How would you build your future home to withstand anything?

[JeepDude]

Currently we are looking to buy a farm in a very rural type environment. We are looking into getting close to 150 or 200 acres of land to start our build for the future, we don't know what that will hold but you know how the saying goes, better to be safe then sorry (in other words, I want to be prepared). So if this was your future living place what would you do to it? Food storage, self-sufficient, house build (what kind of material would you build the house out of), bunker, what kind of land would you look for (rocky, soft soil, lots of rain, vegetation, wildlife, cliff faces, hilltop, dense woods, creaks, rivers, ponds, etc.), what kind of defenses would you use, stockpile of weapons (what caliber and what kind of weapons, gear, etc.), power supply. Basically this will be a build from the ground up. So how would you go about going completely off the grid ahead of the grid actually shutting down?

P.s. The location of this build will be more than likely in the central part of the United States (so that should give you a pretty good idea of whats around), if you have any ideas already made, pictures are more than welcome. Thanks ahead of time.

[Ad'lan]

What's your budget? Have you got the land already? What are your goals/plans/ time to work on the property. What is your experience as a small holder/ farmer?

[Horatio_Tyllis]

There are a lot of interesting threads on sustainable homes in the self sufficient living forum. I'd suggest going and taking a look through there. It will certainly get you some ideas. Your personal choices will depend on you. What disasters you prepare for, how much you want to spend, what your individual needs are are all yours and yours alone. Please drop by the introductions forum and say hello, give us some background, and then take a look around.

You'll find a lot more people willing to chat about specific ideas rather than asking strangers to do a multi-page write up for you, especially since they have no idea how serious you are. I know I wouldn't spend that much time until you've been here a while. Not being a jerk, just telling it how it is. And welcome to zs.

[JeepDude]

What's your budget? Have you got the land already? What are your goals/plans/ time to work on the property. What is your experience as a small holder/ farmer?

Budget isn't limitless however everything can be done over time, if the world doesn't come crashing down in my lifetime I want this farm to still be around for generations and generations to come. No, I do not have the land already, just started to look around, but I am buying the land in prep for the end, so everything is pre planning ahead of time (it would be near worthless to just go out and buy any kind of land without planning for the future. Goals are to be able to use the land as a farm or some kind of profit making business in the current time and then a place to go to if everything goes crazy, possibly if the farm produces enough revenue to live off of, I would eventually move there and live there in the current time. Currently no experience as a holder/farmer.

[JeepDude]

There are a lot of interesting threads on sustainable homes in the self sufficient living forum. I'd suggest going and taking a look through there. It will certainly get you some ideas. Your personal choices will depend on you. What disasters you prepare for, how much you want to spend, what your individual needs are are all yours and yours alone. Please drop by the introductions forum and say hello, give us some background, and then take a look around.

You'll find a lot more people willing to chat about specific ideas rather than asking strangers to do a multi-page write up for you, especially since they have no idea how serious you are. I know I wouldn't spend that much time until you've been here a while. Not being a jerk, just telling it how it is. And welcome to zs.

Thank you for the response and information, I'm new to the forum so I will take a look around, and no offence taken at all. And on the topic about how serious I am about this, we are planning to spend money on land in prep for this scenario so all the input given will be taken seriously. Thanks again for the response.

[KYZHunters]

I think 150 acres is an awful lot of land. I know a couple that produces more food than they could ever eat on 12 acres. I think you should start with a list of things you want you want, say: year round ponds, city water, no neighbors, enough acres of hard wood to sustainably heat your home, enough acres of arable land/pasture to sustainably feed your family, etc, and then look for the location that supports it vice picking an arbitrary number of acres.

And welcome to ZS. Search is your best buddy.

[JeepDude]

I think 150 acres is an awful lot of land. I know a couple that produces more food than they could ever eat on 12 acres. I think you should start with a list of things you want you want, say: year round ponds, city water, no neighbors, enough acres of hard wood to sustainably heat your home, enough acres of arable land/pasture to sustainably feed your family, etc, and then look for the location that supports it vice picking an arbitrary number of acres.

And welcome to ZS. Search is your best buddy.

The reason we went with 150-200 acres is because say it doesn't happen in my lifetime and it happens in my kids lifetime, or in their kids lifetime, by then your talking at least triple the amount of people as there are now. So that is the reason we are looking into getting so much land now. We don't necessarily have to build it all up at the moment but enough land to start thinking for the long term future if needed.

[cromag]

That really is a large amount of land. I am friends with a guy who has a quarter acre (with a house on it) and raises an excess of veggies for him and his wife. He has to buy grains and he trades excess honey and veggies for meat. I know he is out of the ordinary, but you can do a lot on a fairly small amount of land.

http://www.amazon.com/Backyard-Homestea ... 1603421386

This book is probably the best get your feet wet in homesteading book I have read. It is written for smaller pieces of land. If you can find a way to bring in an income and still afford 100+ acres then you have a good situation and go full bore.

