Building supplies and stuff

Judee wrote:

I love reading what you guys write... going through the thought process really fascinates me.

I mentioned "Fine Homebuilding" magazine in an earlier post; it's well-written and informative, but tough going for those not in the trades.  However, once a year they put out a "Best Houses" issue that's much more accessible.  The photos alone are worth the price of the mag, and the articles showcase the thought and problem-solving that go into eight or ten really great homes, from the point of view of the owners, the contractors, the architects and even individual craftspeople.

John

LeftClique wrote:

Judee wrote:

I love reading what you guys write... going through the thought process really fascinates me.

I mentioned "Fine Homebuilding" magazine in an earlier post; it's well-written and informative, but tough going for those not in the trades.  However, once a year they put out a "Best Houses" issue that's much more accessible.  The photos alone are worth the price of the mag, and the articles showcase the thought and problem-solving that go into eight or ten really great homes, from the point of view of the owners, the contractors, the architects and even individual craftspeople.

John

Must have skimmed past that post. Am looking around it right now. Really enjoyed the article "Getting to Zero Energy". The whole passive or passive solar design is something that have been trying to educate myself on the past few years. Really like the idea of building based on the particular environment one lives in.

Thanks John I'll check it out. Appreciate it.

Judy

mugtech wrote:

jessekimmerling wrote:

j600rr wrote:

By the way will choose Ecuador over Kabul. Do I win the prize?

Yes, you get to keep your head. I think we all choose Ecuador over Kabul.

And yet there are many white Christians, agnostics and atheists who choose to live on Muslim Mindanao as opposed to any of the other 7,000 islands in the Philippines.

I think you're comparing apples to oranges.

jessekimmerling wrote:

I think you're comparing apples to oranges.

Pineapples versus hand grenades..

James-Esq wrote:

jessekimmerling wrote:

I think you're comparing apples to oranges.

Pineapples versus hand grenades..

Ever heard of Abu Sayyaf?

mugtech wrote:

James-Esq wrote:

jessekimmerling wrote:

I think you're comparing apples to oranges.

Pineapples versus hand grenades..

Ever heard of Abu Sayyaf?

No, but if I google him, will I be on the NSA watch list?  lol

James-Esq wrote:

mugtech wrote:

James-Esq wrote:

Pineapples versus hand grenades..

Ever heard of Abu Sayyaf?

No, but if I google him, will I be on the NSA watch list?  lol

It's a group, not an individual, and yes, you better bring a sleeping bag and lube if you intend of flying. JK.

I stand by my statement, apples to organges. There were terror groups opperating in southern Thailand when I was there too, but it's just not in the same ballpark as Afghanistan.

Man, we sure got off topic. Ok, back to building and stuff...

This is the cliff I hav to carry all my supplies over. This is the main reason I want to use on site materials.


The crest of the ridge is the property line.

jessekimmerling wrote:

This is the cliff I have to carry all my supplies over

On the Homesteader Macho-Meter, scale from one to ten, one being a kid building a tree house and ten being Norm Abram on steroids, I give you a solid ELEVEN.  Dude, you are seriously badass.

John

LeftClique wrote:

jessekimmerling wrote:

This is the cliff I have to carry all my supplies over

On the Homesteader Macho-Meter, scale from one to ten, one being a kid building a tree house and ten being Norm Abram on steroids, I give you a solid ELEVEN.  Dude, you are seriously badass.

John

Thanks, John. Either that, or I'm crazy.

Here's a fine example of road construction near my property.

jessekimmerling wrote:

Here's a fine example of road construction near my property.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/ … ty1085.jpg

Nice form work (OMG), so are they putting rocks in with cement?

Guess you'll just have to keep swinging that machete till you get there

I'm referrring to your earlier post about finding the trail

suefrankdahl wrote:

I'm referrring to your earlier post about finding the trail

What, "machete" wasn't a euphemism for something dirty?

Between you and James...a couple of dirty minds and smart alecks. I'm still LOL...let's not beat around the bushes!!!

suefrankdahl wrote:

Between you and James...a couple of dirty minds and smart alecks. I'm still LOL...let's not beat around the bushes!!!

Sue, i'm going to borrow a line from Casablanca. He's just like any other man, only more so.

LeftClique wrote:

jessekimmerling wrote:

This is the cliff I have to carry all my supplies over

On the Homesteader Macho-Meter, scale from one to ten, one being a kid building a tree house and ten being Norm Abram on steroids, I give you a solid ELEVEN.  Dude, you are seriously badass.

