Going Off Grid in East Tennessee; The Story and Chat Thread (health, builder)

[CarolinaWoman]

Lisa and Mike ... WOW ... what a thread! Like so many here I just wandered upon it ... I live on the other side of the mountains ... actually in the Piedmont ... but over the years spent time all over the hills of NC and TN.

Your adventure is amazing ... my husband and I read the whole post all 79 pages at one time! Oh to be young again and full of your get and go ... I love it! You have one of the most beautiful views from your new home that I have ever seen ... spring will be awesome and fall will be a blessing to enjoy.

Thank you for taking the time and effort to share your wonderful home building journey with us. I hope you and Mike will have many long and happy years in your new home.

[Lordship]

Originally Posted by Gary Slusser

LISA! say it ain't so!! You aren't going to be like 'those people' that move out in the country and then goes against local habits, tradition, life style, sound wildlife management practices and logic by banning hunting on your property without knowing the problems that creates for the wildlife, especially bear, and the residents in the area, are you?

If so, you might want to check out what's happened and happening in eastern and central PA and most of NJ's woods where no hunting on my property, or at all anywhere for anything, has been going on for the last 20+ years.

I'd be worried about someone hunting on the land if one of the cows got shot, believe me I heard about a guy in school who "accidentally" shot someones cow and it cost him dearly. If Mike and Lisa want to go for a walk in the property do they have to wear blaze orange? no.

I'm sure there are plenty of other places in the area that hunting is allowed on so the wildlife will get their numbers checked accordingly.

[JEANNE61]

Good for you lordship ... Nobody should 'have' to allow hunters on their property ..

Always have to be looking over their shoulder for the next a--hole that misses his mark .

Good for you lisa and mike. . . Ke e p them o u t !!!

[ylisa7]

chiisai- Welcome to our life ha, ha. I am so glad you enjoyed our story. I saw some of your pictures of your house. You guys did great. I know you also appreciate the work that we have done.

Rook73- So far if we need good fresh air we just open up the front sliding doors. The whole house gets aired out very quickly especially when it is windy. If you build completely underground you will most like need something for air flow. If you aren't off grid and are not concerned about electric I would use fans and a dehumidifier.

Carolinawoman- Welcome. I am so happy you found our story.

To everyone about the hunting. Mike and I are not hunters. We are not against it if that is how you feed your family and you eat what you kill. We don't have an overpopulation of animals here so that is not a problem. So we will not allow anyone on our property to hunt. This is a safe haven for the animals if they need it. And as others have pointed out I don't want to have to wear bright orange for fear of getting shot by some yahoo that can't tell the difference between me, a cow, or a deer. Believe me we have met those who shoot at anything that moves.

Have a good night and I will see you all in the morning.

Lisa

[chiisai]

[quote=younglisa7;6660389]chiisai- Welcome to our life ha, ha. I am so glad you enjoyed our story. I saw some of your pictures of your house. You guys did great. I know you also appreciate the work that we have done.


Thank you for the welcome!

When we finally do get our land in ME, we hope to do something similar with the off grid aspect. So I really enjoy seeing how you are doing things!! We are NOT afraid of hard work, so what you have been doing is right up our alley. That you are NOT afraid to try new things, and have the willingness to try, is phenomenal!! (even when some may think you're one egg short of a cake)

Sending you our best through the winter, stay warm, and I know I really hope you keep letting us see this part of your adventure! (Post again soon....I mean you know, when you can... but soon-ish.)

p.s. I feel the same about hunting. Personally I want the option to hunt or not on my land. Like you I do NOT want to be shot hanging my laundry on the line, by a boozed up bozo on a ATV, who thinks all land is hunt-able. (Those kind of people give hunters a bad rep., and then limit the hunting range, for all.)

Again thank you for keeping us....dare I say it..... YEP.... wait for it... wait..... POSTED!!

[Beretta]

Folks, please don't make this into a hunting and hunters rights thread. Future posts will be deleted as posts should stay on topic. Also, we will continue to delete "when is the next update" posts as these clutter the thread. Thanks for your understanding so that all can enjoy the story of "Going off the Grid".

[ylisa7]

Good Morning all. I know so many of you are busy with the Holidays coming up so I really appreciate you taking the time to read this chapter. It was a good week in the Mike and Lisa world so here we go.

Monday 12-15
Today we started our day by loading up the trailer and going to the dump. On our way home we were going to stop at the builder's supply but the skies looked like rain. We didn't want to take a chance with the sheetrock.

We got home and Mike filled our water tank. After that we started to clean up the office, again! We are thankful for that room because it is our storage room right now but we have to start working in there. So we moved stuff around again.

Mike started installing the floor trim in the office.



We got the first part of the washer and dryer closet up.



And Mike put up the ceiling light, temporarily. It's the last light in the house to go up. Woo hoo.



Tuesday and Wednesday
It's been really dreary out with no opportunity to pick up supplies. Mike and I really miss the sun. It makes working so much more enjoyable. I know, I know no excuses right. Ok so we didn't do much work.


We did one thing. We started installing the perimeter track for the ceiling tile in the office.



We are jumping back and forth on our last 2 rooms. We just have the bathroom to complete and the office. Then we will be done on the inside of the house.


