Wednesday, June 3, 2009

June 3 2009 update.





Last Friday, May 29, I found my developement permit in the mail box. That means that now I can apply for a building permit. I have been going over some last minute things before sending my building permit application. Just want to make sure about some things before commiting myself to the exact spot that I chose to build on. Some things on my mind, that I am trying to figure out are, high speed internet (can I get connected if I build there?). Insurance. Is insurance to run a wood stove, and propane space heat in a small shack, with alternative power going to be worth it, or will it be reasonable. I guess it is quite possible that things like that could make it hardly worth being off the grid when you could hook into grid power. I guess the reality of everything finally hits a man right in the head. lol. I love solar energy. Just experimenting with it and learning about it. I guess you can't put a price on education. I'm pretty sure that I am going to go through with it, but like I say, just want to make sure that everything is going to be right. It will cost me atleast $8500.00 to hook into the grid. I can buy some pretty good solar equipment with that. My power system is going to end up costing more than that. That is to be expected, and I don't care about that. I'm sure it will pay for it's self in the end, I hope.


And then I get thinking about things like, if I decide to add onto my house in the future, I did'nt leave much extra room for that. Hell with it, I don't need to add on. The bigger it is the higher the taxes, the more the insurance, the more to heat, the more to clean the more to maintain. Thats why I chose to keep it small to begin with. Some people still think I'm a nut job, but I no longer give a shit what other people think. I actually get a real kick out of watching the expressions and comebacks from other people when I tell them what I am up to. Some think that I am totally whacked. These are the people who live in the big houses with the attached heated garage, the same people who, if you were to take there salary away from them for a month, they would be totally screwed. Yip, I'm the nut job. Anyway, I did'nt come on here to run people down, just thought I would throw that out there though.


So, now I need a building permit, then I will need electrical, plumbing, gas(propane), private sewage disposal permits, and also a permit for installing a wood stove. For now, I am going to get the building permit and see how that goes, I am undecided yet if I am going to put in the electricity and plumbing myself or not, but I think I will do it myself. I have been doing alot of research on some of these topics. I guess if everything is done to code, thats all that matters. I will be sending in the building permit real soon.


I have been a very busy man lately, and I even had alot of help from my mother. Cleaning up the building spot, and I built a 8x12 power shack for all my electrical goodies. (Batteries, inverter, charge controller, generator(s), etc.) I have also been doing alot of research and educating myself on things. All the while my pay job had a bit of a splurt there, but now I think things are slowed down a bit again. It kinda sounds like work will be pretty slow this summer(I hope). lol. There are two of us truck drivers that haul all the bosses equipment around from job to job. The other driver will be doing what he can to keep up and sometimes I may have to come into the picture when he can't keep up to things.


I hope that once everything is under way and all the building starts, that there will be very little work interruptions. I can't wait to start building, but it might be a few days just yet. I still have alot of prep work I can be doing, it seems to never end. All the legal issues, and permits are tough, just because I don't know the routine, but after this one, I'm sure it will all be second nature to me.


I have been spending alot of time out there, and living in my rv quite alot, so I hav'nt been keeping up to many other blogs lately. The weather has been pretty good here, I need to take advantage of every bit of time I can. (And here I am writing a blog. lol).


Here are some pictures, they are nothing special, but I'll put them up anyway.


I had this old horse trailer for awhile now, it will never be road legal again, finally it is paying for it's keep. All this wood came off the building spot. It is not the best quality fire wood ever, but I think it could be pretty valuable in a pinch. It might even save me from burning the deck someday.
The building spot before the cleanup.



This is the building spot, cleaned up alot from what it was. That used to be a big pile of wood, all the way from the front of the truck canopy to the bush. We bucked any burnable wood up and either put it in the wood shed or the horse trailer, depending on the quality. The trailer and wood shed are now pretty much full. Here is the power shack. That is the plan for it at this time anyway. I insulated the floor, and the door is going to be insulated when I build it. The rest will be insulated, if need be, when the time comes. Alot of the work I have done out here in the last while had all kinds of weather interruptions. Just get started shingling and then the clouds pop out from nowhere. Thats the way it goes.


My mom had a little bit of old paint laying around at her place, so she decided to bring it on down and paint the inside of the outhouse. It had no paint inside at all before. She since painted the inside of the door a really neat blue also. I did'nt argue. Paint away momma. It actually looks really nice, a big improvement to the establishment. She also hung some wildlife pictures. Now I can kinda picture what might be waiting outside for me, as I leave the leu.


They said, "more video". Well, not in so many words. lol. So here is another video. I thought I should film this incase something should happen to me, they would know what happend. Well ok, I lied, I just wanted to see myself in action again. lol.

18 comments:

  1. Looks great! What is with all the permits? Do you have to get a permit to breathe? I have to say that is one of the things I wanted to get away from, where I'm at now, the only thing you have to get a permit for is a septic system, fortunately I don't have one of those. :)

    Keep up the good work.

    Wretha

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  2. Hey Mark! One little "huff" when you picked up an entire wall?!? Come on man, we want to hear loud grunting and spleen popping sounds...go lift something really big and get back to us!! LMAO
    The place is looking good...love the outhouse.
    Keep the posts coming...
    Cath

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  3. lol I'm with Cath, only one little "huff"..that's pretty darned good Mark!
    You make it look easy!
    Great pictures, your Mom did a nice job on the outhouse too.
    Congratulations on getting your developement permit!

