HOW HOMES ARE BUILT DIFFERENT IN ALASKA | BUILDING A HOME IN ALASKA |Somers In Alaska

Are homes built different here compared to where you live?
HELLO HAPPY PEOPLES!
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We are a family of 5 living life in North Pole, Alaska! Where Santa Claus House is right down the street! We love spending time together as a family, having fun, learning through homeschooling, growing in our faith, and building our forever home! We hope you enjoy seeing are crazy life, full of lots of laughs, great memories and maybe a few tears..
We have 3 kiddos: Audrey (12), Evelynn (8), and Garrett (5). You can follow us on twitter, facebook, instagram, & snapchat! Come hang out! We would love to get to know you better!
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P.O. BOX 56469
NORTH POLE, AK 99705
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Our channel is focused on making quality content for adults. However, we aim to always create family-friendly content that is safe for the entire family to watch together.

[@richardmartin404]

Your ceilings are high but you don't have any ceiling fans they have a winter switch reverse spin to circulate the heat sending the warm air back down to your family!...

[@stevenshewfelt888]

i would love to see a full on from picking out the land to getting the parcel ready for building on to hiring the contractors and going through the ups and downs of building another building with timelapse shots as well

[@wendykosak1988]

LOL was amazed when by Hawaiian homes -- the older traditional homes have walls only as thick as the siding. Windows are usually louvered and rarely closed because air flow is vital to avoid mold.

[@Fattony6666]

that's not funny at all

[@nathanmahloch3216]

In Kansas you have to have a basement that has a room with no windows for tornadoes. Or a underground storm cellar.

[@Mike-ub1tc]

Or also on a slap home same they have a safe room for tornados here in kansas

[@charlesbear5867]

Very cute Nathan.

[@addiomondo4493]

Wow scary

[@brendabaird2000]

I was born in Missouri and grew up in Kansas from the age of 4 until about 23, 24 when I moved to Arizona. I don’t miss tornadoes!

[@kobesrange6323]

@Luxe Aux thanks for the tip luxe aux we definitely didn’t know that!👍🏾😁

[@jamescharros1299]

Oh oh oh, I'm in Texas and we have to irrigate around out house to prevent foundation from getting cracks. It's concrete slab. That's the only special thing I could think of. That and having constantly fight squirrels out of the attic.

[@lorifenner1078]

Your family is so precious. I love the way you and Bert are with each other. You can feel the love.

[@jorgen3]

Live in middle Sweden in almost same latitude as north pol. North pol is just 140 miles north about Sundsvall Sweden. We almost build our buildings as same you are. 3 glass windows, isolation the same. Heating in floor. Many have a second wood burning stove ( blowing out hot air) But one big difference is main heating source. Oil and gas not almost does not exist here now but it used to be. ( it to expensive) But the oil crisis in the 70s caused many to switch to other sources. Now geothermal heat pump is a common alternative. ( 600 feet deep hole that heats the water) The heat pump uses the difference from water 32F to 39F from hole. Or air heat pump even many uses. Snow load is here 392 kg/m2. Could be 86 pound/square feet if I counting right. The roof shall cope with this. So glad I discovered your interesting site. We have much common.

[@jeanwoolman261]

P

[@kaydublin5164]

Very interesting

[@user-qd9re1kt3d]

Meillä on Suomessa myös paljon puutaloja.Lämmitys on uusissa taloissa maalämmöllä ja puulämpöuunit,niin kuin sielläkin.Täällä myös halkoja poltetaan. Meillä on myös tuulisähköä ja vesivoimalla tulee sähkö energia.Suomessa on myös tapana rakentaa sauna pesutiloihin.Siellä on myös luo😊nnossa paljon eläimiä. Meillä täällä on myös poroja jotka on vähän pienempiä kuin hirvet.Meillä on karhuja ,hirviä ja poroja.Minä voisin asua Alaskassa koska minä olen montavuotta asunut lähellä napapiiriä Suomessa joten leveyspiiri on melko sama.Kiitos hyvästä videosta.Katselen paljon luonto you tube filmejä Alaskasta;siksi löysin tämänkin.

