I know you two had some issues with permits... you're doing something 'abnormal'. But here's the thing to remember: you have helped the officials open their minds a bit and have helped pave the way for future off-gridders. AND you were fortunate enough to have an inspector that is willing to go outside his comfort zone. START FILLING BAGS OF EARTH!!!!
My septic system was going to be about $6000. I bought a Ford TLB for $5000 to do all the digging and backfilling. The materials including the big septic tank was about $3000. It had 220 feet of 3' trenches. The TLB has paid for itself at least 3 times over the years. It pays to get the right tools at the start and take care of them. You can get a hand cranked floor set up to unload your pickup. I saves a lot of time and your energy. Good Luck, Rick
I dont mean to be so offtopic but does any of you know of a method to log back into an Instagram account? I was stupid lost my password. I love any assistance you can offer me
@Kalel Jon thanks so much for your reply. I found the site through google and I'm trying it out now. Looks like it's gonna take quite some time so I will reply here later with my results.
I put a rwo story mini apartment inside a metal building in Florida and not one permit. I permitted for the metal building ans what i do inside is my business. Everyone needs to start pushing back on this bs permit this and permit that
I’m so glad I found y’all’s videos. Moving my daughter and myself to a 5 acre tract in Colorado and I’ll be doing everything myself as well. I’m really enjoying seeing your journey and how much you’ve done already. It’s so encouraging. Thanks for sharing!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!! This is one of my favorite videos you have done. All 3 of you look so happy and the push-ups over the trench cracked me up. Great work and excited to see more!
I am an electrician and often i have ordered rock in a concrete truck just rock. They can drive beside the ditch slowly emptying the gravel as they drive along. It works very well.
Hi Jim and Jessica, You just built what we built a long time and it was a French Drain, Yours is for your septic and ours was to keep the water from flooding the basement. It cost us in 1982 about $1000.00 to have it put in. Today we would have been able to do it our selves. We didn't put a cap on the pipe that was the only difference with the pipe. congratulations on being able to start building. . You will get there little by little. My husband and his brother built a house before we met and it was out of Logs that they had to cut down. Not a prefab thing. If you've got the will you will get there it will take a lot of time and energy but you will be so satisfied just knowing You Did It. 💕 NonnaGrace
Looks good guys, congrats. Rain washing the fine soil onto your gravel will shorten the life of your leach field. It will wash that pile of dirt back into the pit over time. It would be worth wile to put that dirt on the leach line so the water will run away from the pit. Hope all is well guys.
Thank you for sharing! We just bought property in Cochise County and will be moving there in May...Benson area. Planning our off grid homestead and you and Handeeman have really helped us by sharing all.of your 1st hand knowledge. Hope to meet you all one day.
In our state ( Missouri ) the gravel has to cover the pipe and a sediment barrier has to be down the length of the pipe before you can cover and refill the ditch .
Oh, and Merry Christmas Jim and Jessica and to all your viewers. I hope everyone has a great New Year and massive success with their homesteads, gardens, and projects in 2020!
good news! yay. So looking at that leach line trench, thats basically a french drain. You can use that same idea to keep rain off your drive way and will allow you to plant trees near it in the future. Make sure to use your excess dirt on the road to make the water run off the road to the sides.
Congratulations guys. That’s pretty awesome. Don’t for get the part of the inspection where they say give me your money😂 You were rocking the shovel guitar. Yeah boi.
Lol! I've had a lot of practice with the shovel guitar.😆👍 Actually the inspectors never asked for money. I'm thinking maybe it was included in the price. Thank you very much!🙏
Hi Jim. One major part I was unclear of. Who did the soil tests that authorized your leech lines and septic install. My understanding is that the County needs a certified septic person to do the tests. Obviously you were approved so the inspector must have approved your soil/gravel set up to work properly. All the best! - Don
The pipe is level down each run. The top and bottom of the ditch is level. You follow the contour of the field with the ditch. Three ditches 10 feet apart 16 inches deep 85 feet long. Filter fabric in the ditch and 4 inches of rock under the pipe. 4 inches over the pipe then fold cloth over gravel. 4 inches of dirt to grow grass. Haul away extra dirt. It ain't rocket surgery.
