needs, as well as DIY plans. Of course, if you want us to build your tiny house, we’ll work with you to personalize your home and build it to the highest standards of quality. Contact us today to get started!

Filed Under: News, Trailer Tagged With: tiny home, trailer

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 6
  • Next Page »

Stay Connected

866-4-TNY-HOME | PHONE & FAX

inquiry@seattletinyhomes.com

We deliver to all 50 states. Contact us for details.
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Get Our Email Updates!

Get Our Email Updates!

* indicates required

Copyright © 2023 Seattle Tiny Homes. All rights reserved.

Sitemap - Terms of Service & Privacy Policy