Off-grid Housing
Jan. 29th, 2021 01:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis article explores housing that needs little or no infrastructure. It's generally known as off-grid housing, and a lot of alternative building methods suit this approach very well.
You really have to think about what you want and need from a house. Straw bale is probably the most insulating thing you can build other than those houses made from spray insulation itself. Adobe and rammed earth are about as close to fireproof as it's possible to get. Earthberms ignore tornadoes and hurricanes. Monolithic domes not only ignore violent storms but also earthquakes. But if you're off the grid, YOU are responsible for your own ... everything. You want a toilet? You dig a pit or plumb a composting toilet. You want light? Oil lamps or solar panels are options. You want heat? A woodstove or similar is a popular choice, but see above, several alternative styles need little or no supplemental heat and may also provide a modest amount of cooling.
There are also traditional home styles such as yurts, tipis, log cabins, caves, etc. Many of these are still in play as they have certain advantages over standard housing. You can't pick up a regular house and carry it off, but you can any of the tent-type homes. A cave is unparalleled for people who want to be left alone, and in fact, there are entire cliff cities originally built into windcaves that have no stairs, so if anyone came to bother them, people just pulled up the ladders and waited for the assholes to leave.
These things are completely possible. People are using them. I know people who have used many of those. Hell, we have a woodstove and oil lamps precisely because civilization is unreliable and the power conks out several times a year. Using infrastructure is overwhelmingly the most popular choice, but it is not the only choice. You have other options if you hate infrastructure. Or people. Or civilization.
You really have to think about what you want and need from a house. Straw bale is probably the most insulating thing you can build other than those houses made from spray insulation itself. Adobe and rammed earth are about as close to fireproof as it's possible to get. Earthberms ignore tornadoes and hurricanes. Monolithic domes not only ignore violent storms but also earthquakes. But if you're off the grid, YOU are responsible for your own ... everything. You want a toilet? You dig a pit or plumb a composting toilet. You want light? Oil lamps or solar panels are options. You want heat? A woodstove or similar is a popular choice, but see above, several alternative styles need little or no supplemental heat and may also provide a modest amount of cooling.
There are also traditional home styles such as yurts, tipis, log cabins, caves, etc. Many of these are still in play as they have certain advantages over standard housing. You can't pick up a regular house and carry it off, but you can any of the tent-type homes. A cave is unparalleled for people who want to be left alone, and in fact, there are entire cliff cities originally built into windcaves that have no stairs, so if anyone came to bother them, people just pulled up the ladders and waited for the assholes to leave.
These things are completely possible. People are using them. I know people who have used many of those. Hell, we have a woodstove and oil lamps precisely because civilization is unreliable and the power conks out several times a year. Using infrastructure is overwhelmingly the most popular choice, but it is not the only choice. You have other options if you hate infrastructure. Or people. Or civilization.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-29 09:34 am (UTC)You don't even need to move. It's possible, although not easy, to retrofit a standard house to be more grid independent. Generally that's more of a back-up in case of infrastructure failure, although sometimes it leans the other way, with the infrastructure as the back-up. Power is easy, solar and battery banks. Water is somewhat harder, as is waste management, although homes with septic tanks are simple as they're half-way there already. Building a leech field and reed bed if you've enough land is pretty much one step removed from gardening.
I dream of building an off-grid home a long way from anyone else... although being lazy, also within reach of shops. Framing and growing your own food is possible, but hard work.
AH
Date: 2021-01-29 03:53 pm (UTC)Apartment dwellers don't own the land. They can't even change the light fixtures, even though those can be re-mounted.
So, all of this hinges on LAND ownership, which is increasingly priced out of the reach of most people.
Re: AH
Date: 2021-01-29 04:02 pm (UTC)Good point!! Land ownership is increasingly the exclusive right of the one percenters. and/or their companies. Even land that isn't in use, or in public ownership, is often unavailable.
