duetto owner Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 looks like we may have to live in our duetto [hitop transit] for abot 12-18 months while we have a small bungalow built. we will park up on the site of the build so should have water and electric access, furniture off to storage. anyone offer tips for long stay in a small hitop or done similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randonneur Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 I would think it would be a bit small to live in for that amount of time. Have you thought of buying a cheap secondhand caravan? that would give you a lot more room. You should be able to get a decent cheap caravan that would suit your needs. We did this when we were renovating our house, we managed to pay £500 for a 4 berth and sold it a couple of years on for £500, it had everything we needed, oven, grill, gas heater and space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawki Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 Hi Have you considered buying a cheap caravan for this purpose rather than using your van, you will be able to sell the caravan at the end of the project with little loss in value. i would not want to have my motor home parked on a dirty building site Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 I was just about to post something along those lines...as a cheap caravan would make sense to me.. We used to have a Duetto and although it was a great van...I don't think I would've considered living in it for a year?!... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JENIAN Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 The Caravan option is a very good idea. Our Duetto seems enormous when we attach our driveaway awning (Movelite midi) we call it the conservatory/shed (lol) Regards Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 Living in a small van long term like that will inevitably cause a lot of wear and tear - and quite probably domestic friction as well - especially if the build is delayed or over buget and most are - so a cheap caravan may save you money in the end by preserving the Duetto? I am not sure but you may be able to get away with a large tourer rather than an ex holiday static van depending on your local are planning despots although there are limits as to how long you are theoretically allowed to sleep in a tourer - no doubt others will know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike88 Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 I've done it to an extent but only for 5 months. I had sold my house and used the motorhome to search for a new one in a different part of the country. I stayed on a mixture of CLs and Caravan Club sites as well as a bit of wildcamping and parked for a while on my son's drive. I then used the Duetto to look for a property. All furniture was in storage and the car was stored on my son's drive. Oh yes and it was an Autosleeper Duetto of 2002 vintage. Don't worry about wear and tear as the Duetto is incredibly wear resistant; it was as good as new when I came to sell it in 2010. Those who say that you need more space might be because they have larger vans and prefer the space. We don't and I presume you don't either as you have chosen a Duetto as your vehicle of choice. The winter might pose problems but there again a Duetto is well insulated for a panel van but you will need to supplement the Eberspecher which was never that effective. Best of luck. I would have no hesitation in spending a long time in a Duetto. If you asked your builder to build your garage first you could use that for some storage and maybe for a washing machine and fridge/freezer. You will also have to lay some paving slabs/hardcore so as to avoid mud etc in inclement weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tugga Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 If you think you can live in it, then give it a go. My advice would be to buy a largish shed that you can plumb electric and water into for your washing machine and your ironing board & iron and a fridge/freezer. Keep her happy and then you will probably be ok. Make sure you line the walls and fill the cavity with loft insulation otherwise the white goods will freeze. You can always use the shed after the bungalow has been built. Good Luck, I hope it will all be worth it :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 Me and gf have both lived in small touring caravans (not together) and also built a bungalow, our present van is not much bigger than a Duetto, would we live in it for 18months whilst building a bungalow? No way. Of cause whe're all different, but I don't think we could live in the van that long let alone build a bungalow at same time, how much involvement will you have in building? If you will be managing build and/or working on it then for me an 'office' space (even a tiny room) is esencial, trying to sit down and work some details out whilst other half is cooking meal or watching tv in a Duetto would not be good, also getting 'home' after a day lifting floor beams into position I would want some where with a decent sized shower then some where to crash out in peace. All this points to buying a cheap caravan. esp. one which can be hooked up to services. if you've had a hard day in middle of winter last thing you want to do is be emptying thetford on a cold winters night Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 I'd suggest you really, really think hard about living in a camper or even a caravan for that length of time. The winters will be the worst time - condensation and damp being the main problems. For a short length of time I could understand you wanting to do this, but up to 18 months, assuming that it doesn't go beyond that, is a heck of a long time. Have you explored the cost of a cheap rental property in the vicinity? Even a small 1 bedroomed flat which you could return to at the end of the day (assuming you're on site) and chill, get a bath, shower etc, without having to faff around, will be a real bonus. If you need to stay on the site all the time, then I'd suggest something better than a £500 caravan so that you at least have some more home comforts and better insulation, if you look after it, you should get a fair chunk of your money back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 My tip would be get two duetto's one each ! ! Joking apart ,whilst we have to accept the shortcomings of living in small space whiist on our travels as the price you have to pay to do it, I'm certain cabin fever being in one spot would soon take hold. I'm with the others, get a big touring van or an off site mobile home for peanuts,. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ips Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 I wouldnt do it for that long. Just buy a second hand static, you can pick em up for next to nothing much easier than living in a van. Or if space is an issue then get a tourer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duetto owner Posted July 29, 2011 Author Share Posted July 29, 2011 some great advice, thinking about getting a large shed from a garden centre for fridge and storing kitchen gear, hoping to store clothing at a relatives, with furniture,beds etc into storage. the options are still open and we are open minded hoping to get a quick offer on our house so we came start things rolling. renting around here is very expensive, would hope 12 months would be max but thinking of 18 if delays in planning/weather etc. our duetto has mosts things [dig tv,cooker,oven sink,small fridge,toilet, verysmall shower] just lacks that extra space, beds are very comfy. if things get too dusty then its off to a campsite for a few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dshague Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 when you watch grand designs on tv and they live in a caravan for a long time they cannot wait to get out .good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 Some of the mud from the building site will find its inside you van. How much depends on where you park and your personal habits. The more mud, the more wear