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  4. Hey Frug! You have been busy! Love the outhouse shot but gave me a chill thinking bout going out there in the freezing cold! Reminds me of my grandmother's outhouse back in the days before they had indoor plumbing...boy I was really glad when they got their toilet installed! Just had a funny thought of using the shot as a wall mural in the bedroom...hehe...

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  5. Hey Wretha, we do almost need a permit to breathe. I put alot of thought into things and I was going to try and avoid permits somehow, but I am sure that it will catch up to me sometime. When I phoned about an internet connection, for an example, the first thing they asked me is "do you have a developement permit"? I try to keep things simple, but sometimes it's not all that easy. Thanks for the comment.

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  6. Hey Hermit,

    Just wanted to say hello as I just joined your blog. I think what you are doing is GREAT! Keep at it. It can't be done all at once like we wish it could but do enjoy the journey. Mine has been a some ride! -jen

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  7. Hey Cath. I tried to lift the floor without the camera, and I could'nt do it. It's amazing what you can do with an audience. Thanks Cath.

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  8. Hey Jeanie, I'm getting better at holding all the huffing in, all the time, then letting it really go when the camera is off. Thanks Jeanie, the developement permit seems to be just the permit to go and get some more permtis. They gotta get some money somehow.

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  9. Hey Carol, yes I might have to hang of picture of my outhouse in my bathroom of the cabin, just as a reminder of how rough it could be when it is -40 and it is snowing and blowing outside. Thanks Carol.

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  10. Hello Jen. Thanks for joining my blog, and I also joined yours. I looked through it and found your blog to be very interesting. It's good to see others with the same kind of ideas. Thanks for the positive note.

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  11. Great progress, your getting alot done in a short time. Are your plans to have all this done this summer/fall?? regarding the plumbing and electrical, I would take the time and learn all that you can and do it yourself, education and experience is vital.
    I just got hooked into the bell stick for internet and very impressed with it, 30 bucks a month and very fast, maybe you could get coverage out where you are??????
    I've been lacking on my blog as well and need to update, maybe this weekend, heh busy guys just dont have time eh
    long run, grid power is cheaper per watt, if you can get it in for 8500.00 I think that is the way that I would go.
    Surprised at all your permit requirements, worse than northern ontario.
    insurance can be a funny thing, if you have it you never need it, once you don't have it, well you know.
    love the pics, who's the old guy in the vid, ha I would have grunted and groaned and got the wife and kid to help lift lol
    good luck and hope that things continue to prosper for you

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  12. Ok, whack job... let 'em talk all they want. We'll see who's talking smack in the future.

    You GO! They can pound sand as far as I'm concerned. (an old Marine Corps term... tee heee)

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  13. Hey Coal. I've been wondering where you have been hiding. My plans are to have it liveable for this winter. It will probably be far from finished, but maybe liveable. I do think I will do most everything that I can, unless I am running short of time or having major problems, I may have to call in the pros. When you say "the bell stick" are you referring to Bell xpressvu for a sattelite connection? I hav'nt looked into any sattelite lately, I just assumed that it was big time expensive.
    I realize that grid power would probably be the answer, but I enjoy playing around with the solar stuff. And I already own most of it. And grid power would take more than 6 months to get. I can always get it in the future, if the solar thing dos'nt work out, and I could also do a grid tied system later, if I do decide to get on the grid. It's nice to know that the option is there, but I just gotta give the solar thing a try. I don't know who that old bastard was, just some guy that came onto the property and flipped the floor for me. lol. Thanks for the comment Coal.

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  14. Hey Meadowlark. I am pretty different from alot of people I know, and I have a mind of my own. Thats what I like about me. I never let other people bother me anymore. I just gotta do what I gotta do. If others think it should be their business what I do, then I guess they are the weird ones. I gotta give them something to talk about though, or they will be bored. I do know alot of people that are cool with what I do also, but I do sometimes wonder what's being said behind my back. lol. But I'm not worried, they CAN go "pound sand". Thanks Meadowlark

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  15. Heh Frug, check out bell.ca and look for the stick, it is a usb gadget, works off the cell 3g system. if your cell phone works at your location I am thinking the bell stick will work???
    \ Rogers has their own version as well.
    Did not see any mention of water for your place?? truck your own water, stream on property?/ freezing??

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  16. Looks like things are moving right along! I'm proud of ya for all you've done so far...

    Screw the others and what they say! If they want to live in cracker boxes, that's their choice. Think of what a terrific view they will have of the neighbor's wall or fence!

    Keep on keeping on, guy!

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  17. Hey Coal, I don't think Bell is here yet. I could'nt seem to find the service areas for Rogers either, the page was down. Water I will haul for now. I'm going to put in a cistern. From the cistern to a holding tank inside the shack. When I am done pumping from the cistern, the water will drain back into the cistern clearing the line from freezing. Over the bank from the cistern is a well with a hand pump. I'm not real sure about the quality of the well, but I will look into it at a later time. Eventually I may move water from that well to the cistern, but it's the least of my worries at this time. It's is not a big deal to haul water. That bell stick things sounds like a hell of a deal, if I can get something like that. Probably sometime in the future it will be here.

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  18. Thanks Jim. Some things are getting done. Alot of things are getting done in my head lately, but nothing physically going on. I like it more when I can see the walls going up are something.

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