A growing number of people are disillusioned with conventional housing made of 2x4s and sheetrock (the way most homes in North America are built). These homes are filled with materials such as particleboard, plywood, plastic, linoleum, and synthetic carpet and paint that contain known carcinogens and allergens. These man-made materials offgas toxic chemicals such as … Read more
A brief tale of two home buyers… John: John bought a contractor-built house in the suburbs, largely because that’s what most people do. He didn’t give the decision a great deal of thought. He was eager to have a nice new home to show off to friends and family. It would provide a lot of … Read more
Sorry you missed the workshop. I opened the latest issue of The Owner Builder magazine today and just found out about the earthbag bench workshop in Tasmania, Australia. (Tip: you can post your workshop announcements for free at EarthbagBuilding.com.) You can also read about the workshop on the web by visiting the link at the … Read more
Here’s a short list of designers who have inspired my thinking. Christopher Alexander – architect and author of some of the most significant books on architecture: The Timeless Way of Building and A Pattern Language Laurie Baker – British architect who worked in India on affordable, sustainable housing Hassan Fathy – Egyptian architect and author … Read more
Almost every home uses at least some wood. We’ve been examining various free and low cost ways of obtaining wood for homebuilding. Yesterday’s blog post mentioned cutting your own wood with a bandsaw sawmill. Again, this is a great way to mill wood for far less expense than store bought lumber. There’s lots of free … Read more
The recent posts on Pallet Furniture and building with Recycled Wood got me thinking about other types of low cost or even free wood for furniture, woodenware and home building. That word “free” has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? Okay, it’s not always free. Sometimes you have to pay a small amount for … Read more