always wondered if you could do it this way . dint think the man would let ya . wont take long to fill that barrel though . i will give ya a little info on septic though my brother owned a septic tank waste removal business basically he would come with the truck and suck out all the waste and remove it . he said to me once that he was finding two kinds of tanks ones that were almost packed full and were cleaned at least once every two years and ones that could go up to like 6 years and barely had any waste in them . so he started asking questions to the people who barely had anything in them on what they do . the secret was yeast they would drop a cake of yeast down the toilet once a month . what happens is that it creates enzymes in the barrel and little bugs eat off the poo . keeping the sludge down . the waste water will go out to the drain field . he said even after 6 years some of them people dint even need it cleaned they just had it cleaned cause they dint know how much sludge was in the tank . lol so basically make poo wine lol . dont drink it though lol . hope this helps if not well i tried lol .
That sure is a good job. You know you look like the young Angus young of AC/DC. Can't wait to see your new house built. I take it's going to have rain gutter on it too. Crew must be in a good mood. Have a great weekend.
Hello, glad to hear you passed. As of today information on alternative septic is hard to find through the county. Anyway you can share a link on the information you found on building your septic system? Thanks!
Oh MY GOSH! That’s a great job Jim! Such a savings. Buy Jessica a nice gift and get yourself a new tool or something. You gotta feel incredible after this job well done. 😅
My understanding is the should be no more than 1/4 per 20 fall per 20feet of drainpipe so the affluent doesn't a Saturate one end of the drain field. Now Cochise county says a property owner must pass a test before you can install your drain field. Did you have to take the test?
How about planting fruit trees that love the hot climate and sit next to the DIY Septic System so it can use the leftover water that had leaked out of the pipe? Ur work is a lot of patients and timing whenever it suits u to stop or to work.
In my opinion I would not plant trees near a leach field, just asking for trouble with the roots seeking any water that is nearby. I would even keep the mesquite that is in that area at bay from the leach field. Even though cottonwoods grow fast with the best shade in our desert southwest, keep them at least 100 feet away from your leach field unless you want to do it again in 15 years.
I was surprised you didn't use the soil seperating fabric (or geofabric) which keeps the soil from slowly working it's way into the spaces between the gravel and eventually killing your septic system capacity on the sides and bottom. It's cheap and it is needed on all sides of the trench because the dirt filters in from all sides, not just the top
@@ourselfreliantlife BUT, not on the bottom and sides as far as I could see. Worked on at least 25 septic systems in my 65 years and what happened to almost ALL if them was dirt/fines intrusion from the sides and bottom until there was no space between the rocks and only the pipe was left so no significant volume to 'absorb' a big slug of water. It even was so bad in a couple of 20 year old systems that dirt was even getting in the plastic pipe through the holes. This was in the central and west Texas regions, the ground and soil is similar to yours. Not like you can go back and redo it but be aware that EVENTUALLY you might find your having some problems if you get a well or start using a washing machine supplied by your storage water.
I can’t wait to see the dream house 🏡 from scratch one day. Happy Sunday my dear, how are you both doing? Well done 👍🏾 Jim and Jessica. Miss you both . Happy holidays. May the peace of the almighty God be with you. May God protect you and give you good health. We really appreciate you. Stay blessed🥰😍
I would love to see a video on the permitting process you went through and what you had to do before you started. I'm hoping to do similar in Yavapai county in the near future, and these videos are super inspiring. Thank you.
@@weldonstoneburner3553 With covid and some other issues, I've not been able to proceed, but I hope to get myself back out of debt and going this year (new job last week) I'll report back as it goes.
Thanks Jay! We can't wait to get started. Although we have to, at least until the middle of next month. That's okay though, because we have a lot of prep work.
I know this is an old video but I can't help but wonder if you simply got an inspector in a good mood or if this is something fully sanctioned by Cochise County? I can't find any mention of it in their codes. Maybe you can point out some documentation that supports this type of septic system in Cochise County? (Full septic installs can cost $8-$10k).
Great! You passed the inspections! *Now its time to do away with rural residential inspections altogether* .
I know you two had some issues with permits... you're doing something 'abnormal'.
But here's the thing to remember: you have helped the officials open their minds a bit and have helped pave the way for future off-gridders.
AND you were fortunate enough to have an inspector that is willing to go outside his comfort zone.
START FILLING BAGS OF EARTH!!!!