Re: AH
Date: 2021-02-01 01:12 am (UTC)Re: AH
Date: 2021-02-01 01:28 am (UTC)Pretty much yes, and even if you name is on the lease, you don't get much of a say. There are all sorts of restrictions on what you can do with land you own, and that's not even including HOA regulations, which are a pit of vipers at the best of times.
Re: AH
Date: 2021-02-01 01:55 am (UTC)Money doesn't really corrupt. It just reveals. And what it reveals is that most people are secretly assholes.
For a while, we put up so many friends in distress that we got nicknamed the Central Illinois Pagan Homeless Shelter. We never asked money for emergency housing, although in some cases people moved in, got a room, and paid rent for that room. We did ask folks to contribute toward food and chores. Since our local food pantry requires nothing but a local address, all we had to do was go down and say the person was living with us, and get a box for the then-current number of people.
Re: AH
Date: 2021-01-30 08:37 am (UTC)1) your rental agreement, which varies; around here lots of landlords don't care what you do as long as you put it back like it was before you leave
2) whether there are any inspections; if few or none, do anything reversible you want and just undo it before you leave.
We live near two college towns and an assortment of towns where people are so glad to rent out the damn place that they aren't too picky about what happens beyond don't destroy it. I know lots of people have capitalized on both. Not to mention the nastier examples like absentee landlords getting bitched out by the cops because they hadn't visited the place in 3 years and someone turned it into a meth lab.
Consider that if one wants or needs more versatility in renting, it might be worth exploring lower-pressure environments because the cities with worse housing shortages tend toward most abusive rental arrangements. Take Champaign, it's actually a small city, you can find most necessities there -- but the colleges mean that some landlords are grateful for tenants who don't throw beer bottles through the windows. You want to change the light covers? Whatever.
Re: AH
Date: 2021-01-30 01:11 pm (UTC)They have MONTHLY inspections, and will hassle people for changing light switch covers, or shades on pendant lights. Or having "too much stuff" in a closet.
It was a hot topic among the Paratransit riders, and it wasn't just one location. (Yes, it was a major gripe session every time they happened.) Everyone with section eight housing was dealing with that crap, yet, legally, there is only supposed to be an annual or semi-annual inspection.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-29 04:32 pm (UTC)How would those of use with visual impairments work this sort of thing? Because as much as some of us don't like cicvilization/people )I'm becoming sort of ambivolent; I don't quite hate it yet, but it's increasingly hard to live in a sighted world that doesn't wish to adapt) we're stuc,k with depending on it/them most times.
We'd probably, to sort of answer my own question, go
-T~
make a list
Date: 2021-01-30 12:13 am (UTC)Here are some of mine:
- No standing.
Because of my physical issues (CP, arthritis, neuropathy), standing up at a kitchen counter is impossible. So, I need to plan a work station that's desk height or low enough to almost pinch my legs.
That also affects the way I arrange a bathroom, and I can't use a tub at all due to the pain from neuropathy in any amount of water. So, given an unlimited budget, I'd use a toilet that has a sink for hand washing on the tank area, and simply give up baths and showers in favor of old-style bathing.
- Diet restrictions.
Not just my allergy, but the problem of access to grocery stores mean that I have to prioritize heavy duty shelving for storing a full month's worth of non-perishable items.
So, if someone relies on microwaving freezer meals, they might want to have a small chest freezer near the microwave to hold JUST the meals, leaving the smaller fridge/freezer combo to hold the ice cream and ingredients like raw steaks.
- Environmental issues
Think about how much work you're willing to do to keep up the space. Rugs for me are a no-go (tripping hazard, even wall-to-wall carpet because I can't FEEL if I've lifted my foot enough), so I need to sweep and mop rather than vacuum the area. I have trouble bending, so putting dishes in an upper cabinet makes sense, but when the boys were in preschool, the dishes were in a lower cupboard so they could help themselves to cups and help to set the table.
The list of details can get quite long.
-How do your particular needs affect your STORAGE spaces?
For me, heavy emphasis on storing things out of sight, pantry storage, and books all add up to the idea that turning my bedroom closet into a pantry is perfectly reasonable, because my clothes will all fit into a two-drawer file cabinet save for sweaters (which hang on the back of the closet door because they're in use year round now).
