Earthbag Building / Superadobe / Rammed Earth
Month: April 2012
Steamer Trunk Furniture
In keeping with our series of articles about super low cost and free DIY furniture, let’s look at steamer trunk furniture. Everyone has probably seen these old trunks from days gone by, but using them creatively as furniture is less well known. The trunks may need refurbishing or repair, although it’s not always necessary. One technique is lining the inside with aromatic cedar planking (available from specialty wood stores) for use as a storage chest at the foot of beds or elsewhere. Trunks with flat tops make good coffee tables and end tables. And, as you can see in the following photos, trunks can be assembled into desks, bookcases, shelving and other furniture.
Cool Roofs
“Cool roofs are the roofs that can deliver high solar reflectance (the ability to reflect the visible, infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths of the sun, reducing heat transfer to the building) and high thermal emittance (the ability to radiate absorbed, or non-reflected solar energy). The benefits associated with cool roofs include reduced cooling energy load, reduced air pollution and greenhouse gas emission, and improved human health and comfort. Cool roofs may extend the roof service life and help mitigating the urban heat island effect.
A Cautionary Tale
Sometimes people send us emails asking specific questions about their personal projects, and we usually try to help them as best we can. Not long ago we got the following email with several photos attached:
I came up with the idea of building my own dome here in south Morocco where I live. I got some refurbished polypropylene bags and decided to do a 5m diameter dome to provide a shelter for horse food and equipment.
I decided to use the soil from our garden which is very close to sea sand. Since this was an unstabilized soil, I decided to tie the bags very firmly at the top to prevent any sand from slipping out, and also damped the sand so it could be tamped better. I dug a trench down to half a meter that I leveled with double bags filled up with small rocks, and then started the courses of bags, with two barbed wire between each course. We went up to half a meter straight, and then started to corbel the bags inwards. We have been working for two weeks now in a team of four, and it’s getting quite high. I wasn’t planning on doing a loft, since there would be no use of it for me. I’m getting a bit worried as we are working at higher levels that the whole thing might collapse, so I thought I should give it a try asking your advice. It feels quite strong while working on it, but when tamping, you can really feel the strikes wherever you are placed up on the wall.
Natural Building Overview Video
Chris Dancey began this video a year and a half ago, but had to stop to work on her certified organic farm for awhile. Finally she was able to get back to it, which has been a ‘labor of love’. It is very nicely done with entertaining music and lots of great images of all … Read more
The Do’s and Don’ts of Recycling Barn Wood
“1. Don’t take on a barn reclamation project yourself. The cost of labor and time makes a barn wood recycling project a costly venture. Most barns have 10,000 board feet or more of good used building materials, much more than you can use in one home project.