I hear that Dave! It should be interesting to see if more people start doing this.
My septic system was going to be about $6000. I bought a Ford TLB for $5000 to do all the digging and backfilling. The materials including the big septic tank was about $3000. It had 220 feet of 3' trenches. The TLB has paid for itself at least 3 times over the years. It pays to get the right tools at the start and take care of them. You can get a hand cranked floor set up to unload your pickup. I saves a lot of time and your energy. Good Luck, Rick
I dont mean to be so offtopic but does any of you know of a method to log back into an Instagram account?
I was stupid lost my password. I love any assistance you can offer me
@Kalel Jon thanks so much for your reply. I found the site through google and I'm trying it out now.
Looks like it's gonna take quite some time so I will reply here later with my results.
@Kalel Jon it did the trick and I actually got access to my account again. I'm so happy:D
Thank you so much you saved my account :D
@Zakai Gatlin you are welcome =)
@Kalel @Zakai
Hmm are you guys in cahoots?
You are lucky. I couldn't imagine seeing anything getting permits in Florida that doesn't cost thousands. The lobbyists are strong there!
I put a rwo story mini apartment inside a metal building in Florida and not one permit. I permitted for the metal building ans what i do inside is my business. Everyone needs to start pushing back on this bs permit this and permit that
So glad for y’all brother. . Watch in full 👊 you are not afraid of work. That is what you call Manuel labor
Thanks Todd! I knew when starting this life it would be a lot of hard work. 🙏
I’m so glad I found y’all’s videos. Moving my daughter and myself to a 5 acre tract in Colorado and I’ll be doing everything myself as well. I’m really enjoying seeing your journey and how much you’ve done already. It’s so encouraging. Thanks for sharing!
I’m actually doing the same, how’d it go?
CONGRATULATIONS!!!! This is one of my favorite videos you have done. All 3 of you look so happy and the push-ups over the trench cracked me up. Great work and excited to see more!
I am an electrician and often i have ordered rock in a concrete truck just rock. They can drive beside the ditch slowly emptying the gravel as they drive along. It works very well.
That's true and I thought about that, but I needed a gentler touch with the gravel.
Hi Jim and Jessica, You just built what we built a long time and it was a French Drain, Yours is for your septic and ours was to keep the water from flooding the basement. It cost us in 1982 about $1000.00 to have it put in. Today we would have been able to do it our selves. We didn't put a cap on the pipe that was the only difference with the pipe.
congratulations on being able to start building. . You will get there little by little.
My husband and his brother built a house before we met and it was out of Logs that they had to cut down. Not a prefab thing. If you've got the will you will get there it will take a lot of time and energy but you will be so satisfied just knowing You Did It. 💕 NonnaGrace
Thanks Nonnagrace! It's exciting that we're that much closer to a house build.
Looks good guys, congrats. Rain washing the fine soil onto your gravel will shorten the life of your leach field. It will wash that pile of dirt back into the pit over time. It would be worth wile to put that dirt on the leach line so the water will run away from the pit. Hope all is well guys.
Thank you! Always appreciate the good tips. 👍
You're welcome.
I dig, you dig, we ALL dig The Green Dream Project!😁
😆Thank you!
Thank you for sharing! We just bought property in Cochise County and will be moving there in May...Benson area. Planning our off grid homestead and you and Handeeman have really helped us by sharing all.of your 1st hand knowledge. Hope to meet you all one day.
Awesome! Congratulations! Hopefully we will meetup. 😃
At least the inspector was thorough. Looks like a great mini septic system.
😃Thank you! We were able to do it ourselves and save a ton of money. 😁👍
In our state ( Missouri ) the gravel has to cover the pipe and a sediment barrier has to be down the length of the pipe before you can cover and refill the ditch .
Make sure you glue those pipes well. You don't want any leaks.😁
i thought it is supposed to leak... hence the perferated pipe??
I’m curious if you septic system is still working. Thank goodness you put that filter on the drum outlet. How often do you bail the drum of solids?
Very good job getting the somewhat hidden info that legally allows you to do it yourself. Great job doing it!
Yes! Now on to the house building!
Yes!!🙌 There's a lot of prep work, but we have time. Can't do anything until the middle of next month.
