Well Pump House & Utility House

[ThufirHawit]

Good Afternoon to all,

New to the forum, this is a repost to the general session form the Intro thread since I have questions about my buildings... and more.

I'm on 16acres in Centerville, TN, and will be off grid, so power is a premium (heating/cooling). Since my closest neighbor is a mile a way, I need to make sure everything is solid, as there won't be help coming in a storm!

When building the Well Pump house and 'wash' house, I am concerned with the water freezing, an then staying cool (wash house) in the summer. I've chosen CMU and ICF in this area because of the insulation (keeping cool) for the summer, other hunters (TN; Patron state of shootin' stuff), and TN Tornados.

I will be building:
1) Well Pump and 1500gal water storage house (12' x 20'? x 10'h). Standard door with 10'x10' overhead rolling door; in case I need to replace the water tank.

2) Wash/storage 2-story house (15'x30'x16h) -- still on fence as to making it 2-story 16'h CMU OR, 8' block with 8' wood frame on top, but that may be hot in the summer (suggestions?).

3) ICF Victorian Home (Will sleep on second story of wash house while building)

My questions:

Q1 When building the structures, would I put rebar through out the Cinder Block cavities? Or every 4 feet? I assume that would come up from the footers?

Q2 When I fill ALL cavities, should I use the Expanded Poly (EPS) to help insulate the buildings on the outside? Or will the filled concrete be enough?

Q3 Filling ALL the CMU cavities, would I need a different/bigger footer?

Q4 Would there be any other insulation ideas I should consider for the inside of both buildings?

Thank you for your time.
If you have any advice you can give to a new DIY for my buildings, that would be greatly appreciated.

 

[readhead]

What's a wash house?

 

[justanengineer]

I'll leave the building insulation questions for others, but regarding water I would say so long as you're careful and use common sense you shouldnt have an issue with water freezing nor helping provide cooling in summer. A small amount of constant flow should prevent freezing and allow use of its cooling properties

Not sure what methods exactly youre planning for plumbing, but like many my great, great grandfather did as many before "the grid" - diverted part of a stream through a concrete sewer built into the 1876 farmhouse basement floor, into a large open concrete pool set into the middle, and out the other side of the house. The pool was their water source, natural refrigerator, and the water flowing helped naturally cool the lower levels of the house during summer. It also provided a cool swimming hole in-house for several generations which was great during hot summers.

When building my childhood home my parents took advantage of flow to prevent freezing. Water flowed through a 3" pipe from a natural spring back in the woods into an exposed uninsulated concrete holding tank - ~4' diameter x 4' deep, then was pumped from the bottom of the tank up ~100' elevation change to the house. To keep the tank from freezing in bad winters, they put a 3" pipe "spillway" near the top of the tank - it kept water constantly flowing through the top of the tank (where it might freeze from) even when the house wasnt using water.

Best of luck with your build, sounds like an awesome project and a great place to live. JMO but I'd love to see this continue into a build thread w/pics.

 

[ThufirHawit]

What's a wash house?

We refer to it as a "Wash House" as that is what I see in most private RV parks; A building dedicated to bathroom and laundry facilities.
Ours, of course, would be morphed into a two-story cabin/washhouse/utility kitchen.

Preliminary Specs:
15'w x 30'L x 16'h

First Story: 8' high, all cinderblock (CMU) to house the following -- Small Kitchen (Fridge, LP Range, Sink, Counters and Cabinets), Front loading Washer & Dryer, Bathroom (Tub, Standing shower, Toilet, Vanity/Sink), 1 or 2 deep freezers.

Second Story: 8' Wood framed on top of CMU first floor; Large utility room (with bed, dressers, etc..etc..)
In this county, you can build any structure you want WITHOUT a building permit as long as:
1) It is under 600sq ft WITH living quarters;
OR
2) It has NO living quarters (bedrooms with a Closet), then unlimited SQ Ft.

Ok..... so that's a REALLY long answer to "What's a wash house"

 

[Handyfarmer]

there is nearly no insulation in concrete block or concrete wall,

fur out and insulate and cover the wall, or do either the in side or the out side,

the concrete will be thermo mass, when it is cold it will stay cold and when warm it will stay warm.

 

[matt_i]

Does off grid mean you use an internal combustion generator 24x7 or solar or you simply have no electricity...

The thing about ICF construction is that it has a lot of mass to resist temperature changes, but without something driving heat in or out, the mass can only be a "thermal resistor" for so long.

If you plan to build a full house with ICF I think I'd use that same material for your wash house so you can get familiar with the materials and methods, if any mistakes are made (and there are always oopses on any project) then hopefully you will learn from them when you do Phase 2 of the project.

 

[rayra]

The ICF forms themselves add R value to the walls, have you considered that in your designs?
A Victorian is also great opportunity for a wraparound porch, whose width and roofing can be worked together with your latitude to completely block any direct sunlight on the south and west walls of your first story in the summertime, while allowing the lower winter sun to strike those walls. Thus impacting your solar insolation in the proper ways, seasonally.
Same for the placement of the house in relation to any mature deciduous trees.

Look into the pre-airconditioning designs and placements of high ceilings, atriums, cupolas, breezeways, tall windows that open at both top and bottom. There are lots of ways in both home design and placement to maximize your surroundings and thermodynamics to make it much easier to cool or warm your home. If you aren't already set on your design, now is the time to incorporate those features. Especially in an 'off-grid' situation. Especially where winters can be quite cold.

 

[Cyberbear]

One thing I'd recommend is a 6" concrete stem wall in the well pump house building. I poured a typical flat concrete floor and over the years have experienced a number of leaks. A stem wall will allow water to exit out under the door, thus preventing a lot of water damage. We once had a leak that sprayed water on much of what was stored in our 10 x 10" building we used for pump control and misc. storage items in cardboard boxes.