[@kimberlyamayo3984]

I love the fact that there is no termite in Alaska because here in the Philippines that is one of our major enemy even if our homes are made of concrete, we usually need to put termite pipe line or poison the soil before constructing the concrete foundation just to be sure enough that the structure won't be infested by the termite 😊

[@ginettehazard2929]

Y’alls positive attitudes and kind hearts is so refreshing to see. It makes my heart happy.

[@adamfrbs9259]

You know its cold when you use your wood splitter in the garage.

[@jennifergulaszewski686]

That is the most organized, functional basement/crawl space I have ever seen!!!! Love it

[@corianne2099]

I think it would be great to do a building project. I remember you saying Bert's office and storage is an eyesore, so an idea would be to build him an actual office and storage space for his materials for work. Plus he would be able to see out during the warmer months and help keep an eye on your kiddos while they are playing outside especially with the wildlife that lives there. Plus, you can get rid of those eyesores 😊

[@charlotteanddavestorey6553]

Absolutely love that view through your window at the beginning of the video . Here in the uk our house is sandstone on the outside, then breeze blocks, then plasterboard ,or drywall ,on the inside . Fascinating stuff how you build houses in Alaska to withstand the cold .

[@tamara8050]

Your videos gives me warm fuzzy feelings...love you guys!💕

[@joseedumont3231]

I’m in for the building project 🙋🏻‍♀️😊

[@marie-joseenadeau971]

Josee Dumont are you from Quebec?

[@joseedumont3231]

Marie-Josée Nadeau oui lol terrebonne 😉

[@marie-joseenadeau971]

@@joseedumont3231 Et moi, de Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu :-)

[@bossmama7069]

Saying hello from Texas. Down here, we don't see cold. The coldest it gets is about 32 for a few days and thats it. Winters in texas are cold in the morning, by midday your wearing shorts again lol. We do have fireplaces in all our homes here. We personally do not use ours because we never need to. But, back when I lived in apartments I did because I just liked doing it and it made things so much more cozy. While you guys pay an arm and a leg for gas, we pay an arm in a leg for AC during the summer months. Our windows are only double pane. I also haven't seen snow in many... many years. So watching your videos is a nice change as our climate doesnb't change lol. It's like a whole new world to me.

[@bradleyp33]

You guys should start a new HGTV show for house flipping in Alaska!

[@debbiebynum8086]

Great idea.

[@oneproudmama1565]

That would be soooo cool

[@psychicham9085]

Omg yessssss please

[@billcomer6220]

Thanks for your videos. I'm happy you're doing well and your a contract or. Your home is huge and beautiful, especially for Alaska. I live in PA, I have a gas boiler which has been great want to integrate my wood stove . In the spring I will insulate block foundation . Next year put insulation on northern walls. Is your fireplace a masonary stove. Please pray for Revival JESUS IS LORD HE IS COMING SOON. God bless you much.

[@jennifermichele1]

I know I'm about a year late lol. I watch their videos over and over again lol but this is an AMAZING IDEA!

[@mrsbone6929]

Thanks for sharing! Love your videos! Hope you guys are having a blessed day and much love and God bless!

[@tats4ever]

Great video! Thanks for sharing your building knowledge. Favorite line in the video... “Frozen 2 baby!” Too cute!

[@bonnie3994]

Building project 😀👍I love learning about y'all home build,,so interesting too me,,I so love y'all home it just Beautiful ❤️

[@valentinlopez6189]

We just returned from the North Pole two weeks ago. I went with my son-in-law to go drop off the trash. We ate at the Pagoda, Pump House, Santa Claus House and Chena Hot Springs Resort. We also visited Denali and we went caribou hunting near 12 mile road just below the tree line. The Alaskan Pipeline is awesome.

