Here is another guest post from Jason Harter.  Jason is a father of three who enjoys a good fun fact.  He is a contributing blogger and has written such things as 10 Champion Boxers You’d Never Guess Had College Degrees.

You remember the good old days of hanging out in your tree house with your best friends, and you want your children to have the same experience. As people become both more concerned and aware of safety issues, some additional considerations need to come into play.

Inspecting the Area

Be sure to select a sturdy tree for the tree house. With so many major storms having come into the country in the past years, even the strongest of trees are beginning to give out. Furthermore, you should also have a professional thoroughly inspect the tree for termites. These bugs could silently eat away at the tree and the tree house material and, ultimately, create a very dangerous situation for little ones. It also should not be too close to debris that could fly off of another tree or roof.

Choosing the Platform

Once you have found a safe place to put the tree house, the first step is to build the platform. According to Popular Mechanics article “Tree House Plans-How to Build a Backyard Treehouse” by Logan Ward, “The platform should be sturdy enough so that whatever sits atop it…doesn’t attach to the trunk.” Furthermore, Ward emphasizes the importance of ensuring that the platform will give for movement of the tree. Even if the strongest and biggest of trees could sway if a terrible storm comes in.

The Materials

Ward also reminds us that the materials for a tree house need to be lightweight as the pieces are supported by the limbs of the tree. On the other hand, you need to make sure that the wood is strong enough to support your children. Asking a professional exactly what type of wood should be used is a smart idea. As for the actual construction, it’s going to depend on the type of model that your children want. They might want something a bit larger that has elements of a castle to it, or they might want to truly channel that natural vibe and opt for a small camping-like cabin.

Hiring a Professional

Building a tree house with your children can be a lot of fun. However, if you do not know about all of the safety rules or if you make a mistake in the construction, the results could be very serious or even fatal. Therefore, it’s wise to ask a construction worker to build the tree house for you. You and the kids could paint the planks of wood together before it goes up in the tree, or you could all decorate when it is done. Unless you are a construction worker by trade, it is best to let the professionals handle such an endeavor for safety purposes.

A tree house is a place where your children will likely spend their days enjoying snacks, laughing with their friends, sharing secrets and, most importantly, making memories. While all of this entertainment is certainly fun to look forward to, during the building process, it is important to make safety the highest concern.

This is a guest post from Jason Harter.  Jason is driven by the engineer in him to find uses for everything, including baking soda. He also enjoys blogging and is a contributing writer for The Best Online Masters in Engineering Management

Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is a natural, versatile and very inexpensive item that no home should be without. Because of baking soda’s versatility, it has a multitude of uses in every room of the home, garage and garden. The little box of sodium bicarbonate powder can be used for whitening teeth and preventing gum disease, melting sidewalk ice and various household cleaning tasks. Here are 7 creative uses for baking soda that will have you rushing out to buy your own stockpile of the cheap and effective product.

Oral Health

* Baking soda has long been used as a natural toothpaste. The mild abrasiveness gently removes food debris, stains and tartar build-up from teeth and the cleaning action reaches beneath the gum line to help prevent gum disease.

* When mixed with water (1 teaspoon to ¼ cup of water) and gargled, baking soda removes odor-causing bacteria from the mouth to eliminate bad breath. The anti-septic properties of a baking soda gargle will also help to ease a sore throat.

Melting Sidewalk Ice

Wintertime ice make sidewalks and other outdoor walkways treacherous, but commercial de-icer products contain chemicals that can damage surrounding grass, shrubs and trees. Baking soda will melt the sidewalk ice and since it’s a natural product, it will not harm nearby landscape. Just sprinkle on ice or snow and watch it melt away.

Kitchen Cleaning

* An open box of baking soda in the refrigerator to absorb food odors is a traditional use for the natural powder. And when it’s time to replace the refrigerator box, use the old box to freshen the sink, drain and garbage disposal. Just pour the old baking soda down the drain, sprinkling some around the inside of the sink, let sink for 30 minutes, then rinse with cool water.  If the sink is stained, rub the powder in with a damp sponge before rinsing.

* Scour away stove grease and countertop stains without concern over ruining the finishes. Baking soda is a mild abrasive and won’t harm the finishes on kitchen appliances, stone or man-made countertops. Baked on or dried on food in cookware can be safely scrubbed away by sprinkling baking soda in the cookware and adding just enough water to make a paste, then scrubbing the debris away with a sponge.

