Farmstead planning

[3Ts]

The Bathroom in the shop thread prompted this thread. For those who are just getting their farmstead plan put together, what would you recommend them to consider. For example, the Bathroom in the shop is one. There is also:

Yard light controlled from each building. I have 3 buildings on my property and have 2 yard lights that light up the area between them. Each of the 3 buildings have a switch so that the lights can be turned on or off from each building.

My wife and I fit into the senior citizen category and she spends a lot of time in her studio and I'm in my shop. We have oriented the buildings and windows in each building so we can easily see what's going on in each others studio/shop. Mostly from a safety perspective so we'll know if each other needs help.

 

[Doofy]

Safety becomes more important with age. All the worrywarts and gloom&doomers will poopoo this...but we use "Alexa" devices that also serve as hands-free intercoms. I have been carbon monoxided and have also had a back spasm and couldn't get up off the floor while working in the shop. Alexa to the rescue!

 

[sea2summit]

Doors orientated towards where you need to go (shop, wood shed, barn).
Fire extinguishers…lots in lots of places. Hoses on all faucets with good solid nozzles (brass). And if you can, a fire skid.
Parking, but more importantly traffic flow. How/where do you turn the trailer around. Where do you park/hookup trailers so their not in the way but not so far it’s an extra chore to go hook up.
Compressed air access, drop a point at all the doors if you can.
Where do you pressure wash so you don’t make a muddy mess or contaminate your yard?
Where do you pile the snow you plow?
What is the workflow (fire wood processing to wood shed, bone yard to welding bench/machining area, engine maint).
Many other thoughts, but it’s bed time

 

[Doughknob]

Really? You guys actually plan all this stuff? I must not be old enough yet

 

[Torvy]

Safety becomes more important with age. All the worrywarts and gloom&doomers will poopoo this...but we use "Alexa" devices that also serve as hands-free intercoms. I have been carbon monoxided and have also had a back spasm and couldn't get up off the floor while working in the shop. Alexa to the rescue!

We use Alexa to control the lights. I only need one switch if my bulbs are Wifi. Too far off the beaten path for hackers to bother.

@3Ts Good thread idea. There are always things you don't know that you don't know...

@sea2summit thanks, had to look up fire skid...another thing for our list.

We thought we could do NG, but probably LP now...so tank placement became a thing. Getting a Generac or similar generator that can keep everything running for a week or so if lines go down. (not sure how big LP tank will be). If snow becomes a problem for us, we have bigger issues than homestead design.

 

[EddieWalker]

Storage. I don't have enough space for what I have, and some of the stuff that I have is being destroyed by sitting outdoors.

Fencing. Having access to mow both sides of the fence and removing branches that will fall on the fence. It's never ending and overwhelming at times.

Watering the garden. We've been dragging hoses, buying sprayers and wasting more time then I want to consider in figuring out the best way to grow veggies. We're now using raised beds and that's been a huge improvement. I'm also covering the walk ways between the beds with mulch. That's another huge plus.

Loss of power. I have a small Honda generator that works great, but you have to limit what you use. I didn't have one when I first bought the land, and when I lost power for several days in the middle of winter, I suffered. I didn't have a wood stove then either, so it was like camping in my house. I installed the wood stove that Spring and that's how I heat my house now. This last winter it really saved us. We went 5 days with temps below freezing and no power. We where never cold!!!

Drainage. Whatever you plan for, expect Mother Nature to prove you wrong.

Bugs. There are more bugs out in the country. Snakes too!!!!!

 

[skipmarcy]

When I built our place here in 2006 we went with concrete slab construction which wasn't very popular here in TN but our time in FL taught us some benefits of it and we went with it and glad we did. There isn't a single step in our house except the 4" tall threshold to our LARGE (42x82) shower and I was sure to install several very sturdy grab bars. Shower is large enough for a plastic chair or stool or even to add a walk-in tub later if needed.

Also what was well worth a little extra money was pocket doors - in a smaller house like ours (1700 sf) they really give you much more useable space and I made all of mine 36" as well - no problems using a walker or wheelchair in the future if necessary and easy to open/close doors.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Really? You guys actually plan all this stuff? I must not be old enough yet

Yeah, you need to be planning the homestead orchard, maybe some grapes, outbuildings, and home upgrades. I'm not ready for life alert myself, but I'm not planting any orchards. You plan to your age.