John

I'll second that motion.

James-Esq wrote:

suefrankdahl wrote:

Between you and James...a couple of dirty minds and smart alecks. I'm still LOL...let's not beat around the bushes!!!

Sue, i'm going to borrow a line from Casablanca. He's just like any other man, only more so.

Great film,the only line if I remember correctly was the last line "Here's looking at you kid"
We HAVE to clean up this thread, someone in DC might be monitoring it and either enjoying it or ready to send G-men.It would certainly be a shame if it went to some metadata base. What does one say to a vice squad?

suefrankdahl wrote:

What does one say to a vice squad?

Is that a machete in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?

John

Haa!!!!

To get back on topic-If there is bamboo available why not use it for framing? Pliable when wet and lashed together with strips of bark. Probably quite strong if designed correctly. Such a frame supports the heavy glass top of my coffee table  No need for fasteners. The questions remain of some type of platform, siding and a roof. No matter how macho you or your crew it seems impractical to start hauling generators, planers, portable mills
etc up and down steep ridges. And then there is the problem of hauling fuel for them, plus the noise, pollution disruption to such a pristine environment.

There is nothing wrong with unplaned wood once you get used to it and don't have to walk barefoot on it.I sure as s--- wouldn't wreck a good chainsaw trying to do it.

Is the water in your pond potable or would you collect rainwater?

Sounds like access is a big problem. That's why I'll take loggers over tree huggers any day. They build wonderful roads in the middle of nowhere. Clear cuts grow back (reseed themselves) and from a distance look like green velvet after a few years. Tree huggers live in wood houses and in Alaska were unbearable zealots.

Don't know much about construction but a well planned "hut" if you will, using what you have available seems much more ecologically sound.

Just thought I'd weigh in.

Sue

Sue

LOL, more great lines, from great movies. Don't think I could say it with a straight face.

I don't think the water in the pond is potable, but I've got clean spring water at the base of the cliff and several clean streams. I tested one out two weeks ago. Yeah, I don't plan on bringing in a generator. There is electricity on the neighboring farm, maybe 1 km from where my building site is. I haven't decided if I want to have brought to the property.

If you have enough hours of daylight you probably could do without it. Having good water source is so much more important. Is your building site near the spring or streams?

Briefly can you explain what a cloud forest is?

suefrankdahl wrote:

If you have enough hours of daylight you probably could do without it. Having good water source is so much more important. Is your building site near the spring or streams?

Briefly can you explain what a cloud forest is?

Cloud forests are forests with lots of fog. The plants in such areas adapt to getting much of their water right out of the air. Usually, cloud forests are in very mountainous areas, and have temprate to subtropical temperatures. They tend to have lots of orchids and bromilias, ferns, moss, and airplants.

jessekimmerling wrote:

suefrankdahl wrote:

If you have enough hours of daylight you probably could do without it. Having good water source is so much more important. Is your building site near the spring or streams?

Briefly can you explain what a cloud forest is?

Cloud forests are forests with lots of fog. The plants in such areas adapt to getting much of their water right out of the air. Usually, cloud forests are in very mountainous areas, and have temprate to subtropical temperatures. They tend to have lots of orchids and bromilias, ferns, moss, and airplants.

You forgot to mention snakes...

James-Esq wrote:

jessekimmerling wrote:

suefrankdahl wrote:

If you have enough hours of daylight you probably could do without it. Having good water source is so much more important. Is your building site near the spring or streams?

Briefly can you explain what a cloud forest is?

Cloud forests are forests with lots of fog. The plants in such areas adapt to getting much of their water right out of the air. Usually, cloud forests are in very mountainous areas, and have temprate to subtropical temperatures. They tend to have lots of orchids and bromilias, ferns, moss, and airplants.

You forgot to mention snakes...

How cool. I know orchids and other bromillias are low light and hard to keep as house plants because they don't like it when you turn on the heat even if you mist them. Have seen some real beauties in Botanical Garden in NYC. Could you take some fotos the next time you go to your property. I really enjoyed looking at them and thought your idea for a flora/fauna post was great. What kind of trees are in your canopy? I lived in what they called a temperate rain forest in AK, all conifers and the only thing that could grow under them was mushrooms.

