Creating A Simpler Life Off-Grid

Our massive engineered retaining walls for our green roof earth sheltered home are ready for concrete to be poured! Be sure to like, comment and subscribe (and ring the bell) to see more of our off grid build here in the Adirondacks! We really appreciate it :-) All music featured in this video is from Epidemic Sound Get 1 free month through our affiliate link (we get a free month too!): https://www.epidemicsound.com/referral/j6bjma

The story of our off-grid water system over the last five years from drilling and fracking the well, through all the different ways we pumped it. We include the total final cost of everything including the cost of remediating the artesian well flood problem. LINKS TO FULL VIDEOS FEATURED in this VIDEO: A LOW YIELD WELL https://youtu.be/TpoWFBO9k0A FRACKING OUR WELL https://youtu.be/6vBxvboioac OFF GRID WATER FILLING OUR RV TANK https://youtu.be/_RgIrn52YIo ARTESIAN WELL PROBLEMS https://youtu.be/xszExHHGxl0 OFF GRID LIVING ISN'T EASY https://youtu.be/31XcNelHlMA ARTESIAN REMEDIATION & WELL PUMP INSTALL https://youtu.be/Mj1BBNu7RP0 SHOTCRETE ON THE DOME https://youtu.be/N1Rv-Ekk8fQ

It's all or nothing here on the off grid homestead and this week proved that to be true with the retaining walls getting started, the master closet progressing, and so much more!

Sol-Ark 12K 6 month review. We live 100% off-grid and we were using the Sol-Ark 12k for 6 months with no problems.....until we got caught in the firmware update trap! Today we are sharing what happened, how we fixed it, and what we learned along the way!

We chose to build a wood framed dual purpose off grid solar ground mount and in this video we share our reasons why, our design considerations, materials used, build, and total costs.

Our master bathroom took us 6 months to finish, but it was soooo worth it! Today we are sharing what we did from beginning to end and how much it cost.....where and how we saved money, and where we spent the most (unfortunately we had no choice). At the end we show you a total reveal and the grand total cost - truly a bargain with today's prices!

If you're thinking about using microcement on your vertical, or curved, shower walls, then watch this first to learn the truth about our experience using Surecrete Surespray ST microcement and the two part polyurethane sealer what it is really like to do yourself! We are building an unconventional, off-grid, earth sheltered home and we really wanted a rustic look in our master bathroom, however, because our home is dome shaped, the outside wall of the shower was curved and that created challenges for finishing the shower walls so we ended up designing and building a custom neo-angle shower. We decided that Surecrete Surespray ST microcement was the best option for the walls, but we learned a few things along the way, especially that it is definitely not as easy to do as so many of the videos and blogs we watched portrayed! In the end, we are very happy with the result (Kathie absolutely loves it), but would we ever do it again? CHAPTERS Intro 00:00 - 00:42 Why we chose microcement 00:43- 05:12 The First Coat of Microcement 05:13 - 09:17 The Second Coat - We ran out! 09:18 - 12:46 Huge Mistake 12:47 - 14:57 The final coat and finish 14:58 - 19:32 The 2 part polyurethane sealer Primer Coat 19:33 - 22:28 First & Second Coat of Sealer 22:29 - 25:21 Final Result 25:22 - 26:29 Our final thoughts 26:30 - 28:27 Teaser Ending 28:28 -29:05 ▬ *AFFILIATE LINKS for products SPECIFICALLY FEATURED or used IN the VIDEO ABOVE! ▬ ✅ Bon Tool 12-177 Rub Brick - Fluted 6" X 3" X 1" - 20 Grit - Plastic Handle https://amzn.to/3oLQYw3 All music featured in this video is from Epidemic Sound Get 1 free month through our affiliate link (we get a free month too!): https://www.epidemicsound.com/referral/j6bjma YOUTUBE PLAYLIST: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmsbph0gu2uwTEEpEoJIDSQfvcTP5O8Qk Our Amazon Store - where we have lists for all the products shared in our videos (note we earn a small commission if you shop through us, however it doesn't cost you any extra!) https://www.amazon.com/shop/creatingasimplerlifeoffgrid ▬ ABOUT US ▬ We are Rich & Kathie, a retired couple building our dream home: A SUPER ENERGY EFFICIENT OFF GRID earth sheltered home in the Adirondacks! The house will be covered with about 30" of soil which helps to maintain an internal temperature between 45 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit in winter & summer respectively. This means that in the winter we will only need minimal heat that we plan to provide with a small wood burning stove and we shouldn't need any air conditioning in the summer at all! With inflation right now, the energy efficiency of this house is a HUGE Plus! But, it also means that we have a super tight budget that is getting tighter by the day. For this reason we DIY everything we reasonably can and find creative ways to save money such as repurposing. Please subscribe and join us to see how we manage the challenges of staying in budget and exactly how energy efficient this house actually is when it is done! We appreciate all your support :-) #microcement #masterbathroom #custombuilt #shower #rusticdecor #rustic *A Note About Affiliates: This video and description may contain affiliate links to various products. If you click through and make a purchase, we will receive a small commission. It does not affect the price you pay in any way and we thank you in advance for your support :-)

Despite cold temperatures, windy days, rain, and incessant bugs, our off-grid build must go on and deadlines must be met!

We are literally making it up as we go! We are building an unconventional off-grid green roof concrete dome and the retaining walls are next up on the list. We need to prepare the side of the parapet walls so the retaining walls can but up against them, and we came up with a tentative plan. Will it work? Will we have to change it as we go? Check out the video to see how we truly make it up as we go!

We finally signed a contract with a concrete company to pour the retaining walls so now we have only a few short weeks to get ready! #deadline #buildingoffgrid

Welcome! We are Rich & Kathie, a retired couple building a self-sufficient homestead and unconventional off-grid green roof concrete dome from scratch in the Adirondack mountains. We hope you join us on our journey!