SE AK off grid build.

Jon Boy

WKR
Joined
May 25, 2012
Messages
1,888
Location
Paradise Valley, MT
I know there’s a couple of off grid threads but I had a few questions for anyone familiar with SE AK and other off grid questions people may be able to answer.

Are there any legal restrictions as far as building off the beach? Is there any sort of boat/crane service that could offload material on the to beach that I could then shuttle to then build site?

Can I use a French drain for my gray water coming from the kitchen sink and shower?

Composting toilet?

Is it possible to build your own dock or is best to hire that out?

Would it be possible to gather materials in the lower 48 and have everything shipped up in a shipping container and sell the shipping container upon arrival?

Sorry if any of these questions seem ignorant, I’m very unfamiliar with a build like this!
 
I know there’s a couple of off grid threads but I had a few questions for anyone familiar with SE AK and other off grid questions people may be able to answer.

Are there any legal restrictions as far as building off the beach? Is there any sort of boat/crane service that could offload material on the to beach that I could then shuttle to then build site?

Can I use a French drain for my gray water coming from the kitchen sink and shower?

Composting toilet?

Is it possible to build your own dock or is best to hire that out?

Would it be possible to gather materials in the lower 48 and have everything shipped up in a shipping container and sell the shipping container upon arrival?

Sorry if any of these questions seem ignorant, I’m very unfamiliar with a build like this!

State - wise, there is a 50 foot public access easement above mean high tide you can’t build in. If your property is in a city and or Borough there may be additional requirements. Again depending on where, there are barge and landing crafts that provide freight services. Grey water systems are not recognized by Alaska DEC. Will it matter? Probably not, again depending on where you are. Composting toilets generally require power, at least the ones I know about. Dock building will require permitting. You have to drive pile. Unless you have a barge and a pile driver you will have to hire this done. If you have this kind of budget you won’t worry about what a used shipping container is worth, you’ll want to keep it for storage.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
State - wise, there is a 50 foot public access easement above mean high tide you can’t build in. If your property is in a city and or Borough there may be additional requirements. Again depending on where, there are barge and landing crafts that provide freight services. Grey water systems are not recognized by Alaska DEC. Will it matter? Probably not, again depending on where you are. Composting toilets generally require power, at least the ones I know about. Dock building will require permitting. You have to drive pile. Unless you have a barge and a pile driver you will have to hire this done. If you have this kind of budget you won’t worry about what a used shipping container is worth, you’ll want to keep it for storage.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
That answers my question on the dock 😂 thanks for the info!
 
Before you try to use a frrrench drain, or even a standard drain field, better dig a hole and see how high the water table is.
 
Permitting for a dock can be prohibitive due to state and federal requirements. Assume you can’t build one regardless of cost. I would look for a site with one already and see if you can rebuild it if necessary without a permit.

For materials, the Home Depot in Tacoma, WA is one of the highest grossing HDs due to supporting SEAK. Plan on shopping there and barging your supplies via AML to the nearest SEAK terminal to your build site. Landing crafts are commonly used to access beach sites with supplies and equipment.

Have fun. It’s a project to build and hobby to maintain. Also, you need to really enjoy working in the rain.
 
Back
Top