Elwood and family's journal of our ss journey

[milkmansdaughter]

Hi Elwood! I went back and read from the beginning. Wow, you've had ups and downs, but you keep popping back in! Sooo glad to see that. Kentucky is beautiful (and is not too far north of me.) Were you in Portland? My sister is a cardiac cath nurse in a hospital there.

We'll be looking forward to hearing about your newest adventure. We've got several things in common. I'll be looking forward to more posts.

 

[elwood]

Been down but never out!
We are about 4 hours from portland on the coast of oregon. Beautiful but expensive. She had her heart surgery in corvalis oregon.
We will be in the mt vernon area of kentucky. Always looking for neighbors!

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Sounds like you have faith to carry you. Never leave home without it. For that matter, never be home without it!

 

[Chic Rustler]

Hello Elwood. Sorry to hear about your wife's health issues. Starting from scratch with 16 acres is exciting! I hope you post lots of pics so we can follow along

 

[baymule]

Cut trees and make your own lumber with a chainsaw attachment.

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/t...MInZmTnN6X4wIVCMJkCh3mFQU-EAQYASABEgLrgvD_BwE

 

[elwood]

I believe they call that an Alaskan saw mill.
I have looked at them.

 

[baymule]

If you have the trees, why not use them. You could make enough rough cut studs to frame out your house. If you got a planer, you could make the floor. You might could even make enough to clad the outside in lapping one over the other, then caulking the joints.

I highly recommend putting a radiant heat barrier film on the roof, before putting the metal on. It cuts the heat by as much as 15 or 20 degrees. I have it on my sheep barn, they will go to a pasture, then stand at the gate when full, yelling at me to go back home to ruminate. LOL LOL

https://www.radiantguard.com/produc...MIw7DMpeCY4wIVk8BkCh20fAcGEAQYAiABEgJgvfD_BwE

 

[Mini Horses]

When I bought this property (20 yrs ago last month) I bought a small camper trailer & lived in it while building. Had a porta-john & ran gray water out and onto ground thru PVC that I could move as needed. Electric from temp pole. Did a good amount of own work on house, after contracting the big things with contractors I knew & had worked with for years. But, I did the things like insulation, tile, laminate floors, bath cabinets., trim outs & staining wood, painting, etc. Was sure glad when the approval was granted for power in the house. It was summer and AC was welcome! Couple months later to get occupancy but, slept in there on a cot before then. Hot in the trailer! Just an old lady and her dog.

It's real "doable" to live nicely in a small way while building. Slower pace. You may get into a lot that I would not. I hired framers, electricians, etc. BUT, needed to. In the end I did save a lot between own work and reduced rates from contractors who worked with my late DH & me for many years.

Looing forward to hearing about your adventures coming soon. Bet you are, too.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

DH and I also built our home pretty much on the "pay as you build" plan. It was helpful that my dad was a building contractor. We put up the frame at the very end of the building season: Concrete block with fiberglass overlay foundation. We moved in at the end of January. Walls were studded, but no sheetrock. Minimal electrical, no running water, only heat was supplied by a wood stove with wet wood that we had to dig out of the snow bank and knock the ice off it before bringing it into the house.

Yes. It's doable. Hard. But doable. It made me very much appreciate every bit of work completed, every step forward into having a more civilized home.

 

[Marianne]

Nice to meet you, Elwood!
DH and I also built our house! I wanted to live in a camper while we built, but he refused, so we did a lot of driving back and forth with supplies. It took forever, but we got it done. You'll get it done, too.

Can you just live in an RV or camper on your property? So many areas have restrictions now days.

I know some people that did that while they built. He made a sheltered 'wash area' outside of the camper with both washer and dryer hookups, and a sheltered cooking area/kind of front porch. It worked out well for them.