[@cindyal5715]

Wow! The differences are so interesting. We live in Orlando, FL in a bungalow built in 1940! When it gets “cold” here we can feel the cold just coming right thru our original 1940 windows. Your house looks so warm and cozy!!

[@YeshuaKingMessiah]

“Florida Freezing” lol

[@lorrainehinchliffe5371]

If you can feel the cold coming in then when it’s hot the air conditioning is getting out

[@Victoria-ls8hd]

I always forget houses with basements aren't possible in certain parts of the country. I couldn't imagine having a house without a deep basement!!!! We also love our fireplace and use it often throughout the winter but not as a daily source of heat. But it definitely cranks up the temp for our first floor.

[@sciencerscientifico310]

Yeah, in certain parts of the country, like south Florida or the greater New Orleans area of Louisiana, it's impossible to build underground because the water table is too high and the elevation too low. Also, a few areas have extremely rocky soil that is ultra difficult to dig into.

[@makaylagroff8971]

Maaannnn, I really wanna visit Alaska now! It’s a gorgeous state!!! Also, it’s a plus that you don’t have any creepy crawlers, I’m in Texas and dear LORD there everywhere!!

[@norene0054]

Your blogs make me guilty for complaining it was too hot already :) it was 85 today in south florida

[@tyreesetjjoyner1995]

happy wednesday, SOMERS. hope y'all having a nice, safe wednesday. stay warm and stay safe.

[@VomBethel]

This was fascinating! Our home here in SE Florida is built so differently than our previous home in NJ. Also because of weather, the house is built to withstand hurricanes and extreme heat. For example, the roof is triple tied, the floors are tile or wood (no wall to wall carpets), the windows/doors are impact resistant, the walls are poured concrete, the entire house is build higher than the surrounding area (to prevent flooding), the ceilings are higher (to help with heat), the heating system (which is rarely needed) is more heat pump than furnace, and no basement due to a high water table. Those are just some of things that stand out but there's probably more.

[@Mumma2many]

And yes, please!!! We will watch ANYTHING you can film.

[@mrcu8176]

That's not a craw space...you're standing up ! Yes sir that's a basement .

[@stephaniehernandez9360]

I love y’all’s family so much!! And your house looks so comfy and cozy ❄️♥️ great videos guys!

[@digdisdozen269]

Almost all the same here. Marquette Michigan. We have a lot of the same winters as Alaska.

[@mysterycomment1553]

I love how the US talk about Alaska and the lower 48 like Canada doesn’t even exist. lol.

[@saulgoodman2438]

Mystery Comment because Canada isn’t part of the United States. Canada operates as it’s own country

[@mysterycomment1553]

Saul Goodman That’s not what I mean. The way people talk about and the way Alaska is presented in tv shows/movies, etc. Such as I’m going to travel or hike to Alaska etc. Usually shows someone in Seattle then boom they are hiking in Alaska next seen. Which is impossible, especially with no mention of a plane etc. Literally a giant piece of land called Canada usually gets bypassed almost all the time. People actually search google and ask why they have to travel through Canada to get to Alaska. Just like this video for example, they might not think it but I’m sure they have lots of Canadian viewers and considering where Alaska is Placed in comparison to the lower 48 that’s a big audience to forget about when you have Canada in between Alaska and the lower 48. People’s daily lives in Alaska are actually very relatable to Canadians. Also based off KZbin’s algorithm their videos are definitely being recommended to Canadians.

[@kylezmcgee455]

*cries* I'm out here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean like we don't matter... but we still love you mainlanders, from hawaii lol

[@fixt100]

@@kylezmcgee455 you live in Hawaii, nobody will have sympathy for you :P

[@clairesimon847]

No Canada is in America on the same island and alaska. Is real

[@angeliarossett5934]

So awesome! I lived in Fairbanks years ago. North Pole was always a fun trip!

