# Lifestyles & Discussion > Freedom Living >  Building a complete affordable system for self sufficiency

## SolusSLX

I think it's more important to act individually and in groups than to put all hope on changing national politics, there are too many people that don't know what's going on. Working on local politics will help national politics since national politics are based on local positions. Get involved in the political party county committees and occupy all of the precinct committeeman/chairman positions. The best way to affect the "economy" is to disconnect from the planned economy and engage in a real, local, free market economy. With new technology we can live well without being dependent on the planned national economy.

"Factor E farm" is a system designed to be an affordable, self sufficient, self replicating, open source, minimal labor, high quality of life, technologically advanced form of society that is not dependent on a global economy to function.

It is based on small villages/farms/communities of two to hundreds of people that have an affordable computer controlled machine called the "Flex Fab lab" that can manufacture the pieces of other machines from downloadable computer files. All of the machine files should be open source to keep costs down and quality up. The pieces are then assembled by the people and the new machine can be used by them or sold to someone else. The Flex Fab lab can build the pieces to make a copy of itself to use or sell. The Flex Fab lab can then make other labor saving machines to build other things, like the brick making machine to make high quality houses out of very cheap material: compressed earth, which is used to construct expensive houses now because the current brick making machines are proprietary and expensive. The machines can be used to make other infrastructure like greenhouses, etc. to help the people be self sufficient and make high quality long lasting products out of local resources instead of transporting cheap products from all over the world to meet basic needs(like drinking bottled water imported from somewhere, food imported from somewhere else, etc).

Basic descriptions:
http://openfarmtech.org/index.php?ti...eting_Brochure
http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/marcin...rld/2008/01/22

The system was designed with the ideals of Gandhi and Thomas Jefferson in mind, see the working assumptions, interview, website, and education program:
http://www.globalswadeshi.net/forum/...%3ATopic%3A501
http://factorefarm.org
http://openfarmtech.org/index.php?ti...ng_Assumptions
http://openfarmtech.org/index.php?ti...cation_Program

A blog with the current progress:
http://openfarmtech.org/weblog/

Combine the self sufficient groups with using the free time once everything is set up to take political control of local governments (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=78839) and it could be a way to fight against the global centralization of government, production, finance, etc. Atmospheric water generators could even be used to live well in desert areas where there aren't many people and libertarians can take over the county:
http://www.ecoloblue.com/ecoloblue.html


He has the technology and the ideas for this, it just needs to be funded and built. Maybe we can help with fund raising with donations when there's a way to donate. Maybe we can help with finding people that will be willing to help design things or finance the initial production.

"Be self-sufficient. Make enough money to live the finest life, but still not enough to pay for your oppression."

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## Meatwasp

This is interesting as my son wanted to buy 10 sprinkle atachments to make the sprinkles fuzz more. As they were they just put out a long stream. It would have cost him $100' dollars to buy them so he just made duplicates out of one he had cast them himself.
I was very proud he did that.

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## Meatwasp

He used the bullet casings the sheriff gave him when they practice shooting.

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## FunkBuddha

I don't know if this post just went over people's heads or if no one looked at it but I've been fascinated by this concept since I saw your post. These people have got a good thing going. I hope that they can perfect some of the technology soon. 

It certainly seems very compatible with libertarian ideology as well. It wouldn't really require everyone moving to a large parcel of land just people living in the same general area. Anyhow, if anyone is interested in the self sufficient lifestyle check out this link to the "About" page.


http://factorefarm.org/about.html

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## pacelli

It seems like a high cost for a small family not connected to others, but headed in the right direction.  My only issue with depending completely on technology is that an EMP would render the entire operation useless.  However that is a low-likelihood event.  Thanks for the links!

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## lucius

That is very interesting; I will look further. I have built off-grid and state-of-the-art low-tech is my mantra.

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## tmosley

> It seems like a high cost for a small family not connected to others, but headed in the right direction.  My only issue with depending completely on technology is that an EMP would render the entire operation useless.  However that is a low-likelihood event.  Thanks for the links!


That's not really a big deal, just make a spare copy of each of the sensitive components and store it in a shielded room.

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## tmosley

Wow, I read through some of those links.  If I weren't working on really important (for humanity) work at my job, I would be sorely tempted to quit and take on a project like this.

I still might, in my scant free time.

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## Leroy_Jenkems

Bump for an EXCELLENT thread. This project puts into motion the concepts and unwritten strategies I've been thinking of since joining this movement.


