Daniel Ruilova

Looking to build my own cob/bale house. As for the water system, I want to install a perfectly modern system. Being uneducated with plumbing, is hiring a plumber for this the right move? Probably need someone to both look over the plans AND help with the install. Probably looking at an hourly rate then? Anybody want to take a guess at what this would cost? Much appreciated.

Daniel
Stroudsburg, PA

John Wolfram wrote:Well, the first step would be to determine if the part you want to buy is already a separate parcel or it if will need to be subdivided. Subdivision often requires an attorney and a surveyor, so don't expect it to be inexpensive.
http://www.doityourself.com/forum/land-investments-property-buying-selling/314798-25-000-subdivide.html

Wow, that's incredible. I imagine it would be very complicated and expensive in an affluent area, maybe Connecticut or NY State. But I find it hard to believe it would be anywhere near that for a small subdivision here in rural Pennsylvania... I will contact my county and see what else I can learn. Location, Location seems to really hold true!

Hello!

I wanted to see what other people thought of these self-drilling systems which you can buy for under 1,000. Supposedly most water in the USA is reachable within 50' or so, and drilling companies just drill 300' since they charge by the foot. I have a house I'm planning on having a well, and I'd love to get one of these systems to drill a well myself for a fraction of the cost of a professionally drilled one. (Wells by me in NE Pennsylvania often go 300', or about $10,000 - $15,000). Anybody have experience with these amateur drilling packages? The specific one I'm talking about is this one: http://howtodrillawell.com/

Let her rip!

Heya all -

I'm looking to see what the steps/process is for acquiring a piece of land from a neighbor to build my natural building on. I know that things vary from state to state, county to county, but I'm sure there's a general formula to this kind of thing which I just don't have the knowledge of. My project will be on the books, so please no advice for just bypassing government regs. Specifically, I will be buying a piece of land from somebody's existing plot, so how do I turn it into its own plot/parcel? I figure I'll need to register it with the local gov't as well as have a surveyor look it all over. Then probably have a realtor sort out the contract between me and the seller. Any insight into all this would be much appreciated!

Nikolas

First post - woohoo!

I'm designing a house which I would like to utilize radiant warming in the earthen floors. Does anybody have experience with laying PEX tubing or other radiant technologies within earthen floors? All of the literature online only discusses burying the tubes in cement or under floorboards. Ianto Evans' 'The Hand Sculpted House' discusses hydronic heating within cob floors as an option for heating, but doesn't dive into the specifics of the process. There are many companies online who now install these technologies with conventional materials, but I haven't found anything regarding natural floors. Other than the flooring material, I would like the rest of the system to be the same as other contemporary systems: Water heated by a tankless water heater enclosed in separate loops throughout the house.

Thank you,
Nikolas