Buying forest land, implementing solar

[swbluto]

Since I'm getting the house closer to the fence, I need to clear some more saplings today.

I posted an ode to the HEB chick yesterday, but apparently it got flagged for removal. Lol...

Someone emalied "Keep Dreaming. Mania will not last. Depression is coming", lol.

I knew it was a relatively temporary phenomena, and I need to take full advantage of the opportunity while it lasts and do whatever it takes to make it work, so there's no delusion on my part there. But, there's definitely no delusion in how quickly my balance has been climbing and not going to change much as long I have full control of my expenses.

A threat to the current surge came into yesterday evening, and I'm going to take action later today to stymie its effects after fully measuring its effect. Got a pretty good game plan in place. I'd still be pretty satisfied if I stopped RIGHT HERE, but it'd be better if I keeped on going! lol. That mansion ain't going to pay for itself, lol.

 

[Dauntless]

Or maybe they're tired of the updating. Usually people edit to correct typos, etc.

Okay, I DID miss something. Or maybe you accidentally hit Preview and only thought it had posted. Hey, even I have done that. In fact, even I have probably done that more than most.

Here's a new mania. They play 'Thunderstruck' on ANYTHING these days. You can learn the banjo version I posted in the music thread. Or strike on your own and find us a new one.

[youtube]tPwvzF6_kbQ[/youtube]

[youtube]sKZTdkvr4qo[/youtube]

 

[swbluto]

Wired up and wound the transformer, plugged in the primary to the generator, and the secondary reads 0 VAC. It also doesn't show up on my UPS. What's the special magic to getting these things to work? lol. I wired up the green and white wires which I already verified corresponded to the left and right blade with my voltmeter.

Shit, just found it is actually the black and white wires ,not the green and white ones, lol.

Okay, the transformer is wired correctly now, but it's dark now. So, I'll try using it tomorrow in the daylight and hopefully I can pull some 1100 watts out of 1400 watt generator.

The generator output was trending at 104-108 when I was reading it.

Right now it's wired 11:10.

(11/10)*104 = 114.4.

I guess that might work.

if I need it a little higher, I should go down to 10:9 or 9:8.

Looks like I'll be in the 20% cash savings percentile for my age group by the end of christmas, yeehah! Pretty impressive for a soon impending 100% land and home owner. After creating the pool and buying a second car, it might go down a bit, lol.

I probably be won't spending serious money on the pool until the later part of February (concrete and rebar). The second car is getting purchased sometime in January.

I'll probably be making serious side branching efforts in January when business goes back down to normal. Expanding and dominating other high demand verticals. If there's anything my childhood experiences taught me, is that I'm competitive as hell and I take no prisoners in securing the number one position. As my childhood experiences taught me, the only people that beat me are those with lucrative family connections and on platforms and environments where connections mean nothing, I win.

 

[swbluto]

Hmmm....

I want clay tile roofing in my mediterranean complex...

I'm digging up tons of clay with the pool excavation and 23 wells...

Can I just use my many logs of woods and cook up some clay roof tiles? lol.

http://www.yfbrickmachine.com/detail-126-automatictilemakingmachine

 

[DAND214]

I'm sure you can. You have done everything else, why not bake your own roof tiles. Search what you need to mix in and do it. That would save you MONEY.

Dan

 

[Dauntless]

I'm gonna need a roof I can't afford. DIY adobe tiles. . . .

[youtube]t5CYHo5VyyM[/youtube]
[youtube]PB8TWMKHHMQ[/youtube]

 

[swbluto]

I'm sure you can. You have done everything else, why not bake your own roof tiles. Search what you need to mix in and do it. That would save you MONEY.

Dan

Cool. Just thought it'd be neat to have a real use for all this excavated clay that's just sitting as piles as it stands, lol.

http://www.yfbrickmachine.com/detail-126-automatictilemakingmachine

[youtube]h5NTuIhcElU[/youtube]

And looks like I need to make a mold(Probably wooden?) to create the square input form, then some kind of press and metal u-shaped form to create the tile.

