All Buttoned Up

Well, it’s done, the tiny house is all buttoned up and in a warm blankie for the next year or two.  It wasn’t easy but I hope it was worth it!

Here’s how you put a cover on

It goes without saying that I am a bit scared to get on the roof.  Just over 6 years ago I fell off this very roof and broke my back and foot!  James, being the brave and awesome partner he is opted to jump up there (not literally) and do the heavy lifting (literally).  It’s crazy how much an RV cover weighs!

Prepping

We picked a cover that was recommended for winter conditions as well as sun.  It’s tricky because we get the extremes of both of those.  Plenty of sun-shining days over 100 degrees but there will no doubt be some snow chilling out up here for a while too.  We got a fifth wheel RV cover by Kakit which doesn’t appear to be available at the moment (weird).  It had good reviews overall so we went for it.

From nose to tail our tiny house is 36′ and the covers were for 30-36′ or 36′-40′.  They said if we’re on the edge then go with the bigger version.  I think it ended up being about 8 feet too long!  The thing is huge!  In hindsight we probably should have gone with the smaller version.  We were able to tie up all the loose ends though.

We took along one of our ever useful tools, a pool noodle, with us to somehow put on any ‘sharp’ edges that seemed like they could tear the cover if the wind blew too much.  Ever crafty James stuck them on with the sticky patch material we got with the cover.  It will probably be a total PITA when we go to take them off but they should stay on for sure and protect the cover to extend it’s life a bit, which is the goal. We will need to do some work to get the thing looking purty again anyway, a little left over sticky stuff might be the incentive we need!

We also put mint packets and bug repellent packets in the house throughout to hopefully keep away any pests.  Along with the fact that there is nearly nothing in the house that would attract them, we’re hoping that’s enough.

All tucked away for winter(s)

It’s still sad to see the tiny all tucked away for a long hibernation but we actually have come around to feeling really good about our choices!  And we got it done just in the nick of time! We have entered the full on phase of fall that I love so very much!  The air is crisp, the trees are colorful and showers come and go.  My absolute favorite time of year!

So now what?

We’ll be here (in Boise) until early spring (converting our workshop trailer!) when we’ll be moving up to Moscow, Idaho.  If you know anyone in the area with a potential rental let us know. We will absolutely fix a place up if needed, too, we kind of like doing those things.  We want to find a place to be, short term rental style.  We’re thinking 3-6 months would give us a real feel of if we want to take the plunge and buy a piece of property up there.  If so, we will.  If not, we’ll pick somewhere new until we find somewhere that ‘feels right’.

At about the same time as the move, we will be breaking ground on the house in Boise that James has been designing.  We were kicking around the idea of actually building it ourselves but Hazel will be starting kindergarten next fall and we want to make sure we can get somewhere and get settled enough for her to feel safe starting that new chapter.  Frankly, I’m not sure we are up for a project that size either when we know we will be following it almost immediately with another.  The goal of the new house is to turn it over (sell it), hopefully for a decent profit so we can move our life elsewhere.

So… the tiny house…

Once we know for sure where we want to be, I’ll buy a piece of property and it will move to us!  I have one more renovation I want to do to it at that point to adapt it to fit our older kids better.  We will live in it again for an undetermined amount of time while we build our next home base.  Every single goal I had when I built the tiny house has been accomplished and SO much more.  Initially I wanted to move it into the mountains to be a family cabin at the end of our living in it.  That seems like such a waste and we like tents and our camper, which will take us everywhere we want to go. So instead, we’d like it to be someone else’s home.

We’ve considered AirBNB but I think it would be better used as an example of affordable housing.  Even if Moscow doesn’t work out (I have every confidence that it will), our end goal is to move to a college town because we like the vibe a university gives a town.  I think it would be great housing for a student and it could help make things more affordable for them.  AND, we’re hoping that we could exploit the other, less mentioned, benefit of tiny homes: a symbiotic relationship!

The idea

I’d like acreage and animals but I’d also like to take epic road trips and have extended get aways, often… those don’t usually mesh.  If we could give cheap rent and find someone to feed our flock while we’re away, well, that would be ideal!

These are all just big dreams and there are a lot of variables… Who knows what life will really look like in ten years but these are the goals we’re working toward and we feel really good about them!  Planning is half the fun, right?