Our futures are in our own hands. Technology and science have always been major forces in propelling humankind forward. I see the journey to freedom in the face of oppression as a proverbial "Rubik's Cube" - make the right moves in the right order/timing, and the door is unlocked. There's my geeky philosophical rant for the day.


Anyone else here who likes to tinker with machinery and electronics may benefit from the following sites:

www.linuxcnc.org
www.sourceforge.net
http://lifehacker.com/384329/how-to-cook-with-the-sun
http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/
http://forums.biorust.com/3d-modelli...modellers.html

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## FunkBuddha

Bump. These guys are making serious progress. They've already completed the tractor and compressed earth brick press now they're getting started on the computer controlled torch table. Check out the videos on the blog. 

http://www.openfarmtech.org/weblog

Amazing...

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## newyearsrevolution08

this is really cool indeed.

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## tmosley

Wow, they built a 3KW solar array, and it's not that big.  I wonder how much it cost them to build.  I have been wanting to do something like that for my home for a while now.

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## tangent4ronpaul

> Bump. These guys are making serious progress. They've already completed the tractor and compressed earth brick press now they're getting started on the computer controlled torch table. Check out the videos on the blog. 
> 
> http://www.openfarmtech.org/weblog
> 
> Amazing...


The CINVA ram is supposed to be incredible for making bricks:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Ask-O...-Building.aspx

http://www.earth-auroville.com/index...pg=auram&id1=7

http://www.aureka.com/eace/index.php?categ=eace

-t

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## SolusSLX

It's been a while... I quit/lost my job and my bank account was emptied by the student loan company Sallie Mae and I was planning to join the USMC. I visited Factor E Farm to check it out for 2 weeks in November and talked with Marcin about his plans and the Ron Paul Revolution/Campaign For Liberty/freedom movement, and the goal of Open Source Ecology is pretty much the same as ours. I decided to move here in December and am going to be working on trying to help develop a sawmill. 

I think this is the next step in the Campaign For Liberty and I'd like to ask everyone that supports Ron Paul and liberty to also consider helping us out. 

Most of all, we need people that are dedicated to liberty and are willing to come here and help develop the infrastructure to support it. Please try to spread the word to anyone you think might be interested.

If you can help with designs or research check out the wiki, and see if you can help on projects. 

You can also help by subscribing to donate $10 a month for the next two years ($240) to help us quickly develop all of the infrastructure, or by making a general donation. We are planning to develop everything needed in the next two years, hopefully in time to help more people become self sufficient in the midst of the global depression.




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by FunkBuddha View Post
> Bump. These guys are making serious progress. They've already completed the tractor and compressed earth brick press now they're getting started on the computer controlled torch table. Check out the videos on the blog.
> 
> http://www.openfarmtech.org/weblog
> 
> Amazing...
> The CINVA ram is supposed to be incredible for making bricks:
> 
> ...


Nice, we'll research their stuff more for the next CEB machine and when we start making more houses. 




> Wow, I read through some of those links. If I weren't working on really important (for humanity) work at my job, I would be sorely tempted to quit and take on a project like this.
> 
> I still might, in my scant free time.
> 
> ...
> 
> Wow, they built a 3KW solar array, and it's not that big. I wonder how much it cost them to build. I have been wanting to do something like that for my home for a while now.


If there's anything you can do to help please contact us at jeremymaso .co.uk "joseph.dolittle [at[ gmail [dot] com". I haven't looked into it much yet but the solar array seems like it's supposed to be cheap, and Nick is going to be working on the steam engine power generator powered by the solar array.




> I don't know if this post just went over people's heads or if no one looked at it but I've been fascinated by this concept since I saw your post. These people have got a good thing going. I hope that they can perfect some of the technology soon.
> 
> It certainly seems very compatible with libertarian ideology as well. It wouldn't really require everyone moving to a large parcel of land just people living in the same general area. Anyhow, if anyone is interested in the self sufficient lifestyle check out this link to the "About" page.
> 
> 
> http://factorefarm.org/about.html
> 
> ...
> 
> ...


The philosophy is indeed libertarian. Thanks for keeping it bumped, we're doing the torch table tomorrow. We need to research the linux CNC programs for controling the motors. http://www.linuxcnc.org/ And we need to install a good version of linux on the PC, I'm going to try xubuntu first and see how it goes.




> Bump for an EXCELLENT thread. This project puts into motion the concepts and unwritten strategies I've been thinking of since joining this movement.
> 
> 
> Our futures are in our own hands. Technology and science have always been major forces in propelling humankind forward. I see the journey to freedom in the face of oppression as a proverbial "Rubik's Cube" - make the right moves in the right order/timing, and the door is unlocked. There's my geeky philosophical rant for the day.
> 
> 
> Anyone else here who likes to tinker with machinery and electronics may benefit from the following sites:
> 
> www.linuxcnc.org
> ...


