Categories
Casita Mods

Adding Vinyl Plank Flooring to the Casita

We weren’t fans of the grey wood that came with the Casita, just personal preference. We decided to buy vinyl plank flooring to lay on top of the old floor. We did not do any hard-install, because if we resell we can remove the flooring for people that don’t want it. We didn’t use all of the flooring, so we had leftover planks.

Materials
3 boxes of Lifeproof Butler Hickory 22MIL vinyl plank flooring

Tools
Worm drive saw to cut some of the flooring
Measuring tape
Box cutter
Screwdriver for table hardware & trim
Putty knife for trim

Cost
About $180

When you’re replacing the flooring or adding new flooring you’ll have to remove all the trim at the bottom of the fiberglass. You’ll also have to remove the hardware that holds the tables up. This is easy to do.

The hardest part is measuring and cutting. There are a lot of annoying corners and things that don’t line up on the floor. This is what will take you the most time. There were a few planks we could just lay without cutting, but majority needed at least some cutting to fit. My partner did all the measuring and cutting, so thanks to her for doing all that so we now have nice bright flooring 🙂

Categories
Casita Journey

Moving stuff to storage

We had placed our casita order in the fall of 2023, planning to drive to Texas to pick it up May 2024. We still have an apartment and plan to finish the lease fall 2024. Since we were already doing the drive over to Texas to pick up the Casita, we figured we might as well bring some stuff to store. After our lease ends we don’t plan to be back anywhere near the area we are at now, so we didn’t want to store things here.

So we packed up a 6×8 Uhaul trailer and towed it to a town outside the Casita factory. We’ll bring the rest of our stuff either in a small Uhaul or a van when we end our lease. This just makes things so much easier when our lease comes to an end. Rather than needing to pack up and move an entire apartment, we’re packing up much much less. Many items we still have in the apartment will be donated or thrown out such as our couch, bed, TV, dining table and chairs. Those items are over 10 years old, so whenever we get a house we can get new furniture.

The Uhaul trailer actually felt harder to tow compared to the Casita, given that the Uhaul had no towing brakes (the 6×12 trailer has brakes). The size was perfect for what we had: about 9 Home Depot black and yellow bins, 2-3 smaller bins, and 2 larger bins. Then we had a lot of random items like a bed frame, rug, papasan. The trailer fit surprisingly more than we expected.

When the trailer is empty, it’s easy to pick up and move on your own. But we made the mistake of parking the trailer and unhitching, and then packing it. Otherwise our truck would be blocking the road in our complex parking lot. We hadn’t thought about how we’d lift it to re-hitch to the truck :/ We had completely finished when we realized we needed to re-hitch. So we ended up having to unload most of the items, re-hitch, and then reload the items. It didn’t take too long but we felt pretty dumb after that happened.

Unloading the trailer in Texas was quite fast since the storage place had carts to move things. Texas in May was very hot, unlike the east coast, so we were drenched. Then we dropped the trailer off at the dealer and that was it.

Unfortunately we can’t do another Uhaul trailer for moving our other items since the truck will be towing the Casita. Uhaul trucks and cargo vans were quite pricey (nearly $1000) so we’re not sure if we’ll rent one of those or do a mini-van and pack it as much as possible for that drive back west.

Update October 2024

So we ended up renting another Uhaul trailer and driving the rest of our stuff to Texas and drove back to our apartment to end the lease and get the Casita. The drive from NC to TX to NC took us about 3 days. Uhaul trailers are quite cheap, around $100, and then we paid gas. Definitely much cheaper than getting a moving truck (over $1000).

Categories
Casita Mods

Our Plans for Casita Mods

We have a lot of interior plans for the Casita which I’ll list below. We weren’t super happy with the way the interior looks, it’s quite outdated. They even did a new premium package that offered other color options but those still looked bad (grey and more grey).

We’d done a ton of research to get ideas of how other people did their interiors, but really couldn’t find any we loved. Since we’ll be living in the Casita we want to make sure we enjoy the space and feel comfortable.

Interior

Replacing the Kitchen Faucet
We plan to replace the faucet in the kitchen to have the wand.

Replacing the Kitchen Sink
We found a cheaper deep sink instead of paying the $400+ to Casita. We installed ourselves.

Replacing the Floors
We’re not fans of the greyish flooring so we’re replacing it with a brighter wood. The only issue is the added weight, but we aren’t bringing a ton with us anyway.

Making new tables & turning both tablesinto laguns
My partner really wants to have nice wooden tables rather than the drab grey ones. So we’ll be replacing both table tops with nice wood. We’ll also be getting rid of the two posts on the large table and the one post on the small side table, reducing the size of the large table (nearly in half) and using a lagun arm so we can move the tables. We’ll keep the large table (cutting it into three pieces) to store in the closet and still use for the bed. The large table in the Spirit is way too big for our needs.

Window curtains
We didn’t want to pay the few hundred for Casita’s curtains/roller shads, so we’re just going to make our own.

Painting the cabinets
The option between grey and wood colored cabinets was not great. We decided we’d brighten up the space by painting the cabinets white and painting the hardware black.

Adding a stainless steel look to the fridge
Just an easy swap so the fridge front isn’t white.

Replacing the cabinet push buttons
These feel low quality. Our first trip out and we already had issues with them sticking or not opening.

Replacing the mirror & bathroom door
We weren’t fans of the long, cheap mirror on the outside of the bathroom door. We’re redoing the door entirely and putting a round mirror. No need for a full length one.

Replacing the shower head
We are getting a more water-efficient, low-flow shower head to conserve water.

Replacing the bathroom faucet
We swapped out the bathroom faucet. Looks nicer.

Securing the bathroom curtain
This curtain is necessary for keeping water from going outside the bathroom. To make sure there’s a better seal we’re adding command strips to attach each edge of the curtain.

