• Lou B
  August 21, 2023, 5:53 pm

  As long as TH builders, Marketers, and those shilling for them continue to push six-figure+ ‘solutions’, the DYI TH movement will never die. Magazines may well refuse to publish their stories (bad for business!), but the People know better, and the scores of non-subscribers will laugh at the preposterous notion that DIY is “dead”.
  Nice try, THM – but NO SALE!

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  • James D.
    August 22, 2023, 2:47 pm

    Well, not that I really disagree with you but it is more complicated as DIY doesn’t automatically mean you avoid “six-figures+”, it actually depends on the details, specific situation, and what someone wants to get out of it. Plenty of people can still get to very high price points and not everyone who DIY’s will get the same result. It’s thus generally more about having more control, which can avoid a good deal of the common costs but that isn’t a guaranteed result.

    To be clear, DIY definitely won’t die. I’m just clarifying what people should expect as their choices will always matter and desired results often require specific choices to be made that are often more complicated than just between DIY or commercially built to really make a difference…

    So, while DIY is a great option, it isn’t always an option for everyone. Since, people aren’t always physically able, time may not allow for it (like not having a home before winter), it can be impaired by legal requirements that may force 3rd party involvement, the trade offs may not make sense for everyone, and not everyone will always have everything they need to build the home they want to have and it may not be something they want to compromise upon… So there are reasons why there’s a question mark on the option to DIY…

    On the flip side, it’s all complicated by the fact there’s a definite problem with people not appreciating people in the trades. It’s why there isn’t enough people in the trades and that’s one of the reason for the higher costs because there’s more demand than people to fill the need and there isn’t enough resources provided to make it easy for people in the trades to acquire their level of skills, etc.

    Something that also effects DIY because not everyone appreciates craftsmanship and skills and thus don’t acquire them or value them enough and this even effects people’s choices because they don’t understand fully what the costs are actually for and what can or can’t be avoided. Thus, often focusing on things that either don’t really matter or cost more than they need to.

    So there needs to be a more fundamental change than just saying people should DIY more. Ever since, about the 80’s, people have looked down upon any form of manual labor and we’re paying the price for that now. Along with indoctrination of people expecting to get things that require either lots of labor or unnecessary costs, like buying something new instead of repairing something to last longer, etc.

    Size of homes are just one of the things that have made it harder for people to DIY or have any other means of dealing with costs. Going tiny helps but there’s lots of other details that effect costs and the ability to have options like DIY as well.

    Back when people appreciated the trades, had apprenticeships, etc. there was plenty of people who could DIY and even option to have neighbors help with anything that someone wasn’t personally good at or just lend a helping hand to do just about anything needed. It was also once common to have furniture, etc. last for decades or even multiple generations as an abundance of skilled people easily allowed efficient use of materials and avoided wasting resources… Compare that to the world today for why things like whether DIY will stop being an option is even a question and one of the contributing factors to rising costs.

    Knowledge is power but we must also have the wisdom and ability to learn lessons from history to understand how that knowledge should be utilized and not just keep taking things for granted as only real change will make things better and break the cycle of repeating mistakes throughout history…

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• Lou B.
  August 22, 2023, 4:26 pm

  Ok. You’re basically describing the mechanics of DIY: the more involved a buyer is in making their own decisions about cost/benefit and who will do the work, the more likely they are to escape the high priced cost-of-admission that today’s TH builders have gathered around. And of course “3rd party involvement” is a given; municipal building permits are a fact of life.

  My main objection to the article was the assertion that TH buyers only have the expensive, boutique builder options to choose from, especially when most of what I see in Tiny House Magazine is representing that builder community, often highlighting examples that in no way could be considered “tiny”.

  Outside the pages of THM, DIY is alive and well, and the main reason that TH are not a more prevalent solution in the housing crises is due to the false proposal that TH means a six-figure+ price tag.
  Lou B.

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  • James D.
    August 26, 2023, 7:29 pm

    Again, it’s more complicated. There’s a reason people think high prices are the only option…

    Yes, it’s a misconception that is the only option but it’s common because of multiple reasons like most people are unwilling to choose the less expensive options! It’s a systematic problem with many causes that just becomes more clear the larger percentage of the population is involved.

    Unless the actual root reasons for these systematic issues are addressed the problem will persist and there are no magic or quick fix solutions.

    Besides, there’s lots of misconception. Lack of understanding of lower cost options are just one of them… Like DIY isn’t always the cheapest option but can be the most expensive. People not understand the actual reasons for costs nor appreciating what it takes to produce what they want effects many of these misconceptions and is one of the reasons why people end up thinking they don’t have options…

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