Off Grid House Building

I was just thinking about my grandmother. she lived her whole life without hydro, indoor plumbing, or modern heat source. Finally when she was about 70 someone attached her to hydro and she had a single bare bulb that hung from the ceiling in the living room...
Funny thin is as a kid, I used to visit her all the time, and never thought much of it. As a matter of fact the hand pump she had at the sink was alot of fun to try and get water our of...but I did have some pretty nasty exeriences with the outhouse.
My cousins were all farmers and we were playing tag. The outhouse kind of teetered on the top of a hill, and it hadn't been cleaned out for years so it was leaking out the back and down the hill. Well to make a long story short...while chasing my cousin I took a slip and fall behind the outhouse and went for a real quick slide down the back of the outhouse...:ep Yup there are some things you never forget
 
If I were starting from scratch on my home... I would build passive solar adobe instead of wood frame. It is so smart in our climate, these homes are comfortable. We don't have earthquakes here and homes in our town way over 100 years old are still wonderfuly naturally heat and cool regulating. We heat with wood entirely already, and use very little propane for cooking and hot water. I want a solar water heater in the future.

We are starting to look into a PV solar system. It is possible to go off grid here, but makes no economical sence. Our power company will buy any excess power, plus they pay you for the power you generate and use yourself! They are required to produce a certain amount of energy from alternative sources, and so they send you a check for the energy you use and consume.
We would still be able to disconect from the grid at will, and would automatically disconnect if the grid goes down. We are looking at battery backup, with the batteries to be in the shop building instead of the house.
 
You guys ever read anything about a floor made from manure and blood? Read about this once in a story about flooring made for the adobe and sod houses out west in the pioneer days. Also heard about this being done in Africa. Says the floor comes out smooth and shiney as marble, waterproof and hard. No smell either. I would love to find out more details of this.
 
Beekissed said:
You guys ever read anything about a floor made from manure and blood? Read about this once in a story about flooring made for the adobe and sod houses out west in the pioneer days. Also heard about this being done in Africa. Says the floor comes out smooth and shiney as marble, waterproof and hard. No smell either. I would love to find out more details of this.
Click to expand...
So much for germ phobias...and babies crawling on clean germ free floors:>) Can you imagine? The manure I can take...as long as it's polyurithaned LOL! But the blood...yikes! And the fact that the two together would somehow make it's own shiny surface...hmmmm wonder if dh would let me experiment with that theory in the recroom?
 
Well the whole mixture is tamped down and dried, then rubbed to a high gloss. Seals itself and no need for a sealant. Now, I imagine this process "kills" active germs of any kind unless this could somehow be reconstituted. I can't imagine this would be any more or less "germy" than letting one's child crawl on a floor that a cat or dog have sat or walked upon. Think of the fresh fecal material on the paws of cats or the hind end of a dog!

Somehow, I think this would be more healthy than some the chemical floor treatments or plastics used in linoleums and tiles. I imagine these kind of floors and sealants would constantly leach chemicals into the atmosphere. I know that some types of carpeting also has some pretty serious leaching into the atmosphere, not to mention mold spores growing in the underpadding.

Just a flooring alternative that sounds interesting to me....all organic, no deforestation involved, and long lasting without any maintenance. :)
 
This is my favorite off -grid house. Check these out. Very cool ! I'd love , love to build one of these!

Earthships

Solar , grey water recycling, rain water collection, indoor garden , made from recycled materials, glass bottles, old tires, etc.
 
I like the concepts and designs...almost like the cob dwellings...don't think I'd like to use recycled tires though. Recycled glass, yes!
 
I would build a small two room cabin into the ground and make it from recycled wood and local trees as well as sod.

The ceilings would be low to keep the house warm enough in the winter. I would have a wood stove that I can also cook on. I would use kerosene lamps at night if I needed them. I would have a homemade bed with a feather mattress on top of a bed of straw. All my furniture would be made from local material.

I would like a windmill to pump water from a well. I would have a wash tub for bathing and washing clothes. I would have a pulley system for my clothes line.

Maybe I could find a sewing machine that doesn't need electricity so that I can make my own quilts and curtians for the cabin.

I would dig a cellar away from the house and store my produce in the ground. I would have fifty cases each of 1/2 pint, pint, quart jars.

I would have a outhouse.

I would make my chicken coop and barn out of sod and tree limbs. I would make my fences out of rock and tree limbs. I would have a few cows for milk and meat and a horse or two to help with the chores. I would also like a few chickens, ducks, turkey and pigs for food and eggs. I would also like to have a dog that helps with the animals.

That is my wish for living off the grid.
 
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