Previous posts have introduced Bill McNulty’s cast stone method. This post is about his second patent — a second process that explains how to make other types of cast stone with sodium carbonate. Abstract: Inorganic cementitious material A method of producing a new type of cement, hereafter called Conch-krete. Conch-krete is created by adding sodium … Read more
Anyone watching the news can’t help but notice the large number of devastating natural disasters that have been going on. One of the greatest needs in the world is disaster-resistant housing – houses that can hold up against hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, flooding and other natural disasters. Alex Klein, author of Introduction to Container Homes and … Read more
My Stone Dome rating keeps goes up and down. It’s been in the top 10 lately. There’s still time to vote if you haven’t already. But the larger picture is far more important. I think geopolymer is a million dollar idea. Most houses fall apart in a few decades, need constant maintenance and are made … Read more
Major Breaking News. Tim, one of our readers, sent me some information the other day that explained how Bill McNulty has patented the process of making cast stone using natron salt (sodium carbonate) mixed with powdered granite, limestone, basalt, schist or sandstone mixed with water. This is a slightly different method than proposed by Professor … Read more
We’ve been discussing Professor Joseph Davidovits cast stone research at the Geopolymer Institute in hopes of applying this concept to earthbag building. You have to admit the possibility of building a house with dirt cheap, natural materials that turn to actual stone and become fireproof, insect proof, bulletproof, etc. is intriguing. [Update: two people have … Read more
There’s a wide range of earthbag building systems and some are obviously better than others. Let’s summarize the leading V.G.E.W. contenders. Links are included to make it easier to research the details. – Eternally Solar’s earthbag walls filled with sand. Engineering tests show they exceed building code requirements – Eternally Solar’s earthbags can be filled … Read more