Demolishing a single-wide trailer: Part III (conclusion & cost)

Well folks, it happened. We are satisfied with the outcome though it took to the last possible moment to complete - creating unnecessary stress and worry about logistics - but it is done.  To see the land restored is immensely satisfying.  To be free of the eye sore is very welcome.  But the best part is to dispose of a rodent haborage which sat far too close to our new house and was a source of pollution as it deteriorated and parts blew about the landscape.  

  

When I envisioned the final product I expected the steel frame to remain as it was not something that would fit in the dumpsters....however, I was amazed to watch the skid driver smash it into a somewhat condensed size and maneuver it onto his trailer!  We were very pleased to "give" it to him to scrap.

Though this has been finished for a couple of weeks, I had to wait for the final bill from the landfill so as to share the details on cost.

• The two bins cost $500 to deliver and pick up after two weeks
• The demolition cost $1400 for around 10 hours of work (two guys)
• The weight of the content of the two bins was 11 tons and cost an additional $565 to dispose of in the landfill
• TOTAL: $2465 to demolish and dispose

I can't believe we didn't do this years ago!  Money well spent.  The picture below shows the truck in the distance driving away the second dumpster...bye bye mouse house!

A completed garage!

Prior to 2019 our tiny house looked like this....it was a garage with rough plumbing.

And inside looking towards the back, it looked like this (rough plumbing in along back wall):

At one time this was going to be our garage and we were going to build a different house.  However, we ended up changing our mind after living in a trailer and shifting our mentality about the things we own and what we "need" ...we decided to put everything we own to use and to build upon what we already had completed.  Hence the decision to convert this building into our new tiny house.  Last summer we hired a contractor to build out the bathroom, kitchen and first loft.  We have never done framing or drywall and I really didn't know how to build the loft.  I just had an idea and some dimensions which I shared with the contractor.  I was so pleased when I saw the result!

We were really happy with the work and so at the end of 2019 we asked the same contractor to finish the "second phase" of taking off the garage door, building the second loft, flooring, bedroom, and living room and putting up siding.  

Before:

After:

So that is how we began this summer....of course I detailed in my May 19 post about the new garage, but the thing that was lacking was the garage door!  Our same contractor did one last job for us this summer - he built out the front of the new garage to match the house and hung the garage door he removed from the first building!  It is so nice to put the garage door back to use (after it has been laying on the ground for six months).  

Having this additional space has been amazing.  Finally we are able to move all of the garage-type things from the house into the garage and now we can start putting together our plumbing and electrical systems (both housed in the new garage).  With all of the garage stuff out of the house we have also been able to clean and set up furniture that has been stored since our RV adventure began.  

uh...yeah - all that stuff was inside the house! Now that it is in the garage, where it belongs, we have SO much room in the house.  500 square feet, plus two lofts seems really huge these days!

We spent our first night in our house this 4th of July weekend and it was excellent.  It was the first monsoon rain of the season (you can see it coming and you can watch it move beyond). The air was fresh and crisp and the views amazing in every direction.

We went for a long walk around the property - something we haven't done for a while.  We walked through the wash and enjoyed the cool formations left by the rushing water over many years.

We noted pretty flowers growing that the kids have been watering.

We returned because we ran out of light, but we got to watch the sun go down and create another beautiful AZ sky.

So glad we can move forward with this project now that we have a completed garage!  Each small step we take helps me more fully imagine the life we will have in this beautiful place.