Power, water, and sewer - home installation questions

[wordsmyth]

My wife and I are thinking through the possibility of having hook-ups installed for power, water, and sewer at a piece of family property about 15 miles from where we live in town.

The short-term goal is to be able to stay there for brief periods, but a longer term goal may become to build on the site with the RV hook-ups becoming where the travel trailer stays when not in use.

From those of you who have done this, any words of wisdom, and any "heads up" words on possible pitfalls will be appreciated!

As always, thanks in advance!

[Jagiven]

I have not done it, but have thought about some property. Power and water is easy. The key element to figure out will be the sewer. I recommend reaching out to the County and discuss what your local codes will require. Maybe all you need is a simple underground holding tank, that can be pumped out periodically. They may require a full septic system, just like if there was a house on the property.

Good luck, please let us know what you come up with.

[SloPoke]

If you are looking for the options of building a residential home on the same property, you should consult the county like Jagiven said. Many counties do not allow RV-only connections to utilities unless in specific circumstances with the correct zoning. Those circumstances are different if you put a site plan for a home on the application, but there is a time limit in place. In many cases, they will want you to size the Septic system to be capable of the home and RV from the start.

[The Gritz Carlton]

Go with a portable, above ground 250-300 gallon tank like the ones used in temporary construction trailer/office set ups. Plant box woods around it for camo. A septic tank will cost around $10K, require permitting, perk testing and place you on a radar for the creek watchers and tree huggers. Your local septic tank service company can pump it out for around $200.

[Grumpy]

As everyone mentioned "Local Building and Zoning Departments" are where to start. With that said I had two houses with dump connections and elec since I could keep the rig at the house. Nothing special or unique about the installations.

[The Gritz Carlton]

I wouldn't give them a chance to say no. I own a lot in Crystal River. I reached out to the locals about doing a gravel drive (permit required) to use for occasional 2 or 3 day at a time dry camping while in the area. They were adamant about anything RV on the lots in the county. Go stealth, use an above ground tank that you purchase and camo it. Asking permission narrows the chance of the answer you want by 50%.

[wordsmyth]

Thanks for the feedback. I hear y'all on the zoning and such, and Gritz, I also know about the merits of stealth on occasion. As the saying goes, "sometimes it is easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission."

To the specifics - what can any of y'all (or others) tell me about the electrical side? There is already power to the property that serves an existing home, but the RV would park 100 feet from that. Do I need to have a separate pole installed? Or, can a line be run underground to service an RV slab?

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by wordsmyth

Thanks for the feedback. I hear y'all on the zoning and such, and Gritz, I also know about the merits of stealth on occasion. As the saying goes, "sometimes it is easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission."

To the specifics - what can any of y'all (or others) tell me about the electrical side? There is already power to the property that serves an existing home, but the RV would park 100 feet from that. Do I need to have a separate pole installed? Or, can a line be run underground to service an RV slab?

Direct burial would work as long as you size it properly.

[The Gritz Carlton]

Agree with Grumpy. As long as you have the reserve power to the big house and the 100 foot line is sized right.

[poohbear]

Why couldn't you just put the parking spot closer to the existing house & tie the sewer pipe back to the houses septic since you will be trenching for your water/electric.
On our acerage We tore down an old home then built our pad & cover tieing in a new pipe to the old septic system. Buried the power cable & installed new meter & 200amp panel. Ran a new pex water line from the well as the old pipe was galvanized pipe that was in bad shape. Here because I used the existing system no permit but we are now building a house needing a new system so it's $230 to the Northeast Texas Municipal Water District ( controls the water/waste for about 14 counties ) for a permit . No county fees , zoneing boards, etc. only inspection would be my meter & panel by the electric coop but that was done when we built the rv shed

[poohbear]

Forgot to say that the minimum electric I would run would be a 50 amp. At 100 feet from the house I would not run #10 but go up to at least #8. I myself would probably put in 2-2-4 URD in conduit and put in a 100amp sub panel putting my rv plug off the new outdoor panel. I never envisioned us building a house or I would have done a 400 amp meter base instead of a 200 amp meter but I can live with what I did especially at today's price on a 400 amp meter base.

[DonBr]

The image below is from 2002 - I hired a contractor who took care of permitting, etc. Full 15/30/50 park pedestal, with water and sewer. Only needed 50A for most of the time since, but now happy 30 is there! Removal of some lawn to widen the driveway was part of the project, incomplete in the photo.

