Building Alaska: becoming a homeowner in the 49th state

In reply to PHeller:

Labor is more expensive (top 10 states for minimum wage), materials are more expensive, you need a lot more insulation (Fairbanks gets a bit chilly), building on that wet permafrost stuff up north is sort of specialized. I'm a little excited to see what they do for a foundation, because the only one I've seen built up there was jacks on piers. I assume things have improved

I'm down in Juneau and Fairbanks looks pretty affordable to me. $154k here would buy a trailer on a quarter acre in a bad neighborhood shadowed by a mountain, a cleared quarter acre in a mediocre neighborhood, or ~800 sq ft of condo on our local island, shadowed by a mountain. It probably looks strange to mention the mountain shadows, but there are maybe 100 sunny days and it is a shame to watch them go by your house but never feel the sun.

How long until you nab one of these?

We'll have a post and pad foundation. The ground needs to be insulated from the house so it doesn't melt if there is permafrost. The way our soils work up here there will be settling so the post and pad allows leveling of the house easily. And it's easier to insulate against thermal loss to the air rather than through the ground.

I have a feeling your friends house's walls are going to be about half as thick as mine. 2x6 construction with another 6-8" of exterior foam between the studs and siding, remote wall construction costs more.

We'll have a Heat Recovery Ventilation (HRV) system. Basically it uses the outgoing 65 degree exhaust air to heat the incoming fresh -40 degree air (or colder) in winter, keeping things MUCH warmer in the house.

Heating with wood is cheaper than heating with oil, but isn't the best idea in a superinsulated house due to combustion. They'd have to be externally fed so it doesn't eat all the air in the house and cause immense amounts of suction around the doors, windows, stove hood, etc and then we'd have to worry about CO leaks. I'm REALLY going to miss our pellet stove, but that amount of BTU's really won't be necessary.

Booze prices are what they are because of alcohol taxes, just like most states. Up here it's the only thing taxed other than gasoline basically, so it's not all bad. Plus I'm a liquor salesman, so I haven't had to buy alcohol all that much.

skierd,

I've gotta say, this thread has come a long way since your minimalist days on the bike and your declaration of FREEDOM from being tied down.

Guess stuff changes when you've found your own paradise and someone to enjoy it with.

mtn wrote:

dculberson wrote: Interesting it looks like the house is up on small piers - wouldn't it be more efficient to have no air under it?

I'd imagine that it wouldn't with the perma frost. I know that when I'm outside all day in the cold, I try to have a piece of cardboard or a milk crate to put my feet on.

I recall reading somewhere that if the heat from the house melts the permafrost it will slowly sink into the mud unevenly. So the house is built on piers which are insulated at the top to keep that from happening.

skierd, congratulations!

Is Fairbanks in the permafrost zone? According to my handydandy Replogle® globe, its clearly below the Arctic circle.

Yes there's plenty of permafrost in Fairbanks. Lots of off-kilter and sunken buildings and lumpy bumpy roads to attest to that. Doesn't look like there's any on the surface where we're building , and there shouldn't be since this area was all clear cut 50-75 years ago for a mining operation that's left scars all over the region. Clear cutting usually melts the permafrost pretty quickly.

And yes PHeller, paradise and someone to enjoy it with is a great momentum killer. Solo was good, but having a good companion makes it so much sweeter. She loves to travel as much as I do thankfully AND understands my need to go for a ride after work, etc. Besides she rides ATV's and snowmachines too, and my next motorcycle purchase will have two-up riding in mind.

Progress!

Most of the pad is down, the foundation hole is lined, and the poop hole (septic system) is dug out!

The Gold Miner show taught me that you're supposed to run the gray dirt. That's where the gold is.

YAY! More pikturs! Less talky talky more pickturs.

Oh... and you're giving me bad ideas. Wife and I have been watching those stupid "Building Alaska/Buying yadda yadda Alaska is awesome" shows on TLC/Discovery etc.

Septic leach field is in, septic tank is in, and holding tank is in.

Hi babe!

Water

Septic

The rest of the lot again

The view, again

Question, whats up with the cistern?

We won't have running water at the property, and the aquifer is full of heavy metals due to the gold and mining activity. We still might dig a well in the future and use a filtering/treatment system, but for now we're going to pay for it to be delivered and learn to conserve. Pretty common in Alaska actually, and something the rest of the country especially the southwest could learn a lesson from...

In any event, FINALLY some progress! We've had the rainiest summer in 50 years and have not been able to get any building done until last week. The driveway survived thankfully, and the septic and cistern were installed before the rain started and are in good shape. On wednesday, the footers were finally poured.

We've also flipped the lay out of the house due to the lay of the lot.

And the interior

First floor rendering, with the final kitchen layout (but not colors). Additionally the washer/dryer and utilites will be covered and we're hoping to have a barn door for the half bath.

Seriously though, how will the washing machine in your rendering work without running water?

Who says we won't have running water? There are ways to get water to run off the grid. ;) Hint, it's the tanks under the stairs. There's a pump to pull water out of the cistern and a pressure tank to pressurize the house's water system.

Sorry to hear about the slow progress due to rain. I will need to visit Alaska some time to see the natural beauty for myself, unfortunately being southern born and raised leaves me with little apatite for the cold.

Nice. I only went to Fairbanks once and it was thankfully in the middle of June so I got to witness the nearly never ending day. Based on some of the houses I saw between Fairbanks and Fort Greely, I figured there were no such things as building codes in that state. Pretty country up there no question about it, but I wouldn't want to deal with the winters.

Keep posting house updates as it comes along.

I'd be a weirdo and figure out how to live in my Super Cub.

Correct, there aren't any building codes in Alaska. You can build yourself a plywood shack with a tarp roof and toothpick foundation if you want. Be a bitch to heat in winter though...

neon - It's 75 and sunny today, like most of sunny when it's not a monsoon year. :) Summers here almost make up for the winter, and the winters are prettier.

appleseed - you woulnd't be the first, or last. Hell there's a guy living in a DC10 on the Old Steese Highway. Probably best to build yourself a small cabin near an open field to fly in and out of at your leisure.

Things are moving along a lot faster than I expected!

8/12 - The main floor is in and insulated

8/13 - 1st floor is basically framed out...

...and I get to walk through my front door for the first time!

8/14 - Stopped by the wife's job to pick her up for a lunch date at the house. 2nd floor is going up!

Wife's happy, life's good!

This is awesome.

skierd wrote:

I see you are stocking up on Wonder Bread as well. Won't a trailerfull go bad before you can eat it all? LOL.

Seriously, I love the ceiling and beams in this shot. That is going to look SO AWESOME!

I'm a building science geek (as in "I read about it for fun") so I think this is really cool. I hope your builder doesn't berkeley up the window edge detailing.

that looks like some VERY sturdy construction.

I love it! I've often daydreamed about doing similar construction but with 2x4's on edge staggered on the outside of the 2x6's so you can double insulate. There would be no "bridging" of the insulation that way. But it would probably make more sense to just put 1" of foam under the siding instead.

Anyway, looks like you'll have a great, comfy house.