Due to the unique plumbing requirements placed on a portable home, we decided to tap a few friends for their talents. Phase I of the plumbing project was made possible by Mike and Bryan of Camping World. The plumbing design we chose called for a bimodal fresh water system that allows the homeowner to store 32 gallons on board or hook up to a source directly. Either way, grey water is routed into/through a 30 gallon holding tank mounted underneath the framing of the trailer.
We also needed propane plumbing for the on demand water heater and the Dickinson Marine heater. Tanks are stowed in the shed on the back of the house when in transit and placed outside the structure when in use. Here you can see the home in the Camping World garage, where it looked a little out of place. Honestly the Wishbone Tiny Home got a lot of love from the staff at Camping World as they are accustomed to seeing RV’s all day.
Here she is ready for the trip back to the shop. A note on hauling the home: My Ford F-150 handles the approximately 7000 lbs quite well in local commutes. However, any incline at 55-60 MPH requires full power. The wind resistance combined with the overall weight prove to be formidable for the 300-HP 1/2-ton truck. The truth is I will need a 3/4-ton turbo diesel to effectively move these homes to their destinations. Another note: Mike at Camping World measured the tongue weight at 600 lbs… that’s less than I expected. When we ordered the custom trailer from Mike Moore, we requested the axles be mounted 18″ rear of center, which is more central than most. This helps with tongue weight but does make the trailer more sensitive to turning inputs on the highway.
One of these things is not like the other:
Phase II of plumbing perfection was brought to us by Jeff, of Four Season Plumbing. We hired him to tackle the water heater plumbing. He did in a day what would have taken us five. Here he is peering through the water heat vent… great stache. Jeff made it clear several times that he would be just fine in a place like this. We made it clear that we could make that happen.
Here is Jeff taking a breather to survey the chaos. It’s quite easy to make a serious mess in a tiny house. Luckily it’s quite easy to clean messes too. We worked with Jeff throughout the day to provide input and framing where needed. Below are some fairly uninformative shots about the roughed-in plumbing. Mainly I want to convey the sense of how much is going on in such a small area.
Cheers folks, and thanks be to the plumbers of the world!