I need a walk space of at least three feet to keep from tripping. For a blind person, I'd build from that requirement and optimize the natural light to make use of whatever sight the person has.
In terms of heat and power needs, I'd focus on solar power for a blind person, starting with a portable solar charger for a cell phone. If that's something that's workable, alone and unassisted, the "proper" panels would be even lower maintenance.
Re: make a list
Date: 2021-01-30 05:26 am (UTC)Bathing facility options are a lot wider than modern Americans typically realize. We actually have an antique wash stand upstairs with a pitcher and basin in case anyone wants to wash up there instead of hiking downstairs.
In Japan, the actual washing is done while sitting on a slatted wooden bench using buckets and sponges. Then you rinse off before getting into the big family tub to soak. For you, a useful variation might be a sturdy bench with one or two basins, a pitcher, sponges, etc. so you don't have to bend over.
>>Not just my allergy, but the problem of access to grocery stores mean that I have to prioritize heavy duty shelving for storing a full month's worth of non-perishable items.<<
We have cabinets to store things, but we also bought a chest freezer. We can't guarantee being able to get into town because the roads might be flooded or drifted closed, etc. Large storage capacity is essential for every off-grid home.
>>For a blind person, I'd build from that requirement and optimize the natural light to make use of whatever sight the person has.<<
Many things can be done to assist vision-impaired navigation. Indoors, floor texture changes can signal directions and spaces. High-contrast paint and fixtures are useful to people with remnant vision.
Outdoors, you need to keep brush and weeds out of the walkways, so you don't wander into a branch at face height. Ropes are a traditional method of getting from one place to another across the yard, like house to detached garage, shed, or barn. Paths of different textures work too. Wind chimes, water fountains, or other sound-makers can help provide direction. In the warm season, intensely fragrant plants also provide clues -- I can smell the orchard, the gold currants, etc. from some distance when they are in bloom.
Re: make a list
Date: 2021-01-30 06:02 am (UTC)For a visually impaired person, I'd start by putting different textures around and mapping with them as landmarks. Not the throw pillows, but the love seat is a totally different texture than the left hand armchair, which is again different than the right hand armchair, and so on. (This can be done by tucking extra blankets of different textures over the pieces.) Storage inside furniture pieces can hold blankets or winter clothing, and still be accessible without assistance. The newer lift-beds that open like a toy box are TERRIBLE for anyone not fit and sighted, so the question becomes one of improvising and thinking creatively about furniture.
Re: make a list
Date: 2021-01-30 06:46 am (UTC)Check for positions. They are often adjustable or can be made so. I think ours had 3 positions: high (for adults), slightly lower (for children), and seat level (so you could lay the cushions out to make a bed). Compared to things like bathroom mods, a table mod is cheap and easy. A lot less cheap, modern "accessible" RVs and campers often have automatic lifts on things so they will go to any height. They're accessible every way but cost. :/
>> For a visually impaired person, I'd start by putting different textures around and mapping with them as landmarks. <<
This house designed for a blind owner uses textures on the floor for wayfinding. The lines indicate where to stop, turn, etc. The original version uses very expensive stone and wood.
You could achieve the same effect with much cheaper grip-strips such as designed for steps or bathtubs. It comes in rolls, precut strips, or precut shapes. The vast variety of shapes available for that purpose means you could very easily label things with stick-on texture patches. Seashell = bathroom. Heart = bedroom. Fish = kitchen. Flower = garden. Pawprint = pet feeding area. Footprints = path to follow. Textures are easy to detect with hands or bare feet; some of the larger textures are detectable with some canes. Pebbled versions come in small patches and big mats you can cut apart into any shape you want. For outdoor use, get the kind designed for boats.
Another option is handrails. Just because they're typically used for stairs doesn't mean that's all they're good for. You could line a home with railings of different styles to show you where to go. Outside, a low fence with a hand-high railing could serve the same purpose, for instance between house and detached garage. Just consider whether it will need to be mowed around or through.