Looks like I could use one of these HF presses.

https://www.harborfreight.com/12-ton-shop-press-33497.html

The small one looked intriguing, but I don't know if a max working distance of 3.5" would work? Seems like the tiles would ordinarily be about 3-5" tall curved.

I wonder if a hard wooden form would work with the press? I'm thinking clay isn't going to kill the wood, lol. I might have to get my CNC router running to create the perfect mold...

 

[swbluto]

Now let's see if it's financially worthwhile.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-2016-Roof-Tiles-Spanish-S-Clay-Miami-Dade-NOA-1-Square-124-Roof-Tiles-/251850203410

$219 for 210 sq ft. About $1/sq ft.

Each side would be about 16*56*1.1 = 986 sq ft = $986. Four sides would be about $3950 for the entire thing.

Not including freight charges... might be significantly more...

Every 1000 sq ft. is about 5000 pounds.

https://www.lojistic.com/ltl-freight-rates

This place estimates $20/100 pound for 5000-10000 pounds, so 1000 pounds would be around $200-300 for freight. 5000 pounds would then be $1000-1500.

So 1000 sq ft. of tiles including freight and the tiles themselves would be $2000-2500.

And I could potentially get a press and some forms going for less than $300. I'd need a kiln though... don't know if I would ordinarily need one of those, lol.

https://www.google.com/search?q=clay+kiln&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj2s6jL8dHXAhUJ6YMKHRggDqIQ_AUICygC&biw=1126&bih=722#imgrc=_

Looks like I could make a kiln from concrete. That'd be an interesting thing to shape.

So, the entire complex would be $30,000-$40,000 in materials (At around $10/sq ft. - not sure if that's a viable figure at this point... should redo the calcs.), than potentially upto $10,000 for the roof tiling. It might be worthwhile.

I personally like the variegated clay look vs consistently dark red. More natural.

versus

Looks like that above picture has the sandy color look I'm looking to match the clay tiles. I need to figure out how they do those sandy color exterior walls...

 

[swbluto]

[youtube]PVzljDmoPVs[/youtube]

You loved me and I froze in time

Wow, I think that pretty much captures the essence of the eye lock with the HEB chick. "Time freezes"

Hungry for that flesh of mine

That was pretty true. lol

Can't compete with the she wolf who has brought me to my knees

Is she referring to the "teasing act" the HEB chick was employing, i.e., that's not really how she normally is? She didn't seem to be that kind of girl afterwards not that it really mattered to me, lol. In fact, I probably would prefer if she toned it down a little bit, lol, I would start getting this good idea she's a promiscious ho, lol.

 

[swbluto]

Plugged in the transformer and it started making a buzzing sound BUT it apparently shorted out the generator and it died. LOL. That was too predictable, the primary winding looks like one big short. How the hell am I supposed to use these things? lol. Do they need a precharge resistor to build the magnetic field slowly, and then the impedance provided by the coil should limit the no-load current to something manageable?

But the impedance depends on the inductance of the coil... what if the inductance is really low? Then the impedance will also be really low and the no-load current will be really high -> generator dies. And, I bet the impedance at 60 Hz isn't that high...

What the hell? Does this thing need likes hundreds of coils to get the inductance high enough or something?

What kind of inductance am I looking for and how much inductance does my 10 coils currently have? My volmeter doesn't measure inductance... lol


God DAMMIT, I didn't want to pay another $900 on a honda generator that's only going to last for 6 months, lol, SUCH A WASTE OF MONEY.

Here comes wikipedia to the rescue...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inrush_current#Transformers

When a transformer is first energized, a transient current up to 10 to 15 times larger than the rated transformer current can flow for several cycles.

Oh, so we need to limit the inrush current. I guess I need a charge resistor? And I suppose this is where my giant 300w 10 ohm varistor might come into play... might need to find it... And, 110volts across that the bare bones varistor... ooohhhh... I'm not sure if that's a good idea, lol.

"transformer current"... I assume no-load primary current... and what would that happen to be again? Is there a way to figure that out? I take it you need to calculate the impedance... but you need to know the inductance...

