utilities - Electric - Propane - Water

The utilities on my tiny were a decision I struggled with.  I've done every other part of the build on my own but the electrical, plumbing and gas work scared me.  If I didn't get the framing exactly right I would end up with a crooked house, something that no one would be surprised I had.  If I messed up with the electrical the chances of a sleepy immolation was possible, then leaky plumbing would put out the fire and leave me with a soggy corpse, then the gas leak would blow my bloated remains all over the neighborhood.

I decided to subcontract the work to the professionals.  I really wasn't expecting this part to be terribly difficult.  I figured my systems would be so much more simple than a bigger house that the pros would knock it out in an afternoon.  The ignorant are so funny.  When I called the first several plumbers and electricians some were hesitant to work on a non-traditional project that fell in a grey zone as far as inspection and codes.  I can't blame them for wanting to protect themselves from liability.  Some of the ones that said they would give it a go wanted to charge me for the research that they would need to do in order to do the job right.  Now it was my turn to be hesitant.  Also the process can be time consuming.  I would call, explain what I thought I needed done, schedule an appointment for them to come take a look, wait, show the house, wait for bid, balk at the estimate, repeat.












Frustrated I started reading up on how to do it myself.  I watched the same kind of videos that allowed me to build the rest of the house.  I was very close to giving it a try myself again when as a last ditch effort I reached out to my local queen of tiny Hannah Crabtree of Pocket Mansions and she sent me a contact of a plumber she has used on her tiny builds.  The idea of having someone who is familiar with tiny building was enough of a plus to persuade me not to play with fire, water, or gas.  Rob and Sunny are colorful characters but quickly went to work roughing in the propane lines, the grey and fresh water lines, and even installed my shower, water heater and propane boat heater.

It was the first time I was uncomfortable turning over control of my project to someone else.  As proud of my siding as I was it was cringe-worthy to watch someone drill holes in it.  One of the benefits of doing the work yourself is you have to understand what you are doing, even if what you are doing is wrong.  Having someone else do the work meant I didn't always understand how the systems I would rely on work.  This made me nervous but I couldn't argue with the results.  I needed this sense of accomplishment to jump start my somewhat stalled motivation.

I need to insulate, put up the interior wall panels and construct my kitchen counters before the pros come back and finish the fixture install.