Farmstead planning

[Torvy]

Despite being in tornado alley, most of Texas does not seem to do basements...
They just ran county water up our road...animals sound like a good excuse to stay home.

 

[civilian]

When I built our place here in 2006.....................

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.

Your second paragraph reflects our house we built in 2018/2019. Plus our shower has no thresold to step over. Shower head pointed away from entry side. Plus our stairway to the walkout basement is 4ft wide to accomodate a future stair chair to basement if needed. Jon

 

[JasperFrank]

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.

Can we get a sketch of your lay out? It would greatly help us to give opinions. And do you know the prevailing winds? Put it into this sketch with compass direction. I'm sure all your ideas are good, but you asked. A review, is what you take from it, and all suggested ideas are mostly good ideas from people that have been there, done that.. etc. I've learned a great deal from this site, of what works and what doesn't. The more info you give the better the suggestions get. Wish the internet had been around when I built my house. Solar is a big thing to consider, if you have a nice straight roof line faceing south to hold it. Doing your own remote panels on stands, in your own system with net metering, is a waste of time and money. Which happened to me in a recent, one hundred year event, ice storm. The cost to rebuild it, took all the benefits out. Just say'en.

 

[MossRoad]

If you require a septic, well, etc. anything that's buried, please, please take and record measurements to it from two fixed points, like two corners of your house or barn, for example. In 20 years you'll appreciate it.

 

[beowulf]

If you require a septic, well, etc. anything that's buried, please, please take and record measurements to it from two fixed points, like two corners of your house or barn, for example. In 20 years you'll appreciate it.

That is a great idea. I did that when we replaced and relocated our old septic tank. I also put a metal plate over the hatch - buried down a bit - so I could locate it with a metal detector if necessary. I made a nice map of the two key points and the measurements. Then I lost the file. So, I guess having a back up plan with the metal plate will save me.

 

[MossRoad]

I keep everything like that in my red binder. Along with a lot of other pertinent stuff for this property.

 

[jjp8182]

I keep everything like that in my red binder. Along with a lot of other pertinent stuff for this property.

Now that is a spectacular idea - creating a single binder/folder to store the information related to the buildings & property.

Being the (at a minimum) third owner of my current home/property I wish I had the information about where the septic, water, propane, and electric lines are routed. While some have been relatively easy to get an idea where the main lines are all the branches/offshoots have made it

As it currently lies with my house being separated from a larger single property there are water and electric lines that cross from my property to the property it was once part of - which is currently owned by the couple who divided it and sold the house and some acreage to me. However, they are also not the first/original home/property owners either. So while I think we've managed to separate the utility lines enough to avoid increasing each other's utility bills it'd be nice to know where those lines are located in order to efficiently terminate them underground on our respective properties (rather than at the surface on each other's properties)......

 

[JasperFrank]

Yes. Take photos of everything before you dry wall with references of where the pic was taken. Print these out. I did this, and Oh my Gosh! was this helpful, 20 years later, when we later wanted to add stuff to the walls. You can see exactly where the DWV and electrical and water lines went.

 

[oosik]

All the access points on my well and septic system come to the surface with risers and weather-proof caps. However - I still took and recorded triangulated measurements to each.

Heaven forbid I should ever have to find any of these points under feet of snow.

 

[scaredychicken]

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

Planning yes, but my Doing has slacked a bit ... mostly as Budget permits, in my case.

 

[sea2summit]

Planning yes, but my Doing has slacked a bit ... mostly as Budget permits, in my case.

"As budget permits" makes me do two things:
1) Plan better
2) Not finish a project because something else becomes higher priority

 

[JethroB]

Consider and plan orientation of porches, lean-to’s, carports, etc. for the sun. Plant shade trees years in advance if possible. I have many old pecan trees but none near the house or out buildings as they tend to self prune and drop huge limbs on any thing of value.

 

[ponytug]

Consider and plan orientation of porches, lean-to’s, carports, etc. for the sun. Plant shade trees years in advance if possible. I have many old pecan trees but none near the house or out buildings as they tend to self prune and drop huge limbs on any thing of value.

That advice made me laugh, in a good way. I planted pecans as a kid, when I was told to plant them for my grandchildren...

They certainly weren't producing when the farm was sold. I wonder if I can find the trees on Google Maps.

All sorts of timescales on farms.

All the best,

Peter

 

[3Ts]

Also consider drainage especially with heavy rainfall. I have a yard drain and 6" pipe to collect water and direct it to prevent erosion. It collects water from the yard, roof downspouts, and even the condensation from the dehumidifier.

When planning the buildings, consider the view. I have windows in the barn so I can see the doors of the other buildings.

 

[EddieWalker]

Something else to consider is gate placement if you are going to have animals. I've been working on clearing my fence line for years. I'm about to start fencing the area where I'll have all my gates in one are to go from the barn area, to 3 different pastures. I almost messed up. I drew it out on paper and figured out my materials, but never thought of how I would be able to drive from one gate, and then through another. It was just too tight!!! Now I'm opening it up to a bigger area so it will be easy to drive in and out of those pastures. Whenever putting in a gate, be sure to make it as easy as possible to get through it!!!

 

[deezler]

^ thats a good tip Eddie.

One thing I definitely under planned for was irrigation. Not like my place really qualifies as a farmstead, or even hobby farm yet. But I only have two hose spigots on my house, and they dont flow all that well after 50' of 1/2" copper inside, and then 75' of 3/4 garden hose outside. Might have to put a frost proof hydrant atop my well someday.

 

[riptides]

Ahh...gates.

Make them as big as you can. Make a serviceable path to them. Both for live stock and humans.

I have a pasture that has a 12 foot and a 4 foot right next to each other. Not my idea, but it has worked out very well.

And someone even put up a solar light pole right where the gates are. That was smart too. Brilliant!

Something else to consider is gate placement if you are going to have animals. I've been working on clearing my fence line for years. I'm about to start fencing the area where I'll have all my gates in one are to go from the barn area, to 3 different pastures. I almost messed up. I drew it out on paper and figured out my materials, but never thought of how I would be able to drive from one gate, and then through another. It was just too tight!!! Now I'm opening it up to a bigger area so it will be easy to drive in and out of those pastures. Whenever putting in a gate, be sure to make it as easy as possible to get through it!!!

 

[3Ts]

One more: Where do you go with muddy boots? In the barn, I don't care. If I need to go in the house, it's a big deal. I have a boot wash near the door to the mud room. I have a water faucet with an aerator, a rock filled basin that drains out into the yard and daylights down the hill.

 

[Torvy]

Ahh...gates.

Make them as big as you can. Make a serviceable path to them. Both for live stock and humans.

I have a pasture that has a 12 foot and a 4 foot right next to each other. Not my idea, but it has worked out very well.

I've seen that concept with cattle operations. Some ranchers will have 3' people gates for quickly moving between pastures on foot (or horseback). That way they are not opening up a 12' gap for wayward stock to meander through. Some of those beasties will go right behind you and change whatever you were planning to do into a game of chase.

 

[Torvy]

One more: Where do you go with muddy boots? In the barn, I don't care. If I need to go in the house, it's a big deal. I have a boot wash near the door to the mud room. I have a water faucet with an aerator, a rock filled basin that drains out into the yard and daylights down the hill.

I'd add a scraper. Hesston used to have a promotional item that was pretty good. I wish I knew it would become a collectible.