Using an transformer sounds all easy peasy until you run into hard current limits and then the devil is in the details...

 

[swbluto]

Dog woke me at 2 a.m., became an expert at digging under the box to escape and was barking right next to my RV. Put wire fencing on the bottom of the box so hopefully it'll be harder next time. Didn't have enough staples to make it really secure, but I'm hoping it'll be pretty effective. I'll check at 10 p.m. for him and if I find him, I'm stuffing him in the van like I did last night at 2 a.m. Nightly doggie checks will become standard, it's peeving me I'm losing sleep thanks to his ass. Especially since I start getting noticeable vascular symtoms throughout the day (This morning it's been pseudo-stroke symptoms).

 

[swbluto]

Fudge it, I'm moving onto directly into direct battery backup and skipping the UPS. I hope there's not another "devil is in the details" situation in that solution... lol.

Seems like my laptop power supply has no problems running off of 104 volts... I don't know why a meanswell would have issues...

So, it works directly off the lithium battery. Good... now let's see if my battery explodes when it gets powered by the generator, lol.

Need to do the wiring tonight when I have generator capacity to do soldering. Couldn't use standard crimpers on the andersons (Ruined like 5 of them trying to find a good technique, lol), couldn't find my anderson crimpers... so I ended up soldering.

 

[swbluto]

Got the site cleared, just need to dig up the holes where I intend to fill with gravel and put blocks ontop. Once I get the holes dug up, I can continue with getting the floor framing and blocks and build the floor. Then it's onto getting lumber for the walls and build the walls and ceiling. Then sometime in December. buy and apply the sheathing. I don't know if I'll stick with 8x16, might just go with 12x16 since that essentially completes phase 1. I'd estimate about $100 more in sheathing (six more 4x8s) and $80 more in lumber framing to go with 12x16.

Looking online, it looks like 12x16 corresponds to a typical 'master bedroom' that some describe as generous.

A 12x16 would also enable the creation of stairs to access the ceiling (or potentially more floors), over the 8x16.

If I were to create multiple floors at the corners (Corner towers), I'd be tempted to create a small walkway around the courtyard along the roof down the center to reach from one corner to the next. Eventually, the entire north wing should be another floor.

 

[swbluto]

Was told by my neighbor that multiple story buildings need 2x6 studs on the bottom floors to support more floors ontop. Sounds fairly plausible, though I don't know how exactly it'd help. Or was he saying the studs needed 16 inch spacing for multiple stories? Oh yes, that's what he said and that makes a lot of sense. He talked about 2x6s for the ceiling joists, he said to sandwich 3/4" plywood between two 2x6s and that'll make one helluva ceiling joist. I'm not sure if I entirely understand how it'd be used to help with ceiling strength.

Was told to shop around for roof shingles in the local area. Houston has terra cotta roof shingles, he said... I believe him, lol. Getting them locallly might get the $2500/1000 sq ft. price down to $1000/1000 sq ft. price which would make the impetus to DIY a little less urgent. He said, however, the expensive part with the clay shingles are the bronze nails required to nail them down, apparently they run a $1 a piece.

 

[swbluto]

Oh, I see, that's how they add the trusses (or floor joists) between floors without subtracting from the ceiling space. Now they have to bridge the gap on the outside between floors.... do they just put OSB plywood over that?

I was a little concerned having 8 foot studs, then a 2x12 making for a 7 foot ceiling. Thought I'd have to start getting exotic lengths like 9 footers or 10 footers, I would still need to cut plywood to bridge the gap created in this configuration, which is what I was hoping to also avoid, lol.

Maybe if I go for 10 foot and 9 inch studs, then go with 2x12 ceiling joists, I could use whole sheets of 4x8 plywood to cover the 12' exterior wall? Then I'd have an 11 foot ceiling.

The other option in that way would be 6 foot and 9 inch studs, but that'd make for a 7 foot ceiling which is pretty low. 8' exterior wall.

