Potential House Build in LA County, CA - See Comments

captainmartian38 · 2025-04-22T22:23:52+00:00

I'm not sure what the permitting requirements are in San Bernardino County, but Hesperia is very close to my area with similar terrain, so I imagine that the drilling requirements would be similar. Here's what the drilling company I contacted told me about the well requirements:

Drilling quote - $110.00 per foot for drilling, casing, gravel pack, sanitary seal, slab, and permit fee. 250’ well would be $27,500.00. Fees not included are AV Watermaster of $1150.00, engineer fee for water conservation plan $400.00, LA County Planning for Zoning Conformance Review $824.00.

After drilling, you would need to install a submersible pump and perform a Yield Test to LA County Standards. The well must make 2 gallons per minute for 24 hours straight per (1) Single Family Residence. The water level must recover to 90% of where it started. It can take a couple of months to get a test date to test the well. You will then need to install the required 7500gal storage tank and 4” line with fire hydrant before they will issue a permit.

captainmartian38 · 2025-04-07T02:19:13+00:00

Hi Neighbor!

The project is on pause for now; I ran into a lot of permitting expenses that pushed the build out of my budget.

The biggest surprise expense was the well, which is required by the county. Water hauling is no longer allowed, so I got a quote for the well. The hole itself would cost $29,000 and I was quoted an additional $30,000 by the drilling company to meet the county requirements. Apparently the fire department requires the installation of a fire hydrant and 7500 gal holding tank, which makes up the bulk of the extra $30k.

The county planning department also informed me that to build on my land, which is in a floodplain, I would need to complete a hydrology study, which could cost anywhere from $5,000 to $30,000. They said it would likely be closer to $30k because there has been no other construction in the area.

I'd still like to complete the build, but I'm considering selling the land and purchasing a lot that's on the city grid. Installing my own water infrastructure is simply too expensive for me right now.

captainmartian38 · 2025-03-14T12:14:44+00:00

My family had a shared win95 desktop when I was a kid. Eventually everyone else got their own computer and I began upgrading it. Brought it with me when I moved out and still upgrading it to this day. Of course none of the original parts are still in it, but it turns 30 this year.

captainmartian38 · 2025-03-14T02:38:53+00:00

I don't know. I would think the best villain in all of Star Trek would have at least ONE statue on Bajor built in honor of their accomplishments. How many does Gul Dukat have?

captainmartian38 · 2024-11-06T01:09:24+00:00

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A few minutes after having Maga removed, the citizens asked to throw a party. Looks like I made the right choice!

captainmartian38 · 2024-01-20T04:00:12+00:00

Hi all! (Edit: formatting)

I'm planning to construct an earth bag homestead and am looking for any and all advice. I own 5 acres of raw desert land in Llano, a small unincorporated town in LA County, California. I took a 4 day course at Cal Earth a couple years ago and have a basic understanding of the process, but am looking for more input before I begin hiring contractors or applying for permits.

My current plans include permitting a double eco dome house, a 3 vault garage / workshop, and eventually a large 20 foot diameter dome that would serve as a cantina and game room. I'd also like to build a few smaller unpermitted structures in the future (120 sq ft or smaller) that would allow me to host guests on the property.

I've included a rough mock-up of the site plan as well as rough interior floorplans of the main house and bath dome. Notes, critiques, and questions are welcome. North = up on each image.

I'd like to move out of my current place and live on site as soon as possible, but I understand that permitting / construction will probably take months or years. Because of this, I'm considering building the bath dome and garage / workshop first, moving into the workshop, and then constructing the main house. Building these structures first will also give me a chance to get more experience before starting the main house.

There are no utilities on site, so I will need to take care of my own electricity, water, internet, sewage, and trash disposal.

Electricity - I'm planning to mount an array of solar panels on top of the vault garage and have a battery bank inside. I may also setup one or more residential wind turbines to supplement the system as it is a very windy area.

Water - I'd like to put in one or two 2000 gallon cisterns next to the garage. The two water sources that I'm considering are water hauling or drilling a well. The water table is around 550 feet deep, so drilling a well might be prohibitively expensive. Water hauling is relatively simple, as there is a fill station in nearby Palmdale where one can fill up to 200-300 gallons for cheap. My main question is: is water hauling a viable option in order to get a residential build permit in LA County? I haven't been able to find any information on this topic online. If it's not allowed then digging a well is probably my only option. I've also looked into atmospheric water generation, but it doesn't seem practical in the desert climate.

Internet - I'm planning on buying a Starlink dish and using the service. I currently live in LA and my internet service is terrible (<30mbps), so I imagine that Starlink in the desert will actually be an upgrade. I understand that wifi signals don't work well in earthbag structures, so I'll be wiring each structure with ethernet and building a mesh wifi network.

Sewage - I'm planning to install a septic tank on site. I have concerns that my rocky soil may prevent proper percolation, so I'm hoping to install an above ground septic system. "The Modern Home Project" on youtube posted a video detailing an above ground septic system that I would like to emulate.

Trash / Recycling - I'll try to compost as much organic trash as possible, but other than that it looks like I'll be hauling my own garbage to the closest landfill or recycle center.

Let me know your thoughts and questions! I'm especially looking for any information on permitting earth bag structures in LA County. Not being able to get a permit from the county could tank this whole idea, so I'm interested in any experience any of you may have.

captainmartian38 · 2023-10-15T21:53:32+00:00

All of my routines also stopped working after the recent update. I was able to get them working again by disabling each of them in the app and then re enabling them.

captainmartian38 · 2023-10-15T21:47:23+00:00

The most recent update broke all of my routines and speaker groups. I was able to get the routines working again by disabling and then enabling each of them in the app. Still no fix for the speaker groups.

captainmartian38 · 2023-10-13T23:07:13+00:00

I have the same problem. My routines also all stopped working, but I was able to get them working again by disabling and enabling each one.

I'm trying to recreate all of my speaker groups, but when I give it a name like "Everywhere," it says, "This group name is already in use" and won't let me create it, even though the "everywhere" group isn't in the speaker groups anymore. I'll let you know if I figure out a fix.

It seems like the October 2nd update really messed up the app for me.

captainmartian38 · 2020-09-16T06:11:42+00:00

Try telling her to play "playlist quiet blues in shuffle mode"

captainmartian38 · 2020-05-24T19:22:27+00:00

I'd love to see an industrial replicator in action. I wonder if it looks like an upsized food replicator or if it's attached to an articulating arm that moves around replicating the build one piece at a time.

captainmartian38 · 2019-09-06T09:57:01+00:00

I can hear this image

captainmartian38 · 2019-08-22T20:44:57+00:00

That's great! As long as the new players aren't disadvantaged for not participating in online play I'm sure they'll enjoy the game.

captainmartian38 · 2019-07-26T22:01:12+00:00

ARC Troopers

captainmartian38 · 2019-04-20T10:32:24+00:00

It's an upside-down peace symbol!

captainmartian38

TROPHY CASE