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Your Question: Are you towards the top of a mountain or bottom? Reason i ask is we're concerned about being on top for the views and having to dig a well. just wondering how deep we would need to go, the cost and if we would hit a lot of solid rock or now. also do the pumping of water uphill. must need a strong pump for that.
Response: Greetings from the Off-Gridders. We own from the top of the mountain to the base, but chose to live on the bluff (about half-way). We have a great view and placed the well on the bluff. Going threw the rock is not a problem with the technology of the new drilling rigs. In fact you can hit a cavity of a spring and have spring water (that happened to us). We went 271 feet, but was prepared to go deeper. So drilling threw the rock is not a problem. Place the well high on the mountain and you can have gravity feed which works good for us too. We placed the well slightly higher on the bluff and it works fine.
well that's good to know. what's the average price to have a well drilled up there? Not necessarily what you paid but you must have got some kind of estimates i would assume. say we have to drill 500' down through rock? by the way, what kind of rock are you digging through? I know granite rock up north was very common and quite tough to go through. you can PM if you'd rather discuss it that way.
Oh, all you guys and gals are making me want to sell my house, take the motorhome to TN, buy some property and live in in the MH while we build! OF course that means storing all the furniture, etc., but it's a perfect idea to save on rent or buying something you may not be overjoyed with simply because it's a house. You have the right ideas!
My husband and I and our doggie frequently "live" in our 32' motorhome for 2-3 months at a time while we're traveling. And even though they are smaller than your house, when you're enjoying living and breathing, who's going to stay inside all the time?
Tony, if you're really not familiar with RVs, learn all you can about them before starting out. You'll need to find dump stations for your grey and black water. And there are maintenance issues, weight limits, state laws, etc. that you'll want to be aware of beforehand. (Oh, Tennessee has some of the best state parks in the country and Nat'l Rec Areas, so be sure to camp in some of them while you're out and about!) Best Wishes.
Oh, all you guys and gals are making me want to sell my house, take the motorhome to TN, buy some property and live in in the MH while we build! OF course that means storing all the furniture, etc., but it's a perfect idea to save on rent or buying something you may not be overjoyed with simply because it's a house. You have the right ideas!
.
That's my plan, cash for the truck, cash for the RV, cash for the land, cash for a Barn/workshop/storage bldg on the property and store all of my stuff in there, install a driveway, well and septic, then use the savings from rent and being my own contractor to build a house for cash (hopefully).
That is unless I can find a really cheap brick house that's already built that needs remodeling, I can save money on the run down house on acreage, remodel it while living in the RV and be happy in a paid for home. That's the goal anyway.
We got the truck and RV already. Once we sell the house, that will finish paying for the truck, RV and the land we buy and still have plenty to start building. We also thought about a fixer upper but my husband is so anxious to build our own home and i won't discourage it. Afterall we live in a fixer upper now and it seems like it's never done.
When I moved to rural land here in California I lived in a 30 foot travel trailer for about 6 months. I rented one, which turned out to be a good idea, as I didnt need a large unit after I was done (I was single and had 2 dogs). I had to sell one home to purchase the land and move onto it.. the closings were concurrent and that of course was a huge hassle,,, moving an entire life in a day was a hurculean task,, hopefully you wont be in the same boat,, my home sold just as winter was approaching and I had to take advantage of the sale.
I lived in the trailer through a wet, and sometimes very cold, California winter.. including snow on some occasions. The property I moved to had nothing on it.. just bare land...and I started from scratch using generator power and 6 (20) foot cargo containers as temporary storage and shops. The cargo containers really worked out well,,, they cost me about 2500 each delivered (nearly new units) and I just sold the last two for the same price.. having all my tools and life possessions NOT in storage, but on-site, was helpful.
Basic stuff, such as water and power, was a hassle and I found myself eating one meal a day in town. Even a large RV fridge doesnt hold much...laundry was also a hassle,,, One really takes for granted the luxuries of being American. All in all I would do it again,, make sure you get the largest unit you can for the money,,, you really only need to pull it there once...
Whatever you do make sure the systems all are in great shape,, In my case my rentals batteries died after month one and it was too much hassle to exchange the unit so every time I needed even simple light (other than flashlights) it meant going outside to start a generator
I rented a porta potty,, the company listened to what I was doing and they brought me a brand new unit... even had water and soap...they serviced it every month... my propane company delivered a 100 gallon bottle and would have kept it filled,, I never went though the 100 gallons.. you could even do a washer and dryer if you used natural biodegrable soap. My first priority was water,, so all my efforts focused on that.. it took me about a two weeks to accomplish that with the rural water district.
I lived on cell phone
The day the house was done and I moved in I felt so great that I decided to plant a tree.. so using my tractor I drilled a hole in the ground for it in a place I had selected in front of the house,, promptly drilling thru my main water line and just nicking my electrical line,,, took me two days to backhoe everything back up and repair it,,, today I can laugh about it.. but it meant living in that trailer two more days
I found great compassion and cooperation with people when I told them I was starting from scratch.. other than PG and E, my power company,, they couldnt have cared less and I didnt get power until about 4 months into the project.. seems like all they said to me was No.. we cant do that
The first building I built (6 carpenters and me) was my shop, (4k sq feet) took about 6 weeks ( actual building days and not weather days) to finish,, then I had dry space to be in and that was a godsend... oh to be dry and not in a trailer!!!!! I then moved the trailer into one of the bays and things were MUCH better as I didnt have to walk out into the weather immediately after opening the trailer door ( I found it was hard to stay dry and keep things clean all the time when the trailer was in the weather) I didnt mind the difficult aspects because it was only me,, but if I had a wife (I do now) Im not going to subject her to the same hardships.. I learned alot the first time and this next time I will make adjustments
All in all six months to get out of the ground and into a home (took me about a year to finish everything) isnt a long time. I do remember being pretty tired at the end of the journey.. of course I was intimately involved in the construction and I did all the underground myself.. all the electrical.. and swung hammers when I could,,,next time Ill make sure the budget allows for telling the foreman...
