Advice/tips/regrets on all things static caravan buying and living while renovating

[OnethingafteranotherSOS]

couldn’t find a similar thread when searching (only saw folk buying ££££ as holiday homes)

have you done the static caravan living while renovating?

any wisdom to share about buying/siting/living?

current plan: to site it next to our house (get electric from there?), use bathroom in house (and a pan for midnight pees 😷) and possibly continue to use our makeshift kitchen in house to reduce moisture, install wood burning stove for heating. We have a one year old- a bit concerned of spoiling his sleep as he currently sleeps well in his own room, we will probably need to all be together in single room…

Forgot to say- we are in a very exposed location- can get gusts of 70-80 mph when storms (usually once a year) would a static survive?

Forget using the kitchen and the bathroom in your house. It'll cost you a fortune in extra labour with the trades having to turn on and off at the start and end of each day.

We did this and yes managed to hook the electric up but it was awful, just awful - after 10 weeks I phoned up the place where we got it from and told them to come and take it away and told the builders we were moving back in.

We have lived in a (non-static) caravan for 6 months while doing renovations. It had a fixed bed and a toilet with separate shower. Large fridge and oven, we also used bbq a lot over summer. Had awning up for additional storage/space. Used electrics from house and filled water tank up every other day -so used it for all cooking/sleeping/washing. We’re very chilled so didn’t find it too traumatic - this was predominantly over the summer though, I’m not sure it would be as pleasant in Autumn/winter. Much easier for builders, better for us too, to be out of dust - we were really pleased when we got back in the house though!

I know two people who have done it (Static). One still lives there with his young son. They can have brilliant facilities for kids.

The other one didn't know how rapidly it would depreciation in value and it's messed up her home moving for years. She lost tens of thousands.

They have age limits. Some sites force you to replace them after a certain age.

I have read people put bales under them during winter to help with the cold.

Yes, we lived in one for 18m whilst the house was uninhabitable.

We got a 3 bed so that the (2) kids could have their own bedrooms (take out the second bed in the twin rooms to give them some more space for toys etc.

If you even vaguely think that you will be going through the winter in it, get one with double glazing and central heating. Get some oil filled radiators for boosting the heating when you need it. Heat is lost through the floor so if you can block it off with straw bales to stop the wind howling through, this will help.

Ruthlessly declutter what you take into the static, including cooking stuff. You only need 4 plates as you have to wash up after every meal because there is no space to leave things out - you get the idea.

Likewise dial down your haute cuisine cooking recipes and get good at what can be done on a hob - the kids still refuse to eat filled pasta and we've been in the house now for 3 years. I didn't do a roast or bake a cake the entire time we were in the static as the oven wasn't up to it (I would normally do both once a week - cakes poss more!). Your fridge will be (relatively) tiny, I had to change shopping habits to 2/3 times a week (rather than once) just because I didn't have enough cupboard space to store a normal shop.

Try to have your washing machine and tumble dryer (in winter, you cannot dry things in the static very well without damp getting everywhere) plumbed in in the house if you can - sometimes I would wander round it in winter with a torch to try to find them, as the builders had moved them, but it kept them out of the static and under shelter.

Always have a spare gas bottle for when you run out at 9pm on a Friday night. Our water / sewage was plumbed into the mains so that was easy, as were the electrics (separate to the house).

Re the siting, we had ours on a patch of compacted hardcore, so that it had stability for the feet and also put various slab paths down, so that we could wade through the sea of mud in the winter (you want to avoid mud getting inside as much as possible). Sheltered if at all possible - I can't comment on gale force winds but ours did use to gently rock at 40/50mph, not ideal.

Good luck!

Thanks everyone for taking the time to respond to my post- very helpful.

so…went to view the static caravan today, and whilst it was in reasonable nick and a decent price- actually seeing it in person and spending time in it has definitely made us realise we can’t do it.

we are (unfortunately) quite ‘big’ people, and would struggle to be in that space- especially over the winter.

was worth exploring, but back to the drawing board….

cheers you lovely lot!