Thanks for the links!





> He used the bullet casings the sheriff gave him when they practice shooting.
> 08-09-2008 04:33 PM
> Meatwasp 	This is interesting as my son wanted to buy 10 sprinkle atachments to make the sprinkles fuzz more. As they were they just put out a long stream. It would have cost him $100' dollars to buy them so he just made duplicates out of one he had cast them himself.
> I was very proud he did that.


That's cool!

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## FunkBuddha

> It's been a while... I quit/lost my job and my bank account was emptied by the student loan company Sallie Mae and I was planning to join the USMC. I visited Factor E Farm to check it out for 2 weeks in November and talked with Marcin about his plans and the Ron Paul Revolution/Campaign For Liberty/freedom movement, and the goal of Open Source Ecology is pretty much the same as ours. I decided to move here in December and am going to be working on trying to help develop a sawmill.


I'm very excited for you. I've been following the Factor E farm since you originally posted about it back in late July. I'm amazed at how much progress has been made in such a short time.

I'll try to throw some $$$ to the farm next month. It is most definately a worthy cause.

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## tmosley

Since you guys like the idea of CEB, take a look at this:  http://www.earthcomegablock.com/index.htm

I am planning on getting these guys to help me build my new home in the next couple of years (I was planning on doing it this year, but it looks like their machine won't be ready).  If you guys could make an open source version, farms like Factor E farm could take off all over the place, with the construction costs of the buildings along with the time required reduced dramatically.

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## FunkBuddha

Until the codes enforcer comes along. I'm curious if Factor E has had to jump through hoops to get building permits or if they don't need them where they're building. 

I watched a documentary called Garbage Warrior about a guy in New Mexico who was building what he called EarthShips out of bottles and tires that were extremely efficient. He ran into all sorts of regulatory bull$#@!. Last I heard he was trying to get a bill passed in New Mexico to allow for experimental housing but the legislators were concerned about "hippies" exploiting the law and starting communes or some crap.

He ended up going to Myanmar after the tsunami to help them build sustainable housing over there. 

Ridiculous isn't it? We're got all the "Greenies" driving around in their Prius's, drinking their organic lattes and talking on their cell phones about how great Barry O is gonna be for the environment but they can't wrap their heads around the idea that the problems are primarily local problems caused by Democrats ( and Republicans) that they keep electing.

The only solution I can really see is for projects like Factor E to develop the tools necessary for a sustainable community and then release them to the public. Hopefully then the idea will spread like wildfire and the governments won't be able to stop it.

If they can accomplish what they're trying to accomplish I will definately be starting a community in East Tennessee and I've got a few people (an environmental engineer, a veterinarian, a welder and my maaad gardening brother in law) who want to join me. We're just all slaves to the 9-5 and providing for our families right now and don't have the time to commit to developing the tools. 

I will be contributing financially though and I encourage others to do the same. Look at the website and understand what they are trying to accomplish and then  look at how far they've come. 

I sincerely believe this is the future of the free society. This is Swadeshi. 

*Mahatma Gandhi described Swadeshi as "a call to the consumer to be aware of the violence he is causing by supporting those industries that result in poverty and harm to workers and to humans and other creatures."
Gandhi recognised that alienation and exploitation often occur when production and consumption are divorced from their social and cultural context, and that local enterprise is a way to avoid these problems. "Swadeshi is that spirit in us which requires us to serve our immediate neighbours before others, and to use things produced in our neighbourhood in preference to those more remote. So doing, we serve humanity to the best of our capacity. We cannot serve humanity by neglecting our neighbours.*

This is from the Factor E Farm front page. 

*Welcome to our life

We paid our last electricity bill three years ago. We are getting our power from waste vegetable oil and the sun. We drink pure free rain water.
We grow most of our food.

We are free.

Welcome to our life. We want to help others do the same.

Decentralization. Regain control of your life. Be your own boss. Evolve to freedom.

In practice, we are humble farmer scientists - working to develop a world class research center for decentralization technologies. Now there's a tool for doing this: open source technology deployed via flexible and digital fabrication. Open engineering is applicable to our technology base- and from that - to providing basic needs. That is a stepping stone to evolution.

