J Schtucker

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:I would not bury home-made cement tanks. As you suggest they probably will crack and implode, and they'll be difficult to repair. A tank manufactured for burial, for septic or cistern use, is the only one I would trust.

The other big thing is that you will lose all the potential energy ("head") that lets you distribute your water by gravity flow (for free!). An underground tank will require pumps to get the water out.

Thanks! Yeah, I started thinking about what I would need to do to do repairs and realized I probably wanted them above ground. And, that does also help with being able to do some gravity-fed plumbing.

I am getting set up on our new 40 acre homestead, and the first order of business is to set up the water catchment we will need. I'd like to build some ferrocement water tanks to hold the water, though I don't know much about building them. Is it possible to put a ferrocement tank in the ground? Or is it not strong enough to hold up to the pressure from the surround earth? I don't know if I would do it above ground or below ground. I'm just trying to figure out my options right now.

Ok, good thoughts.

I watched a few videos about aircrete last night and realize now that it's mostly for insulation and doesn't provide a strong structure, so if I go with an underground design, it might not be the best. I've done earthbag building before, and though it's very cheap, it's also very back-breaking to do alone.

We'll be at around 7000' elevation and the winters get quite cold.

Hi all,

I am interested in building a dome to then bury underground in the side of a hill (with an archway entrance on the southern side). This would be located in the desert southwest US.

I am not really sure where to start or what methods would be best. I'd like to keep the cost down as much as possible, and I'd like to be able to work on it mostly by myself, but also sometimes with my wife when she is available. Hence, I have been thinking about aircrete since it's lightweight, low cost, and probably easier to work with by myself.

I was considering building a frame of some sort (not sure what method), wrapping that in fabric, spraying that with aircrete to create a shell/form, and then cover the whole thing with rebar and concrete. But I'll be honest, I don't know what I'm doing. Maybe I'd build a dome with aircrete blocks and then cover with concrete?

What's the best method I can take in this situation? I know aircrete needs to be waterproofed, but I'm not sure how strong it is by itself to bury a dome.

Yep! Rio Grande Estates! Ok, yeah I'll have to take a drive out that way sometime! Sierra Ladron is gorgeous! I've only been out that way once, but I really liked it. And I love staring at that mountain through the front windows!

hmm... the link is working for me. Maybe this will work? https://www.tuckerlandcompany.com/

If not, that's the website if you just punch it in yourself.

We're South of Belen just off of Route 60. It's the Northern section of Socorro County.

Nice! I don't know of Riley, but I do know Magdalena, so I have an idea of where that is. I've only ever been to Death Valley once before though. Is Nevada similar to New Mexico in climate?

Forgive me if this isn't allowed... I tried looking for rules and couldn't figure out if I'm allowed to post this or not. So, delete if necessary.

If anyone is interested, my wife and I are selling some 1 and 2 acre parcels in Socorro County, NM. They're off-grid and have no building codes. (Technically the state has codes to follow, but they are not enforced in this area at all. County has no codes or zoning department or anything). My wife and I have already built an earthbag structure out there. The clay/sand ratio is perfect for earthbags, but you could do whatever building method you want. Some people in the area are just living in RV's, others have built with earthbags, others have built with strawbales, others are living in glorified sheds, and others have full on mobile homes. It's entirely up to you!

$2500 for 1 acre, $4500 for 2 acres. I'd love for these to go to someone who wants to do some natural buildings. Water needs to be hauled in, but I could connect you with a great guy who lives nearby who will let you haul water from his well in exchange for some beer and friendship. We always just hauled water from his house using a 300 gallon tote.

You can find more info at https://www.TuckerLandCompany.com

Any update on this? I’d like to move to Cochise County for the owner opt-out. Is it still in place? Is it likely to stay in place?

May sound crazy, but try switching off the wifi at night and turn your phone on airplane mode. If you have a smart meter on your house, call in and ask for it to be changed back to analog. It’s the only thing I’ve ever found helpful, but it worked better than any medication I’ve ever tried for insomnia, and now I don’t even use medication any more. Combine that with eating exclusively organic, non-processed food as much as possible, and the problem more or less goes away.

I was an insomniac for years and years and found little help. One day my wife said she read something online about wireless signals messing with sleep, so we figured we’d give it a shot. We turned off everything and got the best night of sleep in a very long time. Afterwards we started doing more research and came across a little book called “The Invisible Rainbow” which documented the little-known scientific data behind wireless technology messing with human and animal physiology. Very eye-opening.

When we then later switched to eating strictly organic and non-processed (whole grain, few or no pre-packaged sauces, etc), we both again noticed massive improvement. Now I never have insomnia and I’m on zero medications.

Hi,
I'm in the process of building an earth bag dome, and I'm trying to figure out the right mixture of water to dirt. I've seen people say that it doesn't take much water, but what does that really mean? I've done a few bags with about 1-gallon of water in a wheelbarrow mostly full of dirt. And I did a few bags with closer to 2-gallons of water mixed with the same amount of dirt. The wetter bags were leaking some water out after a couple of hours, but when they dried, they felt as hard as rock. The less-wet bags did not leak any water out, but the next day they only felt solid from the top. If I poked the sides, they felt... slightly crumbly? soft? I'm not really sure how to describe it. Can anyone describe what the bags should feel like after they've been tamped and left for a day? Also, how long can I wait between filling the bag and tamping? It's hot, sunny, and dry here, and I'm worried the bags might dry out before I can finish an entire course and go back and tamp them.

Any advice on how to know if the bags are done properly would be helpful!

Thanks!