"Call me when the spa is warm, James"
I hope this insight helps
Cam
Last edited by notmeofficer; 02-10-2007 at 09:55 AM..
We had a nice Freightliner to pull our 40 ft. Carriage 5th wheel w/4 slides. Never had to worry about burning out a tranny with that combination. Next time around I'd like to full-time it for maybe 2 yrs., and would get a small Airstream towable, and "Sayonara baby". LOL !
When I moved to rural land here in California I lived in a 30 foot travel trailer for about 6 months.
Cam
That's quite interesting. Hopefully when we're ready, we'll avoid some hassles like that. I mean i already plan on taking a weekend day to do laundry in town. No fun but hey, i've been too spoiled having my own washer and dryer at home. So many people never had that so i can't complain. I always tell myself there's always someone worse off than me. That usually gets me through no matter what the issue is. We plan to buy our land this year prefer a wooded lot so we can carve out our yard. Shortly after that, plan to install a septic and electric as we will need it for the house anyways then when that's done, maybe make the BIG move. Obviously we're not in a hurry to move. It may not even be for 5 more years but the more we prepare now the better. We'll probably also buy one of those huge stand alone carport things to put the camper under so we can stay a little dry when we step outside.I've even seen people put up an extra room just outside the camper without it looking tacky and even had a deck at their doorway. This is the whole reason we need a piece of unrestricted property so we can do all these things. Both my husband and I love camping and we just upgraded from tents last year but yeah, i think one year will be long enough for me too.
When I moved to rural land here in California I lived in a 30 foot travel trailer for about 6 months. I rented one, which turned out to be a good idea, as I didnt need a large unit after I was done (I was single and had 2 dogs). I had to sell one home to purchase the land and move onto it.. the closings were concurrent and that of course was a huge hassle,,, moving an entire life in a day was a hurculean task,, hopefully you wont be in the same boat,, my home sold just as winter was approaching and I had to take advantage of the sale.
I lived in the trailer through a wet, and sometimes very cold, California winter.. including snow on some occasions. The property I moved to had nothing on it.. just bare land...and I started from scratch using generator power and 6 (20) foot cargo containers as temporary storage and shops. The cargo containers really worked out well,,, they cost me about 2500 each delivered (nearly new units) and I just sold the last two for the same price.. having all my tools and life possessions NOT in storage, but on-site, was helpful.
Basic stuff, such as water and power, was a hassle and I found myself eating one meal a day in town. Even a large RV fridge doesnt hold much...laundry was also a hassle,,, One really takes for granted the luxuries of being American. All in all I would do it again,, make sure you get the largest unit you can for the money,,, you really only need to pull it there once...
Whatever you do make sure the systems all are in great shape,, In my case my rentals batteries died after month one and it was too much hassle to exchange the unit so every time I needed even simple light (other than flashlights) it meant going outside to start a generator
I rented a porta potty,, the company listened to what I was doing and they brought me a brand new unit... even had water and soap...they serviced it every month... my propane company delivered a 100 gallon bottle and would have kept it filled,, I never went though the 100 gallons.. you could even do a washer and dryer if you used natural biodegrable soap. My first priority was water,, so all my efforts focused on that.. it took me about a two weeks to accomplish that with the rural water district.
I lived on cell phone
The day the house was done and I moved in I felt so great that I decided to plant a tree.. so using my tractor I drilled a hole in the ground for it in a place I had selected in front of the house,, promptly drilling thru my main water line and just nicking my electrical line,,, took me two days to backhoe everything back up and repair it,,, today I can laugh about it.. but it meant living in that trailer two more days
I found great compassion and cooperation with people when I told them I was starting from scratch.. other than PG and E, my power company,, they couldnt have cared less and I didnt get power until about 4 months into the project.. seems like all they said to me was No.. we cant do that
The first building I built (6 carpenters and me) was my shop, (4k sq feet) took about 6 weeks ( actual building days and not weather days) to finish,, then I had dry space to be in and that was a godsend... oh to be dry and not in a trailer!!!!! I then moved the trailer into one of the bays and things were MUCH better as I didnt have to walk out into the weather immediately after opening the trailer door ( I found it was hard to stay dry and keep things clean all the time when the trailer was in the weather) I didnt mind the difficult aspects because it was only me,, but if I had a wife (I do now) Im not going to subject her to the same hardships.. I learned alot the first time and this next time I will make adjustments
All in all six months to get out of the ground and into a home (took me about a year to finish everything) isnt a long time. I do remember being pretty tired at the end of the journey.. of course I was intimately involved in the construction and I did all the underground myself.. all the electrical.. and swung hammers when I could,,,next time Ill make sure the budget allows for telling the foreman...
"Call me when the spa is warm, James"
I hope this insight helps
Cam
That is so awesome, I didn't think about the 40 ft containers, great idea. I'd like to do my own contracting, but don't have any real experience, there are places Help-U-build that may make things easier.
I have my truck, shopping for my RV right now and will be heading across country (30 - 45 days while seeing the sights).
I'm hoping that everything works out swell.
Tony
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