There are no-mow yards! I would consider that an essential item for any disability. Some are way more useful than grass, too. Do you want wildlife? Choose native species that require minimal care. Worried about trees raining toxic caterpillars on your head or the like? Plant foreign species. Prefer outdoor living? Hardscaping! Arid environment? Xeriscape with succulents or a rock garden. Gardening? Consider a food forest (tricky with many disabilities) or raised beds (easy for most people). Note that hardscaping and rock gardens also solve the issue of noxious plants sprouting.
Re: make a list
Date: 2021-01-30 07:11 am (UTC)So, in a situation where you can't put nail holes in the wall, or apply permanent glues like the stick-on tub grips, getting VERY creative is mandatory.
Re: make a list
Date: 2021-01-30 07:47 am (UTC)It's a bit of a kludge compared to rails, but there are movable rope holders for events.
One high-contrast option is changing the light switch or plug covers. They can always be put back before you move out.
The reason I talked a lot about "ownership" ideas is because this conversation started about off-grid housing and how to make that accessible. I don't think rental is commonly an option there, but some of that property is a great deal cheaper than most on-grid property.
Try this ...
Date: 2021-01-30 11:04 am (UTC)Learn as many relevant skills as you can before trying to move somewhere with fewer people around. Useful things to consider:
* cooking
* canning, freezing, or otherwise preserving food
* cleaning and other household chores
* mending or even making your own clothes (e.g. sewing, knitting, crochet)
* home repairs
* using home appliances
* using unpowered hand tools
* using small power tools
* gardening
* yardwork
* first aid
Think about what you can do now and what you want to learn. Then try to learn it. When you encounter something you can't do easily, ask why you can't do it. Then figure out how to solve that problem. You might need a different tool. You might need to ask other vision-impaired people for ideas.
It would absolutely be worth your time to attend a blindskills school. People there are very avid about finding methods of independence.
https://www.perkinselearning.org/
https://lighthouse-sf.org/programs/skills/
https://www.wsblind.org/life-skills-programs
http://nabslink.org/about/skills
https://catchthesewords.com/free-online-training-for-blind-students/
If you really want to pick up a cool skill that few people have, consider learning about deafblind folks and their tactile sign language. It's also brilliant for teamwork because every conversation requires cooperation.
https://www.perkins.org/services/nec/events/for-professionals
https://www.nationaldb.org/info-center/educational-practices/sign-language/
>> Because as much as some of us don't like cicvilization/people )I'm becoming sort of ambivolent; I don't quite hate it yet, but it's increasingly hard to live in a sighted world that doesn't wish to adapt) we're stuc,k with depending on it/them most times. <<
The more power you have over your own time and tools, the more you can do. The more power other people have over you, the more screwed you are.
Most of the time, freedom is not given. It must be taken by force. Think about your resentment over other people bullying and infantalizing you and not letting you live your own damn life. Use that as motivation for when you've tried to do something 60 times and want to quit and your fingers all hurt because you've bashed them learning to do things. You will make mistakes. You will hurt yourself. But they will be your choices and you will learn and grow because of them.
>> We'd probably, to sort of answer my own question, go
That is what almost all rural people do. I'm 10-30 minutes from the nearest towns depending where I want to go in them. I'm about an hour from a small city that has most of what I need. I'm within daytrip distance of three major cities for the rest. This works for me most of the time. Only when you get into the thinly populated places like Wyoming or Alaska do you find people who have to drive (or fly) hours to get anywhere worth going.
>>Even though it might defeat some of the purpose.<<
First, define your purpose. Do you want to be independent? You can learn a lot about that anywhere. Do you want to be far enough away from people you can't hear them too much? Lots of rural places will give you that, 15-20 minutes away from the county seat. Do you want to avoid the grid with its fossil fuels and Ponzi problems? You will need to find an unzoned rural area. Some of these are still within a reasonable drive from resources, but it takes more digging to check against the zoning areas and such. Do you want to discourage people from bothering you? Look for somewhere on a dirt road, townies really do not want to go there.