For the ceiling, if there's a walkway between the front corner towers, if we made the walkway 8 feet wide, each side of the roof would be 4 feet high assuming a 45 degree angle. It'd be 2 feet high if we used a 22.5 degree angle. I'd prefer a shallower angle anyhow, seems like it'd go better with the terra cotta styling and probably seem less 'dangerous' installing roof tiles. Anyway, this means there'd be a short set of stairs from the second floor corner tower room(s) to the walkway, which seems like it'd be kind of cool.

My miter box doesn't have a 22.5 angle option. Probably have to custom make one. The roof rafters might need to be 2x6s... or maybe 2x8s...

 

[swbluto]

Looking at the price of 12 foot studs...$5 each... I started thinking maybe I could do something smaller. Like 9 feet. Looks like 9 feet is well recommended, and I guess I could just suck it up and cut those plywood boards, lol. 2.79 at home depot for the 9 foot purple studs (3" less to account for the 3" of top studs ontop.). With the 2x12 ceiling joists ontop, exterior wall height would be 10 feet, 9' ceiling height, would need to cut plywood into 2' widths.

Do I really need 5 people to lift those walls? lol. And what's with those 3x6s at the top? I wasn't planning on those, but I get the hint they might be important...

 

[swbluto]

[youtube]70l1aV01_yo[/youtube]

Homeless houstonians hiding in the forest? Why does this feel like it might be hitting a little close to home? It's TEMPORARY, I SWEAR TO GOD! JESUS! lol I didn't have the luxury of starting out with $13,000 when my parents kicked me out. I had just enough to get my van repaired and the RV in place on the side of the street, nothing miore. It was comforting knowing I had $10,000 in assets and a pretty good income, but that sure as hell doesn't matter to those judgmental freaks who don't understand the limitations of climate and liquid funds.

The fact I'm a living rags-to-riches success story gives all the more oomph to that classic "F you judgers" rich people snobbery.

I believe soon enough, I will be joining the ranks of the nouveau riche. Might take a couple of years, lol.

 

[slacker]

sorry if this offends you but have you talked to a building inspector regarding codes in your area?. Only reason i ask is because some of what you have posted would not pass where i reside. anyways good luck and wish you well.

 

[swbluto]

sorry if this offends you but have you talked to a building inspector regarding codes in your area?. Only reason i ask is because some of what you have posted would not pass where i reside. anyways good luck and wish you well.

Thanks for clarifying which thoughts you were referring to. My version of a building inspector is people here and my neighbor, so that's that. :lol:

I know that in many places, roof slopes need to be at least 23.5 degrees due to snow loads and the such BUT... no snow here... and water runs quickly enough off 22.5 degrees.

 

[swbluto]

I think I figured out the point of the 3x6s... they plan on putting doors there or something, so it's essentially framing for the doors. I noticed the studs on that side aren't evenly spaced and are quite far apart with the 3x6s between.

Looks like it might be framing for a 2 car garage.

Wait... no... looks like one large entry way connecting to other parts of the house and possibly two doors.

 

[swbluto]

On the topic of 4x6s that they put there.... maybe windows for the right one... yes, that'd make sense, because if there's a 3 foot wide window there, they couldn't put 16" studs spaced thru there.

But, would that make sense? Couldn't they just frame a window in the middle of the studs it'd intersect (Cutting the needed parts of the studs out for the window framing)?

https://blog.houseplans.com/article/framing-a-window

Oh, I see, they use load bearing headers for the doors (The 4x6s), and they do insersect the studs for the windows.

I think I'd rather put the 4x6 into place after I lifted the walls... looks like the wall would be light enough for one person to lift that way.

Looks like they use header blocks for the wider windows, needs the load bearings support for the top wall beams.

I see that if one put a 2x4 ontop of the wide window and studs ontop that like in the top image, the 2x4 would likely sag and not support the top wall beams.

 

[swbluto]

News report talking about 20% of 25-34 year olds (millenials) living at home. There's only really talk about millenials because they were the coming-of-age generation during the most recent "Great Recession", although sometimes I think maybe the year 2000 is just some special year that has a striking word associated with it.

Looks like according to this image we're back to pre-ww2 levels. It's interesting to note there was a runup in the figures just immediately prior to WW2... I hope this isn't suggesting a prelude to WW3, lol.

