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crazyone_gw

acerage must haves

crazyone
14 years ago

I am wondering what acerage builders have added to make life easier..I read the one thread on this but it was all about a generator hookup and wood burning FP, so i think that topic is covered.. what are some other ideas for your build helped in the outskirts of the towns...

did anyone use a sensor at the entrance to chime in the house to announce cars coming up the drive for ex?

Comments (17)

  • alabamanicole
    14 years ago

    Country essentials:

    -Alternative heating source
    -A way to block off the house to just the room/area with the other heat source
    -Water storage, rainwater system or well with manual pump
    -Alternative power source
    -High quality chest freezer
    -Root cellar (they don't really work here, though, too hot)
    -Ample well-organized pantry space
    -At least one good watch dog
    -At least one good rodent hunter, be it a rat terrier or a cat
    -Depending on how sociable you are, you may want to have a gate system with a keypad entrance and/or intercom
    -Food, medical and emergency supply storage

    In tornado country, add a weather radio and storm shelter stocked to last several days. Where I lived before, it would have been a long wait for someone to come dig me out of the storm shelter if the worst happened.

  • creek_side
    14 years ago

    did anyone use a sensor at the entrance to chime in the house to announce cars coming up the drive for ex?

    Gravel driveways are self announcing.

    You will need a chainsaw, unless you are in treeless country, a 4WD pickup, a tractor, a log chain or two, a few trailers to move things about, tools to maintain it all, including a welder and a large air compressor, a place to keep it all out of the weather, a shop to maintain it all in, and most important of all, decent neighbors.

    You will also need time and funds.

    The above has been a gross oversimplification. :-)

  • macv
    14 years ago

    What is acerage?

  • srercrcr
    14 years ago

    You don't need much more than city folks and I know, having lived out here for 25 years. A chain saw is handy for cutting your firewood, perhaps a brushcutter, an old 2WD pickup with a 8 ft bed (no trailers), no tractor (rent it for a day if you have a need. No need for a welder, those guys work cheap, no compressor (buy a $25 120 volt compressor like in the city). No shop needed, but a good work bench is good or, as I prefer, the tailgate on the pickup makes a great one. If you have ranch fencing, get a come-along and a used heavy chain. Enjoy the great outdoors.

  • creek_side
    14 years ago

    You don't need much more than city folks and I know, having lived out here for 25 years.

    Sounds more like you live in suburbia.

  • gopintos
    14 years ago

    I've got ya all beat, my zip code has always been the same, 40+ years. ha

    Anyways, with good neighbors (to borrow from or ask for help)you don't need much. Otherwise, you need most all the above :-P

    My first 18 years at home, Dad only drove cars, and every time it snowed, the road would drift shut. But he had a brother with a tractor that would always come and open it up for us. We also had wood heat and propane. We were about 10 miles outside of town.

    So, I guess it matters what part of the country you are in and what kind of weather you experience. Even then, it matters how far from town and individual circumstances. For example, we are rebuilding where we have lived about 10 years, and we are 2 miles from town, but over a mile of gravel with hills and a creek. And we were thinking of a generator, but the electric company said that the transformer right by our house is a main one and it will be one of the first ones back on if it were to ever go out. We also have all new heavier power lines and the last two ice storms, when many others lost power for over a week, we never flickered. Our electric to the house was underground also. But we have 8 horses so being without water & power is a real concern. They can drink upwards of 10 gallons a day each. Without sufficient water, they can collic and die. (We have to have our winter supply of hay also)

    We are going geothermal and while my old well would handle it, went ahead and dug a new one so we can switch over if the old one goes out.

    We did the safe room for tornado country. Will do lighting rods too since we had them before.

    Doing ADT security. We do have 3 dogs that keep a fairly good eye on things and announce & greet visitors.

    I would never be without at least one 4wd and any cars need to be front wheel drive. (maybe they all are now, I dont know)

    I don't keep alot of extra supplies since weather is pretty good at predicting storms, like snow storms, so I go stock up if a big snow is coming.

    Our neighbors who are also allergy suffers, have a company come and professionally spray something on the gravel road in front of their house for dust control. They have to do it every year.

    Lots of rain can wash out your driveway. So again, you either need the equipment (buy or rent) or good neighbors :-)

  • cork2win
    14 years ago

    Definitely run power out to your driveway entrance (assuming it's far), and a phone line if you can swing it. We love our gate and wouldn't live without it, but power it with solar and we don't have a phone/intercom out there because it's too much hassle. In hindsight, power and a phone line out there would have been so helpful.

    Power to any outbuildings. Again, we didn't plan and are using solar which works ok but city power would have been nice.

    Mudroom area in garage. We planned one, but it's inside the house and we would do it totally differently in hindsight. I'd do a wash station/boot/coat area all in the garage so the dirt never made it in the house. Our garage slop sink sees all the action I thought our mudroom would see.

    Storage storage storage. So many tools needed for country living. Never enough room for all of them.

