Bigfoot Systems pier footing forms.

Here are some useful tips to ensure your footings are installed properly and the integrity of your project is maintained:

Select a footing form that can carry the weight of your new construction and has met the proper building codes. Select a footing form made of environmentally friendly, study materials. Ensure you are placing the footing form on solid ground. The more solid the ground, the less likely movement will occur.

Install your footings 4 to 6 inches below the forst line to avoid potential movement. If you are in an area without frost, then the form should be backfilled 2 feet to hold it in place when it is being filled with concrete.

Should rebar be required, pour concrete into the system first. Insert three or four No. 4 or 5 rebar rods into the tube. To determine the length of rebar, measure the distance from the top of the tube to the air holes located on the footing form before you place the system in the excavation and backfill. Purchase the amount of concrete stated on the form label. You will use all of it.

Use an inverted footing form as a funnel to pour the concrete into the system.

Miller Products & Supply Co.
1801 N. Stephenson Ave. Iron Mountain, MI 49801
ph: 906-774-1243

concrete needed per pier: 2.926 cubic feet (6" tube, six feet long)
80# bag of Sacrete or Quikrete (pre-mixed cement, sand and gravel) is 0.6 cubic foot, so I'll need about 5 bags per pier.

I'm still playing with the floor plan; square or rectangular? The square building space is more economical with building supplies, but the longer building will give more face to the sun. Hmm. The current floor plan is 20'x30' and would require about 30 piers, so 150 80-lb bags of concrete. 90 cubic feet of concrete, compared to 250 cubic feet if we were to pour a slab.

Load bearing: green roof 90 lbs/sq ft plus snow load of an additional 60 lbs/sq ft, for a total of 150 lbs/sq foot (733 kg/m2).

Oh, bother. I'm going to have to hire a structural engineer.

A couple of days ago, I posted about designing an off grid system, and johnpalmer mentioned low-energy clothes washing.

Which, with two kids and three adults seems kinda crazy. But I thought I'd check it out. (goes to youtube)

I'd heard elissaann mention having something like this. Watching the video, I'm intrigued! I probably do one to two loads of laundry a day, mostly kids clothes. Even if it took an hour to do, I think that the savings would be well worth it!

I dunno, what do you think? Much less water, much less electricity, much less soap. More effort, but doable.

Simply Good Stuff review of Wonder Wash says "Does It Really Work? Yes it does. Our own testing has been quite impressive, but several other independent parties also agree. The loads come out exactly as clean as they do with a conventional washing machine, but it takes a whole lot less time. You won't be able to wash as many items at once, but your results will be great each and every time. It doesn't look like it would be able to wash clothing, but once you use it, the fresh and clean laundry will be proof enough."

And then there's drying the clothes. The Nina Soft Spin costs under $200 and spins the laundry almost dry. After spinning, you hang the clothes up to finish the process. Again, from Simply Good Stuff: "100 times more energy efficient that traditional dryers, this large capacity, portable version will pull water out of clothing in three minutes or less. It doesn't blow hot air at your laundry, or use a bunch of electricity. Instead, the drum spins at 1800 RPM's to pull moisture out via centripetal force. This gentle action is incredibly efficient, but way less harmful to your clothing."

This sounds amazing! I am intrigued.