Building Off the Grid on Remote Land with No Building Codes (buying, self-sufficient)
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Dakster- nice to see you on this forum as well . Yes, alternative building is part of the reason I am up in Alaska... I have 43 acres down in remote northern Arizona (35+ miles down a dirt road) and we were not allowed to do several projects (like the dome and an earthbag home) because the county adopted the building code one day (after I bought the land but before I was grandfathered in). We were off grid with a solar set up and our own well and everything. I have framed many of houses to code while working and I will probably build a house to code someday, but in a lot of places it's hard to get earthbag homes and the like permitted. Plus I don't like having to be told what I can and can't build on my property. There should be rural opt out exemptions...
I agree with the being to far out with kids aspect, but thats a great thing about Alaska, is you can be far enough out to avoid codes and zoning but be close enough in to enjoy all the things town has to offer. I have some land down in homer that's 20 minutes or so from town (where the above picture and dome was taken). My plan for up in the interior is to rent a place in town , for the above reasons, then buy some land waaayyy out there and visit it and build as I see fit. I'll be sure to keep you updated with my progress.
Here is a quick video of my neighbors house who lived about a half of a mile from me in Arizona on the same ranch. (He also happens to be or was a reality tv "star" on discovery channel) His house stays between 65-75 degree year round down there with no heating or cooling system besides passive solar, where it gets anywhere from 0-100 degrees outside. He is the real deal and truly practices what he preaches. I really wanted to build something similar to this, he got grandfathered in right before the county adopted the codes, I did not, so Alaska it is for me
Amazing 6.7... Thanks for sharing the video. Neat house.
Yeah, I've been hanging out here for a couple of years too. Not just in the AK forum. I understand the move to AK. Your way of thinking (rent and buy remote) is what most of my friends and neighbors have done in AK...
I wish you luck in your endeavors and thanks for keeping me up to date on your progress.
I came upon this in a search for hoa of all things.
I'd just like to interject one thing. About the shipping containers. We had moved to an area out of the city, kind of woodsy but still near thnigs we needed to be near at the time. Often we passed some sort of construction supply yard. Big items...I beams, long pieces of lumber, etc. Large area. Erected above it all on steel beams was a shipping container. The area was not particularly creative so we thought this was creative but very unusual here.
Then one day there was a fire. Much was lost or damaged in that supply yard....but the shipping container survived above it all. Turns out that was the office. Because of the other damage, they seem to have closed or moved. They got everything out of the big yard area and one day all that was left was that shipping container. Then one day it was gone too. Since then I have thought those shipping containers are very reliable structures.
Most states have some sort of rules over wells and septic and requires permits in those areas. I'd check very carefully before assuming that NO permits are required for residency.
As far as "freedom" goes, I think the state has a legitimate interest in protecting health and water quality for everyone.
^Septic and well permits are fine. I also have nothing against building codes in certain areas like suburbs and cities. But when you are way out in the country say on 40 acres or more there should at the very least be a building code exemption that you can sign and be able to build what you want, and yes that is a very basic tenet of "freedom". You are more than welcome to follow building codes and you shouldn't worry about those of us that chose to live in places where we can build what we want.
I am personally not into mobile tiny homes as I have two kids and a wife.
So get multiple tiny homes, and connect them where you park!
I do think this is a good solution, in all seriousness, for those who have just moved to their no-code land and need temporary housing before they're done building, and also for those who are in disaster-prone areas like near volcanoes, hurricanes, etc. It also can help a great deal for people who want to live the off-grid life, but cannot yet afford their own land. In a place that has unpredictable tornadoes, it may be much more dangerous than building a concrete dome stuck deep in the ground, though. As someone mentioned, yes you need to be aware of vehicle dwelling laws in your local town if you're not in a campground or trailer park.
As an alternative to the typical "tiny house" that is pre-built and rigid, I have also seen people post from time to time who are big fans of yurts. I think you really need to consider the environment one is placing it in to be sure one is suitable, but they have done well for Mongolians and can be used as permanent structures or packed up on a moment's notice and moved elsewhere. They can also be very big in some cases, and are used traditionally to house extended families of sorts.
