Whoa there! This page is designed to give you a feel of how the company operates, which I am glad to share with you. Go back to the main About page for history and general info of the company.
As of February 2023, the new shop in Bondad is up and running. We’ll have more info about this by Fall 2024.
Here is some info about the old shop, for archival purposes, and for those of you who have too much time on your hands! 😉
So, a little about our setup, because we get a lot of questions about it. I’m currently leasing some land in Durango city limits where we construct all Tiny Houses on site and store materials and conduct all other business pertinent to operating a Tiny House company. The compound is constantly in flux and I’m not always the quickest to update the webite, but as of January 2016 this is the basis of our setup:
In times of abundant sunshine and warm temps, we prefer to do our builds open air, but when moisture is inevitable or the mercury drops, we have constructed some facilities to keep the houses dry.
The original 14’x24′ pole barn at the old shop was taken down and expanded to a 28’x32′ pole barn. We can technically build 2 regular size tiny houses underneath it, but once we start placing scaffolding around a build and staging materials it realistically only supports one build at a time during times of rainy or snowy weather. The barn has a built in overhead track system that allows one worker to do a lot of tasks solo that might usually require two or more people. It’s also useful for components that are too heavy for even two or three people, like SIP roof panels.
This past winter, we erected and outfitted a 30’X66′ quonset hut as our primary building space. We can comfortably fit two 20′ houses in here with room for scaffolding, materials, and tools. It is also equipped with a monster woodstove that raises the temps about 10 degrees, which on some bone chilling winter days is a huge difference!
In addition to these shop structures, we have several lumber racks floating around as well as a gothic arch structure that has been dubbed “the church” where we store most everything else.
Vehicles-Sadly, I had to sell my little Mazda pickup after buying a bigger truck for towing heavier tiny houses. When I started the company. this was the only truck I had, and while it was fine for towing empty trailers and lumber runs, it could only tow about 2500 lbs. I found a 1994 Ford 3/4 ton 4×4 for a good price with low miles on Craigslist up in Montrose. It needed a little bit of TLC, but nothing I couldn’t handle. For the price, it is perfect for large material loads and moving trailers and Tiny Houses around as the need arises. It is the daily workhouse for lumber runs, trips to the landfill, getting firewood in the winter, and other shop tasks. For deliveries, I invested in a a 2000 Ford F-250 7.3 liter turbo charged diesel. It is equipped with an extra heavy duty receiver hitch to safely tow up to 17,000 lbs for bumper pulls. For houses weighing more than 8,000 lbs we hook up the weight distribution system which transfers more of the trailer tongue weight to the front of the truck, leveling things out and making for a much smoother ride. The truck is also equipped with a gooseneck hitch for gooseneck and fifth wheel trailer designs. I have yet to tow a tiny house that this truck could not handle, however, with the houses getting larger and larger and this truck putting on more and more miles, I decided to purchase an even larger 2014 Chevrolet 3500 Dually Crew Cab with the Duramax diesel and Allison auto tranny. This will be the go to truck for most deliveries now.
Other than trucks, I own a few bikes and ride these as much as possible for errands around town or when I just need some small stuff like screws or hardware. I custom built a flatbed trailer that is capable of hauling stuff about 10′ long and up to 150 lbs. This is useful for trips to Pro-Build (about 500 yards to the north) when we only need a few boards.
Location- One of the reasons I picked the spot I’m at is because of its convenience to lumberyards. I am directly next to Durango Salvage, a local company that sells reclaimed and/or discount materials and fixtures. I prefer to get my structural lumber new, but I’ve gotten barn wood, reclaimed metal siding, doors, windows, sinks, and reclaimed trim wood from these guys and all I have to do is walk about 40 yards. ProBuild is also a neighbor and I can usually walk over there for small stuff or have them drop off lumber with a fork lift. Home Depot is about a mile away. Kroeger’s, the local Ace hardware, is about 2 miles away. I usually only get specialty hardware and tools from here and am able to ride my bike. The point is, I’m not burning crazy gas to get all my materials and this is not only better for the environment but ultimately keeps overhead costs lower.