Alternative living arrangements - Page 2

thewalrus · 01-26-2012, 09:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaulB

I've got a locker at Maple Leaf Storage near the PNE, and for a few years there was a guy down the aisle who was using a locker as his living room. I don't think he was sleeping there, but he was hanging out almost every time I went there. Haven't seen him for a long time now.

On a $/sq. foot basis, a storage locker is as expensive as some apartments, but with a much smaller monthly cash flow requirement.

I found it much cheaper to rent a 20 foot storage container (28 or 33 cubic meters, depending on whether you get the 8' high or 9'6" high version) and pay to keep it somewhere in secured lot in an industrial area... The same internal space in a storage place would be $250+/mo when the container rents for $110, and you can work out deals cheaper than that if you pay half a year in advance.

edit: this was for storage, not living in!

heckler · 01-26-2012, 09:46 PM

Floating houses in false creek and the marina under the second narrows are cool alternatives.

Until they spring a leak.

barnz0rz · 01-26-2012, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thewalrus

I found it much cheaper to rent a 20 foot storage container (28 or 33 cubic meters, depending on whether you get the 8' high or 9'6" high version) and pay to keep it somewhere in secured lot in an industrial area... The same internal space in a storage place would be $250+/mo when the container rents for $110, and you can work out deals cheaper than that if you pay half a year in advance.

I've also looked into the merits of getting one of the converted storage container systems and putting it on a lot, having that as your house. It's pretty much bomb proof anyway.
Houses are expensive, might as well get creative. If you did this you would still own the lot where all the real value is anyway.

thewalrus · 01-26-2012, 10:11 PM

The time and labor required to convert a cargo container into a house is quite significant... They need to be insulated and have wall framing/paneling built inside them. Unless you really need a house that can be picked up and moved by standard container cranes, or transported to a work camp type site, it may not be worth it. One of the things not commonly known is that the roof and side panels are not structural at all. You have basically the long steel members, the corner posts and the four vertical steel posts to work with.

It takes a great deal of cutting torch work and welding to mount prefab double pane windows and door frames in the side walls of a container...

Knight-Rider · 01-27-2012, 02:03 AM

You can get containers with reinforced floors and roofs. Like was said above, it can get quite costly to modify a container. You can buy a regular 20' for about $3500. Once you get into windows and doors, it jumps up to about $8k and goes up from there.

On a related note, Right now I am toying with the idea of buying a motorhome and living like a gypsy for a year. I have lots of friends and I can weed some of them out by douching up their front yards. Cough *zedbra, Rat and APT* cough

Plus it will make the drive home after biking easier, as I would be already there.

Somebody has to live the dream.

grinch · 01-27-2012, 04:06 AM

this yr is the first yr in 7 that i have indoor plumbing/running water. the previous 6 were in a camper or motorhome. the first 3 were in a small truck camper that fit in my lil yota truck. parked it in a friends yard in canmore and shot him some quid (best ski yrs i've had). saved up enough to buy the 21 ft c class that i lived in for the next 3. bought a car dolly so i pull my yota when i change home bases and use the yota as the daily driver. in canmore it gets 6-7 weeks of -30 to -40 so it was nice to have a plug in rather than run the gen set and/or furnace. just checking out different areas while i save for something more permanent

Madman · 01-27-2012, 04:06 AM

Living on a boat can be dirt cheap.

I know of some squatters that live in tim buck two, basically in old campers and what not.

go-t · 01-27-2012, 05:31 AM

Best part about living in the narth? Buying a house for a reasonable price. 1000 sq ft on a double lot with detached garage, 178 000

Madman · 01-27-2012, 06:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by go-t

Best part about living in the narth? Buying a house for a reasonable price. 1000 sq ft on a double lot with detached garage, 178 000

what is there to do.

connor · 01-27-2012, 06:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Madman

what is there to do.

jack off with all the oil..

DaveM · 01-27-2012, 06:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Madman

what is there to do.

freeze your ass off for 6 months then swat flies the size of birds for 6 months

go-t · 01-27-2012, 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveM

freeze your ass off for 6 months then swat flies the size of birds for 6 months

Quad, dirtbike, fish, hunt, road bike, tame mountain biking - but road trips to the mountain are easy to afford, motorbike, there's a huge car racing scene, jet boats are popular, lots of volunteer organizations around (I'm a kinsman and a firefighter), and if you get bored of all that, you can probably afford a vacation someplace with beaches and topless chicks.

