Wife said let's do it.....

[chas0218]

On 12/5/2017 at 5:40 AM, Single_shot said:

I have 2 properties that border each other and was told that I can combine the 2 properties once I pay the NY mortgage (in house loan) off and this will save me tax dollars by doing so. I can call the nice lady in Oswego that takes care of this stuff for help on this topic. But I am wondering , has anyone actually combined property and did you actually save money by doing so?

 

Well, as always, thank you for any and all help.

Yes you will save money, how the tax rate works is you are taxed on a parcel for the first so many acres as "buildable lot" then the rest is vacant land. Where I live it is 3 acres. If you have 2 different lots then you will be taxed twice at the "buildable lot" rate then taxed for "vacant land" twice. By combining lots you will have 1 "buildable lot" being that set amount of acreage then taxed on the "vacant land" for the rest.

Depending on your tax rate you might not be saving a lot but any money you don't have to pay to uncle sam the better.

On your off the grid living, do you already have a suitable living quarters with plumbing and electricity?

I would highly consider a small cabin built with 2x6 construction with a loft, vinyl siding, and spray foam insulation. You could heat a small cabin with a match if you wanted to with 2x6 spray in insulation in the roof and walls. It won't be cheap but well worth it. The vinyl siding is a must as it seals out basically all weather and will not need maintenance. The loft is nice for a place for visitors to stay without cluttering up your main living quarters being a small cabin.

[Single_shot]

31 minutes ago, chas0218 said:

Yes you will save money, how the tax rate works is you are taxed on a parcel for the first so many acres as "buildable lot" then the rest is vacant land. Where I live it is 3 acres. If you have 2 different lots then you will be taxed twice at the "buildable lot" rate then taxed for "vacant land" twice. By combining lots you will have 1 "buildable lot" being that set amount of acreage then taxed on the "vacant land" for the rest.

Depending on your tax rate you might not be saving a lot but any money you don't have to pay to uncle sam the better.

On your off the grid living, do you already have a suitable living quarters with plumbing and electricity?

I would highly consider a small cabin built with 2x6 construction with a loft, vinyl siding, and spray foam insulation. You could heat a small cabin with a match if you wanted to with 2x6 spray in insulation in the roof and walls. It won't be cheap but well worth it. The vinyl siding is a must as it seals out basically all weather and will not need maintenance. The loft is nice for a place for visitors to stay without cluttering up your main living quarters being a small cabin.

Yes I have a new construction cabin there for 7 years now and we have a walk in shower/bathroom facilities. No running water  or electric. We use gas and rain barrels and will be installing solar and 12v systems. I have a local connection for well water supply until I have a well pounded and then will have a 12v pump for that. You'd be surprised at how much 12v stuff is out there.

[chas0218]

7 minutes ago, Single_shot said:

Yes I have a new construction cabin there for 7 years now and we have a walk in shower/bathroom facilities. No running water  or electric. We use gas and rain barrels and will be installing solar and 12v systems. I have a local connection for well water supply until I have a well pounded and then will have a 12v pump for that. You'd be surprised at how much 12v stuff is out there.

If you wanted to get serious you could setup (10) 12v batteries in series to get 120V get 2 banks (20 batteries total) and a descent off grid panel setup and you would be set for 5 to 10 years depending on the batteries purchased. The problem with a deep well you won't have a 12v pump that will push over 10' of head. The rain barrel works but look into getting drinking water even if you don't use it to bathe or flush the toilet you will still want your own supply of fresh drinking water. If were you I would install all 120v LED lighting with a battery bank. much easier to find 120v supplies than 12v if you need to order everything online you can run into issues later on with availability. I will caution please do not put a battery bank within 100' of your cabin if anything happened within the banks you could have a bomb.

I don't want to tell you how to plan your life, I have been thinking a lot about becoming less dependant and moving my utilities and such off grid. 

[Five Seasons]

Out cabin in the Dak is solar. We do use propane for stove and fridge, but I believe there’s enough juice for a fridge. With led lights the only real energy hog is the pump used to drive the well water.

Oh and an on demand propane water heater.

All the comforts of home minus A/C.


