Tiny homes: fixture or fad?
Thom Kuntz, director of merchandising, and Michelle Tascione, buyer of sustainable initiatives, worked on 84 Lumber’s first tiny home. Every inch of the space in the tiny home is taken into consideration so that it is used efficiently.
84 Lumber is rolling out tiny houses as a new product. The tiny house is made to be environmentally friendly, with accessories such as a compost toilet.
Thom Kuntz, 84 Lumber director of merchandising, talks about the specifics of the tiny house. 84 Lumber will sell different packages for tiny houses, including a build-your-own tiny home, a semi-DIY tiny home and a move-in-ready tiny home.
There is a small patio at the entrance of the tiny house with an electrical outlet on the outside wall.
The bed is located in the loft area above the kitchen. To get to the loft, the resident would step up on a bench, then a foothold and then onto the top of a small closet.
Every space is utilized in 84 Lumber’s tiny houses. The small white board affixed to the wall is a heating unit for the house.
The living area includes seating as well as a fold-out table and bench. Above the entryway is storage space.
The kitchen area includes a small cooktop and refrigerator. To the left of the area is storage and a closet.
One of the models Pinewood Structures builds to customized specifications for tiny-home buyers
Eve Picker is selling her 350-square-foot tiny home in Garfield for $109,000 – at a loss.
Picker carved out a foundation and packed in a dishwasher and other modern amenities. Those investments and costs to tap into the grid left her with an expensive property relative to its size. But companies like 84 Lumber are capitalizing on the popularity of the frugal living trend and hoping to offer more affordable options that avoid problems with foundations and grid tap-ins. 84 hopes its tiny houses – completely built on a wheeled trailer with a composting toilet – will be a better offer for small living.
The “Roving” model the Observer-Reporter toured is 13 feet high and has 154 square feet of space. It features a tankless water heater installed outside and above the wheel well, a shower, loft bed space, refrigerator, electric cooktop and heater, all housed in a cedar wood structure seated on a 9,900-pound-capable trailer rig for $49,884. The ready-made model is only missing a laundry unit, according to marketing director Becky Mancuso.
“If you don’t have roots, or are a young person who has to move or wants to be mobile for work and not wanting to invest in a smaller, full-size home, this is a much different option to meet those needs,” Mancuso said, adding 84 provides custom solar panel setups that could be positioned beside the home.
“This model is for adventurous people who want to go green, or a retired couple looking to stretch their income. If you want to move from place to place, or be a minimalist, this is it,” said Thom Kuntz, director of merchandising.
The same model can be stripped of components all the way down to the base trailer for $7,000, and built up to what elements of a home the buyer wants to haggle over. It’s a method that Sherri Lemley of Waynesburg is considering.
“I’m looking to buy a 12-by-32 structure from Ultimate Structures in Uniontown. It’s not insulated, so I’d have to hire someone to finish it,” said Lemley, who has lived in a 14-by-70 mobile home for 17 years.
“I’m looking at investing $20,000 in a downsized place I can just live in, or spending another $30,000 to repair my current home. It just makes sense for me (to buy a new, smaller home).” Lemley said, “It’s become a dream for me.”
Lemley plans to place the house on her quarter-acre lot in June after she’s cleared it of a shed and shrubs.
Canonsburg could host similar small plots, said borough Councilman John Severine, if the tiny houses are approved through variances.
“We’re redoing our zoning ordinances right now, so we’re taking a look at what kind of tiny homes can be placed in neighborhoods. There are a lot of spots where only a tiny home could fit. But right now, they have to be tapped into the sewerage and they have be on a foundation – no wheels and no compost toilets,” said Severine, who is looking to buy and build out a tiny home himself.
“I want to do it as an example of what you can do, how you can live in Canonsburg, because not everyone has $100,000 for a new home or space that you won’t use. With a tiny house, it encourages someone to live within their means,” Severine said.
Severine said he’s been negotiating prices with Pinewood Structures of Columbia, Ohio for a 14-by-40-foot house “shell” that he would then insulate and have an electrician outfit with proper wiring.
“I could do the plumbing and tap into the sewer. I would look to put solar on it later. The offer they have right now is $11,000 for the shell structure, and I would hope to finish it myself for under $25,000,” Severine said, explaining he hopes to have his project completed before 2017.
The lay-down loft featured in 84’s Roving model also would need a zoning variance in Canonsburg, according to Severine.
“You have to be able to stand up in lofts. That space has to be accounted for like a bedroom. But again, people could come before the board for a variance in the code,” he said.
“Because as far as code considers them, they would be mobile homes or RVs,” Severine said.
Representatives with Citizens Bank, Wesbanco and Progressive Insurance said any insurance or financing for purchase would likely treat any tiny home as an RV for those purposes and filing taxes. The organizations advised checking local ordinances before purchasing a tiny house or land to host it on to make sure the minimalist features would be allowed.
“This could be a vacation or second home for someone. An extension cord, a garden hose and a bag of groceries and you’re good to go,” said Kuntz, “but make sure you’re outdoorsy if you’re going to be entertaining guests, because the guest room, the play room – they are literally out the window with one of these.”
“And the situation in Garfield is a different animal where she bit off more than she could chew with local tap-ins. You’re not worrying about a basement or where your foundation is going to be laid,” Mancuso said.