Costs ended up (at the end of it when we moved in well past this point in the video) at about $92 per square ft. I didn't spray foam first because the kind of high psi foam that you can use in that application is considerably more expensive (6x) than sheets of XPS... I would have done it that way if the cost were closer.

Oh yea, I always tried to keep them clean. But go thru 20 or 30 canisters over several months of building and your chances of not having this problem go way down... I figured it was a risk that I would destroy it, so I might as well try.

By the time we moved in (after kitchen, windows, tile, paint, HVAC, etc.) we were at about $92 per sqft.

Manufacturing tolerances. For me, the 1/2 inch was just too small and I couldn't get it on.

Nope, no heater in the air intake room. I let the air come in after being warmed by the earth tubes and then just distribute it thru the house. If you are used to forced air being hot, you will find that you really enjoy having the air nice and cool (it feels fresher that way) and getting your warmth radiated from the floors and walls. Radiant heat from the concrete feels like sunshine on your skin rather than hot air in your lungs. Not heating the air also means the air stays at about 30 or 40% humidity all winter (heating air dries it out), so we didn't get dry skin or electric shocks like we did in the previous house.

It is all about your supplier. I don't live anywhere near a source of volcanic ash. However, they did use "fly ash", which is a byproduct of the steel making industry in my area. I also used glass fibers in some of the situations (to resist cracking), etc. As for lime, I used that in the stucco mixtures that I made myself. You'll need to find the videos about stucco for the bedrooms to see how I mixed it up on the floor.

@SimonHomeintheEarth Thanks, I must've missed those. I hope you didn't take my comment as condescending...merely an observation...it is turning out beautifully

Oh yea, we went way too complicated... I was experimenting with different methods. But it was a process so I could learn about the different methods. If I could go back, I'd avoid doing a number of things that just made things more difficult.

@@SimonHomeintheEarth I had many of the same things you did on my wish list. Earth tubes etc. now I am both jealous and happy I didn’t at the same time. Looks amazing. Good job!

Yea, I just found out today that people sell the "maple water" to people who don't have their own trees... Maybe I'll do that for the rest of this season (if any one wants mine).

Yeah a lot of work. Luckily my Aunt Jemima makes mine for me for about four dollars.

I was thinking to reduce it down with the sun, then boil it down at the final stage. Make a dust proof contraption out of a fresnel lens, a pc fan, and a large flat container. It wouldn’t be bad If it gets it down by say 80% in a few days.

@@iteerrex8166 Yea, that is an awesome idea... I have a big lens I got from an old TV... I should try it. Next year...

Any further and you really risk burning it (that happened to my first batch, it was like burnt marshmallows). I stopped when the density and temp were correct. Normally, you can get there with a ratio of 40:1 or less. I think I had some waste spillage or something. You can go further (some people make maple candies), but I think you need to switch to a low heat process for evaporating the remaining water. I haven't looked into that very far.

It was interesting to do it myself. But yea, if you just want maple syrup, go to the store and buy it. Even the good stuff shipped from Vermont or Canada is cheaper than it costs to do it yourself... Unless you are using your own free wood. Maybe next year I'll scale up with my wood. We'll see if I have the time.

I had hired a crew for this part. They brought their own equipment. On their best day, they put up about 40 cubic yards, but the pump was only running half that time.

Boil it down to make maple syrup 🇨🇦

I imagine you simmer/boil it until it caramelizes into a nice brown color.

@@buyerenogurlfwendo2106 Yup, a little more scientific than just color, but yea, we boil off the water to increase the ratio of sugar until we get syrup.

Nope. Concrete is very cheap and I didn't need plywood or shingles or siding, etc. The entire house project has come in at under 95$ per square foot, but that quonset garage, with its bathroom, electrical, windows, garage doors, shotcrete, etc. came in at $28/sqft. This makes it about the same cost as a low end pole barn in my area.

@@SimonHomeintheEarth Thanks for the reply. I got quotes $135/sq foot for the Quonset kit with delivery. But, that’s it.

Yea, I just took the second one for his info session at EMU (engineering) Saturday morning. He was accepted with a scholarship, but he needs to finish up his last year of high school first. The older one is 2 years in already.

Yea, we don't have enough extra wood for boiling it off this year, so we are going to start small just to get the hang of it. If it is fun, we'll scale up for next year. We have at least a couple dozen sugar maples big enough to tap.

@@SimonHomeintheEarth I’m planning to run some experiments to see if it’s worthwhile to dry it using the sun, and how it comes out. It would also apply to cane juice and coconut water. Once sufficiently dried then boil it.

Nope, we live in the house and it all works perfectly well. Is about 60 degrees plus or minus a few degrees, year round. Fresh air. No problems. There is no where in the HDPE pipe for anything to grow.

@@SimonHomeintheEarth whew. That'd be annoying if it did.

@@adamfrbs9259 Yea, I spent a ton of time researching to make sure I did it right. I also came up with several back up plans just in case it was a disaster. Fortunately it worked. You can see other videos on my channel with more details, updates on those tubes, etc.

In my neighborhood, almost everyone has guns and that would probably be a short lived business opportunity ;)

@SimonHomeintheEarth i left out my old full exhaust i swapped out from the headers back for the scrappers to take....they snagged just the one Cat and left the rest...lazy scrappers/thieves these days I tell ya. Lol