9 THINGS TO CHECK BEFORE You Build Your Homestead House in the WRONG SPOT!

You got some property... NOW WHAT?
If you are planning on building a homestead from scratch, maybe even an off grid home, eventually you will need to choose a spot to put your house.

How do you choose the best spot to place your home? Don't make a costly mistake, in this episode of the Homesteady #Podcast Logan Parker from Heirloom Builders joins us to talk about how to choose the best location on your property for your home.

Checkout Logan @HeirloomBuilders

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[lynnbetts]

Even if land isn't in the floodplain, look for signs that it will flood. That may be plants that only like damp areas, or debris trapped in trees, bushes, and old fence lines. If you can see it right after a major rain, you can see how the water drains off. In western states and areas, always check to see if the land is in a designated aquifer recharge zone. In central Texas, if you are in the Edwards aquifer recharge zone, you cannot collect rainwater. For septic, the county can usually tell you which areas are known to have more clay, and if an aerobic septic system would be required. They can also tell you the restrictions on spacing between water wells and septic systems. In smaller tracts or subdivisions, make sure of the animal restrictions. Some areas won't allow pigs or goats or have distancing regulations from houses. Some restrict the number of animals. See if the restriction is for # animals/acre or # animal UNITS/acre. USDA UNIT = 1 1000 lb cow w/calf at side. Always consider run-off from animal areas into your water supply.

[tealkerberus]

The best spot is halfway up a ridgeline, facing the sun side. You've still got the hillside at your back to block the pole-side winds, but rain landing uphill of your house is easy to drain off down the sides of the ridge so it doesn't come in your back door. If you've really got it perfect, your ridge runs all the way to the road, so your driveway doesn't have to cross anything that will become a waterway in wet weather to get to the road. And you put your water header tank at the top of the ridge for maximum gravity pressure - a solar pump from your house catchment tank pumps water up to the top of the hill when the sun is shining, and you've got water pressure stored 24/7 thanks to gravity.

[CK-solutions]

Best location, mid slope. That's where I built. Tucked down the side of a mountain, facing a lower valley, I have a hillside blocking the high winds from the South-West (in the southern hemisphere) but the wind in the North East facing valley, blows a cool, gentle breeze to the house. You do have to plan for water mitigation down the slope, but that' easily solved with swales, higher up the slope and you redirect the water flow to your lower catchment water ponds.

[rcjo]

I've wanted a straw bale house almost my entire adult life. I'm 65, so it won'tbehappening. They are the best! Warm in winter, cool in summer, so aesthetically pleasing and cozy. Go ahead, live my dream! 😂

[theboonstead]

We made sure our house was uphill because of all the rain we get! Good luck with your house placement :)

[benjaminvanlandingham]

What do you do as the hay compost in the walls? Does it make mold issues? Do you add hay yearly?

[elizabethherschleb]

Not far from the road. The further you go inland the longer the driveway is to plow in the winter. If you have a emergency in the winter you don’t want to be stuck where you can’t get out and no one can get in to help you.

[tealkerberus]

"it's gonna cost sixty grand to get power out there" you can get a very nice solar power set-up for a lot less than that and never deal with a power bill or black-out again. I find it slightly incomprehensible that anyone who owns their own roof would even consider paying for grid power these days, when all the components are so much cheaper than when I started living off grid.

[vitorreis]

Great content, well done! I really enjoyed watching your videos.
Be safe and God bless ✌️

[goofyroofy]

Excellent video..the Permaculture Designer in me agrees with so much of what he says, esp that mid range area of placing the house for the reasons mentioned. Another good video source is Geoff Lawton's Surviving Collapse, its not doom p0rn, its along the same line as your guest. A couple things I would add to the observation is to try and find out from locals as well, the year you're there may be an unusual one that may mask the reg trends or other outliers to watch out for. Aside from weather, do what's called a sector analysis, find out where do winds come in the various seasons, are there risks like fire, flood, rains, where do they come from, etc. think of it like akido, you want to be able to move with, or blunt harmful forces, and move in harmony with positive ones, like how he was mentioning passive solar. I also like how his home is structure resembles a Chinese style greenhouse, very good for solar gain.

As you are building from scratch, one thing I cannot advise highly enough is installing a CLIMATE BATTERY!!!! Some call it annulized geo-solar, in a nutshell you are pumping the higher warm air back into the ground to warm it so in winter that heat will come up through the floor. Very low energy needed to run, usually a small fan. It is a tremendous energy saver, both in summer and winter, and aside from the fan, has no moving parts, need to be fueled, etc. Not knowing the area you're in, building preference, etc. where you do have the family hookup of yellow steel, you may want to look at using them to make cob, an excavator can mix up cob way faster than a bunch of blue haired hippies LOL, or Geoff Lawton talks about using earth to make an frame suited for passive solar (like earthship style) without needing the tires, you just stack your earth and cut the sides so theyre straight, sort of like rammed earth without the rammed part.


I like that you guys hit on water, access, structures, the key for designing any homestead, also liked his info on clearing land, esp if you;re planning on having the wood for building, its a bigger task than most figure, far better to take ur time and clear the land as you go, thinning and managing for firewood, letting pigs, goats, sheep and chickens do the work and planting for your future needs, aiming for that sweet spot of savannah style where production is the highest. Cheers.

[cxengel]

I am looking to build in my forest, which creates a whole other issue. I don't want to take down any unnecessary trees because they will be my shade as the climate warms. Thats my biggest challenge.

[GOAT_GOATERSON]

I'd like you to make an in-depth episode about frost heaving and permafrost and how that can effect potential buildings and infrastructure on a homestead and how you can plan around it

[s-c..]

This is great, I hope the talk with Logan means you’re leaning towards Straw Bale! Also, don’t forget to take fire resilience into consideration.

[nitapachulski]

Can't wait to see what the new land an house will look like

[nancyseery]

Great information for all of us. I'm still voting on straw bale, passive solar with solar panels, water catchment and don't forget a great view! god bless y'll and keep growing. CAN YOU DO A BASEMENT OF ROOT CELLAR UNDER YOUR HOUSE IF IT IS A STRAW BALE HOUSE???

[bobnewkirk]

I always felt that Passive Solar and Solar Electric were at odds. For passive solar you want south facing windows and maximum south face even to the point of having a roof that only slopes to the north; like shown in Logan's Home. For Solar Electric you want as much south facing roof as possible to mount your array to, and might even consider having a only south-facing roof to maximize that surface area. I would be very interested into how the balance of those two priorities is managed and if outbuildings or other uses of space for solar change that dynamic.

[edwardantrobusjr]

One type of house I've often thought about but don't hear much about anymore, is earthen. You know, the entire structure is covered by dirt. They make something I think are called light tubes to bring in natural sunlight.

[darlawrence]

You're walking through the mud...
At least your boots are happy! 😁

[moniquem]

A pioneer question. I was looking at it the other day as it will be the first thing I buy after I buy my property. Does the $50 a year package include the Pioneer Library or is that only in the Pro bundle? I don't need the business course but I do want the Pioneer Library.

[dirtroaddestiny]

Your new homestead is going to be very pretty! You are doing great guys! 😊