Intro...

[nv_dad]

I've already posted a request for some input on the job board, but thought I'd take a minute to say "Hi" in here as well.  I live with my wife and 3 (soon to be 4) children in southern Nevada.  I've known about FSP/FSW for about a year, and have been serious about "doing something about it" for the past 6 months or so.  Most of that time has been spent researching WY/MT/ID, job opportunities, real estate, etc.

My wife and I homeschool our kids and are looking forward to a possible opportunity to move to a smaller, slower and more free lifestyle.

I've read a number of Boston's works, and have enjoyed them.  I am something of a computer whiz/manager at work, while being more of a shooter, fixer, reader and dad at home.  I've been to Front Sight, so can offer opinions on that if anyone is interested.  I recently had the opportunity to meet socalserf at an Appleseed shoot in Boulder City, NV.  (socalserf, I was shooting the .308 Garand)  My best AQT at the Appleseed was a few points shy of Rifleman, but considering the Garand only had about 60 rounds through it prior to the weekend, I don't feel bad about that.

Lifelong trap/skeet shooter.  Pistols for a decade or so.  Rifles are a new interest for me.

Anyway, I've hedged a little on some personal details, as I'm not ready for anyone at work to know that I'm considering a move.  Sorry.

Looking forward to getting to know you all - hopefully in person at some point soon!

[MamaLiberty]

Welcome! PM if you'd like to talk about my little town here in NE Wyoming. Newcastle is close enough to Gillette, WY and the cities in South Dakota for some convenience, yet far enough away from everything to be friendly, crime free and quiet.

To see pictures, look at my blog: http://www.fundamentalsoffreedom.com/fswblogs/mamaliberty/

See the photo album under Wyoming Home

Looking forward to talking with you! 

[manfromnevada]

Welcome to the forum NV Dad!

I'm from NV as well (as you can guess).
Been up here since April and I love it.
Here's a link to my blog:
http://www.fundamentalsoffreedom.com/fswblogs/mac/
You have to read it from the bottom (oldest) to the top (newest) to make any sense of it. It's my story of how I came to live here in Crook County and all my trials and tribulations. I'm no longer posting since "I have Arrived".

I'm still reading the LVRJ, and frankly it makes me sick to see what people are now "demanding" in NV. The seem to want to destroy the golden goose so that they can increased their social programs yet again, this after the largest increase in taxes in 2003! Seems that the old "live and let live" of NV is dying quickly. Anywaaaz, I'm glad I'm no longer there. Still, Vin Suprynowicz, columnist in the LVRJ, is still my favorite piece of the paper.

Mac

[wyomiles]

Howdy nvdad, and welcome.

[nv_dad]

Here's a link to my blog:
http://www.fundamentalsoffreedom.com/fswblogs/mac/

Wow!  Very interesting, Mac.  So, it sounds like you bought some land, poured a basement, then bought a manufactured home to sit on it?  That is something I'm very interested in doing.  I've also been doing some reading about earth bag houses which sound intriguing.

Vin Suprynowicz, columnist in the LVRJ, is still my favorite piece of the paper.

Without a doubt, he is one of Nevada's greatest assets at the moment.  It's too bad so much of the media has followed national trends.  There was a time when Nevada was a very libertarian place to be.  The massive immigration from California these past years has been painful in more ways than one.

[socalserf]

Nv-dad,
Boy howdy!
Welcome to this forum. The folks here will give you an uncontrolable desire to move to Wyoming.
And I hope to see you there!
It was great shooting with you in Boulder City, I had such a good time. (Your Garand was SWEET!)

I don't know what you do for a living, but my boss is from the Casper area and said that good jobs go begging.

Also, have you looked into straw bale construction? I don't think cobb is good for the Wyoming climate.
Yours in Liberty, socalserf

[manfromnevada]

Wow!  Very interesting, Mac.  So, it sounds like you bought some land, poured a basement, then bought a manufactured home to sit on it?  That is something I'm very interested in doing. 

Actually, it's a modular home. Quite a bit different than a manufactured home actually:
mod: built to UBC or IRC standards
mfg: built to HUD standards

mod: considered "stick built" once completed for insurance and valuation purposes
mfg: considered "manufactured home"

mod: can be placed over a basement
mfg: can't be

mod: contains no water heater, furnace, duct work, water supply piping or DWV piping under the floor
mfg: the house is complete in all regards. Just connect to outside drain system and water supply

My experiene is that mfg homes cost about 10% less than a mod home for the same size and features. The materials are a little thinner and not quite to the same standard. The big difference is the basement. A mfg home needs support throughout the underside. A mod home only needs one central row of jack posts to support it. Also, the fact that everything stops at the floor level. All fixtures are plumbed underneath down thru the floor and stops there. There are no horizontal runs of supply or drain. Same with the heater vents and cold air returns. So it's up to you to have a contractor do this or do it yourself as I have done in most of it.

I've said this before, and I'll say it again. 2x6 wood framed structures with insulation, siding, shingles, etc. are popular for a reason: they WORK and they're cost effective. Alternative building techniques are interesting, but there's a reason they aren't seen everywhere. If they were that superior to stick built they'd be everywhere, wouldn't they? Guess it depends on what you like. I didn't have the time, the energy, or the ability to haul loads of hay bales up this narrow and rugged mountain road. "Your mileage may vary" as they say. Good luck.

Mac

[MamaLiberty]

Alternative building techniques are interesting, but there's a reason they aren't seen everywhere. If they were that superior to stick built they'd be everywhere, wouldn't they? Guess it depends on what you like.

Since most people must finance their homes, and most banks wouldn't make a loan on a hay bale house, I suspect that has a lot more to do with how many of them are built than whether or not they are superior in some ways. You can finance a "stick built" or manufactured/modular. I seriously doubt you could get a loan on many of the alternative types.

It all depends on money, how "pretty" you want the building to be, and how much of the work you are able and willing to do yourself.

Also, as long as energy is relatively cheap, there has been little real incentive to do anything different. I suspect the time is coming when that will be a far larger factor in the whole thing than it is now.

[Paul Bonneau]

You put your finger on it Susan. No doubt there was a time when stick-built homes didn't work too well (many older homes obviously have lots of problems - bad foundations, no insulation, roof leaks, etc.), but that technology had the time to work the bugs out over many thousands of homes. The end result of this is the building codes, which not only are a distillation of "what works" but include coercion to prevent any deviation from such practices. The same distillation of best practices could happen with alternative technologies if the financial deck and the building code deck were not stacked against them.

Nv_dad, welcome! You might contact our member Fran about earthbags; see for example this thread.

[Chris]

Welcome NV_dad!

I'm in Northern NV. A couple of friends & I used to call NV "California's smoking section", but since last year, we've been referring to NV as "California-East."

My wife can't wait to move to WY - We're on track to be there by the middle or end of this summer!

Chris