 

[3Ts]

It gets cold enough here on occasion that I need to heat the pump house. I have a thermostat with an electric heater, but one year the thermostat failed and the pump house lines froze. I now have a remote temp sensor that transmits the temperature to a display in the house. Depending on your distance, you may need conduit to run data lines to the pump house (and any other building for that matter).

 

[3Ts]

Really? You guys actually plan all this stuff? I must not be old enough yet

Yes. I have a master plan that shows where all the buildings go, the driveway, orchard, garden, etc. Everything I can think of. I also made a model of the house and put it out in the yard to check for sun orientation to be sure the overhangs were enough and sun angles were what I wanted.

But that doesn't mean I don't change things as I go along.

 

[ponytug]

On the subject of fire safes, most aren't. Fire safe that is. They are rated for some temperature exposure for thirty minutes. So if you think that the fire department will have your fire out in thirty minutes, great! If not...it would be good to have a plan "B", e.g. a larger fire closet for the fire safe, keeping the important items elsewhere, but as Greenville showed, even banks burn down in big fires. Don't forget fire protection for computer backups...We had friends who had detailed diaries of ranch and work carefully stored in a fire safe that went up in smoke when the house burned. His kids are mourning the diaries more than the house and possessions.

Our home insurer would give us an insurance rate break, if we had sprinklers in the house. Great idea, but hard to execute after the fact in exposed beam ceilings.

Planning a home with a fire resistant exterior always helps. The largest forest fire in the US was on the Wisconsin Minnesota border, so this isn't just "western" advice.

I love all the planning tips!

All the best,

Peter

 

[oosik]

We just upgraded from what the original homesteader had. Modern house where his old homestead house was. New outbuildings to replace his old ones.

I often wonder how long it took him to "etch out" the basement. 24 x 50 feet. Dug four feet into SOLID basaltic lava bedrock. Location was perfect. On a bluff overlooking my lake.

Upgraded the spring. It was and still is the only water source for the house.

We DID have to instal a septic system. The old outhouse just wouldn't cut it.

I think the old homesteader would be pleased. Everything in the same locations - just modern.

 

[Doofy]

I made the mistake of selling our outhouse. Bad move, when a second bathroom is urgently needed.

 

[jjp8182]

Storage. I don't have enough space for what I have, and some of the stuff that I have is being destroyed by sitting outdoors.

Agree with all of this post, but would like to add storage expansion

Living in my current place I've learned that initial storage capacity needs to be a consideration (didn't realize it when I bought the place) .....but being able to further expand the storage options can also be a smart move (if not a necessity).

At this point if/when I build a place I'm very tempted to start with an enclosed pole/post/steel-frame building ~120' wide and then subdivide the interior into workshop side, unloading bay down the middle and parking/storage on the other side...... then if I need more space have it sitting in a place where I could lengthen (to a degree) the building or add a lean-to on one or both sides.

(other thing with my current place is that most of the structures are essentially penned in by other structures, utilities, fences or trees)

 

[beowulf]

Agree with all of this post, but would like to add storage expansion

Living in my current place I've learned that initial storage capacity needs to be a consideration (didn't realize it when I bought the place) .....but being able to further expand the storage options can also be a smart move (if not a necessity).

At this point if/when I build a place I'm very tempted to start with an enclosed pole/post/steel-frame building ~120' wide and then subdivide the interior into workshop side, unloading bay down the middle and parking/storage on the other side...... then if I need more space have it sitting in a place where I could lengthen (to a degree) the building or add a lean-to on one or both sides.

(other thing with my current place is that most of the structures are essentially penned in by other structures, utilities, fences or trees)

Storage is important. But what I have learned, and am reminded of every day, is that your "stuff" will expand to fill the available storage. We have a barn with three storage rooms and a loft, and a garden shed, a tractor shed, a shop, a root cellar (now full of other stuff), a lean-to behind the barn (twice expanded), closets, and more - and "stuff" fills it all. So, there is some wisdom in limiting storage to a reasonable and finite amount.

And the corollary to this is that your kids stuff will also expand to fill your available storage capabilities.