[@whitewolfw4623]

Your house is gorgeous, and so are you. I am planning on building my next home so I am going to check out your ideas. Thanks.

[@kiasmine]

Yes! Our family would love to see a building project of yours!

[@AKAhoy]

Just found this video, just recently started watching. As a fellow Alaskan, one thing i'd love to point out is that aside from the wooden foundations and the adjustable foundations, a lot of cabins are up on stilts as well! Both of mine are about 3' from the ground to avoid melting our permafrost which lays 6" in the heat of summer under the topsoil.

[@MATTHYSZN]

VERY interesting! 👍🏼 thanks for sharing SomersInAlaska ☺️

[@ashleydavis1762]

Yes to seeing the building project 😍

[@kaitmichelexo]

Just came back from vacation to Fairbanks/North Pole! It was coooold but had so much fun! Saw the lights!

[@marie-joseenadeau971]

A lot of Quebec homes have a secondary source of heating such as a slow-combustion wood burning stove or a propane fireplace. This has increased due to the great ice storm of 1998 where thousands of people were without power and heating for two weeks or more. We have extreme temperatures as well and when we get mild spells, it tends to be freezing rain. I installed new encased triple-pane windows and yes, it is expensive but I don't regret it at all! Hugs to you guys from one cold place to another!

[@Dbusdriver71]

That sounds scary Marie. I can understand investing in a wood burning stove.

[@marie-joseenadeau971]

@@Dbusdriver71 Just last night it was -38 Celsius (we are metric here). I'm pretty sure I would adapt very well to beautiful Alaska.

[@donnabrown4349]

Some people in Michigan have wood stoves too.

[@Dbusdriver71]

@@marie-joseenadeau971 Yes. Fairbanks is in the mountains so that is why it can get to that Temperature. That plus windchill. I was stationed at Ft. Wainwright.

[@CabinDweller]

I remember that ice storm, scary stuff! So good you have backup heat now.

[@janeoxley4829]

Love the style of your house, and the furnishing and decor. Greetings from England.

[@GloomyLullaby]

Hi Somers! Europe here, to be exact: Germany. Wanted to give you guys an idea of our homes here around. So, I my parents have build a big house with an aparment above the garage (thats where I live ). We do live near the alps in southern germany, so the climate ist mostly temperate and its not getting too cold - BUT we actually do have winters (around january / feburary) where it can get very, very cold (at least for us) around 5. Our home is heated with pellet-heating and normaly it works perfectly fine. A few weeks ago we had actually a problem with the heater (didnt work anymore). My parents do have a fireplace so it wasnt a big of a deal for them, my aparment otherwise do not have such second heating system. We had no heater for around... 3 days I guess, it was freezing outside and I tried everything to keep my home warm as long as I can. Therefore I know, maybe its not that good isolated like homes in alaska, but its done the job very well. We do have houses made out of stone here around, with isolation between the exterior wall and the woodwall in my rooms :) . Also we do have shutters on the windows, that helped with keeping the warm air in. In addition to the heatingsystem we do own solarpanels on the roof wich heat the water. Our windows do have handles to open them fully if you want, or just partly. They do have double glass actually. All of the homes here around do have basments for storage and such. Our heatersystem is in the basment actually.We do own something special, even for houses here around: My father was a parttime blacksmith and so we do have a smithy (is that the word for it? :D) in our house too. hope it was a little bit interesting

[@eleshaburgess8567]

Seriously fascinating, you have built I imagine the Alaskan dream home.

[@sheryladams1964]

Chilly near Houston Texas. We make sure we have good insulation to keep out cold. Not a big winter. Usually lows are 30s. Rarely 20s But summer is hot. Humidity and hot feel like a sauna. Shower, open the door to leave and ugh! Need another shower. Stay warm up there! 🙂

[@sandyoklahomatransient8557]

We live out in the country, and use electric heat along with our wood stove to keep the house warm. Our well pump is located under a tall table in our laundry room inside the house. The previous home owner set the pump up this way to keep it warm. Eventually we'll build a well house outside, and relocate the pump.