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[Culvercreek hunt club]

1 hour ago, chas0218 said:

I would highly consider a small cabin built with 2x6 construction with a loft, vinyl siding, and spray foam insulation. You could heat a small cabin with a match if you wanted to with 2x6 spray in insulation in the roof and walls. It won't be cheap but well worth it. The vinyl siding is a must as it seals out basically all weather and will not need maintenance. The loft is nice for a place for visitors to stay without cluttering up your main living quarters being a small cabin.

No way would I use Vinyl siding for a remote build. There is only 3 materials I would use on the skin of a remote cabin. metal, metal and metal. Our cabin is 9 years old and there has NEVER been a critter that made it's way into it. (knock on wood...pun intended)

To the OP, There are some great propane lights as well. They put out about 2,000 BTU each and can really raise the temp in a small cabin.  We run propane stove for cooking but opted for an electric fridge. the small and quiet Honda 2000 generator will run 14 hours in Ecco mode on 1 gallon of gas and kept the electric fridge cold, battery charger going and some other small misc items. 

We have 12 volt system as well and LED lights, 12v water pump and a full bathroom. 

[steve863]

19 minutes ago, Culvercreek hunt club said:

No way would I use Vinyl siding for a remote build. There is only 3 materials I would use on the skin of a remote cabin. metal, metal and metal. Our cabin is 9 years old and there has NEVER been a critter that made it's way into it. (knock on wood...pun intended)

To the OP, There are some great propane lights as well. They put out about 2,000 BTU each and can really raise the temp in a small cabin.  We run propane stove for cooking but opted for an electric fridge. the small and quiet Honda 2000 generator will run 14 hours in Ecco mode on 1 gallon of gas and kept the electric fridge cold, battery charger going and some other small misc items. 

We have 12 volt system as well and LED lights, 12v water pump and a full bathroom. 

Listen to what Culver tells you.  I've seen his cabin.  It's rustic and an engineering marvel all wrapped in one!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[chas0218]

27 minutes ago, Culvercreek hunt club said:

No way would I use Vinyl siding for a remote build. There is only 3 materials I would use on the skin of a remote cabin. metal, metal and metal. Our cabin is 9 years old and there has NEVER been a critter that made it's way into it. (knock on wood...pun intended)

To the OP, There are some great propane lights as well. They put out about 2,000 BTU each and can really raise the temp in a small cabin.  We run propane stove for cooking but opted for an electric fridge. the small and quiet Honda 2000 generator will run 14 hours in Ecco mode on 1 gallon of gas and kept the electric fridge cold, battery charger going and some other small misc items. 

We have 12 volt system as well and LED lights, 12v water pump and a full bathroom. 

To each their own, only problem with metal is if you don't use some sort of reflective barrier it can act as a heat sink removing heat in the winter and turning the cabin into an oven in the summer. The bubble wrap under the metal is the only way I would use metal on a 4 seasons heated building. With spray foam you won't get the rodents. My father in law has a "shed" that has 4" of spray foam going on 4 years not a single critter inside not even a sign, haven't even seen a spider web. Seal everything and you won't have critter problems.

[Five Seasons]

No way would I use Vinyl siding for a remote build. There is only 3 materials I would use on the skin of a remote cabin. metal, metal and metal. Our cabin is 9 years old and there has NEVER been a critter that made it's way into it. (knock on wood...pun intended)
To the OP, There are some great propane lights as well. They put out about 2,000 BTU each and can really raise the temp in a small cabin.  We run propane stove for cooking but opted for an electric fridge. the small and quiet Honda 2000 generator will run 14 hours in Ecco mode on 1 gallon of gas and kept the electric fridge cold, battery charger going and some other small misc items. 
We have 12 volt system as well and LED lights, 12v water pump and a full bathroom. 

One issue besides heat with lights are that they can leak. Grandparents cabin has them, can be dangerous with kids and visitors.

Trying to get my parents cabin to use as much solar as possible, propane will always run out during the apocalypse.


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[Culvercreek hunt club]

4 minutes ago, chas0218 said:

To each their own, only problem with metal is if you don't use some sort of reflective barrier it can act as a heat sink removing heat in the winter and turning the cabin into an oven in the summer. The bubble wrap under the metal is the only way I would use metal on a 4 seasons heated building. With spray foam you won't get the rodents. My father in law has a "shed" that has 4" of spray foam going on 4 years not a single critter inside not even a sign, haven't even seen a spider web. Seal everything and you won't have critter problems.