and tear, the more anxious and irritable you become. I looked at living in my Hymer full time when I am working away. All the advice I received said full timing in the UK during winter was not fun even with the Hymer's legendary winterisation. I did find one site that was used to workers full timing during the winter and it did provide some extras to help workers cope. It's still one thing full timing with few commitments, another holding down a full time job when coping with last year's winter. I rented a small flat. It cost me no more than a 4 star caravan site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 duetto owner - 2011-07-29 2:19 PM...................................., would hope 12 months would be max but thinking of 18 if delays in planning/weather etc. our duetto has mosts things [dig tv,cooker,oven sink,small fridge,toilet, verysmall shower] just lacks that extra space, beds are very comfy.................................... I think I hear a man who has basically set his heart on what he would like to do, but his head (maybe his wife!) keeps telling him it is not wise! :-) I think his head (wife :-)) is right. I think he really knows this, but is hoping everyone else will confirm what his heart wants. They haven't, and I agree with them! I'm also a bit concerned about the comment above. If "planning" in this context means L/A planning consent - unless you know already that your application will be resolved swiftly (which is impossible, in reality), or you are just referring to logistical planning - this will be your greatest risk. I would not embark on selling until you have full planning consent, and have obtained building regulations approvals, based on detailed drawings, all ready to send out for tenders. If you are all clear and approved however, the timescales for the build may be reasonable. I assume you don't yet have tenders, because the construction start date can't be decided until your sale is completed. I would suggest you tender on a time and cost basis, so that your contractor is bound to a completion date of his own choosing as well as to his price. You can then evaluate your tenders based on the most favourable compromise between speed and cost. This will work best if you include in the tenders a clause that the builder is to take the risk on any design omissions. If it isn't on the drawings, or in the specification, he has to identify it in his tender, and insert a provisional sum for its value, subject to your approval. Anything he misses, he is to provide at his expense, to your reasonable satisfaction. You will be wise to make your choices on all such items before you accept his offer, with his agreement, verifying availability to suit his programme, and then adjust his tender to incorporate the actual prices before acceptance. Unless you already know the ground conditions on your site, you will own the risk in the ground, or you will probably have to pay a heavy premium to get the builder to accept the risk. Even for a bungalow, it may be worth trying to get the builder to tender on the basis of two prices. The first for the groundworks, which is where the main risk lies, and so variable by agreement, and the second for everything else, which is fixed and not subject to variation. The groundworks price can then be varied as necessary to accommodate conditions as found, subject to agreement, and paid on completion of this element, with the works continuing on a fixed price basis so that the out-turn cost for the whole of the job is known. Then, quality issues apart, you stand back, preferably off site, and let him get on with it, maintaining contact through regular progress review meetings. The most important thing is that his price is fixed on the basis of the work he has tendered to do, subject to agreed variations for groundworks, and he is responsible for completing the whole job to your reasonable satisfaction, whether or not he has failed to identify items missing from the drawings/specification. This requires very thorough design and specification, and absolute discipline in not changing anything as work proceeds. This, IMO, is the greatest danger is siting yourself on site. You will develop a relationship with the builder and his labour by being so close, conversations will drift into instructions, which will become variations, and you will loose control of both time and cost. The discomfort of living in your van will pressure you to move in as soon as possible, meaning you will have great difficulty defining completion, will then have to release part of his retention monies, and will have great difficulty getting a satisfactory standard of completion to any timescale. There is also the possibility that the site entrance will become mired and impassable during winter, or blocked by plant or delivery trucks, because, for obvious reasons, builders rarely put in drives etc before their excavations are complete and their need for heavy plant has ceased. Thus, you may find yourselves trapped, when you wish to escape. You need to be in a position where you are indifferent to how long it takes to complete, and where, if delays become costly, it is the builder who has all the headaches and the costs. I don't expect you to agree with this, but for all the above reasons, I really think hiring a mobile home elsewhere (even abroad! :-)) would be a better solution than any variation of being site based. Get a good builder, on a tight contract, and then just get the hell out and leave him to it! :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 duetto owner - 2011-07-29 2:19 PM would hope 12 months would be max but thinking of 18 if delays in planning/weather etc. I see brian has beat me to it, I to was wondering what this comment meant, if you haven't at least got outline planning permission it may take some time, or if it's outside developement area or doesn't meet the critria it might not get permission at all. To give an example, we applied for permission to replace a mobile home with a bungalow, it took 5 years of hard work to get permission as building control objected to it, in fact if the planning officer had not lied we might not have got it, but he got the commitees back up by lying and it went our way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 duetto owner - 2011-07-29 2:19 PM would hope 12 months would be max but thinking of 18 if delays in planning/weather etc. 8-)8-).............We have some experience of dealing with council planning departments*-)..................18 months minimum I would say;-).............We had a listed property8-)...................................never again...............listed means the council can empty your wallet and still say No*-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duetto owner Posted July 31, 2011 Author Share Posted July 31, 2011 brian & other thanks for all that advice. so we have got a builder and arct lined up. the builder will do the whole package removal of old building and putting up the new. cannot sign contract with builder and arct till our house comes under offer and our offer on the land accepoted. will not exchange contacts till planning permission sorted. [will keep to same footprint so hopefully will be ok one condition is 10% green energy so far what i have see it is a waste of money so not sure what to do on that aspect] in view of comments will move into a campsite during demolition due to dust etc. during building will stay on site and get a garden shed for a lot of belonings, furniture will go to storage and clothing i hope to a relative. never done anything like this so it will be a learning curve. grate full for all advice and tips Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Green energy might simply mean buying electricity from a supplier where it is produced by 'green' methods, ie sea or wind, it might not necessarily mean that you have to produce it yourself. Alternatively, as you're doing a 'new' build, you might like to look into ground source heating and the like as it would be the ideal time to put it in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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