[CAG]

Probably the first things to check on are costs of running electric and water. If you are a ways from the nearest electric it can get very expensive.


As for not giving them a chance to say no. That would be the last advice I followed and I am sure you are aware. Get caught, pay the fines, remove the entire previous, illegal install, and start again.

[Skyline]

I’m assuming you have a vacant unimproved lot. If you have any sanitary sewer or septic access there are macerater pumps that will pump grey and black water waste through a 3/4” garden hose. You would probably need an approved plan and permits to have electric service and water line installed. I have a parking pad at my house. I haven’t had the need to hook up to my septic system if I did I would go with the macerater pump.

[TGoldsbury]

As a former Building Code Administrator I cringe at Gritz's suggestion to proceed and ask for forgiveness. If you get caught it can cost you a lot more to remove or redo what you may have done wrong. Talk to the county, you don't have to give them an address, then make the decision.

[Vicr]

Originally Posted by TGoldsbury

As a former Building Code Administrator I cringe at Gritz's suggestion to proceed and ask for forgiveness. If you get caught it can cost you a lot more to remove or redo what you may have done wrong. Talk to the county, you don't have to give them an address, then make the decision.

As a licensed electrician I whole heartedly agree with Goldsbury's advice. I read the OP's idea for his electrical and he needs to consult with an electrical engineer or electrician who can calculate service ampacity, voltage drop, whether URD cable in conduit needs to be derated, and ampacity of AWG wire sizes. Also, in almost all jurisdictions of the US an electrical permit is required to do electrical installations which will require inspections by the local AHJ.

[us71na]

It really bugs me when people advise others to bypass laws and codes to get something done on the cheap. Those codes were put in place to protect all of us. In my years as a camper, home owner and in engineering, I have often seen the results of bypassed codes. It costs all of us money when someone builds a home or otherwise makes an improvement on their property without permits. Permits adjust the taxes on a property, but those taxes go toward maintaining the roads and other services provided by the local government for all of us. Not to mention the problems caused to any future owners caused by poorly done and sometimes dangerous work by people wanting to save a few dollars.

[Skyline]

If you own a vacant lot, there is no electric company that will install a new electric service without a permit. Drilling a well or if there is city water will require a water meter and a permit. RV waste water must always be disposed of in a sanitary (municipal) sewer or a septic system. I plan on doing some boondocking this summer. When I return home I will dispose of my waste water into my septic system through a cleanout pipe.

[wordsmyth]

Re @SloPoke - our county is what I call, for lack of a better term, "code lite" on RV's and such in rural areas with very few zoning requirements. Everything (built homes, or pre-fab/modular units) has to meet electrical and sewage/perk test standards, but assuming the work is done by a licensed vendor, an individual can put in a septic tank and electrical hook-ups without a lot of specific restriction on the actual living arrangement.

With that noted, the tiny home thing has caught on here in the form of people purchasing the large pre-fab storage units at Lowes and other suppliers and converting them into living quarters. Some of the larger units are sold with porches on the front, and steel entry doors already in place. Built on treated lumber beams that also serve as sliders and the ground pad, the thing is basically a framed-in, siding-enclosed small house ready to be finished on the inside. The county has recently begun requiring they be installed on a permanent foundation (as opposed to thrown out on the lot with the slider-beams as the only footings), but the fact is, they make for inexpensive and tidy small homes.

Within the incorporated municipalities it's different. No RV's or mobile homes next to built homes, and an individual can do very little of the work without hiring a contractor.

For the record, with something as dangerous as electricity and as environmentally impactful as sewage, I'll do the due diligence on engineering and permits. Likewise, I'll assure the work is right and stands the test of time and use.

That said, I'm not asking the county's permission to change a light switch or install a ceiling fan, or to snatch up the carpet and install hardwood flooring, or to pull the cabinets off the wall and remodel the kitchen to suit my wife. The "you gotta have a permit" thing is an out of control form of overreach in many places that simply guarantees the city gets a cut out of the construction costs.

This has all reminded me of a humorous conversation I had with a plumber several years ago. He enlightened me on the five prerequisites for being a plumber:

Hot on the left; cold on the right
Crap don't flow uphill
Payday is Friday
Boss is an a**hole
... and don't chew your fingernails.

Thanks again to all. It might be a few years (or never, even), before we get the job done, but I'll post an update when it happens.