We'll have to disagree.  I don't know where you are pulling that "heat sink" stuff from. It's bull

[Culvercreek hunt club]

5 minutes ago, Belo said:

 

One issue besides heat with lights are that they can leak. Grandparents cabin has them, can be dangerous with kids and visitors.

Trying to get my parents cabin to use as much solar as possible, propane will always run out during the apocalypse.


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The ones we have take a deliberate push in and turn motion to operate the valve.  I can't see them leaking. They hold pressure and gas in the lines for a week between hunting trips. I have an inline valve to isolate them If I want and That line lit immediately the following week. 

These are the ones we have. http://www.paulinproducts.com/gas_lights/gas_lights.htm

Really don't use them in the summer becasue of the heat. It's LED's then,

[growalot]

Culver ...just because your in the construction business doesn't mean you know anything...lol

Our cousins built a off grid cabin on their farm ...just to get away from their house...lol anyways they have both wind and solar and a big bank of batteries...works GREAT runs everything Now I know personally having had our well contaminated...buying drinking water can be expensive over time... we (2) go through 4, 5 gal bottles a week just for drinking and coffee. We boil all our other water save for showers and the washing machine... So getting a well in pronto will be a priority. Are you in an area that you can get propane delivered...because a big tank for cooking hot water and back up heat would make life easier...believe me on back up heat...We stayed a weekend at our camp to cut fire wood...small 2 bedroom one story...that is normally a hot box with the wood burning stove...We were up ALL night lock stoking that fire when temps dropped to 15 below zero...ya never did that again... as far as insulation... Do not underestimate the need to insulate under you and have good air flow involved...even though you'll be there 24/7 poor air flow and improperly done insulation will rot and mold everywhere...

[Five Seasons]

The ones we have take a deliberate push in and turn motion to operate the valve.  I can't see them leaking. They hold pressure and gas in the lines for a week between hunting trips. I have an inline valve to isolate them If I want and That line lit immediately the following week. 
These are the ones we have. http://www.paulinproducts.com/gas_lights/gas_lights.htm
Really don't use them in the summer becasue of the heat. It's LED's then,

Ours too. Not sure where they do leak but it’s happened a few times in 50 years. That and of course turning the gas on and not lighting it... or waiting too long and losing some hair on your hand lol.


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[chas0218]

1 hour ago, Culvercreek hunt club said:

We'll have to disagree.  I don't know where you are pulling that "heat sink" stuff from. It's bull

We have 2 pole barns and 2 houses with 2 metal roofs. One house no barrier and it is like an oven and that isn't with metal siding other house has the barrier and it is nice and cool in the summer. Both pole barns are actually colder inside than the outside temp during the winter. Summer temps are bad on the lake with a almost constant breeze so the barns aren't that much warmer than ambient outdoor temp. Google "bubble wrap under metal roof" it will give you an idea of what I'm talking about. I have first hand experience with and without the installation of it. If he is going off the grid he isn't going to want to be running a/c units or fans non stop during the summer months. 

Being in the construction business you probably have heard of double bubble underlayment. I'm not saying it is required but definitely worth considering, the benefits outweigh the costs not to mention it adds more R-value to the areas it is used just keep it away from any high temp exterior vents.

Edited December 6, 2017 by chas0218

[Culvercreek hunt club]

We have 2 pole barns and 2 houses with 2 metal roofs. One house no barrier and it is like an oven and that isn't with metal siding other house has the barrier and it is nice and cool in the summer. Both pole barns are actually colder inside than the outside temp during the winter. Summer temps are bad on the lake with a almost constant breeze so the barns aren't that much warmer than ambient outdoor temp. Google "bubble wrap under metal roof" it will give you an idea of what I'm talking about. I have first hand experience with and without the installation of it. If he is going off the grid he isn't going to want to be running a/c units or fans non stop during the summer months. 

I can’t say that the temp differences are not real on your structures. . I have no idea. I will say it isn’t because of a reflective layer or bubble wrap. I would sooner believe it is the insulation or dead air barriers