Oh, and Merry Christmas Jim and Jessica and to all your viewers. I hope everyone has a great New Year and massive success with their homesteads, gardens, and projects in 2020!
Thank you!! We hope you have an amazing Christmas as well.🙏
good news! yay. So looking at that leach line trench, thats basically a french drain. You can use that same idea to keep rain off your drive way and will allow you to plant trees near it in the future. Make sure to use your excess dirt on the road to make the water run off the road to the sides.
Thanks Kelly! We were thinking along those lines.
How wonderful what happy news for you both congratulations on the official beginning of your life there
Great news my friends! It is happening!
Thank you!! We're crazy excited!😃
Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!! The dream begins. Crew knows! Merry merry!! 💖💕
Lol! Crew does know.😃 Thanks Michele! Another project done.😃👍
@@ourselfreliantlife 💖💕
Oh, I wish your septic were permittable at Contentment! A shame it is not. Nicely done, Jim! We look forward to following your build!
Sorry to hear that you two!
Thank you!
I love the willingness to work, you guys are doing awesome!!! Keep it up!
Well done Jim and Jessica all the digging paid of, thanks for the video.
Thank you Florie!
Congratulations guys. That’s pretty awesome. Don’t for get the part of the inspection where they say give me your money😂
You were rocking the shovel guitar. Yeah boi.
Lol! I've had a lot of practice with the shovel guitar.😆👍
Actually the inspectors never asked for money. I'm thinking maybe it was included in the price.
Thank you very much!🙏
Heck yes! Way to go guys! Glad the inspections passed and this job is finished so the next one can begin!
Yes!! We're getting so close now.😃
Loved the reenactment.
Congratulations!! That was a HUGE accomplishment and hurtle! Looking forward to more videos!!
Thank you! This was tough because of our soil, but it's the last obstacle before the house build.
" I'm not an expert." Dude you Are the Resident expert, not to forget your most wonderful wife. Dream team!
Woooo Hoooo so excited for y'all. I'm blown away by the difference in cost. Great Job🌻
Thank you! For us, it was definitely the way to go.
Jim this is great. Thank you!
Hi Jim. One major part I was unclear of. Who did the soil tests that authorized your leech lines and septic install. My understanding is that the County needs a certified septic person to do the tests. Obviously you were approved so the inspector must have approved your soil/gravel set up to work properly. All the best! - Don
We had a certified septic installer to do the tests.
@@ourselfreliantlife Did they have to come by and dig three 12 foot test holes? Thanks guys!
Thank you both for so much great and useful information!
I'm happy all the expansions past for you guys
Thank you!!
CONGRADULATION
Yay. The septic looks great. Now go dig something
Thank you Patrice!🙏
The pipe is level down each run. The top and bottom of the ditch is level. You follow the contour of the field with the ditch. Three ditches 10 feet apart 16 inches deep 85 feet long. Filter fabric in the ditch and 4 inches of rock under the pipe. 4 inches over the pipe then fold cloth over gravel. 4 inches of dirt to grow grass. Haul away extra dirt. It ain't rocket surgery.
always wondered if you could do it this way . dint think the man would let ya . wont take long to fill that barrel though . i will give ya a little info on septic though my brother owned a septic tank waste removal business basically he would come with the truck and suck out all the waste and remove it . he said to me once that he was finding two kinds of tanks ones that were almost packed full and were cleaned at least once every two years and ones that could go up to like 6 years and barely had any waste in them . so he started asking questions to the people who barely had anything in them on what they do . the secret was yeast they would drop a cake of yeast down the toilet once a month . what happens is that it creates enzymes in the barrel and little bugs eat off the poo . keeping the sludge down . the waste water will go out to the drain field . he said even after 6 years some of them people dint even need it cleaned they just had it cleaned cause they dint know how much sludge was in the tank . lol so basically make poo wine lol . dont drink it though lol . hope this helps if not well i tried lol .
This will just be for sink water. The human waste gets composted
Congratulations on passing the inspections. Thanks for sharing the process, as I will eventually will have do something similar.
Thank you Michael! So you're doing this over a regular septic?
@@ourselfreliantlife Most definitely. Going to do the composting toilet with 50 gal barrels.
Nice reenactment LOL
I had to brush up on my acting skills.😆👍
Congratulations , we are always with brother
Thank you so much!
