Leveling and stabilizing your tiny house is incredibly important. It really needs to be a top priority. It’s literally foundational to a stable, sane tiny living experience.
Believe me, sleeping in a crooked house will slowly drive you crazy.
Are you a permanent fixture in your community? Or, are you a free spirit, ready to move when the mood strikes? What you do with your tiny house parking set up affects how you level it. The longer you stay put, the more care should go into leveling. The basic hardware for all of this includes a level (at least 9″). It of course helps to start with a level bit of earth too. Keep scrolling for key considerations and tips.
Ground Firmness
Almost any open lot can work as a parking spot, if large enough. Though ground firmness is everything. If it is even partially mushy, you run the risk of getting your tiny house stuck when trying to park, or it unevenly sinking over time, creating leveling challenges. A well-suited tiny house parking spot is firm level ground, ideally on a cement or gravel pad.
New Parking Spot
So, you pull into a new parking spot. Now what? Whip out your handy level to check if your THOW is level front to back and side to side. In place of a stout 9″ level, you can install screw-in or stick-on mini levels.
First, check side to side by placing the level on the trailer tongue. To get extra precise, we also place it across our front porch (back of the trailer). If unlevel, the simplest fix is to use an RV leveling system. We use a leveler chock kit.
And if that is not enough, you can another layer of leveling blocks, or as needed pull up on to 2×4’s. Next, check front to back by placing the level on a wheel well. As needed, crank the jack stand to raise or lower the tiny house. Then you can use scissor jacks to stabilize and fine-tune the leveling, but not suited as the workhorse support for longer-term stays.
Staying Put for While?
The ultimate in permanence to level a tiny home is to get a plot professionally graded and to have some kind of foundation set up, or to park on existing slab. Because gravel is more prone to shifting over time, concrete slabs are likely the most reliable option.
Though sometimes older concrete slabs can become uneven, You can bring in a concrete leveling service to bring the slab back to level and become even more durable with the use of polyurethane foam injection (made from recycled materials!).
In Conclusion
Leveling a tiny home is a crucial step to enjoying life in it. With a solid and level foundation, it only gets better from there. Watch this video for more tiny house leveling and towing tips.
Cover image: Tiny Lots on the Prairie – watch this video to learn more!
by Alexis Stephens, Tiny House Blog contributor
