If you’re thinking about living in a tiny house on wheels but are worried about high winds, you’re in the right place.
You might be worried, “what if my tiny house flips over?!”
And that’s a totally legitimate concern, right?
The good news is that it’s certainly possible to protect your tiny home on a trailer from strong gusty winds inexpensively by using tie-downs, anchors, and anchor points. With the information and video below, you’ll see how.
Protecting Your Tiny House on Wheels from High Winds
Images © Steffo Avocado/VIMEO/ABiggishTinyHouse
Images © Steffo Avocado/VIMEO/ABiggishTinyHouse
What You Might Need:
- Anchors, Rings, Hitch Clips, or Tie Down Anchors professionally secured and bolted onto the corners of your tiny house (if you can, design for this)
- Heavy duty tie-down straps with add’l ratchet straps
- Anchor point (in this case, a nearby tree is used as an anchor point so you can use a winch strap made for trees to secure) but you can also set up your own anchor points if possible (consult a professional)
Watch the video below to learn more:
Video: Protecting Your THOW from High Gust Winds
Resources
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If you enjoyed this story on high winds versus tiny houses on wheels you’ll absolutely LOVE our Free Daily Tiny House Newsletter with even more! Thank you!
Alex
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Hi Alex,
This article was very helpful. I always wondered how you would handle a situation if it became too windy for your tiny house. It didn’t look hard to do.
Thank you for the information on how to secure your tiny home in bad weather. I will keep this in mind for when I buy my tiny house.
Carol Perry
Some decades ago I lived in a forty some foot, eight foot wide mobile in Northwestern Arizona. I came home one day to find my home sitting 90 degrees from where it had been when I left in the morning. Thankfully nothing was damaged. The information in the article is helpful. I actually prefer the houses on a foundation to a trailer because of this. Of course I have moved enough in my life that I am content to stay put somewhere now. Anyone thinking of a mobile lifestyle needs to consider ways to secure their home.
I’d be awfully cautious about anchoring to a tree, especially after a very dry year. The last storm we had come through left a lot of otherwise solid looking trees uprooted and fallen over.
The video does not mention another method that is often used on mobile homes – earth anchors. And earth-anchor is a steel device that is screwed into the ground, and then attached to the house, usually to the trailer frame if the house is adequately connected to the trailer. One advantage is that there are no straps to walk into, and they can be used where there are no trees. They come in various sizes; check the size needed for the soil conditions and the trailer size.
I just Googled earth anchor. I will have to look into this. I live in Nebraska and it is a tad on the windy side. You know, the wicked witch of the West was from Kansas.
Here’s a heavy duty earth ancor. You could either use their strap system or your own.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y5dsvyWodJQ
Very good info…excellent presentation.
I have lived in a 117 sq. ft. wooden Tumbleweed Tiny home since 2009, on the Oregon coast and then on the west side of Whidbey Island, WA. My house has experienced winds of 60-70 mph (gusts) and sustained 20-30 mph for hours. Both locales have very windy winters, with extreme wind storms fairly common. In ALL that time, I have felt the house shudder only a few times and NEVER had the feeling that it was going to move or tip. I think my pitched roof helps “shed” some of the wind and certainly gives the house a smaller profile than a big, square home – like a 5th wheel. My RV neighbors would comment how the wind was rocking their houses during a storm and they would ask me how I fared, and I would have to say, “Hardly felt a thing!” I can’t imagine needing to tie my house down – unless I was in hurricane country and then I think I would just move!
Great to know, Cathy, thanks for sharing your valuable experience with us!
I grew up in a 1957 America, 45′. My dad made certain that it was tied down using trailer anchors everywhere we set up for more than a single night. It went through an earthquake in LA Ca, back in 1969/1970, trailers in the same park were wrecked, ours was the only one anchored double the required amount back then. Even went through a tornado here in Texas where it had been originally bought. If you park a THOW anywhere, tie down to the frame and then anchor it in the ground.
Hi Alex,
Can you tell me what are some of the best materials to use if you are building your own tiny house and it will be in Colorado where it will have to withstand the harsh winter element?
Thanks,
Dianne
If you build or have someone build your tiny house you can get a steel band from a mobile home parts store. You should run it up and over the roof and down the other side under siding and roofing. If you use this you will not have frame taring of the house.
Thank you everyone for sharing your knowledge on this important topic. I noted it all! 🙂 Just in case, it’s good to have this afore knowledge so when we build… God bless and happy trails!
Does anyone have any info as far as Hurricane’s? I live in Hawaii, which is astronomically expensive. We are interested in building ourselves a tiny home to make paradise less taxing on our income. One of our biggest issues though is ensuring that we are Hurricane safe. Any direction would be greatly appreciated.
Living in South Florida you have to know first hand what high winds are like with all the hurricanes that has come thru our area.. Now that being said, I have tied down a fair share of FEMA trailers in my day as well…! And if you have a mobile home in Florida you would have to have experience as well with tying down your house… We use a steel strap with a large auger bit like screw that you put into the ground and the other end of the strap attaches to the houses wheel base frame to anchor the house down.. Using a turnbuckles you tighten down your house equally all away around the house making sure this is no slack in any of your metal straps that you just put on your house or it will do nothing for you when that hurricane lord forbid comes your way…!
Zachary,
Being about three hours up the road from you, I concur with your imput. Hurricanes can be a nightmare to deal with. Those turnbuckles and steel straps are a must. Those auger screws can be the variable…soil is overly sandy up my way. Where you can get away with it, a concrete slab with eyebolts works.
As stated earlier, anchoring to trees can be iffy. The shear magnitude of our oaks and pines can come back to bite you as they can easily grow to be top-heavy. Add water weight from a storm, and the stresses of a falling tree could pull your THOW apart.
If you are into Yurts or other round structures, you will have less wind resistance, because the wind does not slam against your structure. Instead, it tends to flow around it. Of course, anchors in the ground can be used, but sand does not hold very well. To be really safe, you would need bedrock of some type that is stable, like granite. As far as round structures, there was a round house on the beach in Mobile, AL. and a hurricane hit. All of the houses in the vicinity were damaged or demolished. The round house was left standing in decent shape.
I have been researching the tiny world of living for a couple of years and have been concerned about hurricanes and extreme winds. This is very good information. Would like to know more, perhaps statistics, on what works and what doesn’t and how long those have experienced hurricanes and/or extreme winds living in the tiny world. Thank you, Tracy
Wow I NEVER thought about that — one more reason for me to LOVE yurts 🙂
Thank you for the helpful advice! Would sure use it if I ever get my own TH.