Owning a homestead is a dream for many people. Transforming that vision into reality takes a lot of hard work, but the payoff is worth it.
However, it’s often a lengthy process that leaves plenty of room for error. Avoiding costly mistakes helps you achieve your dream more quickly, and part of this equation entails knowing what you can tackle and what’s best left to the pros. Don’t worry — you’ll still have ample opportunities to stretch your DIY muscle. Here’s how to do so with the least amount of stress while building the homestead of your dreams.
Finding a Suitable Plot
Your work begins before you ever break ground, and it requires professional input. Land “deals” abound online but investing in the right parcel is crucial, especially if you have limited funds. For example, it’s possible to find an off-grid acre for a few thousand dollars, but what a private seller may not tell you is that it will cost over $100,000 to dig a well, thanks to the water table, and the local zoning board is a bear with minimum size, design and setback requirements.
The old cliche about a deal that seems too good to be true holds. At the very least, do your due diligence. Contact a real estate agent to find out the details of the property and handle the contract — these are complex but binding. You need to know about:
- The chain of title and any back property taxes owed.
- The codes, covenants and restrictions — most areas have them, even if the property doesn’t lie within an HOA.
- Zoning restrictions and conservation easements.
Available utilities — even if you plan a fully off-grid build, you should know your options
- Property boundaries — a professional survey is a must.
- Soil perc test results, available property water features and any known environmental hazards.
The last thing you want is to invest your life’s savings in a property that won’t meet your needs. Performing due diligence before you buy is, admittedly, an emotionally trying process that tests your faith, but it’s better to wait for the right parcel than to live with regrets on the wrong one.
Breaking Ground and Building
Once you have your plot, it’s time to get down to the homestead-building nitty-gritty. Here are nine tasks you can DIY and eight best left to the pros.
1. Don’t: Draw Up DIY Blueprints
Regardless of where you build, even off-grid, you will need to get your plans approved by your local planning and zoning board or risk the authorities coming in and condemning your project. Planning and zoning boards vary widely in what they require — but the toughest ones want specifics. Unless you are a licensed architect, you shouldn’t DIY your blueprints.
The best case scenario is that you feel a little embarrassed when they post your plans at the public meeting, and you get told, “Sorry, try again.” If you come back too many times with insufficient plans, even the most amenable board will grow weary and become more reluctant to work with you.
2. Do: Find Out How Much of the Construction You Can DIY
You’ve worked in the trades all your life and can do anything from re-roofing a two-story barn to installing plumbing and electrical work. Who needs to worry about the government? You’re good to go — right?
In many cases, yes. However, you must pull the proper building and zoning permits for many structures you add to your property. Although most jurisdictions don’t mandate using a particular builder, only passing the requisite inspections, some do require you to hire licensed contractors for specific tasks. Find out the rules where your homestead lies.
3. Don’t: Go It Alone on Your Well and Septic
If you are a skilled tradesperson, you might have the requisite ability and equipment to install a well and septic system — but these two tasks nearly always require the pros. For example, well water requires testing for lead, arsenic and biological contaminants such as E-coli. Your septic system’s leach lines must lie far enough away from your well to avoid contamination without affecting neighboring properties.
Professional installation of these systems matters because they directly affect your health and those of other residents. Furthermore, they impact your resale ability. If your well or septic won’t pass a lender’s inspection, buyers won’t be able to get a loan to buy your property if you ever choose to sell.
4. Do: Prep the Landscape Yourself
However, if you have a tractor, feel free to hop on and start mowing down all that fescue standing between you and your homestead’s victory garden. Prepping the landscape might mean leveling the ground and removing vegetation and rocks.
Two caveats apply when clearing your land. One, always call 811 before you dig so you don’t accidentally damage underground lines that can cost thousands to repair. Two, check with your neighbors before removing any trees that may hang onto their property. Tree laws vary from state to state, but you don’t want to start your happy homestead existence with a neighborly conflict.
5. Do: Investigate Every Option for Renewable Energy Efficiency
Your mind may automatically turn to solar energy to power your homestead, and that’s certainly one option. However, you should understand what else is possible and how and if you want to connect to the grid.
For example, those on the windswept prairie might include a few windmills into the equation. If you are fortunate enough to have a water feature, you may have the potential for hydroelectric power generation. Those in cooler, darker climates can look to geothermal power, which powers over 85% of all homes in Iceland.
6. Don’t: Automatically Reject Grid Connectivity
While you may wish for full off-grid functionality, you need not sacrifice grid connectivity. Today’s hybrid solar systems use inverter technology to send power bi-directionally. That means you aren’t in it alone — if something in your system goes awry, you simply draw power from the grid.
While you can certainly DIY a solar system installation, hiring a professional installer who connects you to the grid gives you the advantage of knowing you’ll always have juice, even on cloudy days or if a part of your system, like the battery, malfunctions. You will still have a bill — but it will be tiny, and many folks consider it a small price to pay for increased reliability.
Securing the Premises
Securing your homestead means taking common-sense measures to protect against the elements, the wilds — and other humans.
7. Do: Invest in an Alarm System
As much as you might love your homestead, you’ll need to leave it unattended, which can mean leaving valuable farm equipment in plain sight. An alarm system is a must for protecting your investment in your absence.
While you certainly can DIY the installation, at most, you save around $100 — far less than the value of your tools and supplies. It’s best to spring for a professional installation with someone well-versed in protecting rural properties so they can adjust your configurations for maximum efficiency and coverage.