Bathroom Uses

Just as baking soda will clean and deodorize all the hard surfaces in the kitchen, so it will in the bathroom also. But the natural sodium bicarbonate powder does more than clean surfaces in the bathroom, it has several personal grooming aids uses.

* One cup of baking soda added to a bathtub filled with warm water will soothe and smooth red, itchy winter skin or ease the pain of a summer sunburn.

* Get rid of dandruff by massaging ¼ cup of baking soda into dampened hair and scalp, let sit for five minutes, then shampoo hair as usual. The mild abrasion loosens and lifts dandruff from scalp and dries up some of the dandruff-causing oil.

After the bathrooms were ready for drywall I inspected the rest of the house to make sure all the other rooms were ready as well. I then contacted the drywaller and he started hanging the next day. This gave me a chance to get some work done on the outside of the house. I decided to start by power washing and painting the foundation. This took about 12 hours to do. I purchased an electric Wagner Power Sprayer to paint the block and it was worth every penny. It cost $50 but it saved me a significant amount of time because the surface of the block was very uneven. Thus, I would highly recommend the Wagner Power Sprayer to anyone who has a similar job to do.

Next I build a planter on the front of the house with retaining wall block. I first hauled in dirt. I saw an ad in the paper and was able to get some for free where a new road was being put in. I put the dirt approximately where I wanted it and then purchased the block. I went with a castle wall style because it was cheap and still looked decent.

The first row is the most important when building a retaining wall. It’s also the most time consuming. It takes a lot of time and effort to get the blocks level, on a solid foundation, and laid out in a way that makes sense. Typically, a retaining wall foundation consists of digging a trench, filling that trench with gravel, and then putting a layer of sand over the gravel so the blocks can be easily adjusted. However, this is overkill if the wall is only going to be 3 rows high or less. All you need to do is place some loose dirt where the blocks are going to lay and compact it by setting a block on top and shimmying it until it’s stable and level. As long as the dirt is compacted tightly the blocks aren’t going to move. Proceed one block at a time and check each one using a 4 foot level. The blocks don’t actually have to be level, just make sure they’re all running even. I also use a construction adhesive that’s approved for concrete to glue the following rows to the row below them. The result is an extremely stable wall. I built the retaining wall in front of the house I’m living in four years ago using this method and it looks just as good now as it did the day I finished.  I will have a YouTube video about this later.

Next I moved to the basement to start on the plumbing. It actually installed very nicely with a layout that works extremely well. I did the drain pipes first and then the water lines. I used Pex for the water lines so they went in extremely quick. For those who don’t know, Pex pipe is made of cross linked polyethylene. It’ cost effective and extremely easy to work with.

By the time I got all of this done the drywall was finished. This totally transformed the house. A knockdown texture was used in rooms where the old plaster was patched. This made it hard to tell where the patches were. Now, I’m ready for trim and paint.

Something exciting happened to me and my wife this year.  We won a car at the halftime of a girl’s high school basketball game.  Well my wife won a car, I just bought the ticket.  In order to win she had to roll a basketball full court through a hole that was only two inches wider than the diameter of the basketball itself.  I decided to share this story because I was thinking about all the different variables and how something seemingly insignificant can change everything.  For instance, if I wouldn’t have gone to the game she wouldn’t have bought a ticket, if we would have arrived at a different time we would have bought a different ticket, if I would have rolled (like she initially wanted) I probably wouldn’t have made it, if the ball was slightly out of round it would have veered off course, if the laces of the basketball didn’t roll perfectly end over end it would have veered off course, and if our ticket wasn’t randomly drawn we wouldn’t have even had a chance to roll.  It’s just crazy to think how lucky we were and all the things that had to go right in order for this to happen.

That being said, my wife was a good athlete in high school and still is.  She has spent countless hours playing sports and I think that also had a lot to do with her making it.  For example, she bowled a 220 in freshman P.E. class.  I’m athletic too but I’ve never bowled a 220.  Not that you have to be a great athlete to be a great bowler, it’s just the hand eye coordination that’s developed through playing sports.  This is actually what convinced her to do it instead of me because when I bought the ticket she said, “If our ticket gets drawn you’re doing it.”  And after the initial shock of our ticket number actually getting called I told her, “I’m not the one who should do this.”  I probably would have ended up doing it if it was a half court shot or something like that, but I felt she was just better suited for this particular challenge.  Plus she used to play for the team we were watching and everyone knew her.  After some convincing she decided to do it.  I guess it just goes to show that with some luck and a little preparedness good things can happen.  By the way, we decided to upgrade from the Focus to an Edge and we love it.

