Per Square Foot

Thank a realtor friend of mine for reminding me of this fact: tiny houses are small. Ok. Houses are measured in square feet (in the US). Tiny houses have fewer small feet, hence the 'tiny' part. So, even if something looks expensive per square foot, for a tiny house that number is multiplied by a smaller than normal number. Economy!

Duh.

Tiny houses can be pricey per square foot. That scares some people off. 

Duh. 

But tiny houses also are likely to have less useless space. Mine can't have any spare bedrooms waiting for guests (who may prefer to stay in a hotel.) Mine doesn't sprawl over acreage. The house is about 10 x 39 feet, so the land used is much less. There are no vacant hallways left languishing except for spiderwebs that must be cleared away. Formal spaces are non-existent, which is fine by me because I'm not a formal guy.

The time when the square footage becomes part of the conversation is when there's work to be done. A new roof, small square footage, though slightly smaller for mine because it is peaked. Flooring, small square footage, and usually linear and rectangular, therefore, simpler. Painting, small square footage, which applies to the walls, too; so less need to buy more buckets and take more time. There's more, but think through your history about home projects that involved square footage

Worries are smaller, too. A roof can leak, but it doesn't have a thousand square foot of catch surface to funnel gallons into the interior. Roof leaks are bad, but I remember crawling through a crawlspace attic to get from the access hatch to the site of a leak, so I could regularly collect the rainwater from a storm, so I could gingerly carry that water back down through the hatch, to carry it down the ladder, to dump it down a sink or outdoors. I mentally shudder at the memory. (I'd physically shudder but I can't type at the same time.

Foundations are larger, and now my house doesn't have one. 

Someday I may paint this place but, 1) it won't cost as much time or money, and 2) I may hire it out because I'm 67.

The flooring? Hire that out. Hiring may be expensive, but there ain't that much to do.

I'm sure you get the point.

There are some downsides.

Those vacant spare rooms are handy for shuffling furniture into while another room is renovated, repaired, or simply cleaned. (Having the empty space is a challenge to see if it can be kept empty the rest of the time.)

I miss the spare space for parties and workouts and projects, but that square footage can be someone else's problem. I'll just rent it when I need it.

Visitors happen. Families grow. But, hotels happen, and I can move, but I also know people who put part of the family in their own tiny. (Which they can take with them when they grow up.)

There is also a significant upside in hotter and colder climates. Heating and air conditioning doesn't have to work as hard when heating a smaller space.

The price per square foot can be higher. My tiny house is like a long radiator fin. The per square foot efficiency is lower, but my utility bills are smaller.

For me, the smaller square footage has always been an advantage as every house I've owned in the last few decades has been smaller than the previous. It has become part of a norm, for me. I've had the big spaces, and the empty rooms, as well as the party and workout spaces. But because of the square footage, I've been spending less every time. 

Part of the trick is finding what size works for you. Smaller works better for me, but I could easily imagine being in a larger space if I was sharing it with someone else. That's part of being in a relationship, compromise, or so I hear.

For now, today, at the start of July, I'm comfortably sitting between two large open windows while a breeze blows through, east to west, without getting trapped in a maze of walls and doors. What's the price per square foot to build a room like that into a conventional big house?