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Moving the Tiny House – Relocating a THOW

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Moving the tiny house - relocating a THOW

One of the many things I love about living in a tiny house is that if you decide you want to relocate to another neighborhood, it’s very nearly as easily said as it is done. As long as you can find a place to park your tiny house, that is. Which is definitely easier said than done, especially in a place like Austin where living in a THOW is quasi-legal at best. But we did it! After months of on and off searching for a new property, we finally found one and spent this week moving our tiny house across Austin.

We had always wanted to be closer to the city. The land we were renting south-east of the city was open and comfortable and our landlord was great, but we’re city people and we were always too far away from what we wanted to do. And there is lots to do in Austin! But when our landlord decided to move and sell the property, we decided it was probably time to move on, too. And as luck would have it, we found someone with a property on our favorite side of town (the Eastside) who wanted to rent out a couple spaces to tiny houses. Huzzah!

Moving the tiny house - relocating a THOW

Boxing up fragile items and clearing the walls before the move.

Prep for the Move

Then it was time to prep and pack, which, in a THOW, mostly just involves taking art off the walls and books off of shelves, glasses out of drawers, etc. and just stacking boxes in the middle of the house. No phone calls to family with trucks, no having to bribe friends with pizza to get them to help you carry boxes; it just involves moving a few things around so they don’t break while your house bumps down the road.

After we packed and secured everything, we had to take the house off the blocks. So we jacked her up, removed the supports, and lowered her back down onto tires we pumped up to the appropriate PSI. We removed the screens from the windows and extra PVC serving as a drain pipe. All the prep work took about a day. Then it was time to haul her away.

Moving the tiny house - relocating a THOW

Put it in, take it out. Organizing Serenity after the move.

Moving the Tiny House

We tried a lot of things to locate a qualified company we trusted to move our home. We called the company that moved it down from Ohio two years ago (Horizon Transportation), but they told us laws had changed and to tow a tiny house you needed a logging license and not many of their drivers had those. Womp womp. So we searched elsewhere.

We asked for quotes on Uship.com but didn’t like the platform any more than we did the first time we relocated Serenity. We called local towing companies and got a few quotes from the ones that had vehicles outfitted for such a task. We also called local RV parks to find out if they recommended anyone for the job. A couple of places named the same man who had a license and 40 years of experience and he charged $100 less than the next lowest quote we had received, so he got the job.

We discussed the property, potential move dates and whether he had insurance, and when he arrived in the morning, he made quick work of assessing his plan of action, hooking up the trailer, and hauling it away. It was exceedingly nerve-wracking, watching the house move for the first time in two years–we knew we had built it solidly, but there’s always that fear that since it’s been sitting for so long that something has come loose and you won’t know about it until a panel flies off the side of the house.

Nothing flew off the side of the house, but still, nervewracking. Especially with all the wood-on-wood creaking and slight trailer scraping as our driver mounted the steep driveway. But he’s a pro, so it was minimal.

Moving the tiny house - relocating a THOW

Josh using a 12-ton bottle jack to level the trailer before putting in cinder blocks for support.

Setting Up and Leveling the Tiny House

Once we arrived at the new property, about a 20-minute drive away, our driver once again made quick work of backing the house into its new spot. He completed the task with relative ease, which was moderately surprising considering one of our new neighbors with a THOW half the size of Serenity (or rather the driver she hired) apparently had a very stressful time of getting her home situated. Which is more or less a reminder that not just anyone with a truck should be trusted to move your home. Hire somebody with experience and know-how whether you’re moving across the country or the city.

Once our driver was paid ($250), we went to work leveling the house. We should have planned better for this. Leveling a tiny house is no easy task. At least not the way we did it (*insert laugh-crying emoticon here*). What we should have done is checked the level of the ground and then compensated with blocks under the tires to get the trailer mostly level from side to side. These would have been nice to have and you can order them on Amazon. But we didn’t do that, so over two days and probably 4-6 hours we used bottle jacks, cinder blocks and boards to level out the house. It was a handful. I didn’t enjoy it. But it’s done now, so we can rest easy.

Moving the tiny house - relocating a THOW

The tiny house jacked up on blocks and leveled.

Then all that was left to do was put everything back in its place (easy work that took an hour or so) and get cozy in the loft to nap off our anxiety. Trimming tree branches, hanging new clothes drying lines and building new steps to our front door could wait.

Relocating a Thow

Certainly easier than moving from one house or apartment to another, moving a tiny house can still be pretty stressful. But as long as you plan ahead, hire a professional, and come prepared with the right tools, you’ll do alright.

Have questions about moving the tiny house or relocating your own THOW? Ask away! We’re always happy to help! Wander on!

 

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