Bats are very valuable animals to have around.  In fact, a single bat can eat 500-1000 mosquitoes an hour or 4000 to 8000 a night.  They have a life span of 20 to 40 years, can stop breathing for 48 minutes at a time while hibernating, use echolocation to catch their prey, and seldom transmit diseases to other animals or humans.  So, building a bat house could be a great project if you have a mosquito problem.  Bat Conservation International has free plans for a bat house here.   Installing a bat house on your property will help protect the bat population by giving them a place to roost and hibernate.

I was reading the This Old House website and came across this article on “Modern Homesteading.”  Apparently the cities on this list are giving away land for free in hopes of spurring economic growth in their communities.  Pretty cool deal if you’re looking to move but aren’t sure where you want to go.  Also, one of these places could be close to you.  The list includes contact information and deal requirements.  Check it out!

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/photos/0,,20444648,00.html

The other day I was watching a TV series on Netflix called The Colony. It’s a reality TV show about a group of people who have to work together to survive after a global catastrophe. It was presented like an experiment and had controlled scenarios of what could happen after an economic collapse or large scale disaster. This got me thinking, what can I do to prepare for something like this without coming across as eccentric or paranoid? I’m definitely not paranoid and this post is meant to be entertaining and informative. However, I do believe that something could happen in the future to cause the economy to falter and life as we know it to change. If something disastrous were to happen money would hold little to no value, business would come to a standstill, daily conveniences that we take for granted (like electricity) would be gone, and food and clean water would become scarce. There are a lot of theories about what this terrible event could be; all I know is I don’t want to be caught totally unprepared. So, I came up with this list of things anyone can do to make themselves more prepared.

1. Accumulate Books with Old School Knowledge.

The old saying, “knowledge is power,” is definitely true, especially when your survival is on the line. In today’s society there’s a lot of common knowledge that has been lost. I’m talking about knowledge pertaining to hunting, foraging for food, farming, and so on. Do you know how to purify water? Would you be able to identify edible plants that grow in your area? Could you successfully grow your own food? Would you know how to preserve that food? Could you successfully hunt and kill an animal? If so, would you know how to properly butcher it? I’m not suggesting that you should know or even try to learn all of these things, but I am suggesting that you buy some relevant books on these topics. That way if you don’t know how to do something you can just look it up. Here are a few suggestions…

2. Know How to Purify Water.

You could buy a book on how to purify water, but I think that this is something everyone should know how to do because the ability to purify water could make all the difference. Unpurified water can contain parasites, heavy metals, fecal matter, and unsafe levels of hazardous chemicals. The last thing anyone wants to do is get sick in a survival situation. There are many ways to purify water but the longstanding methods of filtration/boiling and distillation are the simplest when water purification chemicals aren’t available.

Filtration/Boiling

• Most water filters work by passing water over activated carbon/charcoal. One teaspoon of activated carbon has a surface area larger than a football field, allowing a small amount of carbon to efficiently filter large quantities of water. When water passes over the activated carbon, any chemicals or contaminates in the water are bonded at a molecular level to the carbon, removing them from the water. Carbon water filters help remove most, but not all, contaminates found in water. They are most effective at removing chemicals and sediment, but are not effective at removing minerals, salts, and dissolved inorganic compounds. If you don’t have any carbon filters, a large water filter can be made by drilling holes in the bottom of a large, unused plastic trashcan and filling it with clean sand. Place this above a collection tank and filter water through it. This is what they did on the TV show The Colony. Water should always be boiled after filtration for 10 minutes to ensure purity.

Distillation

• Water distillation starts by heating untreated water until it reaches its boiling point and vaporizes. Once the water has vaporized, it enters into a condenser where it’s cooled and turned back into water. The water then flows out of the condenser into a collection tank. The distillation of water will remove chlorine, nitrates, fluorides, ammonia, heavy metals, arsenic, viruses, bacteria, herbicides, and pesticides. Water should be distilled twice to ensure its purity. Water can also be distilled using the heat of the sun.  This is called a solar still.

