Greenhouse and ceiling in straw bale house.

Recent progress on the homestead!

Visit this link to view more images....

https://picasaweb.google.com/114884385502525009736/20150401?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPX0hpGyiNiYbA&feat=directlink

HillBilly Downhill Skiing!

HillBilly Downhill Skiing! Free training offered...bring own tractor or mule!

Overview of House Construction.

Overview of house construction and timeline.

Greenhouse Project

Bermed Greenhouse Project from old house ruin. Logs up!

Our new project. Cheap shed and bermed greenhouse from old ruins.

Our instant $40 cheap shed and bermed greenouse which we will make from this old ruin.

2015-02-01 Click Here to Visit Latest Albums!

Dense pack cellulose

Busy Busy

Since I am sooooo busy....below is a link to albums of the latest progress! Working on dense pack cellulose recently for the ceiling and installing the vent for a wood cook stove.  Finished the first layer of plaster/render on the outer walls. Will do the rest after last Spring frost, God willing. Laid down the first layer for earthen floor.

Click Here to Visit Latest Albums!

Begin Earthen Floor

 Unless The Lord Build The House...

We started out with a stiff mix....sand/lime/clay/sawdust/water. Was too sticky and stiff. Hard to work. Adding water helped.

Then we tried a wetter mix later that also had a higher sand ratio, plus the addition of straw...Worked much better...not as sticky and the straw smoothed right in like it was not there when worked with a float. I applied it shovel by shovel.......dropping each load with force so that it spread like a cow patty, which eliminated having to thin it to the desired level first. We are spreading it about an inch thick...give or take. The flat shovel worked really well as the first spreader...using the back of the shovel to smooth. Then my wife and older boy finished it with a wooden float and then a steel float. It is unlike cement in that it has much more body so adding it bit by bit seems to work much easier than squashing down a big load that sits too high. It acts more like a stiffer mortar than poured cement.

Monica's Note:
When coming up with a recipe with for clay plaster or for an earthen floor, the two things to consider are final product ~ does it work? and ease of application ~ is it pleasant to work with? Generally, the mix that is hard to work with will not produce a good final product.

So, we've found a mix that is easy to work with. We will have to wait and see if it cracks, etc... although in this case we aren't too worried about cracking, because it's easy enough to repair on an earthen floor. (Also, don't forget to wet down the subfloor with a garden hose before adding the earthen layer, to get a good bond between the two layers.)

Here's the recipe we are currently using. Everything is measured by 1 gallon bucket and makes a good amount for the mortar mixer we are using. Our mix is higher in lime than a standard earthen floor, because we happen to have 5 big barrels of lime putty sitting around, so we're putting them to good use.

20 sand
3 lime putty (type s)
3 water
3 chopped straw (approx 3" long, leftover from trimming the straw bales)
1 clay putty (same consistency as the lime putty)
1 sawdust
*Added Note: This mix had too little lime. It does not hold up to wear. We will add a second layer with more lime later.

Applying clay to difficult angles!

Unless the Lord build the house....

Adding clay plaster to difficult angles.

Drying Mud!

 Unless the Lord build the house.....

Drying Mud!

Window put in after the fact. Added light clay straw into cavity where post sits after bales were cut out.

Ciaran's new toy....scroll saw.

The only time when playing in the mud does not get me in trouble with my wife!

The whole album is here!

https://picasaweb.google.com/114884385502525009736/20140823

Clay slip layer for straw bale

2014-08-17

A use for old jars in a cob fill and other ideas.

Unless the Lord build the house...

Fun with filling holes

I had to fill this strange gap between posts and here is how I did it.
I made a mix of clay, sand and cut straw and then laid jars like brick.
There will be a window that open above it (where the board is nailed over the opening).

Light clay straw to plug holes over door. Not big enough for a bale!

A 3 inch pipe and some jars make a need little day light bulb in my office wall. Add colors for fun.
The hole above has an outdoor solar light thingy..it lights up in the dark and charges from the outside..
I call it "poor man solar".

Here is my champion light clay straw mixer and cook...my daughter Emmi!

Getting ready for mud!

Unless The Lord Build The House.....

Getting ready for clay slip layer. Adding clay-sand plaster outside is known as render...inside it is called plaster?????? Whatever! We are about ready.

Using light clay straw on a vertical fill.

Unless the Lord build the house.....

Adding light clay straw to fill in holes

 before we add the overall layer of clay.

Adding light clay straw to cover a post. Light clay straw is just straw mixed with clay
I made this mix with more clay so that it would have more molding ability.
I formed it into cylinder shaped, or log shaped lengths first,
and then built the lengths in a stacking fashion.
Note the burlap covering the post and window edges. This will
allow for the wood to shrink without disturbing the clay.
However I think the light clay straw would do okay
even without it. It retains a certain flexible tolerance because of all the straw in it.

You can see the stacking pattern if you look closely.

We used the same light clay straw mix between the rafters.