    Screened areas. Don't know where you live, but in Ohio, the bugs make many times of the year unbearable to be outside. I would have planned a large, screened outdoor porch had I thought of it.

    4wd/AWD vehicle. Enough said, assuming you get snow in your area.

    I second the large freezer/pantry. We don't run to the store as often so we buy in bulk and store. Not to mention we now have easy access to local beef, so a side of beef takes up a lot of room!

    Save your money for a nice gator or similar vehicle. I can't tell you how much we would love to have one for so many tasks around our place.

  • creek_side
    14 years ago

    If you aren't already committed, look into a local security company. You are much better off paying for your own equipment installed by a local pro with lower monitoring charges, than paying ADT's high monthly charges with a locked in contract.

    ADT's basic install does not include enough sensors for the average small house, let alone a large one. You will have to pay extra to get more. For example, we have eight sensors in our current house. At our new build, we will have a lot more. I think ADT only gives you three or four.

  • creek_side
    14 years ago

    Cork2win, I was looking at wireless intercoms the other day and noticed some made specifically for use with gate operators. I don't know any more about them, other than they exist. Just thought I would mention it.

  • capcapia
    14 years ago

    We have lived in the country for almost 20 years and one of the little things that I have really enjoyed is a mailbox alert. Our mailbox is a little ways from the house and we don't have a clear view of it. When it is delivered, a little beep goes off inside the house. Love that thing!

    My in-laws used to have a sensor to announce incoming visitors at the end of their driveway but finally removed it as many things set it off, including deer and other critters wandering around.

  • creek_side
    14 years ago

    You can buy sensors that you bury next to the driveway that sense only large metal masses, as in a vehicle. Nothing else will set them off, and they aren't visible at all.

  • capcapia
    14 years ago

    ^ ^ Yep, those sensors are much better than the one my in-laws used.

  • capcapia
    14 years ago

    I was thinking what we would do different if we had it to do over (we bought our acreage with house already built) and I wish I could move the placement of the propane tank and the septic tank. The previous owners put both of these right outside our back door and they are next to our deck that we added. Septic tank isn't visible (and the drain field is far far away) but the ugly propane tank sure is. If you are getting propane, think carefully of placement where the truck can still get to it (especially in a heavy snow) and it won't be the centerpiece of your landscaping. :)

    Had to smile at a couple of suggestions here. I moved to the Iowa country almost 20 years ago from San Antonio. It was definitely culture shock. I was almost too scared to go outside at night because of possums, skunks, raccoons and whatever else lurked out there. A neighbor gave us two kittens when we moved in and we quickly found out that having cats outside kept many wild animal visitors away. Not all of them, but many. A big dog keeps the rest away.

    At the back of our large garage, we added two rooms and a pet door to each of those. That way the cats could have shelter (possums like it, too, but I'm used to those now) and the dog had her own house that also opened up into the garage mudroom before coming into the house.

  • capcapia
    14 years ago

    Oh - one more thought. All the acreages around here have a large outside light on a tall pole usually right outside between front door and end of driveway. Ours shone into the house too brightly, so we added a large light to the barn that comes on automatically and turned this one off. My hubby rigged the original light to a switch inside of our garage and we can turn that one on only when we want to. It is especially nice when heavy snow is falling.

    We also planted a vine to grow up that ugly pole that sits right outside and it is really beautiful now. In the winter it's not so pretty, but when the snow falls and lands on all the vines it is.

  • creek_side
    14 years ago

    We got rid of propane, but if we still had it, I would buy my own tank, instead of leasing and being locked into one supplier. They should be able to move the tank. It will have to be empty or near empty at the time, but it's doable.

    Of course, a new line will have to be trenched to the house.

    The septic location is often dictated by the local authorities. The previous owners may have had little choice but to place it where it is.

  • foolyap
    14 years ago

    Gravel driveways are self announcing.

    Not necessarily. Our house was built with thick ICF walls, and even delivery trucks sometimes can't be heard from inside when the windows are all closed.

    --Steve

  • dancingsams
    14 years ago

    We bought our land about 14 years ago - 36 acres about 40 minutes from town (25 miles, the last 4.5 on dirt road). Our house is now about 70% complete. When we stay out here, we either camp under the stars, or stay in our travel trailer (depending on weather). This is in rural central California. We expect to move in permanantly next year, after work is complete.

    Our must haves:
    Large dogs
    Propane backup power, plus solar (city power goes out often and for long periods)
    Dedicated circuits for at least one light in each room, plus the refrigerator, for when we live on the generator/solar
    cell phone service - we installed our own antennae
    Large, stocked pantry
    centralized wood stove that heats living room, kitchen, and upstairs bedrooms.
    We also have a lighting system that allows us, with the push of 1 button, to turn on all the outdoor lights, or ALL the lights at once. This way, if someone gets frightened, they can see what is going on, and potentially chase away whatever caused the fright.

    The biggest must-have is a love of the country!

    Have fun!

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