Farmstead planning

[3Ts]

The Bathroom in the shop thread prompted this thread. For those who are just getting their farmstead plan put together, what would you recommend them to consider. For example, the Bathroom in the shop is one. There is also:

Yard light controlled from each building. I have 3 buildings on my property and have 2 yard lights that light up the area between them. Each of the 3 buildings have a switch so that the lights can be turned on or off from each building.

My wife and I fit into the senior citizen category and she spends a lot of time in her studio and I'm in my shop. We have oriented the buildings and windows in each building so we can easily see what's going on in each others studio/shop. Mostly from a safety perspective so we'll know if each other needs help.

 

[Doofy]

Safety becomes more important with age. All the worrywarts and gloom&doomers will poopoo this...but we use "Alexa" devices that also serve as hands-free intercoms. I have been carbon monoxided and have also had a back spasm and couldn't get up off the floor while working in the shop. Alexa to the rescue!

 

[sea2summit]

Doors orientated towards where you need to go (shop, wood shed, barn).
Fire extinguishers…lots in lots of places. Hoses on all faucets with good solid nozzles (brass). And if you can, a fire skid.
Parking, but more importantly traffic flow. How/where do you turn the trailer around. Where do you park/hookup trailers so their not in the way but not so far it’s an extra chore to go hook up.
Compressed air access, drop a point at all the doors if you can.
Where do you pressure wash so you don’t make a muddy mess or contaminate your yard?
Where do you pile the snow you plow?
What is the workflow (fire wood processing to wood shed, bone yard to welding bench/machining area, engine maint).
Many other thoughts, but it’s bed time

 

[Doughknob]

Really? You guys actually plan all this stuff? I must not be old enough yet

 

[Torvy]

Safety becomes more important with age. All the worrywarts and gloom&doomers will poopoo this...but we use "Alexa" devices that also serve as hands-free intercoms. I have been carbon monoxided and have also had a back spasm and couldn't get up off the floor while working in the shop. Alexa to the rescue!

We use Alexa to control the lights. I only need one switch if my bulbs are Wifi. Too far off the beaten path for hackers to bother.

@3Ts Good thread idea. There are always things you don't know that you don't know...

@sea2summit thanks, had to look up fire skid...another thing for our list.

We thought we could do NG, but probably LP now...so tank placement became a thing. Getting a Generac or similar generator that can keep everything running for a week or so if lines go down. (not sure how big LP tank will be). If snow becomes a problem for us, we have bigger issues than homestead design.

 

[EddieWalker]

Storage. I don't have enough space for what I have, and some of the stuff that I have is being destroyed by sitting outdoors.

Fencing. Having access to mow both sides of the fence and removing branches that will fall on the fence. It's never ending and overwhelming at times.

Watering the garden. We've been dragging hoses, buying sprayers and wasting more time then I want to consider in figuring out the best way to grow veggies. We're now using raised beds and that's been a huge improvement. I'm also covering the walk ways between the beds with mulch. That's another huge plus.

Loss of power. I have a small Honda generator that works great, but you have to limit what you use. I didn't have one when I first bought the land, and when I lost power for several days in the middle of winter, I suffered. I didn't have a wood stove then either, so it was like camping in my house. I installed the wood stove that Spring and that's how I heat my house now. This last winter it really saved us. We went 5 days with temps below freezing and no power. We where never cold!!!

Drainage. Whatever you plan for, expect Mother Nature to prove you wrong.

Bugs. There are more bugs out in the country. Snakes too!!!!!

 

[skipmarcy]

When I built our place here in 2006 we went with concrete slab construction which wasn't very popular here in TN but our time in FL taught us some benefits of it and we went with it and glad we did. There isn't a single step in our house except the 4" tall threshold to our LARGE (42x82) shower and I was sure to install several very sturdy grab bars. Shower is large enough for a plastic chair or stool or even to add a walk-in tub later if needed.

Also what was well worth a little extra money was pocket doors - in a smaller house like ours (1700 sf) they really give you much more useable space and I made all of mine 36" as well - no problems using a walker or wheelchair in the future if necessary and easy to open/close doors.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Really? You guys actually plan all this stuff? I must not be old enough yet

Yeah, you need to be planning the homestead orchard, maybe some grapes, outbuildings, and home upgrades. I'm not ready for life alert myself, but I'm not planting any orchards. You plan to your age.

 

[beowulf]

Wifi in out buildings if you think you will need it - I ran ethernet cables to a second building in underground conduit.

Easy access to firewood near where you need it. We have a 'box / compartment' that has a door to the outside of the house and a door on the inside of the house near the fireplace. We load from the outside and take out from the inside.

We have motion lights on paths we might need to take at night and have put switched lights in most areas - where we have animals, the well, steps, BBQ area, gates and more.

Sufficient bibs and GFIs outside.

A gate alarm that dings in the house when someone approaches the gate - which is about 850' away from the house - for us this has become very important.

A fire safe.

A gun safe.

 

[3Ts]

It gets cold enough here on occasion that I need to heat the pump house. I have a thermostat with an electric heater, but one year the thermostat failed and the pump house lines froze. I now have a remote temp sensor that transmits the temperature to a display in the house. Depending on your distance, you may need conduit to run data lines to the pump house (and any other building for that matter).