Tiny Home Shipping Container is UP on the Piers!

I barely slept Saturday anticipating getting to the property on Sunday!  I got up and out early and glided there I was so excited.  This is THE day I have waited 19 months for!  Gracie and I got to the property and as I opened the gate my heart was racing and I had to keep reminding myself to breathe.  We drove slowly as I positioned my cell phone in front of me to capture it all in video.  As we wound up the path to the home area we passed the wood that the shipping contain shell had been delivered on. Up ahead I caught a glimpse of the corner of the container awaiting me.

As I rounded the final twist on the road there she was …. my beautiful shipping container tiny home shell sitting tall and proudly up on her piers 2 feet above the ground. OMG, I was shouting and laughing and crying all at once as we pulled up so I could just witness her in all her glory!  It was beyond amazing in every way!

So, just to back up a little let me fill you in on the activity of the week.  Florida has been far from the Sunshine state the last couple of weeks.  Jason, from Guardian Fencing, had told me last week that the rains were causing problems but that he would get to it this week.  I woke every day and prayed that today was the day but the rains kept blowing through with tremendous thunderstorms and lightening.   Thursday night at about 8:30 PM Jason texted and we talked.  The crane company had a question for him and I answered it and he said that tomorrow was the day.

Friday I woke up early and tested my Reolink motion sensitive security camera.  My intention was to capture as much of the action as I could on video.  I was ready.  Around 10:30ish I got an alert of movement from my camera & connected my remote app.  Sure enough, Jason’s team was on the property. I left the camera streaming so I could watch and around 11:00ish the crane began coming down the path.  I got some video of the crane pulling up to the container in the distance (the camera is quite a distance from where the container is).  I took a few photos and then decided to wait to record more so I could save the battery on the camera even though it was sunny enough out for it to keep charging on solar.  I wanted to capture as much of the crane lifting the container onto the piers as possible.

Soon I got another alarm … the crane must be moving toward the camera.  I tried to connect the camera remotely and it failed.  Spectrum, which is notoriously bad where I live, was going in and out. I kept trying but to no avail.  I managed to get 1 photo which I put over on the side here.  That was it!  I missed the WHOLE thing on camera.  They worked for about 2.5 hours and I got NOTHING!  I sputtered and cursed and finally just calmed down because it was going to go how it went & I know that the best plans of mice and women OFTEN go astray by now.  At about 1:30 I got a photo from Jason with the house ON the piers!  IT WAS DONE!!

Interestingly enough a little later in the afternoon I was able to connect to the camera remotely again and get some shots of the container but the position of the camera with the container side and back of the container.  AND … THERE IT WAS!  It was really there.  I spoke with Jason that night. He let me know that the container was solidly set on the four corner piers so no need to worry.  That is how the containers are built, with the four corners being the weight bearing part of the structure.  The container corners SHOULD have been able to sit in the middle of those piers but they sat right on the corner of each one.  The good news is the sat perfectly on them.  However, there were some problems that we feared and it was now confirmed.

First the other 6 piers under the container were not level and none of them even contacted flush with the container.  These could need to be repaired by filling in concrete between the top of those piers and the container bottom rails.  The other fail by the concrete company was the deck.  We had measured the poles poured for the deck and had all be afraid it would be off enough to cause problems.  Well, when sitting the container down on the pier with the crane the deck poles were so off that Jason had to saw down one of the poles because it landed right in front of one of the French doors and he was afraid it would bend the frame of the container and break the door. Jason had said before that his team could redo the deck if needed and ow it looks like it will be needed.

So once I was able to stop jumping up and down seeing the container for the first time on the piers I stepped up for a closer look.  Yep, we had two fails by the concrete contractor and both things would need to be addressed and in order to pass our final inspection.  We could definitely need to fill the container pier gaps.  I will leave that up to Nair and her guy Danny to figure that out coz’ I have no idea what the best solution is for that now that the container is in place.  As for the deck … it is literally 2’7.5″ off from plan.  None of the poles, that are set in cement 2′ below the ground, can be saved.  It is going to require that we complete dismantle what is there and dig the holes and reset poles in the ground with cement in the proper locations.  Giant fail!

I stood there surveying the problems and taking photos and fought the upset and disappointment.  The entire concrete job except for the simple slab in the garden area, was a debacle.  I had been desperate to get it done to move things forward and had settled for the only guy that we found who would do it.  It cost me dearly as needless costs and time kept racking up and everything but the slab was done in such an inferior way that it was hard to believe.  No only had desperation gotten me here but I was not able to be on the property to manage anything.  Frankly, I don’t know if I would have caught it even if I had been there but I think I would have at least caught some of the errors in the making.  So here we are now – the gravel “road” is useless as it wasn’t done properly and now I need to repair the piers and redo the deck piers in a job I paid over $20K for by the end.

OK, let GOOOOOOOOOOOOO, Kym.  We will do what we need to do and it will get done and you just got another level of your lesson about patience and desperation!  I was NOT going to let it ruin the excitement of this giant move forward and experiencing being in my house on stilts today.  I would deal with it all next week.

So, I promptly got the step ladder out of the truck and Gracie and I proceeded to step up and unlock the door and step inside our new tree house!  When I got in I just looked around in amazement.  I opened all the windows and doors and turned on the fan and felt the breeze begin to move through the house and then began to tour the home newly from it new perspective and final resting place on the property.  OMG, it was so breathtaking here!  I wandered around and took photos from every window and from the French doors. 

Then Gracie and I simply sat in the door ways and stared out at the property in front of us.  We could see it all spread out in front of us!  I imagined when the deck is done outside the French doors, being able to sit there and experience the view from there.  I imagined being inside and being able to catch views out of different sides of the house from the living room and the bathroom and the back of the house and front of the house from the bedroom.   Pinch me … it is REAL!!!!

I posted videos of everything related to the container in it’s new position on the Freedom Acres YouTube Channel, and as always my exciting end of the day report with Gracie. Feel free check it all out by clicking HERE.  Also, feel free to subscribe and you can get notified when new videos go up! 🙂

We are at the end of the forth week of July now and I have not changed the game to be living on the property THIS Summer!!  LOL.  With the container in place I can move forward with everything else now plus focus on the timing of them.  So this week we need to get my GC’s guy Danielto out to the property to measure so he can begin his work which includes installing the siding on the container, painting and baseboards on the inside and flooring on the inside.  We need to figure our re-doing the deck frame and then do the deck.  It is now also time to schedule the plumber and then the electrician to hook the well, septic and electric to the container.  We also need to get the other empty storage shipping container delivered … and that definitely has some thigs to still figure out about it.

I also need to finalize picking the appliances, toilet, sinks, shower fixtures and cabinetry and we need to pick those up or have those delivered and get them installed after the painting and floors are installed.  It is so exciting to be at the point where I am beginning to look at the interior of the container.  My friend Lu is busy helping me with fixtures like faucets, shower fixtures, hardware, the toilet, etc.  I am blessed with all the people who are contributing to this dream come true.

It IS happening and then everything else will continue to get figured out from here.  Soon the inside will get flushed out and electricity and plumbing will be hooked up …. and … and I will day by day be closer to living on my land..  .  This is the fun part that I didn’t let myself dream much about until we got close.  WE ARE CLOSER & CLOSER NOW!  …   STAY TUNED!

As always, I send you FREEDOM and LOVE!