Eastern Oregon Property

[chemist]

Really good advice I see here on this thread! Water is your first priority, but it might be too hard or too alkaline to drink or wash with without softening first.

You can grow with water that's too hard to put through household plumbing though, provided you bring the pH down with something like oak leak or maple leaf compost. My garden loves all the Ca and Mg and Fe from my well, but maybe it's just compensating for the acidity in all those maple leaves.

Half-buried construction has historically been very successful in places with tough climates like the Midwest plains. Not living in shipping containers (which are still great for storage), but purpose-built semi-underground construction that's waterproof and protected from the wind.

Good luck, my brother. Your efforts might keep a tribe alive and safe for generations to come.

 

[Fisher Bill]

How about a greenhouse?

As far as the shippng container I've been watching DD Preppers and several folks have burried them, supposedly you can stack them loaded 5-6 high so 5-10' of earth should not be a problem?

One of the ephisodes (DD Preppers) showed a guy that burried a couple dozen school buses because they support their own weight upside down.

Good thread for thought.

Bill

 

[greycobra_03]

Listen to TheSurvivalPodcast. Guy has awesome information about permaculture.

 

[Triplebuckshot]

Plant fruit trees now.

 

[Trailboss]

How about hire an architect to draw up some plans based on a self contained defensible community design. Get feedback from folks who have been through rough times to update the design. Easier to make changes on paper.

 

[tedacker]

Thanks for all the advice! The next question to ask is, are there individuals out there looking to participate in developing this type of living situation? By the way, I have found that the county is very accomodating with permits and advice. I applied with plans I drew up for a cabin, there were many restrictions with the EPA and was advised that if I call it a storage building, I could effectively skirt some of those regulations.
So, anyone intersted?
Thank You!

 

[python287]

First go to the County and see if what you want to do is possible - i.e. Zoning - what will permits cost for what you want to do - what will be the insurance cost - and development charges. Also talk to
someone who has experience in doing this so you discover all the problems and pitfalls before you start. Other than that have a lot of money..

 

[Sabertooth]

Did not mean to sound rude! I did put South eastern Oregon when I started the thread.
Lakeview is a main stopping point on the way to Reno. Never have seen two feet of snow yet. They grow some of the best hay in the state, apparently high in protein. Yes, there is alkaline lakes and bodies of water all over the area, Lake Abert is a major producer of brine shrimp. There is geothermal in that area, would be great if I could stumble on a vein under the property. Sorry to of sounded mean.

Hit a geothermal and retire!!!! Not to mention heat for your greenhouse, home and shop. So its cold and snowy outside, who cares!

 

[Sun195]

Here are some ideas (if you've got the money):

Diagram of a Fortified Home with Bunker

 

[Gunner3456]

As far as the shippng container I've been watching DD Preppers and several folks have burried them, supposedly you can stack them loaded 5-6 high so 5-10' of earth should not be a problem?

LINK

 

[cuchulain]

I have a small cabin on an acre and half in Middle of Eastern , WA about 30 miles north of moses lake... I think of it as my bug out destination.. It would take me more than a tank of gas to get there. I think there is a small creek about 1 mile away from the cabin, lots of rabbits and birds and some deer... I think in a SHFT not sure i can make it there from vancouver before a bunch a zombie rolled over my scion.. My other option would be to drive my 66 bronco...But that would take 6 tanks of gas.. Ok now, I am going to bi mart tomorrow to get more shotgun shells... I need to increase my chances of getting there... lol ....

Another thought is if you think you neighbors now would beat down your door to get your food.. think of your neighbors in the middle of nowhere... It would be the wild wild west.. Yep going to need more shells... ) and I think I will go to the cabin sounds more fun..

But when i am at my cabin, In between coors lights, I do try to prepare it more, for worst case situation. but my 10 cans of chili and empty water containers are only going to last so long.. I noticed batteries go bad in about 2 years, and the recharable hand crank flash lights batteries go bad in a hurry.

when it all comes down to it I feel like I would use more resources trying to get there, than staying put and eating my neighbors cats while drinking coors lights..

 

[Thebastidge]

As far as the shippng container I've been watching DD Preppers and several folks have burried them, supposedly you can stack them loaded 5-6 high so 5-10' of earth should not be a problem?

When you stack them, all of the weight is in the plane with their walls. Directly above, pressing down with one CONEX wall on top of the next CONEX wall.