3. Plant a Perennial Garden.

If you plant things like fruit trees, blueberry bushes, asparagus, grape vines, and strawberries on your property you will be able to harvest food year after year while only planting once. There are also many different types of flowers that are edible. However, be sure to do your research before you start eating any unknown flowers around your home.

4. Secure Your Home.

Looting will most likely increase after a large scale disaster. This means that if you have anything of value inside your home some people will not hesitate to break down your door to get it. In most situations this will be out of desperation, and if you’re in a position to help people then I believe that’s what you should do. However, some people probably won’t want your help; they’ll just want to help themselves to as much of your stuff as they can carry (including food and water). You can significantly increase the security of your home by reinforcing your exterior door frames with metal plates and your windows with window security film. If you would like more information about home security check out my free ebook called Home Security Principles at www.frugalhomediy.com/ebook . You can also watch the YouTube video I created on how to reinforce an entry door (below).

5. Keep Your Home in Good Shape.

Build your home to last while reliable labor and high quality materials are readily available. This is because the last thing you’ll want to deal with during the aftermath of an economic collapse is a house that needs a lot of work. So, when things need fixed or replaced go for high quality. A good example of this is getting a metal roof instead of asphalt shingles when the time comes to get your current roof replaced. Metal roofs are very long lasting. If you put a metal roof on your home it could very well be the last roof you ever have installed, given you get a quality installation. It may seem expensive but metal roofing actually costs less than asphalt shingles in the long run. Also, the high solar reflectance of a metal roof increases energy efficiency resulting in a 35% reduction of cooling costs during the summer. On top of all that, a metal roof has been shown to increase a home’s resale value. All of these benefits make installing a metal roof one of the best remodeling investments a homeowner can make. Another great example of this is switching from incandescent to LED light bulbs. LED (light emitting diode) bulbs offer better light quality than incandescent bulbs, use less energy than CFL bulbs, can last 22 years or longer, and contain no toxic materials. The cheapest place to buy LED bulbs is online here.

6. Amass Non-Power Tools.

If electricity becomes scarce you will still be able to get work done with old fashion hand tools. Things like hand saws, axes, hand drills, hammers, wrench sets, screw driver sets, and shovels are all good thing to have.

7. Develop a Plan for Energy Independence.

If electricity becomes unavailable through the grid there are ways to produce it yourself. This is easier than you might think. However, I’m not saying to go out and buy all of the supplies needed to do this. If you want to do that I think that’s awesome, but just having a basic idea of how to make this happen is a good start.

The basic idea is to create an electricity source that charges a battery bank. Fifteen to twenty batteries will be enough to power most applications. The best kind of battery to use for this is a deep cycle battery. A deep cycle battery is designed to provide a steady amount of current over a long period of time and can be deeply discharged over and over again. These batteries can be connected in a series, parallel, or a series/parallel depending what you are trying to power.

Connecting in Series

• When connecting your batteries in Series you are multiplying the voltage while maintaining the same capacity rating (amp hours). Just connect the negative of the first battery to the positive of the second battery and so on.

Connecting in Parallel

• When connecting in Parallel you are multiplying the capacity (amp hours) of the battery while maintaining the voltage of one of the individual batteries. Just connect the positives of all batteries together and the negatives of all batteries together.

Connecting in Series/Parallel

• To obtain maximum output from the batteries both a series and a parallel connection is needed. The batteries are connected in a series to improve the voltage and in parallel to improve the current (amp hours).

After the batteries are hooked up you’ll need a power inverter to power household appliances. A power inverter converts the direct current (DC) of a battery to alternating current (AC) that we use in our homes. Once the battery bank is complete you will need something to charge it. One way to do this is with a gas powered generator. If you don’t have any gasoline to run your generator a process called wood gasification can be used to create fuel. I also saw this on the The Colony. Wood gasification is the process of turning wood into carbon monoxide and hydrogen by heating it up to high temperatures in an environment with little to no oxygen. When solids and liquids combust they must first be turned into a gas and mixed together with oxygen. Without oxygen, the wood gas can’t burn so it just stays a gas. This wood gas can then be used as fuel to power an internal combustion engine.

Wind turbines and solar panels can also be used to charge a battery bank. A wind turbine can be made from scratch with readily available materials. I am not going to get into this here because that is a subject in itself.