[dukman]

I can tell you how I would have my house built if I won the lotto tomorrow

Basically it would be a fortress disguised as a normal house as from the outside the average person wouldn't think much about it. I would start out with "concrete slab" construction, with plastic/nylon rebar used instead of the conventional steel. The "siding" would be part of the form for the slab walls. It would be two stories with an attic. The roofing would be that new fangled metal shingles with lifetime warranty. The windows would have storm shutters that were actually functional instead of the many houses out there with decorative ones. The windows themselves would have some of the hurricane plastic reinforcement film on them. All exterior doors would be reinforced steel. There would be a cellar accessible through the attached greenhouse.

Location? A small wooded valley 20-30 acres in size. This size would be enough to have a sustainable forest for selective firewood production and also enough room for a garden and some pasture land. The valleys that I have eyed do not tend to flood too bad and have streams that flow year round, so water is easy to come by. The water system would hopefully be natural spring as they do not require much if any electricity to operate.

[raptor]

Budget certainly plays into the equation. However, in a new build there are many things that can be done that really do not add much to the cost of the house. Retrofitting in the other hand gets very expensive very quickly.

In a new build it makes a lot of sense to spend a little extra money on energy efficiency. In other words extra insulation, windows that more energy efficient. Appliances that are also energy efficient. If you live in a cold climate incorporating heat sinks & passive solar to reduce heating costs. If you live in a hot climate explore solar panels and shading to reduce the heat load. Installing LED fixtures especially if you have high ceilings in mind is also very sensible.

In my area concrete homes are not unusual and the newer lightweight concrete structures are both visually appealing and strong. By combining steel studs instead of wood studs they are also very termite resistant. The added cost is actually nominal for these materials in a new build.

However once you get into the withstand anything category you will find that the cost starts going up tremendously as do the compromises with the design and looks of the home. While I am sure some crave the fortress look having spent time in castles I can assure you there is a reason the monarchs of old moved out of castles and into manor houses and palaces.

[Towanda]

If I were going to build a house from the ground up, I'd probably go with a geodesic dome, or a straw bale house, or an earth bag house.

[JeepDude]

Ok, what if I was to go with a more Monolithic style home and wanted to make it completely storm proof, more tornado issues than anything in the area I would be building in. I know there is a website designated for solely that purpose, however I'm also told if I go through them it will be VERY expensive, is there a more cost effective way to making a Monolithic style home? Ideas solely on this topic at the moment then after the house has been thought out we can move to other topics.

[JeepDude]

I would start out with "concrete slab" construction, with plastic/nylon rebar used instead of the conventional steel.

Why would you use plastic/nylon rebar instead of conventional steel? What are the benefits/disadvantages?

[CryHavoc]

Built to withstand anything?

I'd start with an underground home. An underground home is probably going to give you the most protection against tornadoes (also is insulated better than most other homes). Build it above the highest flood line and able to withstand a certain level of earthquake and you've got the big three natural disasters outside of a hurricane covered.

Note to OP: don't build in a hurricane prone area. Also, don't build where earthquakes are known to happen, or floods. Hard to build where there aren't tornadoes - they can show up anywhere.

Un-natural disasters are probably harder to plan for.

[raptor]

Ok, what if I was to go with a more Monolithic style home and wanted to make it completely storm proof, more tornado issues than anything in the area I would be building in. I know there is a website designated for solely that purpose, however I'm also told if I go through them it will be VERY expensive, is there a more cost effective way to making a Monolithic style home? Ideas solely on this topic at the moment then after the house has been thought out we can move to other topics.

Building a home to withstand a force 5 tornado would be horrendously expensive. It would also dictate very small windows and doors. Think hatches and portholes.

Do you want to live in a pipe?

Seriously you are better off building to exceed Miami Dade county wind standards and make a reinforced area inside the home and an under ground tornado shelter.

[Kirby]

Building to withstand tornadoes isn't all that hard. Earth berm the house with a 20 degree or less slope. Tornadoes will roll right up the ramp and over your house. This works especially well if you live in an area with a high water table and building underground isn't an option. The downside is the slope takes up a lot of land. The upside, is you can garden on the slope.

The reason we went with 150-200 acres is because say it doesn't happen in my lifetime and it happens in my kids lifetime, or in their kids lifetime, by then your talking at least triple the amount of people as there are now.

18 billion is the theoretical upper limit to what the planet could hold in a perfect world. In an imperfect world, like ours, 12 billion is unlikely to happen. (search Crash Course on Youtube). One plus for a smaller plot of land is in a resource starved world, smaller farms are less likely to become the property of the masses, for the greater good.

[raptor]

Building to withstand tornadoes isn't all that hard. Earth berm the house with a 20 degree or less slope. Tornadoes will roll right up the ramp and over your house.

Do you have source for this statement?

[Fletch]

I can tell you how I would have my house built if I won the lotto tomorrow

<snip>

Dude! get outta my head!