Only when you know your purpose can you make clear decisions about what will or will not undermine that, which tradeoffs to make or avoid. Nothing will be perfect; there are pros and cons to every situation. Only you can determine what is best for you. And that's why it's abuse to prevent you from choosing your own path in the name of "protecting" you. Maybe you will decide that the risk of financial fuckups leading to homelessness is scarier than the risk of infantilization at home. Maybe you will move to Alaska and take up chainsaw carving. It's your life, it's your decision.
Also ...
Date: 2021-01-30 11:13 am (UTC)Check for other disabled people who crave independence. Consider other groups who have difficulty finding connections, like ace/aro folks. Immigrants are another option; usually only the most resourceful manage to escape whatever made them leave.
A slightly different approach would be to explore intentional communities. There are a lot of good ones in the Midwest. Outside of cohousing which is mostly in town, a majority of intentional communities are rural and they prize self-sufficiency. Think interdependent rather than independent, though.
https://www.ic.org/
https://www.ic.org/directory/
https://www.ic.org/directory/unfolding/
https://www.ic.org/directory/
For this approach, you would need fluent social skills and ideas on shared living. Given past experiences, that's probably something to develop further.
Re: Also ...
Date: 2021-02-01 01:10 am (UTC)This can be helped by including people familiar with both cultures in the mix. (On your end, look up / ask about common cultural confusions; especially if you keep running into the same issue.) Time and familiarity also help - some recurring issues will eventually downgrade from "What are you doing?" to "Oh, no need to worry, Bob's just being American today."
That said, most of the immigrants I know are wonderful people with a variety of useful skills, both social and practical. (And most immigrants I know seem to have /better/ social skills than many Americans I know...)
Oh, and if you are adding a language/culture barrier and there are not too many English-fluent/American-culture-fluent folks around, expect to be asked to take phone messages, help with paperwork, etc. (Its like being the one guy on campus with a car.)
Re: Also ...
Date: 2021-02-01 02:08 am (UTC)True.
>> The exact nature and severity of those issues depends on your respective culture(s) and a few other factors. America/Japan will have issues with Ask/Hint communication <<
* Yankee Americans will have trouble. Southern Americans are just as Hint as Japan, and folks will only need to learn each other's encoding to work just fine. Yankees and Japanese folks tend to be a very bad match unless both sides are willing to work quite hard to cross that communication barrier. (I am in a mixed A/H relationship and speak from experience.)
>>This can be helped by including people familiar with both cultures in the mix.<<
I also recommend mixing multiple cultures if at all possible. If you have one white American, one black American, one Japanese immigrant, and one Syrian immigrant then it will almost certainly be easier -- and more interesting -- than plopping one Syrian in with three white Americans. The latter can get very uncomfortable. But my magnet high school was so mixed there was no majority. I think white-looking Americans might have been a third to slightly less than half. We had black, Hispanic, Indian, and Asian plus a sprinkling of what-all-else. And it was awesome.
Similarly, one of the Scandinavian countries came up with the best idea I've ever heard for integrating its immigrants and refugees. They designated a housing project and filled it half with newcomers and half with young single locals. The idea was that folks could live there for several years at affordable rent while establishing themselves in the local economy. The complex had programs for things like floor parties and cookouts to support socialization. And what happened is people hung out together, threw parties, got jobs together, fell in love, moved out and went on to successful lives. The jumble of newcomers provided variety, the locals provided an anchor, and everyone benefitted.
>> Oh, and if you are adding a language/culture barrier and there are not too many English-fluent/American-culture-fluent folks around, expect to be asked to take phone messages, help with paperwork, etc. <<
Sensible.
>> (Its like being the one guy on campus with a car.) <<
Been there, drove that! :D I commuted a long way, so I needed a car. And I wound up taking my friends to appointments or major shopping trips, because I had the car. I'm very tribal-minded that way. They provided free crash space the semester I had an evening class and couldn't drive home. It all worked out very nicely.
Re: Also ...