Adam West · 01-27-2012, 07:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by go-t

Quad, dirtbike, fish, hunt, road bike, tame mountain biking - but road trips to the mountain are easy to afford, motorbike, there's a huge car racing scene, jet boats are popular, lots of volunteer organizations around (I'm a kinsman and a firefighter), and if you get bored of all that, you can probably afford a vacation someplace with beaches and topless chicks.

can you play with legos?
I can

DaveM · 01-27-2012, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by go-t

Quad, dirtbike, fish, hunt, road bike, tame mountain biking - but road trips to the mountain are easy to afford, motorbike, there's a huge car racing scene, jet boats are popular, lots of volunteer organizations around (I'm a kinsman and a firefighter), and if you get bored of all that, you can probably afford a vacation someplace with beaches and topless chicks.

what about from November to April?

and I think you naturally assume everyone in the lower mainland is making minimum wage and can't afford anything but ichiban and crackers.

XXX_er · 01-27-2012, 04:55 PM

^^^ go skiing, snow shoeing xc skiing, icefishing, snow mobiling, skating out doors on open ice, not spend many hrs and gas money behind the wheel commuting

01-26-2012, 10:11 PM	#19
thewalrus Human Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Bellingham/Vancouver/Central Asia Posts: 2,936 Rep Power: 2847546	The time and labor required to convert a cargo container into a house is quite significant... They need to be insulated and have wall framing/paneling built inside them. Unless you really need a house that can be picked up and moved by standard container cranes, or transported to a work camp type site, it may not be worth it. One of the things not commonly known is that the roof and side panels are not structural at all. You have basically the long steel members, the corner posts and the four vertical steel posts to work with. It takes a great deal of cutting torch work and welding to mount prefab double pane windows and door frames in the side walls of a container... __________________ "Bicycling is a healthy and manly pursuit with much to recommend it, and, unlike other foolish crazes, it has not died out." - The Daily Telegraph (1877)

01-27-2012, 05:31 AM	#23
go-t Two girls, No cup Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 3,057 Rep Power: 21474840	Best part about living in the narth? Buying a house for a reasonable price. 1000 sq ft on a double lot with detached garage, 178 000 __________________ "Most Americans barely have the brains to walk on their back legs." - Jeremy Clarkson "In some parts of America they've actually started mating with vegetables." - Jeremy Clarkson

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01-26-2012, 09:46 PM	#17
heckler skookum Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: The Darkside Posts: 14,542 Rep Power: 13158808	Floating houses in false creek and the marina under the second narrows are cool alternatives. Until they spring a leak.

01-27-2012, 02:03 AM	#20
Knight-Rider Team Shuttlewhore Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Surrey Posts: 1,082 Rep Power: 819537	You can get containers with reinforced floors and roofs. Like was said above, it can get quite costly to modify a container. You can buy a regular 20' for about $3500. Once you get into windows and doors, it jumps up to about $8k and goes up from there. On a related note, Right now I am toying with the idea of buying a motorhome and living like a gypsy for a year. I have lots of friends and I can weed some of them out by douching up their front yards. Cough zedbra, Rat and APT cough Plus it will make the drive home after biking easier, as I would be already there. Somebody has to live the dream.

01-27-2012, 04:06 AM	#21
grinch ouch Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: revy Posts: 899 Rep Power: 11181549	this yr is the first yr in 7 that i have indoor plumbing/running water. the previous 6 were in a camper or motorhome. the first 3 were in a small truck camper that fit in my lil yota truck. parked it in a friends yard in canmore and shot him some quid (best ski yrs i've had). saved up enough to buy the 21 ft c class that i lived in for the next 3. bought a car dolly so i pull my yota when i change home bases and use the yota as the daily driver. in canmore it gets 6-7 weeks of -30 to -40 so it was nice to have a plug in rather than run the gen set and/or furnace. just checking out different areas while i save for something more permanent

01-27-2012, 04:06 AM	#22
Madman Registered User Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,190 Rep Power: 221032	Living on a boat can be dirt cheap. I know of some squatters that live in tim buck two, basically in old campers and what not.

01-27-2012, 04:55 PM	#30
XXX_er Registered User Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: central B.C. Posts: 10,964 Rep Power: 6350181	^^^ go skiing, snow shoeing xc skiing, icefishing, snow mobiling, skating out doors on open ice, not spend many hrs and gas money behind the wheel commuting