[@markbernier8434]

Don't get that. Switch to a submersible pump. No well house, no fuss.

[@christinecortese9973]

@@markbernier8434 I have a well house wired for a backup generator in the event grid power goes out.

[@anniehethersay5698]

Omg yes you have to do that create something new so fascinating to see ! Another great vlog 😀

[@jeanettewest]

Here in Bethel we do all that outside. Splitting wood indoors! First time for everything I guess. :)

[@TRuth.T]

I wondered why you have such a large house & why Bert has a office out of the home?

[@kathylane9403]

That oldest girl is so special. She is so smart. They are raised right. You can tell

[@khayasontsele8984]

Nice house you have there Somers family. It looks a great build and quality construction

[@Ajessordinaryhistory]

I was born in Fargo ND and live in MN and so much of this looks like our winters here. Super interesting to see👍🏼

[@nzkiwi9]

In South Central Alaska steel pillar foundations are really common due to frost heaving damaging concrete footers & slabs. We install layers of ridgid foam insulation between the skirting of the crawlspace & the ground. This prevents the earth buckling under your house and lifting it off your foundation.

[@valerieknauber2149]

Hello happy people's!! Hello Somers family. I just love you guys to pieces. I always find everything so fascinating when it comes to the differences in Alaskan living. It truely is so different. I would love to see a building project. I watched your home be built and I loved it. Yeah I've been here awhile!! Stay warm friends.

[@clementine1827]

Me: ***is from Alaska**** *still clicks on video*

[@annaraelynnstewart]

Same

[@SkaldIduna]

Me too. ❄️

[@april0647]

Residing in Oregon (age, family . . .), and an Alaskan. Eielson AFB, moved south for 40+ years in Anchorage, still in Alaska I am informed here! Videos help how to trade “Alaskan” realities to Outsiders.

[@stevenshewfelt888]

yep

[@Zero2FiveFamily]

Love the video and info! ❤️❤️❤️

[@annikasalonen1871]

This was interesting, sounds very similar to houses in Finland. We have similar windows, fireplaces, insulation, ground frost issues etc. We too have heating boilers, but nowadays we try to avoid oil, so in here geothermal heating and electrical heating are pretty common. 🏠👌🏼

[@alisonlee7944]

I just love to watch whatever you do or plan to do.. love your family. 😍😍😍 Never miss any of your videos.. 😄😍😍GBU. 🙏😍

[@BorninVirginia]

In central Virginia my home was built in the early 60s the atic has r 38 insulation and I believe my walls are around r 25 ish. No vapor barrier, the walls are about 6 inches deep. The windows are single pane however there are storm window over the main windows that help. The roof snow load is about 3 feet more then enough for this area. It has a forced air heating oil furnace at 2.75 a gallon normal cost about $400 a winter. My crawl space is actually a crawl space only about 3 feet tall. Concrete block foundation. I have a well and salt water system.

[@nickhill8612]

Yes it's the same way here in Roanoke.

[@trenarichardson690]

I just started watching your channel not long ago. One of my favorites families to follow

[@deidrakeane8922]

I was born in Anchorage as my father was in the Air Force. Daddy was transferred when I was 1 years old. I love following you and seeing all of the beautiful parts of Alaska. I live in Texas and can't imagine -40 temps!

[@LucasFernandez-fk8se]

I’m pretty sure in 70%+ of the US houses are built as cheaply as possible. Single pane windows, minimal insulation, we do have vapor barriers though. And we have tons of homes built on slab foundations

[@sixftsarah]

Pretty interesting to hear the differences in home building! Y'alls home is similar to my parents house. It's about 3500sq ft, with a working wood stove in the great room. We also have triple pane windows and 8inch walls. We live in central Missouri so maybe our setup is excessive for the area, but I know the house is always warm and they don't pay much for heating!