I think looking to the traditional designs of Native groups in the region one intends to live can be extremely helpful. Often these people have honed a design out of thousands of years of test trials, to create something efficient, and with some remarkable qualities for dealing with local climate issues. For instance, in Florida, local natives' use of chickee huts, which are often stilt homes with thatched palm roofs, provide multiple protections against heat and bugs, as well as flooding and rain, that are beyond what many modern designs of tents and awnings and canopies, etc, can provide, and in some cases are much better at surviving the elements than many modern homes that are professionally built in the same region.
I personally am a fan of the concrete dome design for virtually everything, if one has the means to design any way one wants. (I'm also interested in the shipping crate development, though, as an alternative.) A concrete dome is reasonably cheap and easy to make, and virtually indestructible. You can add windows, including impact windows if in an area of serious storms or very heavy snow. You can easily add tunnels if you want to "add on" or have separate spaces. You can add interlocking wood floors for warmth in cold climates, and if you're skilled can even design a heating system of heated water pipes that run below the wooden part of the floor for heated flooring. The floor can be easy then to disassemble in parts if you need access to an area to do some work. You can also make nearly any imprint, paint, or stenciling onto the concrete you want to for design purposes, if you're revolted by plain concrete. In some cases one can also mix colors or different elements into the concrete to make the material itself have a different appearance without compromising its integrity. You can also stucco over any of the concrete's interior or exterior surfaces and apply tile or mirror chip mosaics, stone or sliced brick or colored rock patterns, or stick anything else you want in there for effect, like bottle caps or glass pieces, or even fern imprints like fossils for a wild outdoor-type look. Especially if you add things that catch the light, it can be very bright in a dome, and if you want, very colorful. Domes not only protect against wind, but can also be made elevated and flood resistant, can be built partially (or technically, completely) into the ground if one needs a shelter for some reason, and allow for easy drainage of rain, ice, and snow.
You have to be careful to make sure the concrete is crack resistant, and to know what you're doing with rebar (if done incorrectly, homes near the sea can have serious spalling from the salt air that can possibly even destroy the home). But, it's not too difficult to repair in most cases, and in theory you could even pour another layer over it given the dome's shape. It would be interesting to keep pouring over different sections to make sort of a molten lava look running down.
I probably would camouflage the home with some paint, and make fern-like imprints over the entire exterior of the house, if I lived in a place like Alaska to help the house blend in more with its surroundings (unless finding the house was a concern!). Maybe if I was out on a savannah I would imprint it to look like grass on the bottom half, to help it fit in.
Concrete domes are also pretty bug and animal resistant, which is a plus over other types of homes. I might design a fresh-air ventilation and circulation system if I were in an area where having a lot of windows was a problem due to cost, privacy, or heat issues. I would think it would be possible to circulate fresh air in a way that allows plenty of oxygen, but can be heated before entering (passing over the heated water pipes?) to lessen the impact on the internal temperature, and of course that prevents critters at the same time. The thing is, one of course has to figure out the heating system - in a hot area it's easy, you just run the water over the roof (in pipes you might want to paint black), but in a cold area, I'm not sure if you have to devise a system with fire, or perhaps using a propane heater. Solar-derived power is not likely to be strong enough and efficient enough anywhere to be useful, and wind generators probably wouldn't be either to harness that kind of power. The great thing about concrete is, in a hot climate it is usually cool enough that you might never need more than a fan to stay comfortable. Cold climates might be a little trickier - but the structures of the Inuit are probably helpful there for sustainable ideas. I don't think one can underestimate either the cost benefit of warm materials for flooring, like perhaps microfiber rugs. Some feel almost like heaters with just the smallest amount of body heat.
These are just some ideas. I think it is possible to design a really comfortable, attractive, rather sophisticated and pretty green/sustainable off-grid home for a reasonable price. One just has to be pretty knowledgeable to do a sturdy job of it!
