Disappointing weekend...

Decided to go down on Saturday because it was supposed to be in the mid fifties....Never got above 42 degrees. Had problems with the chainsaw. I apparently set it down on a small sapling shoot and got it tangled into the chain drive. Ending up taking the saw apart and cleaning (without anything but some napkins) and reassembling. It was cold and I don't have that much experience with the saw at those temperatures...ended up flooding it several times. Gave up after a while and concentrated on lopping small saplings coming up in the driveway and clearing a bit more of the driveway entrance back. I did get a log bucking device from Tractor Supply that was a great deal.

Looked at making a small fenced in area for the dogs...Talking with Kristina and I will make a 120 by 120 ft area that can be used as an agility ring. We will also take two of the outdoor kennels and attach it to the ring. Shouldn't be that much to fence it in and also gives me more of a reason to get the tractor!!

Picture below is the additional clearing of the driveway right off the road

Future Plans

I found a very efficient steam engine that I am thinking about using to generate power to charge batteries. I think I will wait until someone produces a kit of a 3 cylinder unit under license from the inventor. The unit can be see here:

Green Steam Engine




I will hook this to some kind of Generator or a homebuilt Axial Flux unit to charge batteries along with some solar panels.


I have decided that I will probably get a tractor to do some grading and site prep work and also use this to dig a pond. The driveway has a number of places where small "Branches" (creeks...) cut across the driveway to the back of the property. The pond will be constructed by creating a berm for the driveway and also using the backhoe to dig out the area in front of the berm. I have decided that I will probably get the Kubota BX-24 pictured below. Someone has already made an Auger that will fit the sub-compact tractor's 3 point hitch. Cost will be around $16K.



It may be small, but it is probably all I need for plowing the driveway, installing posts, basic grading, adding some culverts to the driveway and making the pond. It will also be handy in moving "rounds" from the clearing work that I will be doing.

I have decided on a wood splitter, and altough a bit pricy, it seems to have the durability and ease of use I am looking for.... Timberwolf seems to be the one. I will probably not get this for another year or so.



Hope to go down this weekend and get some more area cleared for the cabin.

Driveway Culvert installed and Started clearing site

February 16, 2008 - Went down today to checkout the driveway culvert which was installed last week. Decided where the cabin is going and started clearing the area. Chainsaw worked well and got quite a bit done in 4 hours.





Below is where the cabin will be built... Still have a few trees to cut down.

Met with Forrester

February 7, 2008 - Drove down today and got into town around 11 am. Stopped by Southern States and purchased 24Ft 12"diameter corrugated metal culvert pipe which they will deliver for 20 bucks. Plenty of time before I met with the Forester so I spent time cutting all the 1/2 to 1 inch diameter saplings that had grown over the past year. Used a lopper and it worked fine other than alot of bending over...

Couldn't get the lock open and went to the hardware store and got some WD-40 and graphite to see if I could get it open... No luck. Went back and found bolt cutters for 21 bucks. Worked like a charm. Installed a new chain and lock and sprayed it with graphite.

Met with Justin and explained what I was planning to do. He said that there should be no problem and we walked around the property for a while. He recommended leaving trees around where I am considering a pond... keeps it shaded and minimizes algae growth. He did saw it would be better to wait till the summer before getting a timber contract so the land would be drier.

Located where I want to site the Cabin. It will be about 75 feet in from the property lines in the northwest corner of the property. Going to get a good chain saw and cut some trees down where the cabin will be.

Also trimmed the area on the easement where the driveway will be located. I will probably have to replace the small 10 foot Driveway gate for future access of trucks onto the property. I will give VDOT a call and see when they expect the driveway connnection to be completed...

My back is killing me!

Some Pictures

Property Pictures (Driveway)

Here is a picture of me walking down the driveway easement about 200 feet off the road. This will have to be regraded because it is too steep and actually goes a bit off the easement onto someone elses property. A ditch will have to be installed to the right to handle runoff. A culvert will also have to be installed to get the water under the driveway. This picture was taken a few years ago and it is very overgrown at present.



The picture below is facing west near where the House will be located. At the bottom of the hill is where the creek goes under the drive (and sometimes over it!). Hopefully, I will be able to regrade it to dam up a small pond before going under the driveway.

