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Thank you. Yeah the posts are a concern of ours as well for exactly what you bring up. We were really surprised at how short the posts would have been and it made notching them to attach the beam really awkward.
Edit: We did not treat the cut ends. I watched a really good YouTube series afterward and was like yup, wish we did that.
I actually really recommend this book in particular: https://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-Complete-Guide-Updated/dp/1589236599
There's more to building a deck than just having it meet building codes, so I still found it useful.
Basic survival needs include food, water, and shelter (including protection from dangers\weather, clothing, and a safe place to get enough sleep). It looks like your fiance is working hard on the shelter part and on catching food. I would urge you to work on your food sources. What are you going to eat the first spring? Where will it come from. What will you plant first so that you can eat in the summer and into the fall. How much do you need to plant and how will you preserve your harvest for winter?
There are a lot of good resources out there. When we first started we bought "The Backyard Homestead" (book link below). There are probably better books out there, but this one is usually available used and it really helped me with ideas on what we could do. It has basic info on foraging, vegetables, meat, fruit & nuts, herbs and grains. Also includes info on canning and preserving.
Start off small. Practice with some gardening this next year if you can. TX is wonderful to try out a small fall garden right now, and you can plant this coming spring (usually in Feb) and start understanding what works for you. The Backyard Homestead
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The Backyard Homestead: Produce all the food you need on just a quarter acre! Paperback – February 11, 2009 by Carleen Madigan (Editor) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1603421386 https://www.reddit.com/r/AmazingDeals/comments/sk6866/58_off_now_794_best_seller_the_backyard_homestead/
It’s American, so not everything applies, but take a look at The Backyard Homestead: Produce All the Food You Need on Just a Quarter Acre.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1603421386
Be prepared to make (and eat) a lot of canned and pickled food.
Hi, I don't know of any post like that but this book helped me a ton with planning my homestead. I am doing a backyard version. Still a work in progress. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1603421386/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_2BCWYA7BE4S7N16ZPXVW
Congrats on the new property! I hope it becomes everything you want it to be. It sounds like you have some good basic goals to achieve and with some good planning, should be fairly easy to achieve.
The rain barrels are a great idea. Be sure to think about an electric pump. My barrels are fairly close to the ground, so I don't have enough head pressure to water directly from the barrels without a pump. My garden is fairly small, so I don't mind using a watering can.
I think renting your roof out to produce solar, only to still lose power when the grid goes down is a poor trade off. I got a quote a few years ago for a 5.3 KW system that was only $17,000. With financing options and a down payment, you can own the panels and keep your electricity on when the grid goes down.
I also recommend the book "The Backyard Homestead" and the companion book "TBH Guide to Farm Animals."
Good luck on your new adventure!
- I don't think you will need to attach it to the wall. I think leaving a few inches are fine.
- In the concrete, you will insert mounting hardware. There a number of different types (like j-hooks). Other options are skids or paver blocks. Both cases, you will need a level base of gravel.
- It looks like the slope is not to bad and you can do a box frame to hold the gravel using treated lumber.
- Based on the width, I doubt you would need additional support.
- My guess is the slope will be about a 5 to 6 inches.
Black and Decker: the complete guide to Sheds has plans for this exact shed that you are working on building. Here it is on amazon.
Also, here's a pretty awesome book about greenhouses that the director and founder of Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute, Jerome Osentowski, wrote about making greenhouses high up in the Rocky Mountains. This might help you with planning for growing tropical plants in such a cold zone.
The Forest Garden Greenhouse [Amazon link for book description]
Amazon has the book out of print: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0711238898/
There are some photos, but you can't even "look inside" at the table of contents, which is pretty sad. No ebook option either. No used books on the market either.
OTOH, it looks like he has several other books on the exact same topic, ~~so they might be updated/expanded editions by another name~~ eh, they all look like they predate this book, except for one. And that one is not in English.
It turns out this is a thing. Google 'mini farm'.
I think this is the book my wife has. Or it is very similar. It claims to be able to sustain off just 1/4 acre! I just cannot imagine.
I think part of the problem is that my property is mostly woods. I'd have to do an immense amount of cutting to get enough sun in for planting. As such, I probably feel I need more land than I do.
When we were first getting started (before we left the suburbs), we really enjoyed this book: https://smile.amazon.com/Backyard-Homestead-Produce-food-quarter/dp/1603421386/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525797710&sr=8-1&keywords=backyard+homestead
It's breadth is "a mile wide and an inch deep" but it helped to scratch the surface and help us find what we wanted to do and research more versus what we weren't interested in trying right away. It's a pretty easy read and just touches on many topics providing just enough information to get you started doing a project, basic troubleshooting with that item, and then moves on to a new topic.