You and that shovel have become pretty good friends Jim, congratulations on a job well,done.😀
Lol! We're the best of buds now.🤣
Thanks Elf! We're ready for the next phase.
Going to be interesting to watch the earth bag build..
Especially what holds the dome part from falling in
during and after being built
Physics!😃 It's just about the strongest house you can build.😃👍
@@ourselfreliantlife
Understand that
They understood archs a long time ago...
Congratulations! On Passing Inspection "2" Awesome! Thanks for sharing
Thank you Mrs. Linda!
On to the next project! 😂 Hardest working couple on the planet! Yall are making it happen! Thanks for sharing the journey.
That sure is a good job. You know you look like the young Angus young of AC/DC. Can't wait to see your new house built. I take it's going to have rain gutter on it too. Crew must be in a good mood. Have a great weekend.
That's an awesome compliment! Thank you!
Ok, I am exhausted, that is alot of work, I am going to take a nap for you Jim, 👍👌❤🇨🇦
Well, Congradulations!!😁😁😁😁
So happy for you guys! It’s happening! Yay! 😀
Thank you Dominic!
So…if the solids stay in the barrel, how do do clean or vacuum in out?
That's great news you can build guys. Julie
Hello, glad to hear you passed. As of today information on alternative septic is hard to find through the county. Anyway you can share a link on the information you found on building your septic system? Thanks!
Now that I have seen this, I would bet that you could have built a regular septic system out of 2 or 3 water totes?
That is awesome news to hear buddy! Congrats!! All systems go for the house building to begin. Git-R-Done!!
Thanks so much CB!! We can't wait to get started with the house.😃
Yay! Great news! Can't wait to see the house build.
Thank you Raoul!🙏
Building your own house, how exciting! Great job on passing the inspection. Way to goooooo!
Thank you Paula! These are exciting times.😃
Did you put gravel around barrel? How far down does barrel go? Did you make holes in barrel?
Thank you, and congratulations!
Thank you Lori!🙏
I learned thing thank you have a good day .
don't forget the the stuff you put in the tank to break don't the solids
That's right my boy your the best 👌😉
Thank you Juan!
Oh MY GOSH! That’s a great job Jim! Such a savings. Buy Jessica a nice gift and get yourself a new tool or something. You gotta feel incredible after this job well done. 😅
Thanks Pam! For some people it may not work, but we don't plan on selling, so the savings is worth it.
We're getting so close to the house build now.😁
YAY!! That's great news! Awesome.
Lol! Thanks Dalia! Crew gets excited if we look at him the wrong way.😆👍
Lots of work. Good push ups over the ditch.💪💪💪💪
Thank you Susie!😆👍
Congratulations!
Thank you so much!🙏
SWEET! Congratulations! Very excited for you guys.
Thank you so much Patty!🙏
My understanding is the should be no more than 1/4 per 20 fall per 20feet of drainpipe so the affluent doesn't a
Saturate one end of the drain field.
Now Cochise county says a property owner must pass a test before you can install your drain field. Did you have to take the test?
How about planting fruit trees that love the hot climate and sit next to the DIY Septic System so it can use the leftover water that had leaked out of the pipe? Ur work is a lot of patients and timing whenever it suits u to stop or to work.
In my opinion I would not plant trees near a leach field, just asking for trouble with the roots seeking any water that is nearby. I would even keep the mesquite that is in that area at bay from the leach field. Even though cottonwoods grow fast with the best shade in our desert southwest, keep them at least 100 feet away from your leach field unless you want to do it again in 15 years.
@@doubler8684 Hi U could use a thick 40 percence knitted windbreak Netting, but double fould it so it is hard for root to grow through????
A lot of great info in this septic playlist. Enjoyed it and favorited the entire list.
So exciting. You are well on your way now. I wish I had that same energy when I’m moving gravel.
Lol! It's not easy summoning that energy. It's easier because of our goals I think.😁
Thanks PPG!
Thank you for your videos on this topic. I plan on a composting toilet system for my off grid homestead!
Awesome! We use the humanure method of composting toilets and it works great.
You are rocking it...literally 👍👍👍💞💞😊💞💞
😃Thanks Jackie!
I was surprised you didn't use the soil seperating fabric (or geofabric) which keeps the soil from slowly working it's way into the spaces between the gravel and eventually killing your septic system capacity on the sides and bottom.