As a side note, heating your home will be a concern in the winter if you live in a colder climate. A wood burning stove can be easily installed in any home (even without a chimney). Also, you will want to check the insulation levels in your home to ensure warm air isn’t escaping and being unnecessarily wasted. In addition, if you live in a warmer climate a solar water heater can be used to passively heat your water. This can be as simple as a large container that sits out in the sun.

If you have any other ideas feel free to comment below.

Sorry I haven’t posted anything in a few weeks.  I have been very busy with work and the house I’m flipping.  I have a lot of progress to write about,  it’s just hard finding the time.  Anyway, I was browsing YouTube and came across this great video.  It kind of reminds me of the small house movement video I posted a few months back (but seems a little more realistic).  I also like the angle this guy has on the construction business.   The idea of building a small cottage on extra land for family to live in is very smart.  You would save a lot of money doing this.  Granted you would have to really get along with your family to make this work.  This also reminded me of a story I heard on a podcast called This American Life.  I don’t remember all the details, but the family involved bought one piece of land and built numerous houses on it, essentially making a family compound.  This could be done on a large or small piece of property.  I think this is a great idea if you can make it work.  By doing this you could divide up the cost of land, possibly reduce taxes (depending on how the property is zoned), and you would always have family around to help out when needed.  Just a thought.

When applying a coat of Polyurethane it can be hard to get that flawless finish. After applying the first coat it’s customary to lightly sand the surface with steel wool, carefully clean, and then apply the final coat. However, after this process there are still little imperfections and bumps dried into the finish. These bumps really standout when looking at the surface from an angle. A quick and easy way to remove these imperfections is to lightly sand the final coat with the backside of 150 grit (or finner) sandpaper. This will smooth out the final coat by knocking down the imperfections.  

Next, I started to gut the bathroom.  This was an exhausting, dirty job.  The plaster was difficult to remove in this particular bathroom because there were a lot of corners.  The corners made it difficult because they were reinforced with a heavy duty wire mesh.  Also, the wall down the middle of the bathroom added a significant amount of time to the demolition process.

Things got worse when I started to tear down the ceiling.  The stud spaces on the north wall of the bathroom were open to the attic and full of Styrofoam insulation.  This type of insulation is hard to clean up because it’s extremely light and goes everywhere.  The entire floor was covered in about a foot of this stuff when it was finally stopped pouring out of the wall.  Also, as I was tearing down the ceiling I thought I heard a strange chatter/growling noise.  I turned down the radio and sure enough, it was another bat.  I could hear it, but I couldn’t find it.  So, I decided to move into the hallway to work, hoping that it would either come out or retreat back into the attic.  Well, after about 5 minutes it came flying out of the bathroom directly at me.  I had a pair of pliers in my hand and instinctively swatted it out of the air.  This grossed me out a little so I decided to call it quits for that day.  In total, it took me about 14 hours to completely remove the plaster from the bathroom.  I also ran into two more bats during the removal, though they just sat there and let me flick them into a box (probably because they were hibernating).

After the plaster was gone I stuffed the openings to the attic with fiberglass, removed the old wiring, broke up the cast-iron tub with a sledgehammer, and removed the subflooring.  Then I was ready to start putting everything back together.  I decided to reconfigure the layout of the entire area so I could fit a new half bath at the end of the hallway.  This involved covering three existing doorways, making a new doorway, and building a short wall.  However, I first covered the whole floor with 7/16^th inch OSB plywood.  There was a giant hole in the floor where a laundry chute used to be so I had to frame in supports as well.  After the floor was covered and everything framed, I had to shim some surfaces to create an even transition from plaster to drywall.  Notice the 1/2 inch plywood on the studs.

Next, I rewired everything to code and insulated.  This involved using GFI outlets, installing a fan vent, and making sure there would be enough lighting.  I was lucky enough to get the insulation for free from my father.  He’s currently remodeling an older lake house and decided to use new, more efficient insulation.  So, I went to his job site and grabbed what I needed.  I also framed in a new ceiling directly below the old one to make room for more insulation.

After that I was ready to set the tub.  I purchased a tub/shower that installed in 4 pieces.  It was very easy to install and looked decent for what it cost.  I started by framing a short wall on the end of the tub.  Next, I set the base and screwed it into position.  The wall pieces were glued to the studs and screwed into place.  Lastly, I roughed in the plumbing for the tub/shower.  Both bathrooms are now ready for drywall.