Excellent cover-all type book, IMO: The Backyard Homestead. Wife uses it, has good intro points on a lot of topics. Be resourceful; pigs are garbage eaters, have variety in your veggies to spread out the burden of harvest season, and be prepared to give it some time. Like most quality en devours, it takes time. But you can change your homestead around your land - depends on your willingness to work with what you've got. Not everyone needs hundreds of acres.
I think you need to back track a little and look into deck codes. You should not be using 2x4 anything for a deck, unless it is for railings. The link below is to a good book on deck building I would recommend.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1561584797/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
That being said I would rent a jack hammer and bust up those steps then attach a proper ledger onto the house and dig footings for the other end of the deck.
Floating footings might work for a few years but eventually your deck is going to settle / crack the concrete / etc and you will be redoing it.
I toured the author's greenhouse in the high mountains of CO. Pretty crazy to see bananas growing in a place that gets many feet of snow in the winter. https://www.amazon.com/Forest-Garden-Greenhouse-Design-Permaculture/dp/1603584269
This, and some of the other ones in that series like the animal one, are pretty good for getting started. Not super in depth, but a great resource for just starting out - especially in smaller spaces.
The siding and the flashing aren't that complicated. A decent reference book to walk you through the process is handy. I tend to like the Black and Decker books. https://www.amazon.ca/Black-Decker-Complete-Guide-Updated/dp/1589236599
Does your county have a codebook document available? I am in the middle of a deck project and I downloaded a pdf off my count website. I was able to find it via a google search.
I would also recommend this book, it has a lot of great info
As for your question your footing would have to be closer to the house then 5 ft in my county as code will not allow a cantilever out that far.
They also state to dig down to undisturbed soil in this case. If the house is 100 years old that might not be very deep. Again you should look up the code for footing depths.
I would recommend this book if you plan to do it yourself
It does not have anything but it has enough about stairs that I am considering doing them myself when I do my deck next summer.
That being said you have a 3rd level deck which is a huge undertaking and a legitimate safety concern when working on it. I have a 2nd level deck that is at most 8 ft high so I feel comfortable working on it. I am not sure I would on your deck.
Congrats on the move!
I recommend this book to help get you started. It gives you a lot of ideas that you can fine tune to get you going...
I definitely suggest doing a lot of research on both techniques to make the best deck and safest, then planning the entire thing, and most importantly not rushing to try to get the deck done in one weekend. I know about twelve years ago, my father built a deck in our backyard on his own by hand (definitely his proudest DIY project). He did tons of research and reading as well as speaking to a contractor friend. We still have some of the books he bought in the house and I definitely suggest buying or checking one out of the library. Home Depot has some good books on building decks, I always am a fan of the magazine, The Family Handyman and know they also have a book on decks ( http://www.amazon.com/The-Family-Handyman-Instructions-Expanding/dp/0762104287 ) which I think is the one my dad used. In fact, FH has some great articles in their magazines about these types of projects, that range from in depth plans to tricks and tips to avoid frustration.
Long story short, anyone can slap something together in a weekend, but a good, safe, and long lasting project that you can be proud of takes careful time and planning, especially when it's something where people could get injured on if done incorrectly.
On another note, this type of project may require permits from your town, especially if you live near wetlands, not saying they will stop you from doing it now, but it could cause some big problems later if you don't take care of it now.
Better Homes and Gardens has a lot of info. Here's a spot to start with. http://www.bhg.com/gardening/landscaping-projects/landscape-basics/landscape-design-for-beginners/
There's also a Dummies book for landscaping. I've used some of the other books in the series and they're pretty decent. http://www.amazon.com/Landscaping-For-Dummies-Phillip-Giroux/dp/0764551280
I just wanted to share this deck framing connection/building guide I found recently on Home Depot's website given the two recent deck builds.
Edit: While I do not own this book I do own two of the others they put out, repair and wiring, so I feel safe recommending Black & Decker The Complete Guide to Decks, Updated 5th Edition: Plan & Build Your Dream Deck Includes Complete Deck Plans.
You could flip through a book like this at the home center to see if anything looks good. Buy it or the referenced plans if you find anything. Or check the library.
I started down this road, decided life's too short and bought one of these instead. Guy showed up with this beautiful shed on a trailer behind a pickup, shingled to match my house.
I'd go to Antarctica and hunker down with this alongside billions of dollars worth of fuel, provisions, and an icebreaker to hang out on and plink penguins from.