Living in an RV - need suggestions

[MN Gardener]

Well we have finally sold our house and will be building a smaller home. We will not be able to start building until we close on our current home. Because of this we will need to live in our 5th Wheel camper for a few months until the house is liveable. So, I was wondering if anyone has any good tips for this? We will be hooked up to water and electric and will have all our stuff stored in a large pole building on site. We will have a porta-potty or outhouse since there is not septic and the RV bathroom does not work. We are going to set up an outdoor shower and my in laws live close and will let us use their showering facilities also. We have a large garden and I think I will have to do more freezing then canning. It will be me, DH and DS who is 9. I also have to run my home real estate business out of it, so I am hoping the house can be built fast! Any helpful hints would be very much appreciated!

[Trisha in WA]

DH and I lived in a 27' 5th wheel for 6 months this rainy winter with our 2 fairly large dogs. It was a real challenge.
I would suggest if you can to put your "office" in the barn. The space in a 5th wheel is so limited that it makes it hard to keep important things well organized. If you can set up a small desk to keep all that in one spot out of the trailer, I think it will make your life a lot easier. Also, everyone needs a private place to get away from everyone else. Mostly that will be outside of the trailer.
You probably know this already, but pair down what you need to the barest of minimums for inside the trailer. If you can get to laundry once a week, keep only about 8-10 days worth of cloths in there for each person...again, if you can have your dressers set up in the barn so you can use them, all the better.
We also had a big 3 burner cooker outside that we used for canning. It worked GREAT! And we used our bar b que a lot, but we do that most of the time anyway. It helped keep the cooking mess out side at least a little.
Our shower wasn't too bad really, just had to take fairly quick showers. We used the gray water on the pastures and hauled our black water to a dump station every week. That worked really well for us too.
Oh and congratulations on selling your house! Have fun building your new one...it is an experience you will never forget. Learn to laugh about the frustrations and you will do great.

[mnn2501]

Being you're in MN I would say a screened in porch would be in order, preferably something that you could use both before and after your home was built.
If you are going to be living in it over the winter I would suggest hay bales or something similar surrounding the 5th wheel for insulation

[ErinP]

We're currently doing something very similar.

We have a 35 year old 16' camper. The kids' rooms are in there, as well as the kitchen. We actually eat in the shop and DH and I's room, as well as my office are set up in here also.

We built an outhouse a year ago, so that's what we have for toilet facilities. And our shower consists of a really small deck, with three sheets of pressure treated plywood for walls. The fourth wall is a curtain, but we're thinking of doing something differently there as it's hard to keep it from blowing the constant wind.

We use these for the actual hot water: http://www.walmart.com/ip/COLEMAN-SH...i_sku=13848644 Or, fill them from the camper's hot water (since the water heater works quite well). I've had nothing but comfortable showers.

[Harry Chickpea]

If at all practical, fix the bathroom, set the RV near where the house will be, and install the septic system that you'll need for the house. Then direct pipe from the RV bathroom into the septic. Lugging waste gets old.

Set up in the shade if possible. It can make things 10 degrees cooler.

Build a shed with a locking door. You'll want storage space that is outside of living quarters. Put the freezer in there and LOCK IT - ALL THE TIME. Doors magically open and stay open if you don't. If you build the shed, you can put a clothes washer in there as well. Laundromats get old too.

Screen room near the entrance for extra space.

Internet. Directv if you are into that.

Can you tell we've BTDT?

[Wolf mom]

Put the kids in a tent! They'll love their own space. (So will you)

Get plywood sheets and build a wall round the part of the 5th wheel that goes over the truck bed. Great out-of-the-weather storage area.

I think I'd build a large shed first and use that as my "office". Privacy is at a premimum & I sure wouldn't want kids hollering in the background on my business calls.

And yes, I second a screened porch, & doing as much cooking outside as possible. Casseroles & sandwiches & paper plates anyone? Marshmallows around an evening campfire to end the day.

[Dexter]

Your house will be done in a few months? I'd expect longer.
If you have showering facilities elsewhere, power and water, you're going to be fine. Like a big RVing trip, only with all your stuff.
I use a "sawdust toilet" (in a bucket) and have for 5 years in the RV, works beautifully.