Basically, what dukman said, but built european (mortar and block construction)

[KnightoftheRoc]

I think 150 acres is an awful lot of land. I know a couple that produces more food than they could ever eat on 12 acres. I think you should start with a list of things you want you want, say: year round ponds, city water, no neighbors, enough acres of hard wood to sustainably heat your home, enough acres of arable land/pasture to sustainably feed your family, etc, and then look for the location that supports it vice picking an arbitrary number of acres.

And welcome to ZS. Search is your best buddy.

The reason we went with 150-200 acres is because say it doesn't happen in my lifetime and it happens in my kids lifetime, or in their kids lifetime, by then your talking at least triple the amount of people as there are now. So that is the reason we are looking into getting so much land now. We don't necessarily have to build it all up at the moment but enough land to start thinking for the long term future if needed.

I'm working on my own goal of a farm, almost 80 acres in size. I have similar goals, so I understand what you mean by family size getting bigger. For a multi-generational holding, you have to consider expansion.
While a single acre can provide abundant food for a typical family, depending on family size, location, and management of the area, it can't provide EVERYTHING- and even 200 acres can't provide EVERYTHING. It can, however, provide wood for building and fuel, game, crops, and some space for recreation. With decent management, you can avoid over-using any one area, as well.
Having some water on the property (aside from a good well, of course) would also be a boon- I'd see about creating a pond if nothing naturally occurring is there. Stocked with fish, and built up large enough, it can become self-sustaining, and provide you with a water reserve, food, recreation, etc.

As to construction methods, you'll need to consider what sort of hazards you need to build against. Hawaii doesn't see much in the tornado category, but Kansas doesn't see tsunami's- where you are will determine what you'll face. Generically, on a budget, a quonset hut design is very stable, flexible by it's design, and able to handle quite a bit in terms of storage and living space. Something like this is what I'm talking about: http://www.us-buildings-direct.com/Sheds.aspx?gid=23# , not the actual quonset huts you see in a WWII movie.
If tornadoes are a concern, make sure the building itself can equalize pressures very quickly- the low pressure inside a tornado is a big cause for buildings "exploding" when hit by one, though not the only cause, of course. Anything that has winds that can drive straws through a phone pole has a lot of destructive potential, and can rip anything apart if you let it get the tiniest "grip" on an edge of something. I'm no expert on the subject, I'm just passing along the (very) little I know about them.

Flooding has it's own issues, and the answers are usually pretty obvious- build higher than the highest flood level on record, but also consider what level your basement, if any, will be at- that's your low point, and the first to get wet, last to dry out. Also look at drainage- torrential rains can flood areas nowhere near a regular water source. This includes the basement- ground water can seep in a lot faster than you might realize. A perimeter drainage outside the house, and another inside the basement, tied to a sump pump, can help prevent problems. Make sure that you can pipe that water well away from the building, or you'll be just recycling the same water in and out of the house.

Hurricanes would be pretty much both tornado and flooding concerns combined, so see above.
Earthquakes can happen anywhere, and being far from a known fault line doesn't mean you're immune. The further the better from known faults, of course, but be mindful of the possibility of such 'vibrations', even from non- natural sources. A building that can flex with the ground will hold up better than something too rigid, where it suddenly has to support weight where it never had to before, because the ground supporting it "isn't there". Look into building codes for San Francisco or Los Angeles for ideas on building methods- they've learned a lot over the years, put it to your own use.

I've spent my entire adult life in or around the different construction fields, and I'm a master plumber by trade- these are some of the things I've picked up along the way. Do your own due diligence- I'm in NY State, and conditions here are different than conditions elsewhere, so you need to adapt any suggestions I make to suit your location. None of the above is presented as being any kind of professional advice, just things I'd consider in the same or similar situation, and based on my experience.

[Kirby]

Building to withstand tornadoes isn't all that hard. Earth berm the house with a 20 degree or less slope. Tornadoes will roll right up the ramp and over your house.

Do you have source for this statement?

Sadly no. Many years ago we planned an earth sheltered home, while doing the research I ran across a paper talking about the 20 degree figure, and that it was initially arrived at by the DOD or DOE, and in relation to the winds from a nuclear blast, which exceed the winds of an F5 tornado.

As I search the web trying to find it again, the plethora of information obscures everything. It's mentioned a million times that earth sheltered homes are "tornado proof", but no one seems to back that statement up. Possibly my Google-Fu is lacking today.

[w3rdtoyamama]

How would I build my future home?

I'd just pull it in with my truck and put wood blocks behind the wheels. Just kidding.

I wouldn't build a house to withstand anything and everything. I'd build a house that can withstand rain, snow, high winds (not tornado speeds), but I'd prefer a simple house just be in a rural area where noone knows about.

[XAMOTOMAX]

Check out severeweatherpods.com. they build storm sheltersand blast shelters for homes.

[TacAir]

Going with 'won the lotto'

I'd buy existing

[Dogan]

Going with 'won the lotto'

I'd buy existing

Earthquakes.