Snakes in mountainous areas? I only have to worry about snakes in the grass here. When I was in CR I opted out of the rainforest tour after they advised me against swimming in the very lovely tiled pool (quite a nice place) overhung with trees because of snakes.You should see the snakes at the Bronx Zoo in NYC!!!Some have even escaped. They are usually found in short order. Guess they're smart enough to know where their bread is buttered.

OK, a little update on construction costs after building a set of stairs and starting the bathroom remodel. I had a 1 meter wide by 3 meter tall stairway built at my beach house for $250. It's rock solid, and has a cement landing at the base with railings on both sides.

The bathroom remodel has been a little more complex, due to an indecisive wife, but removing the old bathroom and building a new wall cost about $100. We're currently debating building a seperate building with 2 toilets and showers, and cistern on a small water tower. Low bidder for the project is coming in at about $1000.

We got lucky and hired a Mexican/Canadian who is in the middle of riding his bike from Canada to Argentina. He did great work very cheap, and refused more money when I tried to pay him more than my wife negotiated. At $15 a day + room and board it was a great deal for us, since he built things to N. American standards.

We're learning a lession about well design. We have a wide deep well that provides more than enough water. Unfortunatly, no matter how hard we try we can't keep the frogs, land crabs, and insects from finding their way in and contaminating the water when they die.

Our neighbors have a 4" wide x 18' deep well that also provides plenty of water, but is easy to crab/frog/insect proof. We'll be forking over $200 to have a new well dug in a few days.

Just curious, how do you make a well critter proof?
When you were first contemplating buying the place you were worried about salinity of water in well, is that still an issue or not?

From what I gather, you make it with a small opening and extend the pipe a few feet up in the air so it's hard to fall in, glue an end cap on the pipe, and cut a hole that just fits the 1" hose for the water pump without leaving a gap for pests to enter. My current well is wide and the walls extent only a few inches. Covering it with plastic and metal screens hasn't worked because critters dig under and then climb the plastic and get in.

jessekimmerling wrote:

From what I gather, you make it with a small opening and extend the pipe a few feet up in the air so it's hard to fall in, glue an end cap on the pipe, and cut a hole that just fits the 1" hose for the water pump without leaving a gap for pests to enter. My current well is wide and the walls extent only a few inches. Covering it with plastic and metal screens hasn't worked because critters dig under and then climb the plastic and get in.

Is the old well going to be useful for anything ?The water must be pretty funky by now. Guess you could flush toilets with it.

I'm just going to fill it and put the new well next to it.

OK, new well is up and running. Great for washing, but I wouldn't drink it, even though the guys that drilled the well did. We got it up and running for $180.

We just completed a cement and bamboo building next to the main house. It's 7x2.5 meters. It consists of two basic bathrooms, no frills, cement floors, zink roof, two showers, toilets, and sinks. No electricity... yet. Total cost ran about $2500. We had some managment problems. Our contractor repeatedly under estimated the materials needed, so we kept ordering small amounts from the local hardware store, rather than having a large truck deliver everything from a cheaper but distant store. We also added a small concrete pad behind the building for a washing machine. We installed four 5 meter guayacan posts for a future water tank.

Guayacan is a pretty amazing wood. It's hard to come by these days, and it's illegal to harvest new guayacan, or so I'm told. The locals use it in place of cement posts for block construction. I bought reclaimed wood after several days search. It ran me $30 a post after much negotiation and agreeing to load it myself. For the locals it was worth the entertainment value of watching me try to lift it. It's so hard I haven't been able to drive a nail into it. All the local pests avoil it. When transporting it down the Route a del Sol the police stopped us and inspected to make sure it wasn't new wood.

I found 6 meter dry bamboo for $1.50 a stick. In this area, sand, blocks, and gravel are overpriced. I couldn't find sand for cement at less than $30 a meter. The same blocks that are 10 cents in Ibarra are 27 cents here. My father in law had a couple meters of overpriced sand delivered before I noticed and ordered 8 meters from another town. Unfortunatly, the dump truck got stuck in our drivway and dropped their load there, where the sand mixed with beach sand and dirt.

All things considered it sounds easier than building something in your cloud forest property!!! Just from experience would caution you about having washing machine not enclosed in some kind of structure as salt air will shorten it's life. You seem to to be making great progress. Keep us posted.

https:/www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRTNIeSPgq0
Hello everyone!
We have a piece of land in Puerto Lopez, Manabi (90min south Manta) We like the scip panels, but we cant get prices of them. The manufacturer keeps the prices as a top secret.
We need to find a contractor who has experience and get quotes.
Someone there has any advice please?