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how many sq. ft. per person?

9K views 13 replies 12 participants last post by  eqgirl 
#1 ·
i came across this website the other day while looking for a travel trailer, and i saw this here...

http://www.forestriverinc.com/nd/de...ters&choice=logs&nav=rec&name=6&series=office

and it got me thinking. just how many sq. ft. per person is do you need to live comfortably? i am not just talking about post shtf, but in every day living as well. i remember seeing a thread awile ago about a 175 sq. ft. home of a couple in New York. and it works for them, for now at least. some people talk about having a bunker, or building something out in the woods at their BOL, but looking at this, and everything that it lacks, made me think, just how much room does one need?

this may have been talked about before, but i could not find it with the search function.
 
#2 ·
just how many sq. ft. per person is do you need to live comfortably?
That would obviously be a personal preference. However, privacy is critical for long duration cohabitation. On the flip side the smaller the better for energy conservation (aka heating/cooling).. Lastly, you'll need to consider storage space. This does not necessarily have to be attached to the living space but it can be beneficial from a security perspective.
 
#5 ·
It all depends on how friendly you are. I'd find less than a hundred square feet per person pretty cramped in the summer. Winter needs might be considerably greater due to not being able to relax outdoors in comfort. Then of course there's the need for privacy if its more than just a man and wife, adding separate rooms for considerably more area. You can survive in a pup tent and lots of primitive and/or impoverished people make do with less space but that wasn't what you were asking. I am talking about long term comfort in a western style society.

US.GOV standards for fallout shelters call for 10 sq. ft. for home shelters and 8 sq. ft. for public shelters but that is only for a 2 week shelter stay at most. I still find it ridiculously small.
 
#6 ·
ok i guess i did not prase the question the way i wanted to. so let me try this again. i will use a bomb shelter this time as an example sence TMcArthur gave that example. obviously the gov standards above are way too small. so if you were to plan out a shelter for you and your family, how much room would you need? a 10x10 room = 100sq. ft. which would make for a small bedroom by todays standards, but still could be used by 2 people in bunk beds. 7x9 = 63sq.ft for a small but useable bathroom.

when i saw that floor plan for that cabin, i saw that they stuff 12 people into a fairly small space. and that cabin does not have a kitchen or a living room or very much storage space. i know i could not stay in a place like that with out going crazy. i know there is not a set number that will work for everyone, just wondering what other people would need to stay sane.
 
#7 ·
Again, it depends on each person and his own personality. I would hate not having privacy or space for more than a day or so, someone else might think it's fine. I live in an 8 x 29 foot trailer with my medium sized dog, and really I wouldn't enjoy another person sharing the space. It is already maddening sometimes to have such narrow walkways and tripping over the dog. I've known others who live happily as a couple with a larger dog in a much smaller trailer. But that's them, I'm me.
 
#8 ·
I live in a 1680 sq ft home and that is plenty but have 6464 sq ft of other buildings for doing stuff in for a total of 8144 sq ft of covered space. Seems like I allways run out of room tho for storing stuff? Over the years I kept adding to the place as I could afford it and the tax man loves me and I hate him! I lived in a camper for a year once with my wife and that got old quick. I also lived in a camper shell up in the mountains during the winter!! Maybe that is why I like more space now? Mark
 
#11 ·
It never ends. Our single wide trailer was fine for 9 years then we moved it on 40 acres to live. We wanted a house so we built one. Of course I needed a garage and that led to a small barn for a horse which led to a big barn and a shop to do stuff in. Then I needed a biger place for my truck to park in the winter and so on. 16 years later I ended up with 6 buildings! Mark
 
#12 ·
My guess is that if the bunks are made private with curtains or dividers, and everyone can change clothes, etc in private, and if there is seating enough for everyone, it could work. The main thing to me would be, would you be in an area where everyone can get outside and walk around and do things outside? If you have some privacy, some seating, and outdoor time, in a dire situation, you could work things out.

But just because you can fit a bunch of bunks along the wall, does not mean that the place can support 12 people when realistically only say, 5 could live there long term.
 
#14 ·
I live currently in 1150 sq ft home we usually have 10 people here and occassionally 11 been doing this about a year.
Things I have discovered are 2 bathrooms are a necessity luckily we have 2.
We have a 1 acre lot and a small travel trailer so it is possible to get away from each other. There are things that about this that become a pain.
Storage can be an issue.
If you like quiet well there isn't much.
Where everything is in the kitchen gets somewhat confusing with that many people putting things away.
Meals why we don't fight about I'm sure meals can sometimes be an issue hard to be an adult and having one person dictating what the meals are. but rather hard to have multiple meals cooked.
Descions making well someone has to be incharge. As an adult it's really tough to live that way but it can be done but it gets old.
Division of work we get the jobs done but it's still not fun someone has to make the decisions about that also.
What would make it much easier would be if everyone had there own space and could choose and cook there own meals in there own space.
Being able to get out the inside spaces and leave the property really helps.
If we all had to stay inside non stop it would prolly not work to well.
In the end I have to say I'm amazed we haven't had any disputes.

I'm sure there are more issues I'm over looking as I'm in charge I prolly have different insite then the rest.

I do know as a young adult I lived with my inlaws for a few weeks they were awesome and wonderful. On the otherhand it quickly got old I doubt I personally could live with someone else in charge for a very long period of time.
 
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