In my mind, the build officially starts when the trailer is purchased. That first material that is a three dimensional reality haunted me. My mind is regurgitating "What the hell are you doing!?' and all kind of admonishing what not at me. The waking in the middle of the night starts. "How am I going to build this, where am I going to live in this, will it last, am I designing this correctly" wakes me from my slumbers.
The next bench mark was cutting and fasting that 1st piece of material onto the trailer. It's the last ditch effort to talk yourself out of the project without too much loss. I stare at the trailer, then the flashing material, then the drill and metal tapping screws for a moment, accept the possibility of financial loss and embarrassment for a moment, grab my drill and drive in a screw to fasten the flashing to the trailer. In that short moment, a tiny house worth of anxiety in weight fell off my shoulders and I would more or less be intensely focused on progressing with my build for the next five months. This is where I'm at as I start writing my experience and progress of my build.
I find myself sitting on the back porch, about 50 feet from my site each evening after putting in a double digit number of hours sweating, thinking, and physically straining to soak in the progress of my build. Just staring at it for hours and hours during the process. Admiring my accomplishment, planning my next move, or just allowing zen quietness take over my being.
But I'm not always anywhere near quiet. This is hard work, mentally and physically. It's the one thing you don't see in the youtube fantasy land of tiny houses. Periods of not knowing what to do or where to find the answers is common. For the first couple month, I'd awake in the middle of the night worrying about construction, finances, and a living space. Just keep telling yourself, "you're doing fine so far, this is your first house build so it OK to make mistakes (just not the critical ones!), nothing worth doing is ever easy" and with that, an answer arrives or I'm eventually lead to an answer. Unless you have building experience, you're going to have to accept the difficult process. It's good to be optimistic and just as good to be realistic and know that you're on an adventure that will take dedicated focus for months on end. You'll have to wake many a days when you want to sleep in, work many a hours when you want to hang with your friends and spend many of hours studying and researching when you want to watch that movie. But believe me, when I sit in that chair 50 feet from my house after exhausting my body, hands cramped, and drinking a Sculpin looking at my creation, I'm on the highest mountain with the best view.
The next bench mark was cutting and fasting that 1st piece of material onto the trailer. It's the last ditch effort to talk yourself out of the project without too much loss. I stare at the trailer, then the flashing material, then the drill and metal tapping screws for a moment, accept the possibility of financial loss and embarrassment for a moment, grab my drill and drive in a screw to fasten the flashing to the trailer. In that short moment, a tiny house worth of anxiety in weight fell off my shoulders and I would more or less be intensely focused on progressing with my build for the next five months. This is where I'm at as I start writing my experience and progress of my build.
I find myself sitting on the back porch, about 50 feet from my site each evening after putting in a double digit number of hours sweating, thinking, and physically straining to soak in the progress of my build. Just staring at it for hours and hours during the process. Admiring my accomplishment, planning my next move, or just allowing zen quietness take over my being.
But I'm not always anywhere near quiet. This is hard work, mentally and physically. It's the one thing you don't see in the youtube fantasy land of tiny houses. Periods of not knowing what to do or where to find the answers is common. For the first couple month, I'd awake in the middle of the night worrying about construction, finances, and a living space. Just keep telling yourself, "you're doing fine so far, this is your first house build so it OK to make mistakes (just not the critical ones!), nothing worth doing is ever easy" and with that, an answer arrives or I'm eventually lead to an answer. Unless you have building experience, you're going to have to accept the difficult process. It's good to be optimistic and just as good to be realistic and know that you're on an adventure that will take dedicated focus for months on end. You'll have to wake many a days when you want to sleep in, work many a hours when you want to hang with your friends and spend many of hours studying and researching when you want to watch that movie. But believe me, when I sit in that chair 50 feet from my house after exhausting my body, hands cramped, and drinking a Sculpin looking at my creation, I'm on the highest mountain with the best view.