A recent blog post about a rebuilt ghost town in Spain turned out to be quite popular. This got me thinking about the practicality of living in ghost towns. If you don’t mind fresh air, no traffic jams, lack of noise and nosey neighbors then you might like it just fine.
low cost
RV Living
We try to cover a broad range of topics about low cost, sustainable living. One option is RVing – living in Recreational Vehicles. The cost of RVs has dropped substantially over the last few years from what I hear and so this may be something you’d like to look into. You can live in an RV while you build your home (and be mobile in the duration), or live on the road.
The Earth Buildings of Hakka People
Thanks to Jay for recommending this video. It’s another good example of natural building that has lasted centuries. Unfortunately there are some minor technical glitches in the video.
Plumbing and Electrical Summary for Earthbag Houses
These topics have already been covered in various posts on our blog, but I’m pulling everything together here for easy reference. Our blog now has 1,460 blog posts and it’s getting more difficult to find things. For those building an earthbag home, the bottom line is plumbing and electrical is 99% the same as conventional construction. The few differences are shown here. Everything else you need to know can be learned from library books or pocket guides. I prefer simple electrical and plumbing pocket guides because they show only what you need.
Casa Biyuka
Don’t miss this stunner custom home. The site is in Spanish and so you’ll have to sort out the details. They’re using bamboo, tile, ferrocement, stone, roof water catchment, etc. to create a one of a kind amazing build.
Plumbing and Electrical Pocket Guides
You can buy small booklets or ‘pocket guides’ from building supply centers that show the main steps of construction. Besides being compact and low cost, the nice thing about these pocket guides is they only show want you really need. Many homeowners don’t need a full length book on these subjects. They just need to know the basics. Pocket guides (the lowest cost versions) have simple black and white line drawings of each main step. For instance, pocket guides illustrate how to wire an outlet or a switch.