Date: 2021-02-01 04:54 pm (UTC)I am Yankee-raised, with Souther heritage (but I may be more Hint than is normal around here) and went to college in TN. Most of the Eastern-culture folks I work with are from Burma. (Also, it kind of odd to find people less socially-aggressive than I am - I'm rather quiet and nonconfrontational by American standards.)
>>I also recommend mixing multiple cultures if at all possible.<<
Most of my recent cross-cultural stuff has been multicultural by necessity, although there are at least two 'majority cultures' in the group.
It occurs to me...mixed groups might help kids in school. School would be less stressful if your not the only one learning English. And I know from personal experience that if everyone is dealing with Language Barriers it eventually becomes an unremarkable thing to work around.
>>...the best idea I've ever heard...<<
I remember that & I'd love to live there!
>>Been there, drove that!<<
I'd drive people to the store and stuff the one year I had a car.
One year I also gave the guy who was sleeping on our couch my phone # so he wouldn't have to sit around for hours waiting to be let in the house. (He was trying to move in but the paperwork hadn't gone through, so he didn't have keys for awhile.)
As for phones - once I had someone walk by and hand me the phone, which was stuck on a phone tree for some medical office. Since I had no idea what was going on, I chose the 'speak to a nurse's option to find out /who had called whom/. "So this is a weird question, but did we call you or did you call us? Also what business is this?"
Aaaand there was the other time someone wanted me to take notes on their conversation with a nice lady from the government, after the conversation was over. (I told them they needed to tell me at the beginning if they wanted help/notes, b/c I didn't eavesdrop on private stuff w/o permission.)
Re: Also ...
Date: 2021-02-01 08:08 pm (UTC)That helps a lot.
>>It occurs to me...mixed groups might help kids in school. School would be less stressful if your not the only one learning English. And I know from personal experience that if everyone is dealing with Language Barriers it eventually becomes an unremarkable thing to work around.<<
It is a big advantage, and they learn multicultural skills too.
The other thing that works is putting ESL students together, in a school that offers ESL lessons in addition to first-language subject lessons.
What does not work is dumping the kids into an English-only school. They spend the first year or more just learning English, and learn little or no subject content. By the time they understand enough English to follow the subjects, they are so far behind that most of them never catch up. It is deliberate educational abuse with the intent of crippling people socially and economically, and it does that part very well.
>>One year I also gave the guy who was sleeping on our couch my phone # so he wouldn't have to sit around for hours waiting to be let in the house.<<
Logical.
Re: Also ...
Date: 2021-02-01 09:33 pm (UTC)Or even social stuff. One of my adult students told me her kid came home completely exhausted because all the other kids spoke English. (Family speaks a Level-3 language.) This was also OOC Is Serious Business, because if someone who is usually full of energy is just drained... (And I wrote up with a cheat sheet so he could talk to his friends. Had to get someone else to translate it though. )
Re: Also ...
Date: 2021-02-01 10:36 pm (UTC)If someone's life is miserable and exhausting, they WILL burn out and get sick sooner or later. A big problem with school now is that it's so crushing, children develop severe mental problems -- and sometimes suicide -- at earlier and earlier ages.
Re: Also ...
Date: 2021-02-02 12:39 am (UTC)Lacking a suitable translator, or working with someone who can't read, do pictures.
With either one, if you can find someone who speaks the target language and the recipient is willing, you can go over pronunciation/speech.
(Kids being kids, laminating the pages may be a good idea, if they're not going to be altered with handwritten notes.)
And this works with adults, too, adjusted for vocabulary.
I can't fix everything, but if I've run into a solution where "Screw you, I can do better than /this/!" is a reasonable response...well it's worth a try, I guess.
Re: Also ...
Date: 2021-02-02 02:13 am (UTC)Re: Also ...
Date: 2021-02-02 06:13 am (UTC)*Not officially published-sold-in-stores, but it was still enough work that I can be proud of it! (And I think the work invested has more than paid off, in terms of making life easier and more efficient.)
Re: Also ...
Date: 2021-02-02 06:48 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-02-02 12:31 am (UTC)