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ykim
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# Posted: 16 May 2021 11:38am
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Hi all,
My wife and I recently purchased a piece of property. It is a fully wooded 7 acre in upstate NY and I am getting the land cleared soon.
At first, we planned to build a small cabin, but skyrocketing lumber price made us to hold back the plan.. Instead, we are planning to get an RV on the property and build a cabin later.
Since we don't own a vehicle with which we can tow the RV, we need some kind of wastewater management system on site.. Our property is in upstate NY, so we need a proper septic system with concrete tank. We have decided to splurge on that, but the problem is the water. The cost of drilled well being ~10k, we are not going to do that; instead, we are digging a shallow well ourselves. With the amount of water and water pressure, i think it is impossible to possibly flush out the black water tank, so we are planning to build a outhouse with composting toilet.
In summary, our plan is to:
1. install a septic system
2. install a shallow hand dug well (with hand pump)
3. build a outhouse w/ composting toilet (not using the toilet in the RV)
4. dump grey water on the septic system.
What do you all think about the plan? Is it realistic? or do you have better idea? Any kind of advice is welcome! Thanks for reading 
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Irrigation Guy
Member
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# Posted: 16 May 2021 12:32pm - Edited by: Irrigation Guy
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I don’t see the point of the septic system if you are using an out house. Are you sure you are close enough to ground water for a hand pump?
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ykim
Member
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# Posted: 16 May 2021 04:21pm
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Irrigation Guy,
The reason why we are putting the septic system is two fold
1. We are going to build a cabin in the future, so we would need a septic at some point
2. We need to deal with grey water from the RV, but we can't take the RV to the dump station.
I am not sure about the ground water. We are going for a shallow well, so we are aiming for the shallow waterbed.
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silverwaterlady
Member
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# Posted: 16 May 2021 04:54pm
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I was going to suggest a gray water pit to save money since you are not dumping black water.
That’s illegal in NY State.
Since that’s illegal I’ll bet just parking a travel trailer there requires permits with the septic and well already in place.
There are also many regulations about composting toilets.
This is the advice I give everyone here.
Go to your local municipal building department and talk to the people there. Get a printout of all the regulations.
Whatever you do, don’t try to do anything illegal. I suspect doing that in NY state carries some hefty fines.
Another important thing is to be absolutely sure you are going to place the septic and well near where you really plan to build your cabin.
We moved our building spot many times over the years before we built.
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frankpaige
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# Posted: 16 May 2021 04:56pm
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Wondering if you can have water delivered? Will there be access in the wintertime? Have you looked at water storage systems? Then the question popped into my head about storage in the winter?
Would hate to in anyone's shoes right now thinking of building. My worry would be? Is the price of lumber going to go down? Instead of purchasing the RV (added expense), would I bite the bullet and just build?
Wishing you great success and enjoyment in this endeavor.
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Irrigation Guy
Member
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# Posted: 16 May 2021 05:20pm
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If you put in the septic, pipe the rv into it and skip the composting toilet. If you need to flush the tank out you could buy a gas powered pump from harbor freight for $200 and pump out of your shallow well if that works out.
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Brettny
Member
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# Posted: 16 May 2021 06:08pm
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I believe theres such a thing as a sanitary privy you can get a permit for in NY. Basically it's an outhouse over the lid for your septic system. Make sure you place the septic tank in an area where the septic pump truck can get to it.
As silverwaterlady said call your local municipality who deals with permits on this.
What county in NY?
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ykim
Member
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# Posted: 16 May 2021 08:53pm
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silverwaterlady/ Yeah that's exactly why we are going for a new septic system.. didn't want to have any headache of doing something under the radar. I will definitely check with the municipality. Thx!
frankpaige/ We are not doing any water storage for that exact reason. We are not going to use the property during the winter. It is on a county maintained road, so when I build the cabin I can enjoy yearround Thankfully there is spring water in a state park < 1 mile away from the property. So I guess water supply will not be the biggest problem. Thanks!
irrigationguy/ I haven't thought about that! Thanks for the idea.
Brettny/ Ah I didn't know that. I will call the municipality. thanks! The property is in Chenango County.
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Brettny
Member
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# Posted: 16 May 2021 09:22pm
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I'm also in Cheanango. If you dont mind what town? I'm very close to a piece of state land with a spring on it.
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ykim
Member
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# Posted: 16 May 2021 09:29pm
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Brettny/ Wow small world! it is in Pharsalia. Yours?
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silverwaterlady
Member
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# Posted: 16 May 2021 11:51pm
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YW Yakim.
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Brettny
Member
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# Posted: 17 May 2021 07:03am
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Quoting: ykim Brettny/ Wow small world! it is in Pharsalia. Yours?
Your road isnt the name of a fish is it?