[@rickyrunks510]

@@BitcoinfunforBoomers 4 inch walls is wild

[@pamweatherly1992]

Building project Whoo Hoo. If you guys want to do it. All of us have plenty of time to watch and enjoy 😉 Kids were so adorable how excited they got to watch Frozen 2. ❤️❤️☃️❄️

[@wanerchang1747]

we have plenty of termites here in Singapore a little army came through our kitchen and literally had our kitchen for lunch. We discovered that when we had repeatedly re-hung one of our kitchen cabinets and it kept falling off its hinges!

[@nousername4me2use]

"Nausenated" LOL

[@DavidIrthum]

I am so very happy to here about the different ways homes are built in AK. My family and I have lived in North Central Texas for nine years and it rarely gets below 20°Fahrenheit. We lived in a "Green" Home that had the vapor barrier on the inside with triple pane casement windows. The had R 40 for the storage attic and the roof attic, Styrofoam inside the walls for added insulation. We had very energy efficient appliances. During the Winter months the whole house is airtight the house stays about 68°Fahrenheit with no heat on which saves on electric. We Central air & heat with a high efficiency insulated water heater located in the garage. During the 100°Fahrenheit Summers with no Air conditioning the temp inside is 80°F. I am interested in the future building projects you have, thanks.

[@beckymoran321]

If you build it, we will watch!!!!

[@shortcake7200]

Becky M ha! Field of Dreams reference. 🤣

[@petat13]

Yep! Me too 😂😂

[@Letty4]

Speaking of attic insulation: I live in southern, coastal Virginia and bought a 100 year old home that had no attic insulation when I bought it! I have since blown in R-19 cellulose. But it boggled my mind that there wasn't a scrap of insulation of any kind up there!

[@debbief2882]

Very interesting facts about houses up there. Unfortunately I don't know enough about construction to share back. LOL

[@jo-bredfunnygirl2166]

Hey! I live in Minnesota so we have similar home build options. And my parents live in northern Idaho so we are all pretty close to the same.

[@Dbusdriver71]

Its very interesting to hear some of the things that are done to improve you home and to keep the heat inside to help keep warmer. In Southern California, we have what is called Energy Efficient Homes. 'They' come in and inspect your home to see what improvements that can be made to save money and be more Energy Efficient. Mr. Somers, your describing a few things with your home that was recommended to me. Mind you, if it got just below freezing people become very anxious where 0' to -20 is considered normal in Fairbanks and North Pole. Does anyone really ever stop working on their home? Your home is beautiful Mr. and Mrs. Somers.

[@vanessacarter6342]

I’m laughing because 16 degrees Celsius is a cold day in Australia!

[@phyllisdevries5734]

Oh yeah it's a cold day in Alaska to

[@aineisokay7238]

Where is the Logic, and reason? It’s about 60 degrees Fahrenheit so I’m sure at this time of year it would be a pretty hot day

[@beklambert5444]

Vanessa Carter It would be lovely to experience such a beautiful looking place but yes here in Australia anything below 16 degrees Celsius is freezing for us. I also love that they don’t have big hairy spiders or snakes

[@Senaihh]

And I’m from a country where temperature never drops bellow 28 degree celsius and sun shine everyday

[@helenlecornu1651]

@@Senaihh I think that's where I boo and hiss at you lol. I'm sitting here freezing my buns off at 2.30am and 3.6 degrees (38.48 F), and that's because we had beautiful blue skies yesterday. This weekend is gonna be a cool 23 ish though. Better than the 48 C (119 F) earlier in the year.