8. Don’t: Rely on Firepower Alone
Maybe you fit the old-timer with a rifle on the front porch stereotype, and perhaps you’re an expert marksman to boot. While a gun might be useful against a pack of chicken-stealing coyotes at midnight, it’s not the best defense when you aren’t around — bullets won’t stop thieves if you aren’t there to pull the trigger. An alarm is best.
9. Do: Consider a Dog Run (and a Dog)
Realistically, your biggest homestead threats will come from wildlife and the elements. While you may or may not need a dog run, fencing your homestead is a must. Many homesteads have multiple layers of fencing — a simple chain link around the perimeter and smaller ones inside to separate various animal pens and play areas. For example, you might have a fenced play area for your kiddos, another around your chicken coop and yet a different version to rein in your goats.
A canine companion comes in handy on a homestead, from warning you of approaching threats to herding sheep and protecting younger family members from critters like raccoons — which generally scoff at fences. Your homestead doesn’t necessarily need one, but they can be another security measure, not to mention company when you live and work remotely.
10. Don’t: Overlook Your Biggest Security Threats
Finally, insure your homestead. While you can take proactive measures to defend it against storms and wildfires, these disasters are called “acts of God” for a reason. Sometimes, there’s nothing to do but rebuild, and the right coverage ensures you have the financial means to do so.
Learn what natural disasters pose the biggest threats in your area and secure your homestead against them as best you are able. For example, clear away scrub brush, trim back overhanging trees and avoid stacking firewood against your house to mitigate wildfire risk. Keep copious sandbags on hand and know where you can fill them if you are at a flood risk. Folks in Tornado Alley should have a storm cellar — which doubles as cool storage for your apples and potatoes.
Operating Your Homestead
You’ve finally built the homestead of your dreams and are ready to run with it. Here are some final dos and don’ts to consider as you decide what to DIY and what to leave to the pros.
11. Don’t: Rely on Frequent Trips to the Nursery
Your local garden nursery pros are your best resource as you start your planting. They know what grows best in your local area and what techniques to try for the results you want. Take advantage, asking for their input as you stock up for your first season.
However, strive for a self-sufficient homestead — which means learning to propagate new crops from this year’s haul instead of buying new baby plants year after year. Become an expert on your patch of dirt, learn how to save seeds, grow from cuttings, nourish the soil with organic compost and deter pests without harmful chemicals.
12. Do: Learn Natural Organic Farming Methods
One aspect of running a homestead is waste management, and part of that entails separating organic matter from inorganic to create compost. If you have plenty of space, you can go wild with your compost bin. You might have one section for lawn cuttings and larger scraps like chopped-up tree limbs and another section for food scraps complemented by worms to keep a steady supply of rich, loamy soil for planting.
Additionally, techniques such as crop rotation and crop pairing provide abundance without chemical fertilizers and pesticides. One classic example of the latter is the three sisters — planting corn, beans and squash together, with the squash suppressing weed growth and the corn providing support for the beans to climb and nitrogen for the soil.
13. Do: Learn How to Forage and Use Local Plants
Additionally, your nursery is not your only source of plants for your garden. Learning how to forage is an invaluable skill that can complement your meals in a lean harvest and reveal new species you can cultivate. But, as with all aspects of survival, you really need to know what you’re doing because the cost of getting it wrong can be troublesome, even deadly. Read a good book on the topic.
14. Don’t: Play Around With Unfamiliar Species
However, you shouldn’t solely rely on plant identification apps or books when foraging. Turn to the pros, taking a class in your local fauna and staying away from unknown species until an expert identifies them. While books are a good place to start, it’s hard to beat knowledge that locals possess. Seek out people who know what they’re doing until you become the person who knows what they’re doing.
15. Do: Take Advantage of Natural Resources
If a tree blows down on your property, chop it up for firewood, carve it into a rugged outdoor table and chairs set or cut it into boards for repairing the fence around your chicken coop. If there’s a stream flowing nearby, consider how you might utilize the water for gardening, pets or livestock, or possibly even for electricity generation. And if there’s a particularly windy spot, throw up a windmill! Use what you’ve got around you to your advantage whenever possible.
16. Don’t: Dispose of Waste Improperly
You can only compost organic materials like food and lawn scraps and unbleached paper products. What about the rest? Even though backyard burning is remarkably common in rural areas despite rules against it, you should refrain. Burning trash releases harmful toxins into the air and even deposits them in the soil, where they reappear in your vegetable harvest. Your health and that of the planet demand that you hire a sanitation service to pick up your trash.
17. Do: Upcycle and Recycle
That said, you should reduce the amount of things you throw away. In many areas, you can still get cash for recycling certain items. Others repurpose the old into new, useful items. For example, a used toothbrush is perfect for cleaning grout or massaging your kitty’s head because it simulates the feel of their mother’s tongue. Consider using old tin cans and other containers, like soda bottles, to grow herbs or other plants. Use cardboard as a weed barrier. Make an old tire growing bed. You get the idea.
DIY Dos and Don’ts When Building Your Own Homestead
Building your own homestead is a dream come true for many. Prevent it from turning into a nightmare by knowing what you can do yourself and what’s better left to the pros. Harness the power of teamwork to make your vision a reality.
[Note: This was a guest post.]
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