Factor E Farm is not a factory farm. It is Factor E improvement in quality of life. It is technology for ecology. Evolve to freedom.*

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## tmosley

Umm, there is a whole community of Earth ships in NM.  To my knowledge, there hasn't been any problem.  In fact, Taos welcomed them (Taos being an artsy-fartsy community), and their community has become a tourist attraction.  If they ran into regulatory hurdles early on, they certainly aren't having trouble now.

I was thinking of renting one for a long weekend or so this summer.

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## FunkBuddha

> Umm, there is a whole community of Earth ships in NM.  To my knowledge, there hasn't been any problem.  In fact, Taos welcomed them (Taos being an artsy-fartsy community), and their community has become a tourist attraction.  If they ran into regulatory hurdles early on, they certainly aren't having trouble now.
> 
> I was thinking of renting one for a long weekend or so this summer.


I remember Taos being mentioned in the documentary but I don't know if that was where they ran into trouble or not. I think the documentary was dated 2006 so maybe things have changed.

I know he built a lot of Earthships before he ran into trouble with the codes so maybe the ones you are talking about were those. His name is Michael Reynolds.

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## FunkBuddha

> Umm, there is a whole community of Earth ships in NM.  To my knowledge, there hasn't been any problem.  In fact, Taos welcomed them (Taos being an artsy-fartsy community), and their community has become a tourist attraction.  If they ran into regulatory hurdles early on, they certainly aren't having trouble now.
> 
> I was thinking of renting one for a long weekend or so this summer.


Here's a review of the documentary.




> An altogether more wholesome protagonist can be found in the cuddly form of Michael Reynolds, the star of Olvier Hodges inspiring documentary Garbage Warrior. For the past three decades this silver-tressed eco-hero has been transforming piles of glass bottles, beer cans and rubber tyres into wondrous houses in the New Mexican desert. Thanks to solar power, water stills and internal septic tanks, these earth ships are off-grid  not reliant on any external electricity, gas, water and sewer systems.
> 
> As such, they arouse the suspicions of local government, and Reynolds is forced to shave off his beard and squeeze himself into a suit (You look like a homeless car salesman! his wife giggles) to plead his case at the state legislature. Having defied the onset of ecological Armageddon, he finds the filibustering obduracy of the American political machine a far more frustrating foe. Reynoldss skills are far more appreciated in Indias Andaman Islands, where he helps locals to rebuild their devastated village after the Asian tsunami.

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## SolusSLX

Factor E was set up in DeKalb county Missouri where they don't have building codes or, apparently, property taxes and tax assessors, so we can build without permits and bureaucrats. That's why taking political control of the parties through the precincts and then controlling the county government is very important to the campaign for liberty. Apparently many parts of the government on all levels are going bankrupt from the status quo so that might present setbacks and/or opportunities in the future.

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## steve005

> where they don't have building codes or, apparently, property taxes and tax assessors, so we can build without permits and bureaucrats.



do many states have similar counties?

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## Intuition

Not that I know of, steve005. I believe Colorado may have some counties that don't have building code requirements. Texas is another possibility. But I can't be sure without going through them all county by county which will end up being a rather time consuming process.

I'm currently trying to find some sort of central clearinghouse for such information online, without much luck.

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## tmosley

The county I live in had no building codes (Thank God).  I was able to put up a nice big garage/workshop with no interference whatsoever.  Just a few ohhs and ahhs from the neighbors (it's very pretty--a nice big steel building).

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## SolusSLX

> Quote:
> where they don't have building codes or, apparently, property taxes and tax assessors, so we can build without permits and bureaucrats.
> 
> do many states have similar counties?


I believe there are at least some in Texas, and probably some in at least a few other states. 




> Not that I know of, steve005. I believe Colorado may have some counties that don't have building code requirements. Texas is another possibility. But I can't be sure without going through them all county by county which will end up being a rather time consuming process.
> 
> I'm currently trying to find some sort of central clearinghouse for such information online, without much luck.


It would be very helpful if someone made such a site.




> The county I live in had no building codes (Thank God). I was able to put up a nice big garage/workshop with no interference whatsoever. Just a few ohhs and ahhs from the neighbors (it's very pretty--a nice big steel building).


Do you know where any other counties like that are?

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## Intuition

This may help, Solus. Just found a website that may be of use for researching counties that lack building codes or permit requirements. It's a census site that allows you to search by state. If you click the "Annual" button and then change the "Place" dropdown to "County", then pick your state, I believe all counties who report building permits show up. 
http://censtats.census.gov/bldg/bldgprmt.shtml

Let me know if that site seems helpful. If not I'll keep looking 

I've started kicking around some ideas for the "spader" envisioned on the Factor E Farm wiki. Hopefully my thoughts will materialize enough to be able to make a contribution to the design.