It's cheap and it is needed on all sides of the trench because the dirt filters in from all sides, not just the top
We used the fabric. It's in the video.
@@ourselfreliantlife BUT, not on the bottom and sides as far as I could see. Worked on at least 25 septic systems in my 65 years and what happened to almost ALL if them was dirt/fines intrusion from the sides and bottom until there was no space between the rocks and only the pipe was left so no significant volume to 'absorb' a big slug of water. It even was so bad in a couple of 20 year old systems that dirt was even getting in the plastic pipe through the holes.
This was in the central and west Texas regions, the ground and soil is similar to yours.
Not like you can go back and redo it but be aware that EVENTUALLY you might find your having some problems if you get a well or start using a washing machine supplied by your storage water.
Bravo! 👍
I can’t wait to see the dream house 🏡 from scratch one day. Happy Sunday my dear, how are you both doing? Well done 👍🏾 Jim and Jessica. Miss you both . Happy holidays. May the peace of the almighty God be with you. May God protect you and give you good health. We really appreciate you. Stay blessed🥰😍
Thank you Evelyn!! We hope you have an amazing Christmas!🙏
I would love to see a video on the permitting process you went through and what you had to do before you started. I'm hoping to do similar in Yavapai county in the near future, and these videos are super inspiring. Thank you.
James, have you been successful in Yavapai County?
@@weldonstoneburner3553 With covid and some other issues, I've not been able to proceed, but I hope to get myself back out of debt and going this year (new job last week) I'll report back as it goes.
Always enjoy your videos y’all!! So close to 6k! Hope y’all get there! We’re hoping for 2k ourselves! Good luck guys!!
Thank you! We're just about to hit it! Ya'll will it that 2K in no time.😃
Great job guys! One step closer to the dream!
Peace and love from California 💛
Thank you! We're getting closer.
Where i live the inspector would become apart of the septic system.
That is so awesome guys! Very excited for you.
Thank you Bill! It will be cool to move on from here.😃
Congrats again!!! So you gonna start the building phase soon...Awesome.
Thank you! Pretty soon. We're going to prepare now and the real work should begin next month.
So exciting! I am so happy for you guys! Crew looks happy too 😊
Thank you Zule!
Congratulations glad it went good. Looking forward to seeing the build.
Thank you Cathy!🙏
Congratulations guys! How exciting to be on to the house build. Woo Hoo!
Thanks Jay! We can't wait to get started. Although we have to, at least until the middle of next month. That's okay though, because we have a lot of prep work.
That's so awesome! Passed everything and ready to start! Looking forward to it!
Thank you Lynette!! We're super excited to start soon.😃
Looks great wait wait you forgot 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼 that’s worth something .. Congratulations 🍾 BUILD BUILD ❤️❤️✌️☮️👍
😃Thank you Brenda!
Impressive!!
Woohoo congratulations you too that is so amazing! 🎊🎊🎊🎉🎉
Thank you Kara!! We're so excited!😃
I did not see inside the blue barrel but it's safe to say it was just only that one exit pipe . What about the inflow pipe? I need to build one.
I know this is an old video but I can't help but wonder if you simply got an inspector in a good mood or if this is something fully sanctioned by Cochise County? I can't find any mention of it in their codes. Maybe you can point out some documentation that supports this type of septic system in Cochise County? (Full septic installs can cost $8-$10k).
Congrats you guys ! Keep on going strong!! Love what you are doing!!!
That's awesome guys!!!! Can't wait for the next project.
Thank you Warren!
Congratulations on the inspection and a job well done!! It looked like a lot of hard work but so worth it saving so much money.👍😀
Thanks Yvonne! We definitely think it was worth it for us. Is Bill going to try this?😁
@@ourselfreliantlife We have been thinking about it and it was really tempting. But we probably continue with the contractor who did our soil test.
Blue Man Group visits the GDP! Looking forward for the home build!
Thanks Paul! We're excited for the build.😃
How did you find your land? Any recommendations. I’m going to look for land soon.
Wonderful
I hope the inspectors know how hard you have worked!
Man I’m excited for you guys!! Thanks for sharing! Can’t wait till y’all get started on y’all’s house!
Thank you Justin!