E-Mail 'How NOT to Build a Retreat, by The Jewish Prepper, Pt. 4' To A Friend

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21 Comments

  1. RE: electrical. Hard to do sometimes, but planning, planning, planning. It’s very useful to maximize the number of circuits – means more breakers (adds $$), which requires a bigger panel (more $$), more home runs (more $$), run 12 gauge wire for every thing (more $$) but worth it in the end (14 ga = 15 amp circuit, 12 ga= 20; some circuits are NEC-required to be 15 A (lighting) but having only 1 size of wire on hand (except for the 10ga for dryers, water heaters, etc.) minimizes the possibility for mistakes and provides a useful safety margin. When wiring, label everything. Everything. Knowing which switch or outlet is connected to which breaker (and the reverse) is useful beyond belief.

    Running gas lines inside walls for future propane or NG is easy when they’re open, very much expensive later (think stoves, dryers, heaters, propane or NG mantle lighting). Ditto for coaxial cable, Cat 6 for phone, intercom, computer networking, etc.

    After wiring & plumbing, BEFORE wallboard, fasten a couple yardsticks (vertical & horizontal) on each wall and photograph it. Having an accurately dimensioned record – and to measured scale – of exactly where wires/pipes/etc. are inside the wall will save time, money and anguish in the future. Pro Tip: a scale map of each wall is better – pick 2 diagonally opposite corner spots as “zero points” in each room (ex: 4 ft from floor in NW & SE corners, or NE/SW corners, whatever works) and measure and record positions of wiring boxes, wire/cable runs, piping, etc. vertically and horizontally from that point and make a detailed map. Takes one hour for 2 people, saves days later.

    Planning up front – or, better, building it in – a transfer switch means at least one receptacle, preferably 2, in each room can easily be generator-fed (pro tip: put in a transfer switch circuit just for ceiling fans in all the rooms even if you don’t initially plan to have ceiling fans. You will want them later). Fridges, freezers, need their own dedicated circuits on the transfer switch, and another fridge/freezer circuit in the basement provides future options.

    Water – again, more “circuits” is better, and include valves. It’s handy, sometimes critical, to be able to shut water off to one bathroom to fix plumbing rather than have to shut down the entire house. Putting toilets on their own unique water “circuit” – and a “circuit” foer each toilet isn’t excessive – allows future flexiblity for using them during a water-limited SHTF event (don’t forget check valves between toilet “circuits” and the main water supply if there’s ever a possibility of using non-potable water to supply toilets).

    Can’t stress planning enough – changing things with eraser and pencil is free, doing it with saws, nails and hammers isn’t. Tip: using marking paint, lay out the entire house – walls, doors, windows – to exact dimensions on the ground and walk & study it for a few days. You may discover things like a 42″ wide hallway easily allows 2-way traffic, a 36-inch hallway interferes with it, a particular door swing interferes with use of adjacent space, moving a door or window a few feet makes using the space easier. Those extra 6 inches in the hallway will cost money, not having them will cause a lifetime of frustration. Pay particular attention to switch/outlet placement near doors & windows, and adding them to hallways, and common area ceilings – ceiling-mounted LED night lights (all on one transfer switch circuit) are a good very low amperage way of providing the minimal light necessary for easy navigation in hallways, bathrooms, etc. Positioning is important – also think of them as “target identification lights.”

    Plan for options – ex: a pocket door may be the ideal solution, but a swing door is much cheaper. Design & construct in space for the pocket door, install a pre-hung swing door to start with.

    Contracts – a lawyer I know often says “if it isn’t written down in legible and easy to understand black print on a white page, in English, and signed by all the grownups, it isn’t a contract, it’s just an opinion.” Spell things out, clearly and in detail, whether it’s “build my house” or “install a water heater in the NW corner of the garage and connect it to the correct cold and hot water piping and proper capacity electric service” – specify heater gallon size, fuel type, pipe size, wiring size, fitting type, shutoff valves, etc. Humans do lousy jobs at communicating, especially verbally; based on my background what I think I understand may be radically different from what you think you said based on your different background.

    1. Ohio Guy, AMEN! to that. This was a most interesting series. My wife and I built two houses and we can relate to so many of the experiences of Jewish Prepper. Looking back they were great experiences. Of course the first house was the toughest. This series should help a lot of folks contemplating such an undertaking.

    2. Thank you for the kind words! Nosmo, your comment is TERRIFIC advice. The importance of marking things when they’re visible can’t be overstated. I love your idea of photographing with a yardstick for reference.

  4. I applaud you for your honesty in telling of your trials and tribulations so others can learn from you–thank you for this. My husband and I are indebted to those who were honest about their trials and tribulations where we learned from them before we set sail with our children. Of course, we also had our own trials and tribulations which we have shared with other cruisers. Good for you sir, may you and your wife have numerous years in your retreat filled with joy.

  5. Great article. As a retired HVAC contractor and having built my home 25 years ago, this is excellent. I have had to work with many code and building inspectors. A few were good to work with but sadly most were jerks. There is something in human nature, that when they have a little authority and power, they become a**holes. Yes, I knew the good and bad contractors. The lowest bid is not necessarily the best bid. On many occasions, I received calls to fix problems where the customer had taken the lowest bid and could not get that contractor to come back. Eventually those contractors go out of business but not before they sucker a lot of unsuspecting customers. After you have made the sacrifices to build or buy your home, don’t forget to treat for termites if they are problem in your area. I have seen far too many homes in the southeastern US destroyed or damaged when the owner failed to protect against termites.

  6. I would suggest that you invest in a SimpleSafe alarm system. It is relatively inexpensive and you can install it yourself. I had one installed in my remote bug out. I also had a self-installed 8 cam video security system.

  7. Thank you to everyone who stuck with this very long series all the way to the end! The many excellent and useful comments that were submitted add tremendous value, and I hope that future readers will take the time to learn from the expert advice provided so freely on all four parts of this series.

  8. I admire your stick-to-it attitude; 10 years is a long time to endure all the problems you faced and solved. And congrats to your spouse for staying with you!!! Hopefully you can pass your self-built homestead to your kids and grand kids.

  9. Wow! I am so impressed by all that you were able to accomplish! The lessons you have shared with us are valuable, and we owe you a big debt of gratitude for sharing so openly, even when things did NOT go well! I salute you and your family, and wish you many happy years in your homemade palace!

  10. @Jew Prepper…

    Excellent post. I too had a post similar a year ago. You can read all about it here. The wife and I had the same conversations. Sounds like you’re from the east coast just by reading through this–we were leaving the Communist regime of The People’s Republic of California.

    You can see us here:
    https://survivalblog.com/?s=X.+liberal

    A few things [not for you since your done] for other readers attempting this feat of DIY [building you’re own retreat home].

    1) Go to a region of the country were there are NO permits and NO inspections unless you want them–we did!

    2) Spend 100s of hours watching YouTube videos, talking to contractors, Journeymen in the trades, and hardware professionals that know their stuff! I did this for a year straight without ever digging ground. My notes were copious and piled high. But I knew what I was doing, had all the calculations of weight, load bearing walls, electric load, and all internal guts of the place well in advance of construction… [Just thinking of your electrical box cut out of the sheet rock which would’ve been easily mitigate with a search “YouTube video on how to cut out an electrical switch from sheet rock”].

    3) We purchased a log home kit from a reputable company and they included the plans in with the kit. They even milled all the logs and assembled the logs in their factory before shipment. They labeled each log and gave an informative schematic.

    4) I was an electrical engineer by bachlor’s degree so had no issues there, taught myself about plumbing and septic installation and did it myself–then had the plumber lay the gas lines but I already had the plumbing all set but not PVC glued–told him to spot check- he did and that was signed off.].

    5) I rented my own Link Belt 210 excavator which cost $800 per day- I used it two days and the excavating company was going to charge $4000.

    6) I spent months on site due to being a CPA and can work remotely or just didnt take a contract during those times.

    7) This is the big one for us… ALL off grid! No CITY electric hookup, water hookup, sewer hookup, or even gas hookup. We have solar panels, buried propane tank, septic tank, and well water. NO GOVERNMENT HARASSMENT– I can’t caution this enough–the US GOV is recording all your appliances by their load on the electrical line and when they turn on and off–who’s home and when. After living in KALIFORNIA, it was attack the state legislature or remove ourselves from Communism. We made the right move!

    Anyways Jehovah was good to you!
    God Bless!

  11. I built two houses myself that my family have lived in. The kids are gone now but my wife and I are living in the second house that we built. I can sure appreciate what you and your wife have gone through. While building our second home I shot my wife in the hand with a nail gun. She couldn’t have carried on more about it if I had taken a chain saw and cut her arm off. And then a few weeks later I shot myself in the hand and the three inch nail went in on the left side of my hand and was sticking out on the right side. The nail head was visible so I took out my pliers and pulled it out. It put up a good resistance coming out because of the paper that was glued to the nail. Surprisingly it didn’t hurt that much. A few months later I accidently slid off my roof after stepping on a piece of tar paper which had blown loose in a storm the night before. That cost me three broken bones in my foot. The old saying “blood, sweat and tears” became a reality through it all but my wife and I survived. Now we’re living in a paid for house out in the country which also happens to be our survival retreat. It was all good.

  12. OUCH! Hats off for your efforts. After building 2 dwellings for self use in the 1990’s,. three recommendations for 2019 and beyond, be it off grid or on grid. #1 – get pre-approved by lender of choice for adequate funds. #2 – rudimentary Spanish to comprehend all subcontractor. #3 – closely review ALL applicable local building requirements, especially hook-up fees for public utilities , grading , reforestation , etc. Remember, to your government, your project is its ready made profit source.

  13. This was an excellent series! Great advice. Through it all, it sounds like you had a kind, patient attitude. God saw you through in your perseverance. Thank you for sharing your experience.

  16. For the layman or really anyone who cares about quality construction and is trying to manage subcontractors — this book is the, lowercase b, bible: https://www.amazon.com/Residential-Light-Commercial-Construction-Standards/dp/0876296584

    In hot climates given proper ventilation, higher ceilings and steeper roof pitches do keep homes cooler/liveable w/o electricity/ac.

    Agree w/ comments regarding contracts, and also agree that paying for AT LEAST a third-party construction inspector to do an open wall inspection prior to closing walls is worth it’s weight in gold.

    Also, while walls are open, spray everything w/ borate/boracare. Largely prevents termite and mold/rot damage across common woods.

    Mentioned in earlier article that mineral wool insulation is far superior to fiberglas, and I prefer it to spray foam due to it allowing a house to breathe (and also eliminates concerns about off-gassing).

    Should have mentioned in earlier post — but don’t notch structural members w/o adding add’l support. Your hurricane straps likely would have required a 2×6 at top and 2×4 at bottom for code had you notched them, if not an add’l 2×12 to each side…

    Thanks for the story!

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