Going Off Grid in East Tennessee; The Story and Chat Thread (new home, live in)

[JessicaK]

That is SOOOO cool.

[mbmouse]

What a GREAT adventure! Beautiful views and location. I can just imagine the gardens you could grow there. I do have a question though, is it clay or dirt there?

[ylisa7]

mbmouse- it is all dirt tons and tons of dirt. LOL

Hi everyone,

Here is chapter 2 for your enjoyment(hopefully)

Finally the day we have been waiting for-the day our grader can start
working on our dream. It was a priority to get the grading and the roads
done so we could get the concrete and pumper trucks in to start the house.

Our property has been virtually untouched by man for almost 50 years. For the past 25 years there have been and still are catlle on the property. Yes these cows are our only neighbors. The man, Howard, who owns the cattle
has been using this property for 25 years. Mike and I decided to let Howard
keep the cows on our land. After all they do keep the land very clean. Who wants to mow 40 acres anyway? Not me, that's for sure. We already have
enough to mow on our other property where we are living now:



So on May 28 our grader started cutting open our roads. The only roads
in the property were just your basic path from driving over the grass with
huge ruts in some spots. I thought our jeep might get swallowed up. When you live in the mountains you really need a 4 wheel drive truck. That's on the list after we get the house done. Anyway, after 4 hours of grading it started to pour. Of course that was a really bad thing because our nice freshly cut roads turned into mud. Here are a couple of pictures of before and after on the roads.



The next day our grader had to work on our right-of-way because it was
too muddy to work inside the property. They cut open the right-of-way and added truck loads of crush and run to firm up the road. On friday the 30th
things were dry enough to start working inside again. Then the weekend came and no work got done.

The next week was spent with Mike and I cutting and trimming trees, raking rocks, and basically cleaning up the land while the graders did their thing.
The graders worked on our roads, digging out our homesite, and making flat
land. We had no flat land at the top of the property where our homesite is so we had to "make it". It was just a knoll at the top of the hill. Our grader cut into the knoll and moved the dirt to what now looks like 1/2 football field
on flat land where there once was none.


On June 3 our grader brought in 2 trackhoes to dig out our homesite. This was really exciting even though to you it will just look like a hole in the
ground.


On friday June 6 we had to move our shipping container from our current
property to the new land. This was no easy task since the container is
8ft x 20 ft and weighs 3 thousand pounds. It's not easy to find anyone
who can move that. We called the local towing company and they couldn't do it. They gave us a number for a man who would move "anything". Sure
enough the guy came through and hauled that container to the new property
and straight up the hill. We needed to get this container to the property so
we could start bring supplies and equipment over. Here is a picture of the truck with our container:


I hope you are enjoying the story so far. Tomorrow we have to get busy again so I won't be doing pictures for a few days.

Chapter 3 to follow.

Lisa

[SPLIT]

Y.L. : We also traveled the East coast in a RV with only this cycle in tow.
. Will you be able to get the RV up top . ??
.Your track-hoe pic is very similiar to the "John Denver" Book , when he finally had hit records and built his Colo Mtn house, the excavator had a famous line like " OK Mr Denver which way you want to Point this THING .? "
. If you need and small or NARROW sections airated or TRENCHED, let me know, Cheap labor.
.We are all jealous of the location, however Fishing was still good tonight
in the cove.
....

[ylisa7]

SPLIT

I really, really hope we can get the RV up to the top. It's a diesel so at least the weight is mostly in the back-that should help. Either way it will definitely be an interesting morning. Eventually we will pave the roads but that is so far off that it doesn't do us any good now. We are sweating out the next few deliveries.

Nice Pic- looks very peaceful. What kind of fish did you catch? My husband loves to fish especially in lakes. He will really miss our pond(where th rv is) when we move to the new place. I told hom he could always go back and visit his fish. LOL Really, we do have a great pond and we have 4 albino(white) catfish. We will eventually have a pond at the new place but that's not a priority yet.

Lisa

[SPLIT]

YL: Thought you might turn that barn into a RV - PORTE for the motor coach. We travled for more than a year. Sold the house & ended up back in Melbourne, Fla only 1/4 mile away from the prior house, when grand-children came early.
. ONe big cat-fish & large mouth bass. Missed his big brother,(WALTER), in skiff boat trolling with the 35hp motor, right up to bottom and empty hook. Will go back with the tandum kayak,(ToP producer) , but dont tell everyone.
Always welcome for a visit here at "Dual Sport Ranch" S.E. part of state, restoring 3rd boat(Water-Ski) and 2 kayaks. 150 acre buffer 100 year old farm in rear & Tva when they created river dam / lake.

............Inside metal front rim is 22" ..!
................

[Forest Breath]

I am SO excited for you. As you know, I took the big plunge a few months back. We are completely off the grid with no indoor plumbing or electric. We have been living there one month today!!! I have absolutely ZERO regrets. Although I did a different style of housing than you, choosing this lifestyle presents so many wonderful challenges and the making of beautiful memories. It is wonderful and the hard work you invest into your home will all pay off one day soon. So far I am loving life and have no desire to return to the grid!

Good luck and I look forward to reading your stories. (be sure to learn form my mistakes...my goodness we made them but nothing catastrophic as we have weathered several storms in that little house so far and it is all just a beautiful experience!)

[TN Tin Man]

I would use crushed stone for your drive. It will drain better than a hard surface...Just my 2 cents. Like shale.....

[vacation bound]

Hi Younglisa, I love your story and pics so far. Please keep them coming. Your property is breathtaking. One thing I wanted to mention since you are going to be primarilly underground is making sure you don't have a problem with Radon gases. I do not live in TN yet but I have been told that Tn has a high Radon levels. I am going to try to post a link I found if my computer skills or lack of let me. If you don't know what it is, please pull it up and read it. It has been known to cause cancer. Good luck in your building and I will be reading as you post.


Article Understanding Radon

[TN Tin Man]

Here's a link for a free radon test kit.
Free Radon Test Kits