Bought a cabin

February 2, 2008 - Bought the cabin and received the plans. The cabin will be delivered later.



Going to make a pier type foundation on 8" piers. Nine holes about 2 feet deep. I am going to make aluminum termite barriers so as not to put any chemicals down on the property and keep it "organic" The door on the cabin is basically a cheap 2 inch thick rough pine door with a simple thumb latch. Pricing a door today for about $150 and will install that as well as another window.

No septic...I can get a Thetford portable toilet similar to the one in my pop-up camper for about $160. Everything goes into a sealed tank that can be removed and dumped.




Found a Solar powered battery charger that can hook up to a Xantex power 1500 watt system that includes an inverter and two 125V 60 Hz outlets. Solar power panels are 60 watts and the entire system is less $600. It also comes with a cigarette lighter charger and a regular 125 volt charger. Battery and inverter come with a handle and wheels for portability.




Going to try and make it down this week and buy two 12" corrugated pipes and a connector for the driveway connection (VDOT to install). Also hope to get the Forrester to meet me there to discuss clearing about 5 acres of land.

Hope to have the cabin built in the next 4 months!!

Marked location of the Driveway

January 26, 2008 - Stopped by the property and found the Property corner for the driveway easement. Looked at the local Building supply and they didn't have any 12" pipe. Need to get the pipe delivered...placed the markers. approximately 18 Ft from the corner of the access.

Found the property corner iron pipe in two minutes using my new MineLab Eureka Gold detecter. Also stopped by Luvin' Gold Store and chattered with Ben and Kathy... great people! Discussed the property location and they said I should definatly look thru and dirt when digging a pond at the driveway location.

Ordering the Jamaican Cottage Vermonter in the next few days to take advantage of a sale they are having. Half down now, balance and freight before shipping.

Also contacted the local Forestry guy that handles east of Rt 15. Hope to make an appointment to do a cruise and see what he thinks of my current plan for the property.

Connecting the Driveway

January 12, 2008 - Went down to the property last week and got a few things done. Contacted VDOT and had a driveway connection approved and found out that all I have to do is drop a 12" diameter metal pipe and they will do the rest. I am going to get a 24 ft pipe to allow plenty of room for anyone entering or leaving the property. I will have to remove some trees as the driveway and the old access are not 100% in the easement. Pipe will cost $11 a foot, and I will have to transport it about a mile to the site. Started a zoning permit and got alot of the paperwork required to get a building permit. I have posted a picture of the cabin I would like to build so I can go down and spend weekends on the site to get some work done....

The plan

December 26, 2007 - My wife and I purchased about 25 acres of land about 40 miles south of Charlottesville, Va a few years ago with the plan to build a house and retire about 10 years from now. The property is covered in timber and this blog is designed to document the process of building a new home in rural Virginia. I try and stop by the property at least three times a year to make sure the the timber has not been stolen and check the access to the property. This past weekend, I went out with my nephew and remarked the Property lines in the pouring rain. In reviewing the zoning for building a new house in the county, I need to contact VDOT and get a permit for a driveway connection to Rt 15. AT this time I think I will get the new property address. Currently looking to get the permits and then call a forester to walk the property and give me an estimate on what 5 acres of timber is worth. Need to have the timber cleared for the pasture and about 1 acres for the homesite/septic field. I will also need to get a permit for the Septic field and water well. When I purchased the property, there were 2 perc tests done so that should not be a problem. I have marked all the property corners using my GPS and have loaded them in to Google Earth with approximate location of the Homesite and pasture.



We have decided on a plan for the house and want to modify the plans to include a small basement for locating the Heating unit, water heater, and other mechanical items. I will post links in the next few weeks.

The Beginning....

A few years ago my wife and I purchased some land in rural Virginia for a place to retire and breed Australian Shepherds. I have always been interested in building my own home and I am going to try to make it "self sustaining" and not rely on outside services like electricity, water, and other utilities. It may not be possible to completely live "off-grid" but I want to try...

I have been documenting my ideas and progress on another site, but figured it was time to allow friends to get to this site and see what I have been up to. The following post will show what I have been up to over the past few months.