Inspired by some of the calamities seen on Homestead Rescue and Homestead Intervention, i've been designing some off grid living ideas with the help of AI.
Main dwelling, basic rectangle shape and simple pent roofline, south facing frontage with main living area, seating, dining, kitchen on first floor with roof overhang and pier abutments either side. Building design and construction simplicity seems key to me - adding hips and valleys are just weak points regarding wind or driving rain during monsoons imo.
Concrete and reinforced trench footing, rebar dowel pins protruding into lower block courses, 10inch cmu blockwork 2 courses below grade coated with bituminous foundation paint, the whole structure built in 10inch cmu blocks with rebar running from footing to rebar ring beam roofline/wallplate height and cores grouted, cast insitu or precast reinforced concrete lintels over all openings, exterior of building rolled on weather resistant liquid vapor barrier, house wrapped in rigid EPS insulation board glued and mechanically fixed, rendered over with base coat, fibreglass mesh and a top coat of coloured stucco which is a common house finish in that part of the country. Insulation and stucco starts 8" inches up off grade with a base track flashing/drip edge to discourage termites.
Roofs seem to be where a lot of diyer homesteaders/self builders run into problems, the most common fault you see is not appreciating the concept of hot or cold roof, people stuff Rockwool insulation up between the rafters, warm moist living space air rises up through it and hits the cold underside of roof sheeting OSB/Plywood etc with no ventilation and condenses into water droplets which can A) Cause mould and B) Soak the insulation which destroys the insulating value.
This roof design was a hot roof, the rafter and roof deck are below the insulation, then a vapor barrier, multilayer staggered joint PIR board, breathable membrane ontop, extra long screws and battens running above the rafters/insulation fixing the insulation down onto the rafters and counter battens to accept the metal roofing sheets, this design allows any condensation on the underside of the metal roofing sheets to either be vented away or drip and run down the breather membrane, the high side and low side soffits would be vented with insect mesh to create air flow.
Ground floor would be a floating reinforced concrete slab on heavy grade vapor barrier/dpc, PIR board insulation with thinner strips of PIR board upstands so the slab would be thermally isolated from the ground and exterior walls.
The 1st floor construction could possibly be considered extravagant/costly and would require craning in but continuing with the solid/concrete/rot proof theme - I'd opted for precast hollowcore concrete floor sections resting 4.5" into the rebar and grouted cmu walls and then grout screeded locked in place with precast concrete stairs from ground to 1st floor. This method could cause work with regards to running plumbing and electrics but i thought a practical and aesthetic design would be a semi industrial look with neatly run, laid out and saddle mounted metal conduit and heavy duty surface mounted switches, junction boxes etc and exposed copper plumbing lines, this also gives easy access for alterations or repairs.
That's a rough idea for the main dwelling, not elaborate, basically a solid thermally stable, moisture controlled rot proof concrete box with a single pitch simple roof line, also fire resistant.
During the design it was planned that the main dwelling would actually be the last thing that gets built, I wouldn't even pull an RV or caravan onsite until a well was drilled and pump installed, septic tank system, proper free standing tiltable solar array on heavy duty corten or galvanized poles. The first building to go up would be a large steel portal frame workshop sat on deep concrete piles with slot in concrete wall panels, goes up quick, somewhere to store stuff out of the weather, could have an electrical panel and batteries for the solar, pull your RV into it to get out the sun.
An idea for a greenhouse was a sheltered twinwall polycarbonate lean to style, with Myers style lego blocks and earth bank acting as shelter from winds and providing thermal mass in the evenings or cooler months, the backside of the blocks would have membrane, crushed stone and ground drain behind it though.
These plans are more off grid living than homestead and even with doing as much as you can yourself - AI had the costs already up around $500k and i don't think that even included buying the land. Having wells drilled in northern Arizona can get deep and when you're paying by the foot for the drilling and pipe casings the costs add up fast, same goes for the solar, if you want the solar to eventually power your main residence, all the modern conveniences and some power for your workshop you'll want a serious set up. I guess once everything is set up and paid for your cost of living is minimal and you're not reliant on the state's utilities, still need some income though could add some livestock - hardy chickens, goats, turkeys? Bees in that region, honey? Grow produce suited to that region, Aloe vera, prickly pear? Some greenhouse produce? Dead desert hardwood crafts? Wouldn't personally get involved with any camping glamping rental stuff - that's dealing with people 😂
Probably loads of stuff i've missed off but you get the gist and it's been a pointless exercise because I'm not an American citizen nor live in Arizona but it was an interesting exercise learning some of the differences in building techniques between a desert type environment like Arizona and the UK, the main differences would be things like a cavity in the UK where there's an air gap between the outer and inner skins of masonry to stop damp bridging caused by the outer facing bricks getting wet with driving rain, the UK generally has deeper trench footings often with no rebar where as a climate like Arizona generally has shallower reinforced foundations due to seismic activity.
