Quote:
Originally Posted by PNW_Steve
I have not pinned that down yet. I was contemplating something around $250 a month.
I talked to the county building department today and found out that I must install a septic system before I can make any other improvements. I will be getting an estimate on that next week.
I am also looking at a water truck. That would simplify the water supply. I think that the one that I am going to look at holds 3500 gallons. That should last for about a month with reasonable conservation. I you should stumble across a good buy on an older water truck please ping me.
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What's the wind like there? I live in the desert in Mohave County AZ and the wind in my area is too frequent, strong/variable for me to want to do a roof raise outdoors. Nothing to slow down the wind, class c exposure, llike the ocean.
Septic installs ballpark around $3k-$5k, depending on size and type which depends on perc test, boundrys (property lines and hydology), and # of people/fixtures/ bedrooms. If you haven't bought it yet definately inquire about the perc test and maybe get quotes on septic install. You may not even be able to install septic or have to use a more expensive alternate system. There is a lot to maintaining a septic system, especially if people (your guests/customers) are treating it like a city sewer. You cant dump grease or anything that doesn't biodegrade easily into it or anything that will kill off the critters (bleach, antibiotics, etc) that do the biodegrading.
You will need a good fence around it to control the cows, else they well be using your structures for shelter, your yard for a toilet, and anything sturdy enough to rub on, the weaker stuff will just get pushed over. A 6' chainlink is best but expensive. If you want to keep out the rattlers (deal breaker for a lot of people) you will need .25" x 3' hardware cloth all around, 2' above ground and 1' buried. Most people just keep a lot of dogs/cats around the house to scare the snakes off, but you may lose one every now and then and someone has to feed/water/take care of them.
Is that local well potable? The closest public well to my place is not (too much arsenic, but some people dilute it and drink it), $.01/ gallon if you haul, $.08/ gallon delivered (prices vary depending on who is delivering and quantity delivered), so I use bottled water ($0.10/ 16 oz bottle, I save the empty bottles to plant seedlings) for cooking and drinking. Potable water is available to me but it is much further to haul.
Well water is used for toilet, showers, laundry, and dish washing (I use paper plates and Windex and paper towels for light dish/hand washing) I average about 30-35 gal/day for 1 person. A lot of people out here use 5-10 gal/day or less and don't take long showers like me (I'm on the grid and have a electric water heater, most people don't - generators and propane are very expensive if you don't curb your city ways) Yellow toilet water is common both to avoid hauling water and saturating the septic drainage, lot of clay here and soil doesn't drain well. For on demand water, you will have to have electric available for pumps or have the tanks mounted up high to be usable. I use electric but I am on the grid. Handy, but, if the grid goes down I have no water and you can ruin an expensive pump if you let the tank go dry.
Most people/me use a 500 gal tank (some use 225+ gal cubed ibc totes?) on a truck or trailer with a gas powered pump to transfer to their holding tanks. That water truck + fuel, maintenance, registration, insurance makes sense if you have someone to operate it, if not, I would just hire a local hauler and get a good quantity price unless you are going to move there and do water haul and maintenance yourself. Might get away without reg and insurance since you are so close to the well. And then there is maintenance.
Don't know how much you are thinking about spending on a water truck, but I would use the money to build a metal building/quonset hut big enough to do roof raises and allow work to continue even when there is snow or too much sun, or doing stuff like welding. A place on the grid would be better for welding and using multiple power tools at once.
You may have to take care of your own trash/garbage disposal. In some areas there are some fairly expensive services available.
Not trying to discourage you. it is just different. My point is, it is not as simple as just buying some cheap land and doing whatever you want. I was told by the county admin that the reason that they ammended the laws to require septic for RVs was to stop squaters. They needed a reason to be able to kick them off of the land even if no one complained about them. No septic permit on file, no RV allowed, period. BLM land is different and more than half of the land is fed/state/indian land.
Then there are the thieves and some of the locals are not that friendly to "outsiders"................... and the law, fire department, or medics are not just a few minutes away although you can count on building and zoning to show up if someone complains.
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