A lot of valuable lessons were learned as a result of the oil crises of the 1970’s. Unfortunately in the 1980’s many of the conservation initiatives from the 70’s were abandoned – but the skills, knowledge and awareness garnered at the time were not lost, and we’re benefiting from them today. In building science big strides were made in insulation and air sealing of houses, and a lot of this knowledge came out of two projects in Illinois and Saskatchewan. In 1976 a group at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign developed a design which they named the “Lo-Cal” house, which used
Continue readingNotes on toxicity
People who are new to natural plasters sometimes think they are non-toxic: earth plasters are made out of materials dug from the ground, right, how could they be dangerous? In fact, while the end result is non-toxic, these products can still be hazardous to work with. Take clay for instance, which often contains large amounts of crystalline, or ‘free’, silica (fine quartz), which when inhaled causes silicosis (a debilitating lung disease) and lung cancer. Silica is also found in cement and fine sand, but not in pure lime (which nevertheless isn’t great to breathe in). The long and the short of it is that plasterers work with
Continue readingThe Original Nebraska Straw Bale Buildings
For a long time I wanted to see the original 100-year-old straw bale buildings in Nebraska, so on a drive across the continent I included Nebraska on the tour. My first stop was Arthur Nebraska, where I met up with Jake and Lucille Cross. Jake Cross took me to see the Martin/Monhart house, a home that was built in 1925 out of baled late-season hay. It was formerly owned by his wife Lucille’s parents. What struck me most about this house is how normal it looks. Modern straw bale homes emphasize the straw, with rounded corners, unique plasters, and often slightly wavy
Continue readingSteve Sauer’s Tiny appartment
After reading an article originally published in the Seattle Times, I really wanted to see Steve Sauer’s tiny appartment while I was in Seattle. The article about the 182 square foot appartment includes some quotes of Sauer What I really wanted was one place with exactly what I needed and wanted. Quality is more important than quantity for me, and extra space only a problem I wanted to compress my home to squirt me back out to the community I wanted to see the appartment because tiny appartments make that much more sense ecologically than tiny homes. And Sauer seemed interesting,
Continue readingAn interview with Jay Shafer
A few years ago I did an interview I did with Jay Shafer, one of the leaders of the tiny house movement. This meeting was a last minute decision while I was travelling down the west coast, so I arrived at his little home on short notice and unprepared. It was only later when I did my research that I realized he’s relatively famous and has even been on Oprah. So it took some accidental gumption to show up on a whim. When I got there he was in his boxers surfing YouTube videos, having forgotten I was coming. So
Continue readingStraw Bale Building checklist
Recently my friends asked me for advice on building a small straw bale building (a garage with a living space above). They asked me how it will compare, timewise, to conventional framing. The answer: it will definitely take longer. They will save money on materials (some) but it will only be worth it if they really want the extra insulation value. They do, and they want to try building with bales as a test run for a future house. Also they want to use post and beam anyway, which means they need some kind of secondary wall system – for
Continue readingHow to make clay slip
Earth plasters are wonderful because you can use soil that was dug from your foundation, or a truck can deliver a load of clay soil that was dug from another construction site. But anyone who has a pile of clay soil sitting on their jobsite knows that it’s hard to process. It can be rock hard, or incredibly sticky globs, and often contains stones that need to be sieved out. Here’s how to process clay into slip for use in earth plasters. You need a very good drill that can withstand running for hours, and a barrel with one end open. Fill the barrel
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