[@paskuda1975]

Beautiful house and wonderful views :)

[@glennnickey3160]

Our weather here in SE Pennsylvania (Gettysburg area) isn't nearly as extreme as North Pole, but my house construction is similar. Constructed in 1988. It has oil fired hot water heating with a zone valve and thermostat in almost every room. That way I can shut off heat in some rooms that are only used occasionally. I have a zero clearance fire place (picture an air tight stove surrounded by an insulated box) that is framed in with no masonry. Used for supplementary/emergency heat. House (2050 sq.ft.) is framed with 2 X 6's on 24" centers to reduce the amount of wood in the wall. (about the same as 2X4 on 15" centers) Insulated with wet blown cellulose insulation, before drywall goes on. Outside of framing is covered with 1" blue board foam insulation. I can usually get by with using about 200-220 gal of fuel oil and a little less than 1 cord of wood. I don't think 10" walls are excessive for your area. I used a vapor barrier paint and sealed all the electrical boxes.

[@johnc.bojemski1757]

Yup! CLEAR in WINTER equals... COLD! EVEN DOWN HERE IN THE NYC AREA.

[@The_Temple]

I’m in Iowa - our house shares a bit in common … backup heat source (two working actual fireplaces, basement & living room) & double paned windows(not quite the same, but same general reason) & attic is pretty well insulated

[@tiffanydaniel1270]

All very similar to Wyoming. I work in the HVAC industry. We don't use oil here, but boilers are still regularly used. Our insulation, windows, secondary heat source etc... is all pretty similar though. We're at 7200 feet and regularly get -30 (or more) below real temp here as well. Just recently found your channel and loving it!

[@cb1837]

I'm so glad I found your channel. I am from about 90 miles south of you on the Nenana River. Makes me so homesick seeing your video's. My dad use to build houses in Alaska brought back a lot of memories seeing your video.

[@richardvigrass2619]

Thank you for the great video on how new houses are built in Alaska. Most of the construction practices you mentioned are common practices today for northern zones. Fresh air intakes for furnaces has been a regulatory requirements since the late 70s. Heat exchangers do not always work when the difference in temperature between the intake and outgoing air are too large. The choices of building foundations dependent on the soil conditions (e.g. clay or gravel or rocks and etc.). One notable difference is the use of vapor barrier inside the house compared to use house wrap (on outside of the house). Preventing permafrost melting or water accumulation around the foundation in the Spring is very important for colder climate buildings. Again, thank you for this informative talk.

[@nickialaskanyogi]

We do have carpenter ants though! Like termites they bore into wood structures and leave a pile of sawdust. They literally destroyed my garden plot which was bordered with wood beams. They also ate through the wooden stairs at my old place. So now I use metal scraps from old projects to boarder my garden. But I’m in the Matsu Valley, where ants and slugs (which I never had a problem with until 6 years ago -slugs) are more abundant. I even had them eat through old railroad ties! Anyway have a wonderful day! It’s beautiful out for sure!!

[@ramongonzalez2112]

Good for you guys! Beautiful up there. Cold places aren’t for me, but I can watch. I can stick my head in the freezer if I miss the cold. ✌️🙏

[@TheMeganExperience]

In FL most newer houses (built in the past 40 years) are made out of cinderblocks; I'm assuming to withstand hurricane force winds and be more impervious to termites which run rampant here! There are two main building styles you will encounter; 1. Modern house which will have double paned windows and additional insulation to help keep the cool air in and 2. Older house which will have many windows which are often louvered/crank and a whole house fan - this is all in an effort to keep air circulating and blowing for when AC was not as popular. FL is humid sub-tropical so if you don't have good air circulation- you'll have mold!

[@williamozment8303]

I’d love to watch your building project love your videos have a great day

[@MarkovianMan]

You have a beautiful home. I had a house with triple-paned windows and we constantly had issues with the inside glass panes cracking from the radical temperature changes here in Colorado, where it can literally be 80°F one day and 30°F the next.