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ykim
Member
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# Posted: 18 May 2021 04:36pm
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brettny/ nope
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toyota_mdt_tech
Member
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# Posted: 18 May 2021 09:05pm
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I bet you wont be allowed an outhouse with a septic. 10K for a well? Seems reasonable.
You can get a portable tank for hauling the trailer waste out. How will you keep all of it from freezing in a NY winter? You will need a roof shelter over the RV or the heavy snow followed up by a rain will collapse it in. Or just keep on top of it with a broom.
Get a full septic, get a real well (10K is cheap, look into a livestock well for just easily filling your trailer holding tank.
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spencerin
Member
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# Posted: 18 May 2021 09:23pm
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Like others have said, $10k is good for a well. What about an in-ground cistern for potable water? That'll cost around $2k max. Like others have said, do the septic and hook the RV up to it, use it for all waste water, and make sure your future permanent structure can be hooked up to it at a later date.
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Brettny
Member
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# Posted: 19 May 2021 06:08am
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Quoting: ykim brettny/ nope
We are near center rd in pharsalia. Cheanango county deals with septic permits.
The guy up the road put in a well for 5k last year and left his camper on the property all winter. I saw over 2ft of snow on my picnic table this past winter.
Also if you need gravel or excavation work done I can give you a guys phone number. He delivered all my stone. I own a dump truck and couldn't do it for less. I also have another guy who deliveres wood chips, there good for mud remediation on walkways.
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Brettny
Member
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# Posted: 19 May 2021 06:11am
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O and on the RV thing two property's near me left there campers on site all winter. I went up there after Christmas and was driving on the snowmobile tracks to get to my property. No way where they getting them out for the winter.
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ykim
Member
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# Posted: 19 May 2021 07:53pm
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toyota and spencer/ Definitely we need to think more about what we will do during the winter. Thx for the advice. and yeah I don't think 10k is exorbitant. Once I save enough for well, that will be the priority.
brett/ I am on county road 47. We recently cleared the land and had a bankrun gravel driveway in, but it will be great to have their contact infos for the future project! Can you shoot me an email at tolo1 at gmx dot com? thanks!
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silverwaterlady
Member
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# Posted: 20 May 2021 08:41am
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Having a roof structure over your travel trailer is mandatory.
It will cave in with a heavy snow load.
Ask me how I know.
We have a travel trailer in storage in the city. We bought a snow rake from Amazon. If we get a heavy snow we rake the roof.
The roofs must be maintained. Cleaned annually and checked. This is why you see a lot of travel trailers with leaking issues.
We don’t do the maintenance ourselves.
We are older and don’t want to risk a fall.
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ykim
Member
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# Posted: 20 May 2021 10:00pm
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silverwaterlady/ So do you think an RV in the upstate NY weather is going to need lots of maintenance? I was thinking of making a clear roof for the RV, but do you think it is a better idea to get a shed and converting it into a small cabin? That was my wife's idea and Brett also suggested so.
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silverwaterlady
Member
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# Posted: 21 May 2021 12:40am
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What time of year are you going to use your property?
Are you allowed to tent camp?
We did that for over three decades in the summer before we could afford to build our cabin.
Can you wait until the price of lumber drops than build your cabin?
The money you are going to spend on a RV, someone to tow it to your property, a roof to keep the snow off. Any maintenance.
That’s money you won’t have to build your cabin.
I also would not build a shed cabin. Sheds are built for storage. Made out of cheap materials.
You might be allowed to build a shed before you build your cabin (for building material storage) but the code may be written that you have to start building your cabin within a certain time period.
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Brettny
Member
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# Posted: 21 May 2021 06:13am
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Quoting: silverwaterlady You might be allowed to build a shed before you build your cabin (for building material storage) but the code may be written that you have to start building your cabin within a certain time period.
That is not a code here. It was one of many questions I called and asked the building inspector, code enforcement officer.
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silverwaterlady
Member
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# Posted: 21 May 2021 08:18am - Edited by: silverwaterlady
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That’s wonderful.
We had to drag our camping gear back and forth for decades because we were not allowed to build a storage shed unless we were starting to build our cabin. Not sure of the timeline. It’s been so long since we asked.
That changes things.
A storage shed will be needed for building material storage.
I know habitation is probably prohibited in a storage shed. But if it’s just for a short time, who is going to know.
I don’t like to go under the radar but these are unprecedented times.
I would probably just sleep in there.
We had three tents. One for sleeping adults and one for the children.The third was for cooking with a picnic table inside for dining. It kept my kitchen clean, bugs away and there was a place for everyone to hang out if the weather was bad.
IDK how much lumber for a sturdy picnic table would cost right now. The picnic table we bought for camp continues to be one of our best purchases.
I hope some of my experiences are helpful.
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