Frequently Asked Questions
- Why not an RV/mobile home/camper/pop-up?
- I prefer the aesthetics of a tiny house on a trailer. The ability to customize a tiny home is infinite, and they tend to look more like houses on foundations. Also, tiny houses use more heavy-duty insulation and are meant to be lived-in year round (though I do realize some people live in RVs full-time, too). RVs are meant for travel and are made with lightweight materials. My tiny house will be moveable as a feature, but I won’t be moving more than once a year if that often – so I can choose heavier materials and customize the look and feel to my own tastes.
- Tiny House Design has a great article about the differences: Tiny House vs Camping Trailer
- Ryan Mitchell of The Tiny Life has a good explanation of his own: The difference between a tiny house a mobile home or trailer?
- If there’s no septic system for blackwater, how does the toilet work?
- I plan to use a dry toilet (usually referred to as a “composting toilet” though the composting takes place outside the toilet itself). I’m leaning toward the Nature’s Head or Separett.
- The Humanure Handbook by Joseph Jenkins is considered the ultimate resource for this topic.
- Here’s a podcast episode from Tiny House Chat where Ryan Mitchell (of thetinylife.com) and Macy Miller (of minimotives.com) talk about toilet choices in a tiny house: Episode 8 – Toilets
- Macy even wrote a blog post all about hers: All the reasons flush toilets are actually the gross ones and why I love my compost toilet!
- Are tiny houses legal?
- Yes, sort of. Cities just don’t exactly know what to do with them (yet).
- Read this from Jay Austin of Boneyard Studios: Are tiny houses legal? Yes.
- Also this from Alyse Nelson of Sightline Institute: Legalizing the tiny house
- Where are you going to park it?
- I have some ideas, but I’m not too worried about it. The tiny house dwellers in my area haven’t had any issues finding parking spots.
- Macy’s take on this question: Where can you park a tiny house?