Another thread some time ago concerned someone who had zoning problems living in a camper. So, I'd check with your local building inspectors/zoning code enforcement, or whatever you have there to be sure you will not be violating some sort of rules.

[Patt]

I admire your fortitude! Sounds like you have some good ideas to start like a good sized building for storage. You may want to look at having a small office space added in there for your real estate business. Just a small 2 x 4 and plywood box with a door and an outside window for air will give you some much needed space to keep all your stuff together and get away from the cramped trailer as needed.

[MN Gardener]

As far as building codes go, we are fine. DH has checked into that with the county.
There is no way the house is going to be complete finished in a few month, probably only finished enough to get live in it (bathroom, bedroom, make shift kitchen, etc)....it will probably take years for it to be finished! LOL
I like the idea of having the small office area in the pole building and the screen house is going to have to be a must. Do you think those metal screen houses without a floor will work? The are only $150 - $200 and we could use it after we build too. Keep the ideas coming....my brain is fried right now. We have sold our rental house and our primary house within two weeks of each other and I am going crazy!
Oh yeah, and I had a job interview on Thurs....UGH!

[chewie]

i also did this. hubby and kids tho., lived in a real house 8 miles away. i however had to stay at our place cuz of our animals and simply cuz the place had been used as a hangout and it was just best someone be there--and since i dont' hold the day job....this did give me a house to use when needed, but i spent most of my time at the camper/property.

pick only a few sets of clothes. i washed mine out by hand and hung dry a couple times, before bothering to gather them up and haul them to wash.

pick a very few pans to cooks with--and a crock pot!! a grill is also good. kids were in school and hubby eat at work, so for myself, sandwiches and oatmeal and soup made up many meals.

we used a carport for a 'veranda', and that helped alot, til the storms took it. it was nice to park our picnic table under it and have a spot to have dinner without sun on us.

i would leave out a bucket of water in the sun, after a long day working, a moonlit sponge bath was heaven!!

i really liked having a book light, so i didn't have to have elec. on all the time. i also made sure to have a tracphone with plenty of minutes. list of numbers i need most so i didnt' need a phone book. used the library for internet.

i think its just something ya learn as ya go. if i can offer anything, it'd be to label your storage boxes really well!!! that is one place i was sorely sorry. trying to find anything was horrible. we only had 2 weeks to move tho., so had several ppl help and stuff just got jammed into boxes willy-nilly. heck, i'm still finding stuff i've lost for over a year now!!

[7thswan]

We brought in a regular pig tank for our Propane. Put bales arround the bottem then lattuce and built a deck. The front part was made into a dog yard with picket fence. Built a cookhouse for my wood cookstove(yes I drag that thing everywhere) with windows and shelves. No elec. so sometimes had to run the gen. which was placed aways and the sound was blocked with bales. Pota/ potie man came and pumped out the grey water, the rest drained on the ground. Filled the water tank out of the big water tank thing that goes in the back of the truck. Storage shed.

[Beeman]

Deck and or screened porch is a definite. A place to escape to and it helps keep the dirt and mud out. Start thinking about cold weather now.

[Country Lady]

We lived in a 26' fifth wheel while our house was being built. We had it parked in the yard of my parents old house (not livable) where we had our stuff stored. We were able to hook up to the water, electricity and sewer, and to conviently pull from our stored stuff since it was so handy. However, let me tell you, I was so ready to get out of that RV. We'd always been campers and loved it, but after we moved into our new house we sold our RV and haven't been camping since, nor do I have a desire to own another RV and camp again. I'm very thankful we did have the RV at a needed time, but I had enough camping for a lifetime. LOL

[ronbre]

i guess my main concern would be to have the house up and livable, by winter..otherwise sounds like you are all set.

[Witterbound]

You're not gonna have a house built in 4 months when it starts getting cold outside. Does it start getting cold in MN in October, or later? Anyway, I'd sugget you start planning for cold weather, now. How are you going to keep your pipes from freezing? I don't think trailers have much insualtion in them, and it will likely cost a lot to heat it this winter. I'd go to some trailer dealers, or places where folks live in travel trailers for a long time, and start asking a lot of questions.

[jlrbhjmnc]

Jackie Clay and her family lived in a travel/camp trailer for a winter when they moved to their northern MN land. She has written about it on backwoodshome.com and in her book Starting Over.