[@bettykegley6416]

My husband and I will be, after 30 years of boys ❤️, empty nesters in about four more years. Even though we are obviously getting old he wants to build a tiny-ish home on property out of city limits. I say ish because we don’t want crazy tiny. I want closets, some storage space (in a basement), and just one extra bedroom for visitors, aka sons, family, whoever. We want energy efficient. Maybe solar panels. Anyway building like you do in Alaska, thick walls, extra heating source...couldn’t hurt. We’re in Appalachia. It can get cold, we can get snow, it ALWAYS gets hot and humid...energy efficient seems the way to go. We’d watch you build for sure!

[@jasonabraham8875]

Hi Somers family. Watching from the Philippines..God bless your channel and your family...

[@connieahrens1439]

Bit of a cold snap here in central Wisconsin, looking at -25 to -35 below for lows over the next few days. Thanks for another great video!

[@erinmccarthy5589]

Wow that is cold

[@frederickmoller]

Here too in northeastern Ontario Canada, and lots of snow on the ground too, about 3 feet.

[@CarriUSA]

Wisconsinite here to...I always wish forecasters are wrong. 😉

[@shortcake7200]

Wisconsin here too! Avoiding the cold right now laying in bed watching this vlog. 🤣

[@bonbon5980]

I jumped the gun. Bert answered all of my questions so thanks!

[@yaaraestoppey551]

Yes I would love to see the building project!!! As an Interior Designer, im all for it🤗 Ps: love watching your video's, i've been around a few years now 💕

[@Lady_Liberty1977]

You guys are great. God bless 🙏

[@KLH631]

I live in New England and there are a lot of similarities! Metal roofs seem to be pretty popular up north due to the snow loads. I find it funny you call it a crawl space, we call it a basement or cellar.

[@rebeccaromig2561]

Such a beautiful scene out the window!

[@Nicolemoya]

I live on an island in the east coast (in new england region) and its mandatory that homes close to the ocean (ocean is about 2 miles out) have 4-5 feet of concrete foundation above street level so when winter comes (major flooding happens) houses do not take in large amounts of water. Homes on the mainland (about 10 minutes away) are on the land or raised 2 feet in case of excess rainfall.

[@carissadallke1345]

My dad built our house growing up here in KS. He also went the extra mile on things like extra rebarb for our basement along with a barrier to keep the cement from sweating & the insulation & rebarb in the walls. He tried to make it very safe for tornadoes & just efficent all around. But dont remember much else. Was little!

[@loribillings3810]

Here at our Iowa home we have what is called a heat pump system. It runs off electric until the outside temperature reaches a certain temp then it switches over to propane gas. It seems to be cheaper that way for us to have two different heating source's. I always cringe when the propane truck leaves our driveway. Its always nice when propane is at a cheap price per gallon. We built our house too do we were able to insulate overload. Stay warm guys.

[@drcovell]

Here in CA’s Central Coast, the mean temp is 67 degrees. However moving into a home built 50 years ago, it had *no insulation at all* when we moved in. First thing was R19 in the attic! The 6’x6’ single pane windows in the dining room are like a heat vacuum; we have to keep the curtains closed-Otherwise it’s about 10 degrees above outdoors. We have PG&E electrical/gas, which stands for “Plunder, Gouge, & Extort”-At least that is what the bills are like. Enjoy AK!

[@toddk7902]

love the videos. Thanks.

[@valerry22]

We need to start replacing windows in our home in Montana so thank you for the information. We also have a boiler that heats our house.

[@virginiawisdom7170]

I'd like to see a building thing. And growing up in middle Missouri we has a wood stove as our main source of heat but we also has an electric furnace but that was only used to get the chill out on really cold days . As I was the oldest I was to stock up the wood stove when we got home from school and had to get brothers to get enough wood in for the night and the morning as well. Took us a little bit but we did as we were to.

[@cindypeters9610]

I would love to watch a building project. Your home is so beautiful, it would be very enjoyable to see you build something else.