Buildng Technique Question

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Molo

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I live in upstate NY where the freezes can go easily 4 ft down, and sometimes deeper if there is traffic from a driveway driving the frost down.

Is there a way to biuld a year-round home on posts without a foundation, and still keep your water lines coming into the home from freezing?

There is a nice looking home on posts/piers nearby that has no foundation. I'm wondering how he gets his water line in there.

Any ideas? Anyone?

Thanks, Molo in the cold woods
 
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Cass

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There must be an area where utilities / water come in that is protected from cold. When you say "without a foundation" do you mean you can look across the house under it?
 
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Molo

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Yes Cass,
There is no foundation! I agree there must be a place where the utilities are coming in. But how does he keep the water from freezing? I really want to figure this out because building on piers could be much more affordable than building on slab, poured walls, or block walls.

Thanks, Molo
 

Verdeboy

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I read recently, here or on another forum, that for every foot or so thickness of foam insulation, the frostline decreases by a couple feet. But you'll have to research this, since I don't remember the exact numbers.
 

Molo

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Still need to figure out how to get the water line from the ground into the house, this could be as much as a 3' distance through open air. Any ideas?

Thanks, Molo
 

Cass

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Have you walked around the house and looked closely. I'm sure you will see how it was done.

Walk up and knock on the door and ask. I bet the owner will be glad to show you how it was done.
 

Jimbo

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Being from cold Northern San Diego ( winter temp sometimes dips into the 40's) I don't know how they do it. Logic would tell me you would have to build a chase from the ground up to the floor level, which would have to be heated.

Let us know what the real answer is.
 

Verdeboy

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molo said:
Still need to figure out how to get the water line from the ground into the house, this could be as much as a 3' distance through open air. Any ideas?

Thanks, Molo

That would be the easiest part, since there would be no digging. You could wrap it with heating tape and cover it in insulation.
 

Molo

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Cast Iron Pitcher Pump!

Well........I talked to the homeowner today. He has a hand-operated pitcher pump inside his house! He has a way that the water drains out of the water pipe below ground, therefore, there is never water just sitting above ground in the pipe between the ground and the bottom of the house. (about a 3'air space because the home is built on posts). He also told me that he live in the home for 8.5 yrs without electricty. For showers he heats water on a stove and then puts it into a 5-gallon bucket attached to his shower head! This is very interesting. He also has a composting toilet because it costs about 10k to build a septic system here.
I wonder how his water pressure is on the shower?

Molo
 

Verdeboy

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molo said:
Well........I talked to the homeowner today. He has a hand-operated pitcher pump inside his house! He has a way that the water drains out of the water pipe below ground, therefore, there is never water just sitting above ground in the pipe between the ground and the bottom of the house. (about a 3'air space because the home is built on posts). He also told me that he live in the home for 8.5 yrs without electricty. For showers he heats water on a stove and then puts it into a 5-gallon bucket attached to his shower head! This is very interesting. He also has a composting toilet because it costs about 10k to build a septic system here.
I wonder how his water pressure is on the shower?

Molo

I like simplicity, but that's a little too much, even for me.:)
 

Cass

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If you want to build the same type of home you will want to build an insulated chase that all the utilities came in through and it could be built in such a way that it used ground heat to keep the water lines from freezing. I have seen water pump out "buildings" that were about 4' x 4' x 4' high that were heated with a light bulb and never froze.

It doesn't take a lot of heat to prevent water from freezing. Just stay 1-2 degrees above 32F.
 

Cass

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I have installed automatic horse watering systems that run a 1/2" water line in a 6" insulated PVC chase that gos down into the ground 5' and above ground about 3-4'. The ground heat rises and gets trapped and is enough to prevent freezing.

It does have a small heater, only to keep the dish the horse drinks out of from freezing, it keeps the dish water at about 40 degrees or so, if memory serves me right.
 
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PEW

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We have a home on the Chesapeake Bay where new homes along the water are often now up on piers due to building codes. Heat tape and insulation are used around here.

Paul
 
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