Caravan living

[Motherofmonsters]

Hello!

We are in the process of selling our house and buying some land. We don't have the funds to build the house straight away and will live with my mum for awhile but it's likely we will need to live in a caravan onsite at least for a short while. I'm aware it usually ends up for a long time!

If anyone has done it, what are you're tips for not hating every minute.

We have 2 kids, 5 and 3. One dog and a cat.

Thank you

If you mean a touring caravan

DO NOT DO IT!

Honestly OP, you won't be able to function with two kids that age.

Just forget the whole idea, it's simply not a thing you can or should be doing. Imagine when it's raining, mud everywhere, condensation everywhere, no storage, no proper bathroom, no space to cook, relax.

A static caravan is only slightly more tolerable, but still pretty shit.

It will be a static caravan with electric and running water so slightly better. It will definitely be shit but wandering if there's ways to make it less so.

We'll be able to build outside sheds etc

We did it for a year or so when DS was around 8yo. We had two dogs and a cat.

Mud, so much mud. The problem is that you're straight into your living area so there's nowhere to prevent DC or pets marauding through.

It was expensive to heat in the winter, not prohibitively so but worth bearing in mind for the winter. The van can easily become damp which needs to be dealt with proactively. We had no laundry facilities so were using a launderette which required military levels of planning. There was no bath and DS had to be persuaded that showers were a viable alternative.

Aside from that DS thought it was a great adventure. It was small and a lot of our items had to go into storage but it was completely do-able. Think of it as short term pain, long term gain 😆

If you can have a shed I'd make one a utility with washing machine in and if possible some kind of porch area built for muddy wellies to stay so that I doors is a shoe free area. Even a camping awning could be used for this.

A shed with a washing machine/ tumble dryer is a good idea. A wooden gazebo type thing with a bbq and a table much easier if you can eat outside as much as possible. If you are going to winter in it a logburner throws out a lot of heat cheaply.

I'd create a gravel path between caravan/ parking/ bbq/ laundryto save mud being tracked in, A porch/ awning is a good idea but might not survive winter weather.

You can get statics with central heating, just make sure you have a spare gas bottle in case one runs out, look for one that had freestanding furniture so you can save some money on storage & make it feel like home. As for the mud, buy some cheap paving stones to make a path & space outside, you will need a concrete pad for the caravan anyway. My friend is currently living in a caravan while they are doing a barn conversion & have been all winter, it is cosy, warm & free from mud.

If you are living in it over winter and it's an older caravan then you will need Supplemental electric heating in the bedrooms. Use the flatest wall mounted radiator panels and when drilling the holes into the hollow walls, give each hole a little blast of that expanding foam. It fills the hollows and gives you something to screw into. Much more stable and they are less likely to fall off the wall and break three of your toes. For the kids get rid of the fixed 2ft 6 beds and get shorty bunks. Under bed storage , those sliding plastic boxes are great for toys. If you have 3 beds then use 1 bedroom for clothes as there is nowhere near enough space for everyday clothes in bedrooms themselves. Keep a dehumidifier in this room to prevent clothes going mouldy. And you will need a dehumidifier in the other rooms too. The ovens are TERRIBLE and never seem to cook properly so a double air fryer would be better. And just use the hob.

I didn't actually mind living in a caravan, it's challenging yes but I thrive under that sort of thing. I also had my aging machine and drier outside in a plastic Ketter shed.

Make sure the mains electric is connected to a full domestic supply, not a 16 amp caravan connection. Otherwise you can use very little at once, something like just using the kettle & a toaster at the same time will blow the supply & then you have to reset it. If you look at Facebook Marketplace or Ebay under static caravans, there are lots for sale nationally with free delivery, I've just seen a 3 bed with Central heating for £13k on Ebay with free delivery. If you look after it you could get most of your money back.