Composting Toilet
We’re capping off the black tank (never used it) and replacing the toilet with a composting one. We have cats so we’ll already have horse pellets we can use and coffee grounds for composting. I’d rather dump that than deal with dumping the black tank.

New lithium battery
We opted not to get a battery upgrade from Casita, just cheaper to get it on our own.

Folding table
We didn’t get the folding table/shelf add on for the kitchen, we can make it cheaper ourselves. We used arms from amazon and a cutting board.

Closet shelves
We will be building our own shelves for the closet. The closet options out there felt pretty expensive.

Exterior

Bug Screens (DONE)
We made our our own bug screens from mesh we already had. These will cover any exterior vents where bugs can come in. We bought the two circular bug screens for one of the exterior spots since those were hard to access.

Backup Camera
We bought 2 backup cameras to see which we liked best and we ended up keeping the wireless one. It’s much bigger but it has a solar panel and is rechargeable. We’ll be attaching it to the back with VHB tape. It could go on the metal bar in the back of the Casita but it feels too low.

Awning and screen room
We’re buying and awning and screen room from a company that sells them for VW vans. It won’t need to be bolted into the Casita, just attaches on there. The screen room is to keep bugs out and the cats inside.

Categories
Casita Purchase

Casita Add-Ons We Purchased

We spent a long time considering which add-ons to buy when we ordered our 2024 Spirit Deluxe Casita. We had done our order and then a month later they unveiled a new 2024 Casita with different default and add-on items. So we re-did our order (ended up being cheaper) but some things became add-ons like the AC, which felt a bit odd as I’d assume most people want the AC. There were a lot of new design add-ons like the gray bottom coloring on the outside of the Casita or the fridge having a stainless steel front, but we weren’t fans of those options.

These are the add-ons we got:

Furnace
$499
We want to be able to camp in colder weather, so the furnace will help if needed.

23 gallon Fresh Water Tank Upgrade
$79
We plan to boondock, and a larger tank just made sense.

Anderson Weight Distribution Hitch
$489
We have a smaller truck (2019 Toyota Tacoma), so we want to make sure we’re towing safely. It really feels like it makes a difference, towing the 2000 mile round trip, it felt like we were barely towing anything. We hit a few windy spots but didn’t notice much sway.

High Lift Suspension Package (free)
$199
This came free during the period we ordered.

MACH 8 Plus AC Upgrade
$1249
The new casita price model doesn’t include an AC. There is a base Mach 3 unit or this upgraded and we chose the larger unit. The AC is freezing! We had it on about 75 degrees in Texas (it was in the 90s and extremely humid) and were dummies who only brought sheets to sleep with. I ended up needing a towel over me because the AC was so cold. It’s right over the bed area so it blows right on you.

Power Maxxfan
$299
We’ll have some of our own fans, but when we’re plugged in at a park it’ll be nice to just use the ceiling fan.

Bath Window
$299
Hoping it allows more sunlight, less need to use lights.

Surge Protector/Water Filter Combo
$149
We probably could have bought these on our own, but rather be given a recommended surge protector to prevent any issues. We’ve used both so far and are happy with them. The surge protector feels very high quality.

Add-ons we didn’t get:

Aluminum Cased Patio Awning
$899
We considered this, but we found another awning that’s much cheaper and includes screening. This will allow our cats to be outside and prevent bugs coming in.

Outside Wash Station
$149
Didn’t see much need for this.

Microwave
$239
We don’t want to use a microwave for cooking, uses up a lot of battery.

15″ Aluminum Alloy Wheels
$269
Felt fine with the default wheels. Might upgrade in the future as it’s been mentioned these are just for towing at 65 mph.

Portable Solar Panel 200 Watt
$599
We bought our own 400w Renogy panels for around the same price.

Electric Tongue Jack
$189
Didn’t feel the need for this. We can just hand crank.

Friction Anti Sway Control
$89
Since we got the Anderson hitch, no need for this.

Roller Window Shades
$299
Felt we could make our own for much less.

Leveling Blocks
$49
Would rather buy our own. Plus the Andersen style lever seems easier to use than blocks.

Folding Kitchen Shelf
$89
We will make this ourselves.

Mach 3 Plus AC
$999
This was the base AC unit, we got the upgraded version.

Timber Trail Decals
$1
Told Casita we actually didn’t want any stickers at all, just a plain body. They ended up putting stickers on it anyway that we removed.

Entry Door Shutter Screen
$149
Had trouble understanding this one, since the door comes with a screen door. But this is a shutter to close the door window, because otherwise people can just look straight in. You can just buy a velcro shade window shade, does the same thing.

Solar Port
$89
No need, we have our own system where we’ll hook our solar to the battery and to our EcoFlow.

Sliding Battery Tray
$199
Didn’t see the need for it.

Premium Package
$1299
Includes Gray gelcoat, Lakeside Gray Wall Material, Brushed Aluminum Refrigerator Front, Stainless Steel Deep Kitchen Sink with Cover
This Premium package felt like a lot of “design” items that aren’t really necessary. Didn’t like the gray outside coat or the gray interior material.

Video Entertainment Package
$499
24″ smart tv, digital TV antenna w/ amplifier, cable ready
We don’t have TV now and didn’t want it in the Casita, we’ll just stream on laptops or a projector.

Casita Travel Package
$289
Spare tire cover, insect screens, sink cover, water hose, battery monitor, 4 way lug wrench, blow out plug, toilet chem, H20 regulator, jack socket, rivet kit, socket wrench, 1.5″ Drive, .5″ drive, 3/4″ wrench, accessory bag
We had originally added this, but after looking up each item ourselves we figured we can get a better deal ourselves and pick the items we want.