Nomad, 2nd

Ya'll just go ahead and delete my account. I see no use for having 'real sounding names that don't haveta be your real name'.

Your place your rules.


I'll play elsewhere when I have time to do so again. I have other things to worry about at the moment.

I've been working 75-90 hours a week since January, so I haven't been here or elsewhere much at all.

I just checked my email and Leila sent me a PM.

Since we are invited to ask on this thread I'll ask what I asked her:

I've been using the same name all across the internet since before Y2K everywhere I've gone.
(If you will excuse the 'sounds like ego')... People know me.
How am I going to do this and not loose contact with people as we have drifted in and out of various forums and places?
How will people know 'its me'?

Thank you

Thanks guys, I plan on a couple raised beds (Will be mostly be doing Trees and things like Berries however) and will see if it works. (Layout)

Water consumption is not so much the concern, the concern is keeping chemicals, grease, whatever out of the water table.

I'm trying to determine the best way to work my Grey water system for my Off Grid cabin I'll be building in the spring.

I'll use a composting toilet, so that's a nonissue, other than using bio friendly soaps and just letting it run out, how can I deal with the grey water when it's a couple feet to bedrock, and those feet are mixed dirt and rock... with mostly rock!?

Thanks

You mean like this?:

http://thesurvivalpodcast.com/forum/index.php?topic=8886.0

All I can go on is what he himself said.

I also try to 'shop locally' But when there is a large difference in price and people are hurting...


JMHO.

Casey Halone wrote:

Share your thoughts. I for one love to ride my bike anyway and getting outside to get cardio. my only concern would be our months where bikes don't works so well with our deep snow.

maybe sleds?

I do not believe that any business plan which relies on people paying more 'because they support the way it's done' is a good long term (To include economically hard times) business model.

When people loose their jobs, or deal with financially trying times they are not going to pay extra for a service they can get cheaply.

JMHO

I appreciate the answer and the ideas.

One thing please, It's Corps. (No worries, it happens often)

The build site I have selected is a shelf on a south east facing slope, and everything will need to be carried a short distance by hand. (And before that a small distance by 4 wheeler, or winched down a slope.)

I do not intend on adding onto the structure although I plan on a wider footprint for a porch.

IF I am fortunate and later move out there full time I have another site selected for a house. This is an interim project and an experiment.

Because of costs, availability, and transportation, I will not be using Straw Bale (I have researched it much better then Cordwood) If necessary I will move in (A load at a time) what clay, sand, gravel etc I need. But I intend on minimizing it.

It is my intention to plan everything out before laying the first rock and to incorporate things such as high ceilings, proper alinement, the roof extending to block or let in sun depending on the time of year, light shelves, etc.
Although the area should not need it I intend to build with 24 inch thick cordwood as it can't hurt and itn't that much more difficult.

I've done Call for fire and am a firm believer that 'more is better' 

I've got a buddy who is an architect I'll get to run over everything with me also. 

Believe me, I am sure that I will have many more specific questions as I am a compulsive incessant planner.

Although I am a computer moron I intend on doing some form of documentation and putting it online as I have not found anything out there which answers my questions. (And afterall, more is better!) 

Thank you everyone for any scrap of intel.

Details to follow, but Questions first:

1. I see quite a bit about floors, but not foundations and floors.
I want to do a rocket stove, with the pipe in the floor for heat. (I have bad feet and cold floors are painful) I have searched but have only seen mention of this, not examples.
I should be able to put the foundation on solid rock, then 6 inches of Gravel for drainage, then some kind of vapor barrier…
Then what for the pipes, and the cement and rocks (I want a rock floor)
Question: Hard to find resources online, what books can I get for both the heat, and the rock floor?

2. (Details to follow) I am constrained by time. I’ll be cutting the trees shortly, and then the trees can dry over winter, and spring (I’ll be laying the floor in the spring) , late summer I’ll be building, I know this is not enough time to thoroughly dry them… Best I can do. I’ll patch in a little concrete to chink any cracks. May not look that great, I can live with that.
Issues?
Question:  Which cordwood books should I buy? (Most of my research till I found the land was more towards earthen builds)

My situation:
I’m medically retired from the Marines and back in school. Starting in January school is all online, and I have until Dec. (Although I may take a 10 week internship over the summer)   I might as well do something useful in the mean time. I’m about to buy 80 acres in the Ozarks, and will be building as much as possible off what is on site. The build site does not lend itself to any machinery etc…
I’m no ‘greenie’ but consider myself a ‘Rooseveltian conservationist’ meaning I’ll keep my 4x4, but try to do what I can.
Cost is a consideration, but I may spend the extra couple bux if it’s better for the earth, or if it’s easier for me (Could go either way)
I have no debt and few bills.

Land has no dirt relatively speaking (Which was my first building plan) so I’m stuck with Scrub oak and rock, which is why I’m looking at a rock foundation and Cordwood walls.
I plan on somewhere between a 20x20 and a 30x30 structure (With a ½ loft), entirely off grid. Call it a ‘hunting cabin’ or something of the sort.

There is a Spring/stream I can use for a water source nearby. (I plan on a solar pump bringing water to the structure)

I have physical limitations as a result of my service, but I’m good for about 3 hours a day. I hope to be able to extend this to 3 hours early and 3 hours late in the day at least part of the time.
I have half a dozen friends who have promised me a week or so assistance each. One is a master carpenter, and a couple have worked construction. 

This will be a fallback location if employment does not go well, a vacation spot if it does, and hopefully a place to run my consulting business from in a few years if all goes well.
I was an 03 in the Corps, my version of hard living is several steps removed from most.

Thank you for any assistance you can give. (I wandered in here from the Survival Podcast… I like the ideas I’ve heard and have planned on putting in fruit and nut trees, berry bushes, as well as other self sustaining plant life.)