Salvaged wood timber is an excellent option for building roof trusses. If you buy salvaged timbers through an architect for a custom home like this they will be pricey of course. But timbers like these can also be obtained cheaply or even for free if you do the work yourself.
DIY
Ideas for outdoor spaces that invite inhabitation
Wow, what am amazing collection of beautiful homes and gardens. Almost every comment on YouTube uses the words “wow” and “amazing”, and it’s easy to see why. Many of these ideas can be built on a limited budget with natural materials.
Earthbag Workshop at Sustainable Life School
Well known earthbag builder Morgan Caraway is putting together another earthbag workshop. The next workshop will be on April 1st and 2nd, 2017 at Bottom Leaf intentional community one hour North of Asheville, NC. They will cover as many aspects of earthbag building as possible. We also started a new blog that talks about our homesteading and natural building adventure from the beginning. Direct link: http://thechurchofnature.wixsite.com/sustainablelife/single-post/2017/01/28/Our-Story-So-Far
Amazing Bamboo and Cob Home Construction Costa Rica
A tour of a bamboo and cob home. House is completely framed with Guadua bamboo and all the interior and exterior walls are cobbed. All the colors are ocher pigments mixed into the final cob layer.
Pompeii Oven with Earthbag Base
Amazing backyard oven project made with earthbags for the base.
Example of $2,000 DIY Hybrid Natural Home
A key aspect of natural building is learning out how to best utilize minimally processed, locally available natural materials and salvaged materials to meet your needs. This includes using good site and climate building techniques in the design of the home. What works best in one location will likely be different than another location. Be sure to study ‘best practices’ that have evolved over the centuries for your specific area. Things such as roof pitch and overhangs, choice of materials, height of stem walls, percentage of solar glazing, ventilation details etc. are all very important.