I recently went on a “mini - vacation” to visit family up north (I’m from New Brunswick). One of the things I enjoy doing while driving is to spot homes that would fall under the tiny home umbrella and see if there are any potential opportunities to purchase or build one.
This cabin seems promising. For $6000, you’ll get exactly what is seen in the picture. It’s approximately 350 sq ft. Of course you’d have to insulate yourself, and whichever direction you’d like to go for wiring would be up to you, but I see this as a great base to work with when creating a minimalist tiny home that is completely off the grid.
Industrial strength tiny home that is built with SIP panels and has R values that can with stand temps of 40 below Zero!
I’ve been addicted to watching videos of small houses and seeing how people use the space but this is by far my favorite. I would love, love, love to live here <3
Foundation and floor are complete! The walls go up tomorrow.
If you don’t know, we’ve opted for a “tiny house“ but it is actually a bit bigger than most tiny houses. The cabin will be 16 x 16 with a spacious loft.
1:30 pm EST, South Bend, Indiana… I have refrained from posting these pictures until we knew the exact outcome of our house and journey. Thankfully, everything is a-okay, believe it or not. Yes, in these pictures you are looking at both sides of the trailer… we not only had a massive blow-out, but actually also lost an entire wheel!!! Gone— somewhere on I-90 around South Bend, Indiana.
For those interested in the fine details of mobile tiny house ownership and maintenance, the following story/lesson is for you:
After hearing a small pop, my BF, AGP, looks out the window and sees a flat tire. NBD. We have a spare. He pulls to the side of the road, which happens to be in the small triangle of an entrance ramp and I-90. It isn’t until we see the other side of the trailer that we notice that not only do we have a blow-out, but we are also missing an entire tire!!! What?!?! Not to mention the axel is hanging lazily near the ground. Uh oh.
Time to call AAA. After explaining our unique situation, he decides he is unable to help us (Excuse me premium membership??!?!?!?), but gives us a number to a local trailer repair service (Okay, fine…). A very tense hour and a half pass before he shows up. In the meantime, we have no clue what is about to happen to us: Is our axel busted? Do we need a new trailer? Are we screwed? Are we going to make it to South Dakota? WTF??? AHHH!!!… And things of that nature.
The thing is, we bought that trailer used, and AGP being strictly a carpenter and me being a geologist, have no combined knowledge about trailer maintenance, safety, or even proper use. And we have, at that moment, literally been driving straight for 20 hours since we left Boston (and we are geographically smack-dab in between Boston and South Dakota). Basically, we don’t have a freaking clue about what or why this has happened. Whoops.
Meanwhile, the trailer guy shows up, makes the gimpy trailer his bitch, and with little fanfare, we limp our way on three tires to his shop. AGP and I check into a hotel and sleep for twenty hours.
The next morning, we get a call that goes something like this: “We are replacing all of your wheel bearings (which is what had failed on the trailer on the first place), and you will be ready to go this evening.”
Okay then. Here is what happened: Since the trailer was purchased used and is about fourteen years old, all of the wheel bearings were old and not structurally sound. After driving for twenty hours, the bearing gave up and sent the wheel flying into the ether. That event caused the house to become unbalanced, and on the other side, the wheel well sheared into the axel’s remaining tire and caused the blow-out.
Lesson? Make sure your trailer is sound, especially that your wheel bearings are up to snuff. Probably don’t buy your trailer used. According to our trailer service men, once all of our wheel bearings are replaced, oiled, and the wheels professionally installed, we will be able to drive to South Dakota and back with zero issues.
It’s not an adventure until your plans go awry. My life is exciting and unique. I wouldn’t change it for the world!!!
I will let you know when we are back on the road. Keep in touch… :)
Tiny House
I would like to live in a tiny house (with you).
and build wooden shelves against the walls, not quite level
because we are learning as we go.
and the carpentry book is now snug
between a paperback thriller and your yearbook
still smelling of sawdust, and laughter
of cheap wine
and trusting you to take the splinters from my hand (my heart)
gently
so gently I barely feel them leave my skin.
I was afraid to get the Haier portable washer because of its reviews! My Sister kept saying that she loved her’s. She then gave me her’e last week and I have used it heavy all week trying to get my laundry caught up. The machine is going on 3.5 years old and it has worked like a champ all week and of course the whole time my sister had it!
So far I love this machine and when it wears out I will replace it with it’s bigger cousin. This one is the .99 cubic foot/6.6 pounds….the bigger one is 1.46 cubic foot/9.5 pounds capacity.
Yes smaller loads and yes more time doing laundry……but for me it is better than driving 50 miles round trip just to the laundry mat!!!!!!!
