Survivalist Forum banner

TraderBobs budget homestead

37K views 134 replies 37 participants last post by  sherrieallen 
#1 ·
My son and I have embarked on a journey to build our future home in the Ozarks. Yes, we've made mistakes, and I'm sure we'll make many more before we are done. It may not have been the best planned and built, but it will serve us well until we build again.

The beginning...my son is nailing the joist hangers in. He has been a big help, I couldn't do it alone.

 
See less See more
1
#95 ·
It's definitely a soaking tub for these old bones. Comes up over my neck :)
I'm getting a large round one for the future deck, and putting in a custom wood burner in it for a hot tub as well. One of the neighbors have one, it's awesome...he put a curved wooden bench around 3/4 of the inside. Nice to sit on.
 
#97 ·
My wife says I have to show the cabinet with both doors, so here it is:



Tomorrow we're going to lay about 4 ft of hickory laminate in the kitchen so i can start building out the cabinets in there.

I'm using the laminate (even though I didn't want to) because I was able to get 26.8 sqft boxes for $10 each. There is no way I could do it that cheap otherwise.
 
#101 ·
Well, the first of my new whole house solar system came in today, an Outback FLEXmax 80.
I'll keep the 12 volt system and panels for the lighting and 12 volt outlets that are installed, so will actually have 2 systems running for now. Eventually the 12 volt will move to one of the other buildings, either storage or workshop.

Isn't this a beautiful sight? Even more so that it was "free" from giftcards earned from points while normal shopping online.

 
#102 ·
Been a while. Parts 2 and 3 of the solar system have come in, 8 6 volt 420 ah batteries, and 10 320 watt 24 volt panels. Will get some pics next time I am out there, 4 days of rain coming...

My son and I put a ceiling in the living room area, using cedar dog eared fence boards. We were originally going to leave the beams visible, but decided it would look better with a ceiling in. Had to redo the lights, but no biggie. Next time we go out I will frame in the windows. Here are a couple pics:



 
#104 ·
short and sweet...moved out of town to 1 room, 12 x 24 portable building converted to a cabin. It's about 1/4 mile away from where I am building, and it's rent free. Of course, it's quite cramped with 4 of us and a large dog.. ...my niece came at a bad time :), but it will allow me to get more done on the house, and we can do this for a few months. My mom had 12 siblings in a one room cabin, and my dad had 13, and they did it.
 
#110 ·
So...my wife told my son and I to get out on her day off..said she needed "quiet time" :)
It was raining, so didn't want to pull the tools outside, but we went the house anyway to enjoy a movie and an MRE :) You know, guy stuff..

Fired up the generator, and watched a movie Kingsman...and got to test out the Internet again as well :) Got hungry so we hit the stash of SoPakCo MREs, we both had the chili mac..not bad, the best part was the PopTarts :)

Just sharing a pic...

 
#112 ·
ugh. Finally got some more going on.
Lowes had a sale on cabinets, 25% off so we picked some more up and my son and I hung them.

Doing the ground mount for the 10 320 watt solar panels in a week or so when the ground dries out..a week of rain has made everything "squishy" here.

It's been either too cold or too wet to do much, or at least I'm using that as an excuse :)

Tuesday the new engine comes for the cement mixer so I'll be able to pour the bases for the pump house, the outdoor burner, and my wifes "saloon".

I still have more cabinets to get, but it's all about the money :)...oh, and the stove isn't going there, it will be on the left wall, just had stuff in the way to move it now....thats a spot for more cabinets.

 
#113 ·
FINALLY got the new engine for the cement mixer, and mounted it..still need to get the tire patched.
Almost ready to pour the pumphouse slab, the outdoor furnace slab, and the slab for my wifes bar ...lol
It's a Lifan 7 horse with 6:1 gear reduction to replace the 5 hp Briggs original.



...and a pic of 1 of the yard carts, who has to climb in everything.



That's Thor...he doesn't hunt, he lets the other 2 cats do it, then takes it from them...we had 4 cats dumped off, 1 didn't make it after weaving in and out of the tires of a moving truck. For "not house cats" these are sure friendly, and love to be scratched.
 
#115 ·
Here is where we started the morning.Poles are set, ready to rock.



Snapnrack bracing going in



Panel supports in



Starting to install the panels



3200 watts of power, raring to go!



Ready to wire it up, 5 strings of 2 panels, 48 volts each.



Wiring will wait for another day, have to pick up a friend at the airport.

Also have to get some 6ga and some 2/0, along with some pvc, and a junction box....
 
#117 ·
We're trying..sometimes I wish I had been born rich instead of good looking...lol.

Haven't been able to do much, except install the last upper window, which really made a difference in lighting.

I'll probably install one more, in the utility room, eventually.

The problem right now is the remaining things are big ticket items, and since I am doing this paycheck to paycheck, it's going to be a bit.

The fam is willing to suffer some hardships if it means moving in sooner though.

On another note, my son and I got our Wildlands Firefighting Certification last night. 2 day class, 50 question test. Pretty straight forward.

Did our FEMA prerequisites for the CERT class in town, so pretty soon we'll both have our C.E.R.T certification. We would have had it done last year, but he had to be 16, so I held off so we could go together.

I think of what so many other 16 yr olds are doing, tide pods, anti-constitution marches, drama, and I am so thankful for my son.
 
#119 ·
Hooked up to panels, still need to buy the cable to run to the controller...one step at a time :)

Some combiner boxes have holes on the back, this one had adjustable wings, so i looked around, found some scraps of 2x4, drilled some holes for some U-bolt shackles, and put it to the pipe. May not be pretty or professional, but it works :)



had a couple helpers today, Thor and Tiny



 
#122 ·
So...we got the lines from the combiner box to the house laid, and I connected them up.
My ten 24 volt panels are connected in 5 strings of 48 volts, going to the combiner box, which is going to the Outback FlexMax80, which is going to the 48 volt battery bank.

Turning on the charge controller I see only 36.7 in which is 24 volt I believe.
See pics below...I am wondering if one of my connections from the panel to the combiner is bad, thus making it take the lower value?



these are my settings, which should be correct...any solar guys have an opinion?



I have to go for a PET scan today, so I will dig into it tomorrow.
 
#123 ·
Ahh, the sweetness of having the power flow is awesome.
Seems the switch on the combiner was installed wrong. Each pair of panels is coming in at 85-86 volts, and all 5 strings are flowing into the Outback to the batteries.

I removed the 12 volt batteries, controller, and panel from the system, and installed a 48v to 12v converter in it's place. I'll move the 12 volt system to the shed for a light.

 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top