When you bury them without any support, you have lateral pressue against the walls. The walls are only about 3/8" mild steel. Think of what would happen to those walls if you cut an 8' by 40' chunk of corrugated sheet steel, laid it flat, supported it at each edge and then piled a bunch of dirt in the middle of it. That's what's happening when you bury it.

The tendency of the surrounding dirt to exert force at a lateral 45 degrees off from vertical tends to crush in the side of the structure. Same with all the dirt piled on top. The weight isn't supported by an 8' chunk of steel (the wall's distance from top to bottom) but by a less than half-inch piece of steel. When it gets wet, the dirt becomes a fluid and even heavier.

If you were to brace the inside of the conex with walls dividing it into rooms, and designed to keep the square area of an unsupported side or roof section to the load-bearing limits of wet dirt anticipated to be on top of it. You wouldn't have to worry too much. Say, if the largest un-braced section were 8'x8' or so...

 

[Thebastidge]

Another thought is if you think you neighbors now would beat down your door to get your food.. think of your neighbors in the middle of nowhere... It would be the wild wild west.. Yep going to need more shells... ) and I think I will go to the cabin sounds more fun...

Neighbours out in the middle of nowhere tend to have more respect for true cooperation and individual rights than follks in the city. They also tend to have much more self-respect and self-reliance-oriented attitudes. The problem with neighbours using up your resources in the city is there are so freakin' MANY of them, most without even 72 hours worth of emergency supplies or ability to function without the grid system of energy and communication systems and reliable transportation.

If the nearest chain grocery store is an hour away, people tend to keep more stuff on hand- they don't run to the store for a gallon of milk because there's absolutely nothing else in the house.

 

[darkminstrel]

Products - Concrete Pipe - Sherman-Dixie for your buried rooms. These run about the same as a shipping container, are a bit smaller, are designed to be buried. Get a few and run them in series with culvert pipe and you can have individually separated rooms. This will also eliminate the need to reinforce a shipping container wall.

Build a cob structure Cob (material) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia over your entrance for storage/parking.

No sense buying all that thin steel.

 

[Thebastidge]

Before I would buy new pre-cast structures, I would pour it myself: It's actually pretty cheap to have a concrete truck show up and pump concrete if you build all the forms and rebar re-inforcement. You'd still need to hire a crane to move the pre-cast stuff, and that could get spendy because you have to position it, seal it together, position another piece, rinse and repeat..

I am all about building a cob structure, planning to do that myself and have a couple books on the subject. But that's an above-ground structure, and it require pretty serious water management.

 

[knuckle Head]

Although I have not done it, I saw on Hometime some years ago and couple of other shows more recently where they used styrafoam forms and wire tied them together, I there were three people on the ground, one with an electric vibrator to insert down into the concrete as being poured to help it settle and got out th e air pockets, another person moving the shute around and third smoothing it out and making sure the form were staying tight. I wills earch for a video on it and link here if I can find it.

Another thing I thought of was pour a cement floor, with rebar sticking up all around the edges and where the support columns would go if any.

Then hook vertical rebar in, slide cement blocks down over, and slush them with concrete, once the walls are built, put is supports, and roof all in different stages, I am not concrete specialist as you can tell or a mason, just been brain storming, hoping there is someone on here who does this for a living who can tell me where I am wrong and best and least expensive way to do it.

 

[ocarolan]

The next question to ask is, are there individuals out there looking to participate in developing this type of living situation?

First of all, props for taking steps to organize your retreat.

Sounds like you're soliciting strangers to join you, and even help out on your retreat. Not everyone has fully considered what that means.

Consider:

1. Will your partner live at the retreat full-time, or only during an emergency?

2. Does an "emergency" mean the same thing to each of you? Suppose it means "nuclear war" to you, but "lost job" to him. He may end up camped at your retreat frequently or use other resources "out of necessity".

3. What happens when you disagree and split up? Preppers tend to be independent-minded, so chances of that happening eventually are pretty good. He may want to be compensated for any improvements to your retreat.

4. Remember if someone works to improve your land or house, they can file a lien on it.

5. Remember if your partner or his friends are injured while working on your land, you can be held liable.


Anyway, be sure to think that stuff through, even if you're working with family members. Consider it as a business partnership and no one will end up disappointed.