In a place like Alaska, the popular log cabin style has a lot of drawbacks given that it is highly susceptible to fire, is difficult to make totally draft and bug-resistant, might get termites, and is also no longer really a sustainable model. Even if one made the same design out of something like bamboo (should one have access to bamboo), usually that is made with more carcinogenic formaldehyde glue than actual bamboo, so no good.
I think the greenhouse idea is great, but I would not think it is a great idea to live in it. Sufficient heating will be extremely difficult, and moisture will collect inside from the ground and with condensation due to the temperature difference between outside and inside such that you have a very good chance of breathing in mold, which could make you extremely and chronically ill. The moisture is also likely to damage any furniture or metal/"electronic" equipment you have. Many people have tried to have greenhouses inside their homes, and have consistently run into these issues. An environment healthy for plants is not usually as healthy for humans, nor their possessions. I would build a separate building to live in with a door for the home and a separate door for the tunnel to help keep out moisture, but keep the tunnels for easy and sheltered access. You can only have so many plants in your house before they start to decay your home. A few plants are beneficial for air quality - a lot are detrimental.
My greenhouse will be extremely easy to heat. It will have minimal glazing and not that many plants. It will have a rocket mass heater in the floor and I plan to burn less than 1 cord of wood a year. It will be covered in 6+ inches of closed spray foam insulation for a super high r value. I will take care of moisture problems with an air exchanger or two. Something like this I also plan to have multiple domes so if the moisture problem can not be resolved I'll simply not live in that one. Either way it will be cool and unique.
I considered building my own home decades ago but reality intervened and we would up in a town house condo for the last 35 years. This place is very convenient and the condo fee is about the same as I would spend on maintaining a house and my property taxes are a lot less. If Iever get really tired of the cold and snow I'll buy an old adobe in New Mexico and sell this place for enough profit to pay for the move.
Living out in the boonies far away from neighbors sounds better than it is for most people.
We kind of did something like this. We purchased a foreclosure that had a well, septic and a large double-wide on the lot. The double-wide was in rough shape, the property was overgrazed 5 acres covered in weeds since the morons who owned it kept 7 horses on it, typical stupid white trash story - wife in jail, people hoarding animals - there are chicken bones everywhere on the property even a buried horse. We cleaned up the property, renovated the mobile (new metal siding, added a big porch in the back), installed solar (off-grid, not grid-tied), put in a horse riding arena, fenced and cross fenced 2+acres for our two horses, added a metal horse shelter, built a hay shed that can hold about 200+ square bales, tore down the old tool shed and built a new one and we also built a chicken pen for our two layers. We also started gardens for veggies. Took 2+ years of covering the land with manure to get grass growing again and the weeds to disappear. I am a beekeeping beginner now and our next project is deer proof fencing around our property to be able to use ALL remaining 3 acres (where horses are off limits) for growing veggies. I also rent 1 acre from my neighbor. My goal is to turn this property into a working farm that is off grid and then sell it for large profit and move somewhere really rural to much more land. We are in an area that is exploding in population - working and high-middle class professionals moving here in droves - the demographics is kind of like Portland OR - so no problems selling it to someone who wants to do the "green thing" for a lot of profit.
However, this property is in a county in Texas. The county is large and has no building codes outside of the cities - I could have built anything I wanted with no inspections or interference - all you need to do is pay $35 to get a building permit and submit a hand drawing of what you intend to built. The county, however, does require a septic tank and it will inspect aggressively for that - the septic is the aerobic type which has an aerator and requires electricity. This is because we live in an environmentally sensitive area.
We decided to rehab the mobile home because it would have been a waste to just throw it away and build from scratch.
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. Yes, alternative building is part of the reason I am up in Alaska... I have 43 acres down in remote northern Arizona (35+ miles down a dirt road) and we were not allowed to do several projects (like the dome and an earthbag home) because the county adopted the building code one day (after I bought the land but before I was grandfathered in). We were off grid with a solar set up and our own well and everything. I have framed many of houses to code while working and I will probably build a house to code someday, but in a lot of places it's hard to get earthbag homes and the like permitted. Plus I don't like having to be told what I can and can't build on my property. There should be rural opt out exemptions...
