3 ms·

Very cool. Also, I'm 100% sure this would be very expensive to maintain over the long term. You have custom motors that only a few mechanics would even touch, a

Very cool. Also, I'm 100% sure this would be very expensive to maintain over the long term. You have custom motors that only a few mechanics would even touch, and who knows how this setup would hold up long-term against water, the elements and wear-and-tear. If you can afford it, this is great.

ceejayoz 3y ago
> who knows how this setup would hold up long-term against water, the elements and wear-and-tear Thirty five years so far. I'd presume you'd get an inspection before purchasing, but if it's mechanically all good after that time period, it sounds pretty sustainable.
- bestnameever 3y ago
  If you watch the Tom Scott video, the owner goes into the maintenance and why he was selling the property (IIRC).
  - ceejayoz 3y ago
    Yeah, I've been watching; his video's implementation supposedly just requires an annual lubrication of the bearings taking about an hour. That said, the guy's trying to sell (for health reasons not related to the house) at the time, so I'd want... independent confirmation.
    - DonHopkins 3y ago
      Perhaps every 10 years you have to hoist the entire house up with a crane and redo the seals.
      - ceejayoz 3y ago
        The video of the central core looks like that's unnecessary; it does appear to be built to be pretty easily maintained.
      - saalweachter 3y ago
        Eh, lifting houses with jacks is a well-established process. As long as there's crawl-space access to the understructure of the house, you could slide some jacks in there, jack it up six inches or a foot, do whatever maintenance you need, and then jack it back down.
bluGill 3y ago
Will they keep it at all? This is not a mansion ($600k in USD), but the other features make me suspect it will be sold as a mansion not a house. A house is sold, but mansions are not sold, they just go with the lot (view), with the understanding the new owner will knock down the house to build the house they want there. Sometimes they will leave one wall standing so it qualifies as a remodel, but the next year there will be another remodel to replace that wall (depending on local laws).
- shultays 3y ago
  House of Theseus
- bombcar 3y ago
  This really depends on what you mean by a "mansion". If you're up in the $20m house on $5m land, perhaps. (My distinction is if a single family lives in it, it is NOT a mansion; it's not a mansion until it has support staff living in it, also.)
  - bluGill 3y ago
    These days support staff doesn't live with the family anymore. They often have contractors who never work anyplace else, but they don't live there. (at least not in the US, I don't know how NZ is different). I don't know of a good distinction between house and mansion, other than I know it when I see it... Mansions are places where rich live - or at least those with enough means to appear rich (some of them are mortgaged to the hilt - but they have high income and can pay a large mortgage)
    - bombcar 3y ago
      Yeah, it's a very "know it when I see it" and I've seen things go for a few million I'd call a mansion, and things go for $20m that were just a house.
ahartmetz 3y ago
The final drive and the bearing(!) would be the most custom parts, most likely. The rest could be off-the-shelf industrial parts, which can last a very long time.

ceejayoz 3y ago

> who knows how this setup would hold up long-term against water, the elements and wear-and-tear Thirty five years so far. I'd presume you'd get an inspection before purchasing, but if it's mechanically all good after that time period, it sounds pretty sustainable.

bestnameever 3y ago
If you watch the Tom Scott video, the owner goes into the maintenance and why he was selling the property (IIRC).
- ceejayoz 3y ago
  Yeah, I've been watching; his video's implementation supposedly just requires an annual lubrication of the bearings taking about an hour. That said, the guy's trying to sell (for health reasons not related to the house) at the time, so I'd want... independent confirmation.
  - DonHopkins 3y ago
    Perhaps every 10 years you have to hoist the entire house up with a crane and redo the seals.
    - ceejayoz 3y ago
      The video of the central core looks like that's unnecessary; it does appear to be built to be pretty easily maintained.
    - saalweachter 3y ago
      Eh, lifting houses with jacks is a well-established process. As long as there's crawl-space access to the understructure of the house, you could slide some jacks in there, jack it up six inches or a foot, do whatever maintenance you need, and then jack it back down.

bluGill 3y ago

Will they keep it at all? This is not a mansion ($600k in USD), but the other features make me suspect it will be sold as a mansion not a house. A house is sold, but mansions are not sold, they just go with the lot (view), with the understanding the new owner will knock down the house to build the house they want there. Sometimes they will leave one wall standing so it qualifies as a remodel, but the next year there will be another remodel to replace that wall (depending on local laws).

shultays 3y ago
House of Theseus
bombcar 3y ago
This really depends on what you mean by a "mansion". If you're up in the $20m house on $5m land, perhaps. (My distinction is if a single family lives in it, it is NOT a mansion; it's not a mansion until it has support staff living in it, also.)
- bluGill 3y ago
  These days support staff doesn't live with the family anymore. They often have contractors who never work anyplace else, but they don't live there. (at least not in the US, I don't know how NZ is different). I don't know of a good distinction between house and mansion, other than I know it when I see it... Mansions are places where rich live - or at least those with enough means to appear rich (some of them are mortgaged to the hilt - but they have high income and can pay a large mortgage)
  - bombcar 3y ago
    Yeah, it's a very "know it when I see it" and I've seen things go for a few million I'd call a mansion, and things go for $20m that were just a house.

ahartmetz 3y ago

The final drive and the bearing(!) would be the most custom parts, most likely. The rest could be off-the-shelf industrial parts, which can last a very long time.