Thursday 12-18
It's now or never. The skies aren't terrible so we hook up the trailer to the jeep, grab the tarps, and head for Lowe's. On our way it starts to drizzle- oh no! This is really bad. Mike thinks maybe it will pass over if we give it a little time. So we decide to go to Nissan to look at a used truck they advertised. We "still" need to get a small 4WD truck but the new ones are just so expensive. The one we went to see was a 2007 and it looked rough. The salesman said "the man used it to haul firewood". Yeah it looks more like he used it to cut the tress down in the woods I am amazed that the dealer didn't try to fix the truck a little before they tried to resell it. If it was all scraped up on the outside you know the engine was also beat on. Oh well. Off to Lowe's.

The skies are still gray so we decide to get everything except for the sheetrock. We loaded up 3 louver doors, ceiling tile grid, and 2x4's onto the trailer. We wrapped it up with tarps, tied everything down and crossed our fingers all the way home.

Finally we made it and everything stayed dry. Now we can get to work.

We started putting the ceiling grid up in the office.



The first ceiling tiles are going up in the office.


As usual we put the full tiles up and the cut tiles will be done last. Because our tiles are recessed not only does Mike have to cut the tiles down he also has to cut out the recessed part. It's a very tedious job with a lot of up and down on the ladder.


We also picked up some pipe insulation to wrap the water line that comes into the house. Here is Mike wrapping the pipe.



I love this stuff, the pipe insulation. It's like a hollow piece of foam that comes in different sizes and has a slit down the middle. You open it at the split, wrap the pipe, pull off the plastic(which covers the sticky part) and squeeze it together. Now your pipes are protected.


Friday 12-19
We can see a little bit of sun so we make a mad dash out the door to the local building supply to get the sheetrock. On our way it starts to drizzle. Oh no here we go again.

We pull the jeep and trailer inside the building at the building supply. They have the most awesome set up for their business. It's a huge metal building with a big door in the back and a big door in the front that exits out onto the main road. You pull around back, into the building and park. You go inside to the office and showroom area and pay for your items. Go back out and give the guys your ticket, they load you up and off you go. You stay dry the whole time, it's great customer service, and very convenient. We got the sheetrock loaded and wrapped up. Off we go.

Fifteen minutes later I am opening our gate at the top of the hill. We made it and the sheetrock is dry. Yeah. We are happy campers.

We bring it all into the house and we start working on the bathroom again. First he screws the bottom plate into the floor and through the concrete.



He is installing the first piece of sheet rock for our water heater closet.



Almost done.



Next he goes into the bathroom with the spackle bucket. He has to tape up all the corners and fill all the screw head holes. After that he starts working on the closet door.



The door is up and working.



We decided to take take the big cabinet out of the bathroom because it was just too much for the room.


Saturday 12-20
This morning I went to the library and scored on 3 new books I was waiting for. On the way home I did the grocery shopping.

While I was out Mike installed the rest of the perimeter track and more ceiling tile in the bathroom.

Later on he cut and installed some of the side pieces of tile.



Sunday 12-21
Today we kicked butt. Mike was determined to get the bathroom done. He is almost done with the ceiling tile.



And the bathroom ceiling is done.


Next he had to redo the floor trim where we took out the cabinet and also do the trim around the new closet.



After that he sanded and put the second coat of spackle on the closet. Hopefully it will be ready for paint.



After dinner we moved into the office and started working on the washer/dryer closet. First we put up more studs to hold the sheetrock.



All the wood is up for the closet.



And the first piece of sheetrock is up.



It was getting late so we stopped there. That is our story for the last week. I hope you all enjoyed it and I am sorry I am late. Have a great week.

Happy Holidays and stay safe.
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk137/lisa_in_east_tn/pug_christmas_cards.jpg (broken link)


Lisa

[chiisai]

YEA,YEA, YEA,

OOOHHH... Look how beautiful that is.

I love the high ceiling, FP is fantastic, the cabinets gorgeous, and the stack w/d is to die for.

HHUUMM... have some ideas now, for my ME cabin. Now if I can just find a moose statue, to drill.....

Bi-fold doors for air flow, YEP YEP, love it!


Have a GREAT holiday with your family!

I'll be here next time you post!! ( I'm not allowed to say I'm W *8 ing, for the next update.)

[JoeCartpath]

About your laundry closet....

Be sure your water hoses, dryer hose and power cords are long enough so you can pull the washer & dryer out far enough to access the hookups!

Also, you might want to consider making that space above the dryer useful for storage. Just attach some wood strips to the walls level with the ones already in place and lay in a piece of plywood or OSB for a shelf - then put a simple door or two on the front. You can never have too much storage!

[CA Sweet Pea]

Lisa - thanks once again for the update! You guys are awesome!

Now, I may have missed something (although I have read every post at least twice) - but as one who is always looking for storage places, was it possible to use the area above he water heater and washer/dryer for an additional cabinet - or is there some reason (possibly venting, etc) that you couldn't.

I'm loving every part of this - and I have to go back every little bit and look at your bear lamp and table - I LOVE them!!!! As stated before, I'll be here when you return!

May you and Mike have a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!

CA SP