The Imperfect Story of Our Tiny Home
Our kitchen area in our “Tiny” home.
We have shared the story of why we have our tiny home, but not the story of how it came to be.
It’s a story of risk, reward, lessons learned, tears, laughter, and above all “adventure”.
We had been researching the perfect structure for our new home base.
It had to be sturdy and weatherproof to withstand the harsh and cold Wyoming winters.
Large enough to allow our children and friends to come visit us during the summer months when we returned here from the road.
Our new purchase also had to allow us total freedom.
No taxes, no electrical, gas, or power bills. That meant being off grid, and self-contained, and financially smart.
After reading many homesteading blogs, websites and watching all sorts of YouTube videos, we decided a shipping container would meet all our needs.
Tiny closed up shortly after delivery.
You can see the gravel is already scattered post delivery trauma
A 40 by 8-foot container would be transformed into our new two-bedroom, self-contained home.
The promotional videos by the company we selected looked amazing.
Bi-fold closing doors that opened to sliding patio doors and windows along the front of the container yet closed securely in the winter to protect the home and camouflage it as a normal storage container.
We were excited to get it and make it part of our new family story.
Paying in advance to a startup company in another state, would in normal times not even be a consideration.
However, 2020 was not a normal time, so we took the leap after calling some prior customers and gauging their satisfaction.
We knew it would be risky, but we have some amazing memories in our lives based on our willingness to bet on ourselves and this was another one of those times.
Contract signed, money wired, all things were set for delivery in just three months.
Our completed, perfectly level and framed gravel pit.
All we needed to do was lay a 6-inch base of gravel for it to sit on for drainage and to allow for the ground to settle.
No foundation being poured, meant it would not be a “permanent structure” thus not incurring any additional tax liability!
Unfortunately, we lost focus on the project and instead of laying a 6-inch base, we created a level gravel box by framing it in with timbers.
Creating this level surface in a rocky terrain in the Black Hills, meant digging down was almost impossible. So, we built up and the low end of the terrain ended up with 15 inches of gravel to become level.
This would have been no problem, if our delivery had included a crane to set it instead of a flatbed trailer dropping it in place.
So, our perfectly groomed gravel pit, became a sink hole for the large truck pulling our 30,000-pound container home through it!
Our excitement quickly turned into many “oh my god!” moments as we tore apart our gravel box, used multiple trucks to free the delivery truck from the gravel pit, and damn near dropped the container on its side during the unloading process.
As the dust settled almost six hours later, the delivery driver quickly raced away from the fiasco we just endured, and it was time to see the inside of our new home.
Much to our dismay, what our contract said we would be receiving was a far cry from what arrived.
The interior still had much work to be done on it. Counter tops were not secured, doors and trim still needed to be finished, and of all things our black sliding doors had white handles.
Andrea’s spirit was crushed by what she was seeing.
When the builder said with excitement “how do you like your new home?” oblivious to what we just went through, I was worried for him.
They say ignorance is bliss but in this instance our builder’s ignorance almost got him a karate chop from Andrea 😊
What ensued was almost 18 months of back and forth between us, the original builder, and subsequent sub-contractors.
Eventually, we were able to get the tiny home to a point where we were satisfied with what we had, and we could begin the process of changing our beliefs and energy toward our new “home”.
This summer, Andrea and I have lived in our “Tiny” three or four days a week and have begun the healing process that started with that crazy delivery.
The container is slowing getting personal items from our former homes added to it.
We are having family dinners at the dining room table we brought with us from Colorado, on our pallet deck we built with character.
The emotions of the past are healing, and we are loving allowing the Tiny to have its own personality and energy.
While its entry into our lives was less than ideal, the role it can play in our future allows us even more freedom, family time, and a fantastic place to create off grid memories.
This episode has been a lesson for us in forgiveness, towards our builder and our feelings towards the tiny home we received, as well as accountability for the energy we bring to things.
We could have continued to talk poorly of the builder, looked for all the flaws in craftsmanship, and put negative energy into our new home.
Instead, we have accepted the flaws as character marks, some we will repair and others we will live with.
All serve to remind us of the crazy journey that led us to our tiny home.