E. Perry

Hello,

My husband and I are looking to possibly purchase a property in VT that is mostly steep and has some existing infrastructure - 2 cabins: 1 lower one near road with stove, on-grid electricity, composting toilet, and no running water; 1 upper one with a stove, potential for solar (not set up yet), no toilet, and no running water. The property has an existing septic permit/design, farther up the sloped part of the property (not as high as the second cabin). While we would prefer to stick with only a composting toilet, we are pretty certain the state requires constructions after 2007 (which both cabins we believe are are) that are being lived in full-time have a septic system installed. Our thought would be to live in the lower cabin while building farther up where septic permit has septic site, putting in the septic there presuming we have to. But we would like to hook water up to the lower cabin while we live there. There's no well on the property yet, but there is site for one included in septic design (also farther up the property). It doesn't make sense to put the septic and well in (esp the septic) farther up and then have it run down to the cabin (don't even think that's possible?) but what alternative ways could we have running water/a grey water system at the lower cabin (whether the well were farther up, lower down, or we were hauling water in)? That wouldn't solve the legality/septic issue, but would at least address water issue. Another thing to note is that we would rather not put septic in lower down because permit exists/soil tests were done with septic farther up and we would like to farm/garden on the lower portion (so don't want leach field there), and a portion of the lower part of the property is in flood plain, so we think that makes it no suitable for septic (and maybe also not suitable for well?).

Any help appreciated! (And let me know if this question should be posted in different forum.) TIA

Hi,

Wondering about the feasibility of setting up an off-grid yurt with heat/winterized between now and winter (before Jan 1st). My partner and I are looking to purchase land as soon as possible in the northeast (central VT); we are looking mostly at raw, undeveloped, off-grid properties with the intention to slowly build a sustainable homestead. Our search has spanned over a few years, but we are now wondering at the likelihood of setting something up (assuming we closed on a piece of land ASAP) that could be lived in through the winter - the most conceivable (if any) seems to be to set up a winterized yurt (with insulation, platform, and wood heat) but is that realistic within the timeframe? Also, we are hoping to find a property with access to water - dug well or spring, but if it has a dug well but is not hooked up to bring water to a living structure in the winter, or it doesn’t have a dug well at all yet, how realistic is it that we could have running water in the winter on this property?

Of course we understand that so much of this depends on the specifics of the property, how soon we can locate and close on a property, the materials we have available, weather, etc., but we are also wondering—more generally—about anyone’s experiences or knowledge about how long this process could be expected to take, and which parts might take the most or least time, in what order?

Other things we’re thinking about, in conjunction with locating and closing on the property, is the extent of inspections, etc. we would do on a raw parcel, other than testing the water, maybe doing a perc test (as security)? And how long these inspections might take? For a little background, we have been searching for the last several years, and have committed to looking in this area if possible. Also we came close to closing on a property once, so we are somewhat familiar with the process, but obviously have areas where we’d like input.

Thanks!