Tiny House Kits and General Advice

Hello: I have an issue where some advice would really be helpful.

My mother's husband died not long ago and she would like to move to Florida where we can help take care of her. Long story short she can still take care of herself and small cottage in our back yard would be a perfect solution (we don't really have the room in the house for another bedroom).

My in-laws used to live in our backyard and had an RV pad with hookups for water, septic and electric installed. The pad is 42' x 14'.

We are looking at tiny home alternatives. I can do basic DIY stuff, but don't really feel confident in building a dwelling for a human from scratch (well maybe if I were going to live in it but not for an older relative).

We have gotten a few construction estimates, but they literally want as much as we paid for our entire house and property to build a 400 sq foot cottage.

I have looked at tiny home kits on Amazon etc. Does anyone have any experience with any sort of tiny home kit? Are any of them any good or worth the money at all? I assume it's all lower quality Chinese stuff?

The prefab "homes" I have found are really just sheds, there doesn't seem to be any in between spot from expensive custom built cottage to cheap garden shed with a few extras.

I am just looking for general advice, any and all is welcome.

I am in Florida btw, we have rules made to encourage "auxiliary dwelling units" so it looks like permitting will not be a big hurdle.

Thanks in advance of any answers I may get.

A used RV would be the easiest fix, but I suspect she will not like climbing stairs to get in and out of the "house/truck"...   So this leads me to ask is she a young older person, or an old, older person, because this will have to be factored into ease of access, and how long the structure is to be used. Will she be joining you for meals or cooking on her own? Real kitchen vs space to warm up meals. once you get a handle on these issues the living space can be designed to serve her well, and not burden you retrofitting handicap access ramps wide hallways for wheel chairs and such. Florida is still recovering from summer hurricanes, do not expect to find a contractor for reasonable price, so the more work you can do yourself the better. 20ft and 40ft ISO shipping containers are trendy tiny homes, check online adds to see if there are any local to you that you could go see. sadly most of those are built with lots of environmentally unfriendly interiors. I do like the idea of solid walls and repurposing/recycling a shipping container.

We got our first tiny house at Home Depot.

At that time the storage building they carried were Tuff Sheds.

We bought the one that looks like a barn so we could use the loft for storage.

If you are able to finish the inside this is a really good savings.

Our daughter has done the same thing with her cabins for her AirBnB.

She bought her appliances at the RV store for that.

Since you already have electric/septic for the RV you could tie into that.

I like the suggestion from J Syme about wheel chair assessability.

Storage shed vs shipping container, it seems the storage shed might be easier on required permits or not one at all.

Thank you for the replies. My mother is in her mid eighties but still gets around and takes care of herself. The point about the steps, accessibility is one of the reasons we don't want to go with an RV or similar solution. While it might not be an issue now time marches on and in two three years it could very easily be an issue.

The kitchen part, we would like to keep as many options for her as possible so she can feel independent. So a true kitchen would be nice but doesn't have to be elaborate, she will probably eat with us but I would like her to have the option to cook for herself if she wants.

Check out your local habitat for humanity restore for kitchen setup items. After hurricane Andrew I helped a few Florida people rebuild and that place save us a ton of money on some really nice gently used stuff, and as a bonus I met some good folks with construction experience.

I would absolutely work on a plan that includes wheelchair/walker accessibility, and make sure toilets etc have grab rails. Have you tried looking online for plans that include that sort of thing, to help you get an idea of what to look for? Support organizations for certain disease groups may have the info for free even if you aren't in their 'designated group'. Things like measurements for turning circles for wheelchairs is what I'm thinking of.

I would also make sure that whatever you get, it is sturdily enough built to take what recent storms have been throwing at Florida. I recently read a recommendation for the lower floor to be all concrete (blocks or poured) so that after it floods you just need to power-wash it! Friends of mine made most of their kitchen "portable" so they could move their "cupboards" which were really upcycled old dressers and dinning room furniture, out of the way when needed.

It takes a huge amount of time to do the finishing work on a building, so I understand why you would hesitate. However, I would make sure that the building is properly insulated and has good windows, as those help to keep a building cooler in the heat, as well as warmer when it's cold. Thermal mass is important for helping the house cope with temperature swings. For many prefab building, this will have to be in the floor, so again, advance planning is critical.

Scott,

I would like to encourage you to build on your own.  There are a lot of resources on the net to pull from.  A 14'x42' is perfect for an additional dwelling.  You are correct.  The prices contractors are charging now is outrageous.  My older brother and I built his home where he has now retired, in 1987.  It was a two car garage 'kit' that he had them expand 8 feet on the back to accommodate a second bathroom.  I think he was all at less than $20k, well plumbing, electrical house and a/c.  He has never had a mortgage.   It was a first time for both of us; but we got it done.

You don't have to do it all yourself, electrical and plumbing can be contracted; or anything else you feel is not your skill set.  However, long rectangles are really easy to frame.  The foundation is already poured.  You are further along than one might think.

If you are willing to explore that possibility more, there is a lot of knowledge on here willing to help and support.  Is there anything in particular that would keep you from doing a simple one level home?