Here’s an overview of how we plastered the interior of our roundhouse with earthen plaster. After reviewing the various recipes and techniques, we decided to keep things as simple as possible. No doubt some of the extra plaster additives like manure and wheat paste can be helpful, but we wanted to see the results of … Read more
You can still see adobe ruins scattered across the southwest. Even though the roofs have long since rotted away, the walls are still standing after decades or even 100 years or more of neglect. Clearly, adobe is pretty tough stuff, in part because clay platelets closely align themselves and bond together. It’s fairly straightforward to … Read more
Most of the AutoCAD drawings for my 30 most popular plans are nearly complete, and so now I’ve started adding SketchUp perspective drawings to show what the completed houses will look like. My goal is to add one perspective drawing every 10 days to 2 weeks and finish in about one year. I have several … Read more
An earlier post described how to use ¼” steel rod to install electrical boxes you may have forgotten. This steel is incredibly versatile and so it’s handy to have some around during construction. Here’s a list of things we’ve used it for: attaching bracket for wall mounted bath sink; attaching shelf brackets and nailers; reinforcing … Read more
I’ve seen various barbed wire dispensers being used and have wondered what design works best. I started making a dispenser for our roundhouse workshop, but gave up when things weren’t quite working out. It seems easier to move the roll of barbed wire by hand to where it’s needed instead of using a dispenser. Also, … Read more
Let’s assume you want to add an extra box when you’re doing your electrical. The other boxes were installed in the right places during wall construction, but somehow you forgot one. (This would never happen to professionals, of course. [cough]) Don’t worry, there’s an easy fix. What I do… [cough] or would do if this … Read more