Need housing ideas for remote location

Do you have pictures of the village ? Can you tell whats been built there before? Pay speciall attention to houses that buit with out government assitance.
Id design a SMALL house build it then take it apart. And when i say buiild I mean every detail Id flip the lights on walk out top the out house carry water in and out throw a log on the fire In short Id live in it THEN take it apart and ship it.
And Id still expect to pay a fortune to fly stuff in that I forgot.
If the town has Postal service a lot of times its the cheapest shipping available.

1. don't give up on the shipping container. If you take a container that is insulated go in with additional insulation it is tight and you can ship it built. The empty space you fill with premade walls that are built on haft wall design and roof sections.
You go have the two containers set on piers for permafrost heave and you have livable space. you then add roof and additional walls for the rest of the house. What you end up with is shippping containers set side beside with a room inbetween. One is the kitchen one is two small bedrooms. the in between has the living room and stove.
Most wood would have come from the container space when shipped.

In some places the recomend you just "Float" the house on a layer of foam insualation

I've got to get ready for work, but wanted to let everyone know that I appreciate the comments! One thing I should mention is that I have lived in Alaska before. I was raised on a homestead in the Interior, have lived as an adult in the Interior and, briefly, in Juneau, and went to college in Sitka, and have been pretty much all over Southeast Alaska. I have not been to the Alaska Peninsula, but have a pretty good idea of what we'll be getting into there. Snow amounts are not high, and permafrost in this particular location is unlikely. The village I'm looking at does have land available. And I do have family in Alaska who will probably be able to come help me get set up when we first go there. There may also be several other new families moving there at the same time, and we'd be able to help one another. Our resources are small (but sufficient to live on), but Lord willing, I'll have some money from an inheritance which will make it possible to buy land and building materials, and get everything shipped.

I may be able to post some pictures later, but right now I need to get to work!

Kathleen

What is influencing you into this particular place?

I agree, grouping your water needs in one central area is the best way to go... at least in normal areas. I seriously doubt if you'll have any running water, so it's irrelevant. More'n likely you'll be hauling drinking water, and using a honeybucket system for a commode. When I stayed in Nome, everyone had honeybuckets... once you acclimate to it, it's alright... beats a trot to the outhouse in minus degree weather.

On shipping containers, trick would be to get one at least 8' high... if you can find one of those, you could prebuild your four walls, roof and flooring sections, bolt them all together on site. I'd probably try the SIP route if at all possible, otherwise make sure the walls with regular insulation are bombproof tight... squirrels love insulation... trick on prebuilding would be to have panels long enough yet 'portable' enough to maneuver together.

If I had several weeks to build "I" would just have the container stuffed with the floor joists, studs, roof joists, plywood, interior and exterior walls, insulation, etc., and put it together on site. If you have a 'prefab' in the container, and there's damage, you have to have a way of repairing the sections before they all go together.

good luck....

will you be 'net' less? The wilderness wouldn't bother me much, not having access would!

__________________
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

Fantasymaker, the reason I like this particular location is because it's close enough to the ocean for good fishing, has a milder climate and a longer growing season than the Interior of Alaska, and has no property taxes. (There are locations in the Interior that have no property taxes, but the climate is a lot harsher, and the growing season shorter.)

Texican, you are correct that we wouldn't have running water. We would have a well (I already have the hand pump, and the house would go over the well, so the pump would be indoors where it couldn't freeze). We would also have a septic system -- there is a well-drilling rig in the village, and equipment for doing septic systems, so all I'd need to do is bring in the components. So the house would have a drain system, but not a water-supply system. I want to get a wood cook stove with a large water reservoir on it, but we would get along fine even if we had to heat all our water in kettles on the stove. Originally I intended to use a sawdust toilet (we've used one before for about a year and it was fine), but I realized that in that area we'd have more water for flushing than organic material to put in the bucket, so it's probably best to just go with the septic system. (When we used the sawdust toilet we purchased peat or sawdust to put in the bucket; in the village location, there is no sawmill to produce sawdust; there is no source of peat -- I already asked; and while we might grow small amounts of grains for our animals, there wouldn't be enough straw for this purpose.)

I'm leaning towards just collecting all the materials and stuffing them into a container (or two, if necessary). I'm pretty sure that if I pay for the trip, one or both of my brothers would come out and give me a hand getting the cabin framed in, and I could do the rest myself. I could frame it myself, it would just take longer. As I emptied the containers, they could be converted into barns.

Yes, there is 'net out there -- no phone, but they do have internet, LOL! It's satellite, so I suppose it's expensive, but if you have no other expenses it's probably manageable.

I'm going to try to post a couple of pictures of the general area.

If I were you I would still prefab the walls floor and roof to speed setup.
to save space you might consider metal siding as well roofing , not as rustic but it would nest nicely and not take up much space.
I would also add the lofts in the loft nearest the sink and bath I would put either a large water tank or bladder and have gravity feed water to the sink and bath.
Being on or near the coast with a fairly constant wind a well constructed small windmill to supply a little battery bank would be a plus as well .
and a lean too type green house could add a bit of extra space as well as provide an early start to seedlings.

Yes, storage containers can be used. Friends of our's just did that they used four units as they have a large family. There is a place on the Sterling out side of clam gulch that has the the sip's that you mentioned. I believe that you have or had family in ninilchick it is at mile post 114 give or take a mile.

Also SBS has kits. and what about hiring locals to prebuild walls to ship using rough cut.

Please let me know when the time draws closer.

After seeing your history I have a lot more faith in your plan.
Often in small villages the problem with offloading a 40 foot container is the weight not the size.You might inquire about that.
A lot of barges can handle a small house with no problem. If it was on skids like they build garden sheds here It should be fairly easy to move. Inquire about overhead wires and road clearances.
The in ground houses of the old Alaskan Natives where very small and intensely crowded ,often a 8 foot by 14 foot house had 8 or more living in it. The soil walls and and expiration contributed to a atmosphere that many early explorers compared to a sauna.Not to mention the natives liked it hot and would try to maintain tempratures as high as possable, another reason for a small house.
Im not sure you want to emulate most of that. Modern materials and expectations of home longlivity dont mix well with that.But If you are still thinking of earth sheltering Id plan and build with that in mind .
You might build the outside and lower parts of your house with treated wood and stainless steel screws. Thats what I have done with the house Im buildings floor because its to be movable and I want the floor to stay solid even over a lot of moist conditions.

If you are going to have a well, with your house covering it, you could use a small pump to pump water up into a 55 gallon drum, in the attic or loft, and have a functioning water system... You might need to carry the plumbing parts (pex costs a little more, but is more forgiving with installation) with you. A small solar panel setup with a small 12vdc pump (lowered into the well, if it's bored large enough) and you'd be there. Would sure make the toilet logistics work better... and having septic... woohoo!!!

__________________
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming