Yesterday, we endured some of the strongest winds that I have ever seen in the year we've been here. The gusts were up to 100kph, and the normal speed was 75 kph. 35kph is considered strong wind, with 55kph being the threshhold for a wind warning.
Regretfully, my entire workshop collapsed. I was about 70% complete, I had just added a whole bunch of roof joists, and started putting on the roof sheathing. I was going to start stacking bales inbetween the posts, and placing the stucco mesh. The mesh might have made a difference, and provided some much needed lateral strength. Unfortunately, there was not as much strength on the side the wind was blowing from. If I had perhaps braced it more, or added the bales and mesh earlier, this would have been avoided....
As it is, the foundation and subfloor are completely intact, and the wood that comprised the structure is fine, or at least most of it is. We pulled it apart last night and stacked the pieces aside for later use. My plan at this point is fairly simple...build it again, 4 feet shorter. It was very challenging to build at 12 feet, and it really doesn't need to be THAT tall. 7.5 to 8 feet would be plenty. Enough room to work in, anyhow. What I really wanted from this structure is a place to put garden tools, maybe park a vehicle or so, and keep the water from freezing in the winter. If I can accomplish at least that last one, I will have succeeded this winter. It won't be easy, but perhaps a little heat tape and insulation will cover that. What will be a neater trick will be keeping the tank from freezing. It certainly won't freeze far, but the surface certainly will, especially without a building overhead to lock in some of the heat. I was toying with the idea of placing a small wood stove down beside it, but the platform is wood, and I don't want to risk a fire. I don't have any real way to vent the smoke yet. I doubt that the water will freeze yet, but it will as soon as we have a sustained frost.
I have an idea involving a small heat lamp mounted where the pump is, to keep the tempuratures hopefully just above freezing. Some reflective insulation should assist with that.
Now we come to the real interesting part...our future home! Or, at least the home before our home is built. After much research, we've found a housing solution that's easy, fast, and not expensive. It takes about 12 hours to erect (except for the foundation, add another 2 days for that), and costs about $15,000 roughly. It can be sold after we use it, and is insulated, wind and snow proof. It can be heated with wood, and you can separate it into rooms simply by erecting walls.
It's called a Yurt, and it originates from Mongolia, which is a very inhospitable place to live. If these guys survived in yurts, you know that they work!
Here's a photo:
This is the "frame" of a yurt. As you can see, it is built on a platform, and it is round.
This is the "finished product" It is a poly/canvas skin over the lattice, which is fire retardant, and very steady against the weather. Like I said, those Mongolians live in these things, and Mongolia is filled with mountains, which means wind. We only need this for about a year, until we get our home built up proper.
I just don't want to pay for this house anymore, and I need something fast for spring time. We do have another baby on the way!
Anyhow, I fully expect to see some brutally cold winter fairly soon, lasting at least 3 weeks and freezing everything just right solid...
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