“I have recently been in correspondence with an Iranian researcher, Mostafa Aref haghi, who has chronicled a tradition in Iran of building adobe windmills. At first I thought that it was virtually impossible to build a windmill using adobe. But then as I studied the material that he sent I came to realize that yes, indeed, it is possible to build a windmill using adobe!
There are lots of uses for free chunks of broken concrete, also known as urbanite or urbancrete. This particular project by Danielle at Earthen Acres caught my eye. A series of photos on her site shows how they built it. She and her friends also built their foundation out of urbanite.
You Can Hand-Sculpt Your Own Home
“Cob (an old English word for lump) is old-fashioned concrete, made out of a mixture of clay, sand, and straw. Becky Bee’s manual is a friendly guide to making your own earth structure, with chapters on design, foundations, floors, windows and doors, finishes, and of course, making glorious cob. I believe that building with cob is a way to recreate community and experience the joy of working together while taking back the right to build our own homes and look after our Mother Earth. She loves doing something that makes sense in a world where lots of things don’t.”
Building furniture and other items around your home with driftwood is yet another low cost DIY option to consider. This topic is closely related to our previous blog post on Tree Root Furniture. The unique look seems especially appropriate for seaside homes, but of course that doesn’t limit your options. This rustic, natural type of furniture is well suited for beginners and experts alike. A quick search on the Internet will bring up dozens of interesting projects, many of which could be built in a weekend with minimal tools. For additional driftwood furniture ideas, you might be interested in the book Driftwood Furniture by Derek Douglas.
The HemLoft – a secret treehouse, hiding in the woods of Whistler
“It took months to find the right tree to build on, and when he did the spot was on public land looking down on a row of multi-million dollar homes.
But that didn’t stop Joel Allen – he just built this incredible egg-shaped treehouse in Canada anyway, without telling anyone.”
“So…those of you who last week asked if we might have something up our collective sleeve? Well…I’ll admit it now. You were right. I’m delighted to announce that Popular Woodworking has negotiated an exclusive deal to bring back all the episodes from the first 28 seasons of “The Woodwright’s Shop.” We plan to bring out each season on a multi-disc DVD set and broadcast individual episodes on a special “Roy Underhill Channel” at ShopClass On Demand.