Looks like there's a near halving in the figure at around age 30. Makes sense in the modern economy, enough years out of college to have the income/savings to /just/ move out.

I spent about half of my 25-29 years at home. The other half was in Seattle, The military and now here, lol. And, this has been my most stable and highest paying gig yet, pays better than the military and it's going to keep on going up. I suspect it's been my most stable gig because 1) I could take it with me, lol and 2) I'm not going to fire myself, lol.

 

[swbluto]

Now... I need to really know if they do actually attach 2x(8-12s) on top of the wall framing as ceilng joists, like that guy did with his flat trusses. It seems like if you tried to attach a 2x8 to the wall like that, it wouldn't be stable since it'd resting on a 1.5" width of the 2x4. So, makes me wonder if they actually do that or if they only do that with trusses?

Looks like they do that for traditional ceilings.

What about floor joists between floors?

Looks like they do. How do they prevent those guys from falling sideways? Do they depend on these guys?

Looks like they call it blocking and they appear to use 8-12' spacing for the blocking wood.

Oh, I see... according to SF gate, the blocking inserts are used to reduce wobbliness in the floors, and one is supposed to run a lenth of wood on the outside of the floor joists to attach to, that prevents it from falling down. I already knew this for the bottom floor, but I thought the floor joists between floors would be different since it's attaching to the top of the wall framing and not resting on pier blocks. But, I see, it's exactly the same. That guys picture with the trusses confused me, thinking I'd just replace the trusses with 2x12s and nothing more, lol.

 

[Dauntless]

So she brings up this idea that women seek the jerk for the "Challenge," but I doubt it. I think we're talking more the problem that afflicts people in my situation, who don't realize they're trying to fix their lousy family life by fixing someone who is as unfixable as their family. I'm glad I learned young about 'Victim Rescuer/Persecutor'' and other pitfalls. I think most of what people have to say about such things are more what they feel good about saying and have nothing to do with reality.

But this girl is just attention seeking and doesn't much concern herself whether she gets it wrong or not. It's all about Rule 42 for her, eh? What the hey, Rule 42 is working for me when I get things right with the unpleasant truth, why not let her use it? Though I have to say her talkshow appearance reading the "Creepy" comments that simply weren't so bad and saying mean spirited things about them and playing victim when she makes these videos by that name, I don't think Rule 42 is enough in that case.

Oh, but I do think she's onto something on this PRETENDING to be bad, I've been known to do that.

[youtube]ur8MBPMIBBs[/youtube]

 

[swbluto]

So she brings up this idea that seek the jerk for the "Challenge," but I doubt it. I think we're talking more the problem that afflicts people in my situation, who don't realize they're trying to fix their lousy family life by fixing someone who is as unfixable as their family. I'm glad I learned young about 'Victim Rescuer/Persecutor'' and other pitfalls. I think most of what people have to say about such things are more what they feel good about saying and have nothing to do with reality.

But this girl is just attention seeking and doesn't much concern herself whether she gets it wrong or not. It's all about Rule 42 for her, eh? What the hey, Rule 42 is working for me when I get things right with the unpleasant truth, why not let her use it? Though I have to say her talkshow appearance reading the "Creepy" comments that simply weren't so bad and saying mean spirited things about them and playing victim when she makes these videos by that name, I don't think Rule 42 is enough in that case.

Oh, but I do think she's onto something on this PRETENDING to be bad, I've been known to do that.

[youtube]ur8MBPMIBBs[/youtube]

Her comment on "bitches and jerks" putting themselves the priority in their lives... i.e., thinking highly of themselves... yep, that's about spot on. The HEB chick definitely thought highly of herself and she sounded AND acted like it and THAT was very attractive. This is also true for guys, just as it is for girls. This is a mainpart of the "inner game" that's important in attraction: You're a high status and important person worth getting to know.

I will say... though... while that's important... making a decisive ballsy move as I did... really changes things in your favor very fast if you're a guy. So, making ballsy moves vs having a good inner game... I'd think the former can definitely be more decisive and significant.