 

[jjp8182]

Storage is important. But what I have learned, and am reminded of every day, is that your "stuff" will expand to fill the available storage. We have a barn with three storage rooms and a loft, and a garden shed, a tractor shed, a shop, a root cellar (now full of other stuff), a lean-to behind the barn (twice expanded), closets, and more - and "stuff" fills it all. So, there is some wisdom in limiting storage to a reasonable and finite amount.

And the corollary to this is that your kids stuff will also expand to fill your available storage capabilities.

Fully agree though that also gets into the wisdom of knowing what stuff to keep and what stuff not to keep.

Which isn't always easy thing to know, but when tools, vehicles/implements and necessities for continued growth (or stability) can't be stored or even used due to lack of suitable storage/work space something has to change ..... which means it needs to be able to change (either by selling stuff off ...or adding more storage).

 

[JasperFrank]

Don't know that much about East Texas, as to climate and such, but these are things I wish I had done, living in the Pacific Northwest, and things I did that worked after twenty-years of occupancy.

Wish I had installed a metal roof.

Wish I had installed a sprinkler system for the gardens and fire control around the house.

Wish I had thought about the trees I didn't own, that grew up to block my view of the valley twenty years later.

I should have thought more about mud-rooms, and some place to store the out door furniture in the winter and more interior storage spaces.

I should not have depended on what neighbors said as to what their intentions were for their properties. People die, or pass on property, and those verbal understandings are out the window.


Address early, any thing that looks like adverse possession on the property.

Buy an, off the shelf, architecturally approved house design that fits what you want to do. Don't design your own house. Get all the designs down to two or three, and then imagine living in that house. As in, you are walking though it in 3D. I designed my own house, and it was a bit of a nightmare, with inspectors, even after the plans had been approved. Designing it myself, i had to justify everything to the inspectors, and sometimes had to quote the local building codes to them, that the structure was in compliance with code. This is not a problem if you buy a pre-designed plan that has a sign off from an architect.
Double up, stud/backing on anything you think you will need to hang stuff off of: Use screws and not nails.


Wired the whole house and garage with CAT 5 Ethernet wiring, which was entirely useless with newer wireless technology. The smart house now only needs one sender/responder.

Wish I had built the garage first.
Wish I had built the garage first.
Wish I had built the garage first.

What I did right:

I didn't buy into cable nets, like Com-cast, which would have costed a bit, cause I figured the phone lines would get better which they did, and gave me DSL. All the remote video stuff has worked out, even at rather slow speeds: This still worked well. Century Link, is though, getting expensive right now at 100$ a month: Though we use it 24/7.

All utilities are under ground.

The 1500 gallon cistern was a good idea, fed by the roof of the garage. Saves a bit on the ground well pump to water the garden, and helps fire fighters if they ever needed it. Should have put more water storage in place and made some of it above ground for gravity feed.

Built the 30 by 35 garage with very tall garage doors. Clearance is never a problem.

There is a golden-locks zone around any metro area. Its just outside the metro expansion zone, yet you can still drive 30 minutes to work. I got that sort of property, and these are the ones that appreciate in a rather exponential manner.

Think carefully of the "experts" that you hire. They may not be working for you. And talk you into all sorts of things you didn't need.

 

[3Ts]

Also consider a whole house transfer switch. If you install the transfer switch when you build it makes the rest of the install later on much easier and is essentially just the additional cost of the switch.

Food storage for when you can't get to the stores because of natural disasters or ___fill in the blank____.

 

[shooterdon]

Do not go overboard.

Things like a fire skid are not cheap and need maintenance. Hopefully, you will live your whole life without needing one. So, for all those years, will you keep fresh fuel in it and start it every 3-4 months to be sure it will work when you need it? How about water? How will you get the skid from where it is stored to where you will need it. How long to deploy it? Can your wife use it if you are not home?

As you get older, gardening is a PITA. Spending money and time on fences to keep out deer, rabbits, etc, etc are sunk costs that add little value. Same for running garden watering systems. Most livestock ties you to the homestead unless you have someone to take charge of animals when you are away for a trip. It all sounds romantic until you do it for a few years. Easier to buy stuff from the locals and cheaper to wait for sales. We use a large room in the basement to store over six months of food

Drinking water is essential...have two sources. A pond is nice feature in the yard, if you do not have small children, and for most of the year is handy for getting water to flush toilets, washing, baths etc.

You need back up power. And fuel.

I worry more about SHTF stuff so my thinking is skewed.