Can you legally turn a commercial shed into a house?

[freebeard]

Topic: Can you legally turn a commercial shed into a house?

I stop by and chat with the sales rep for Summit Structures. What he told me last time was that half their sales are tiny house shells (insulated and paneled), and he suspects half the other are converted from sheds to tiny houses after the fact.

Their manufacturing plant plant is in Albany, but they have a competitor that is right across and down the street from me. They have 10x40s lined up out front.

[Piotrsko]

Can you convert: typically yes, just meet codes in your jurisdiction. Saw a federal override a while back that blocked some CCR's from stopping you.

Stuff like water sewer, windows, floor and roof load minimums, sq ft minimum and sometimes appearance.

[Xist]

The only CCR I can find is Clearance Clearwater Revival!

I just woke up and I didn't sleep enough!

[Piotrsko]

CCR: Covenant, Clearances, Restrictions. Not some ancient southern hillbilly rock band

[freebeard]

'Imagination sets in, Pretty soon I'm singin'. Do-it, do-it, doo, Lookin' out my back door.'

I've been telling the sales rep that his friend who maks tiny houses should make a utility pod that would clip onto the end of a shed with only penetrations for water supply, drains and electrical/gas/Ethernet through the wall.

It would be a racking system with water tank under glass on the top, the minimal code-approved plumbing stack, and a source-agnostic microgrid.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by freebeard

I've been telling the sales rep that his friend who maks tiny houses should make a utility pod that would clip onto the end of a shed with only penetrations for water supply, drains and electrical/gas/Ethernet through the wall.

That would be very convenient.

It would be a racking system with water tank under glass on the top, the minimal code-approved plumbing stack, and a source-agnostic microgrid.

When it comes to water, maybe reusing grey water in the garden and resorting to composting toilets would improve overall efficiency of that setup. When you mention a source-agnostic microgrid, would it involve only the power supply or would you also be considering collecting rainwater?

[freebeard]

The microgrid is electrical. The solar hot water tank needs replenishing from somewhere.

[Piotrsko]

How does one collect rainwater in a community where that is illegal? Collect snowfall?

[Xist]

How do they enforce it?
My sister has big water containers because they got a water softener, which is supposed to kill her plants.

Are they going to buzz their neighborhood with target practice?

[Piotrsko]

In some of the communities that I have seen with anti rain collection statutes, they have retired people doing code enforcement looking for containers attached to the gutter downspouts or visible gutter ends with nothing attached. Cant see what's to stop you from building a containment pond out of your back yard and draining your roof into the back yard.