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## SolusSLX

Thanks Intuition! It looks pretty interesting, it says there were 3 single family house permits reported in DeKalb county Missouri in 2007? I'm not sure who issues the building permits, maybe there are certain towns within the county that require permits, or there's  something else that required a permit from the county for those houses. I've put the info on a new wiki page for future reference: http://openfarmtech.org/index.php?title=OSE_Expansion

If you want, please add any preliminary ideas to the spader talk page, thanks!

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## tmosley

Sorry, I don't know.

When I looked at that website, I saw that my county issued quite a few permits....

It might just be for homes, which will pose a bit of a problem for my construction plans.

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## Expatriate

Apparently if you live outside city limits anywhere in Alaska there are no property taxes whatsoever. But that is because it is a wilderness, I would assume.

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## FunkBuddha

Bump. Care to give us an update on life at the farm SolusSLX? I've been following the blog but others may not have been.

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## klamath

> do many states have similar counties?


Idaho and Montana have no code counties.

Remember Cap N trade will nationalize the building code so all those counties will be gone.

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## klamath

It is rewarding to build much of your own infrastructure.
Coming from a family that built a homestead pretty much from the ground up I can say it is very educational but not for the average person as it takes a lot of dedication and determination.
A small list of items built by my family.

Sawmill from an old engine and old burned bed  frames that had been straightened on a home built forge using fir bark for fuel. The forge was built from an old bar b que grill.
router out of vacuumn cleaner moter and rototiller blades for tongue and grove flooring and window sash
table saws/resaw out of old sawblade mandrel and engine
paddle wheel to grind wheat flour and cornmeal
water turbine to pump water for garden irrigation 
Cast and fabricated multiple types of hydro turbines  for the electrical power 
windmill out of pine boards and on model T generator
Remote telephone system from old radio parts
hydro generator electronic load controllers for the hydro systems
radio repeater, transceivers and antennas
foundries for melting aluminum and bronze
hydro turbine waste heat warmed greenhouse
formulated casting sand from river sand and clay
I could go on but I have to get to work!

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## amy31416

> It is rewarding to build much of your own infrastructure.
> Coming from a family that built a homestead pretty much from the ground up I can say it is very educational but not for the average person as it takes a lot of dedication and determination.
> A small list of items built by my family.
> 
> Sawmill from an old engine and old burned bed  frames that had been straightened on a home built forge using fir bark for fuel. The forge was built from an old bar b que grill.
> router out of vacuumn cleaner moter and rototiller blades for tongue and grove flooring and window sash
> table saws/resaw out of old sawblade mandrel and engine
> paddle wheel to grind wheat flour and cornmeal
> water turbine to pump water for garden irrigation 
> ...


I can't tell you how much I respect people who can do things like that. As I'm sure you know, you're a lucky guy to come from such a family.

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## thomas-in-ky

Several counties in KY (including mine) are still free from zoning laws and building permits.  There is a strong effort afoot, from the federal level, to homogenize the US and make codes and zoning pervasive everywhere.  The effort rears its ugly head every few years here and usually succeeds in some trivial, but nonetheless ominous, incremental infringement on property rights.  The "agent" of change, here and in some other states, are "Area Development Districts."  The administrators are lifelong gov't beauracrats - none being elected.  Yet they insert themselves into local gov't by drafting laws and ordinances for asleep-at-the-wheel local elected leaders to rubber stamp.  Their leverage is that they are the gatekeepers of most state and federal grant monies (e.g. water, sewer, restoration, housing, industrial park projects)- and they never miss an opportunity to be photographed with the governor, handing a check to some unwitting local elected "leader."

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## tangent4ronpaul

Bad news for TN building codes...

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/oc...ll-end-july-1/

BUILD QUICK - amnesty will end next year!

-t

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## FunkBuddha

> Bad news for TN building codes...
> 
> http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/oc...ll-end-july-1/
> 
> BUILD QUICK - amnesty will end next year!
> 
> -t


That IS bad news! My wife and i were considering trying to sell our house and get something more remote and this may have put the nail in the coffin.


Are you Knoxvillian tangent?

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## tangent4ronpaul

> That IS bad news! My wife and i were considering trying to sell our house and get something more remote and this may have put the nail in the coffin.
> 
> 
> Are you Knoxvillian tangent?


No - MD.  I was just searching Google to see if I could find some sort of a list of code free counties when I found that.

You DO have 8-9 monthe to build, and in general "out buildings" (not ones you live in) have lax to no building codes.  Like build the house now and the barn later.

-t

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