Category: Natural Building

What I Found When I Tore Up My Earthen Floor: It’s Not What I Thought

I had such high ideals and hopes for my earthen floor being a badge of honor in not using any non natural materials in my house. I originally insulated it with light clay straw because I wanted to use a natural material. In my opinion, my earthen floor has ended up being the only mistake I made in my strawbale house. It has served fine, but it’s always been sinking, leading to cracks and ruts and the need for maintenance. I didn’t know why my floor was sinking, though I had my suspicions.

In this video we find out what was going on under all that cob, and we begin a series of videos showing the process of totally redoing my earthen floor. It’s a big project and it took some time, but one of the great things about cob is it’s ability to be reused. Being able to just add water to the old floor material and relay it saved an astronomical amount of time.

To see the videos I refer to in the end of this video, click the links below.

Japanology Plus on earthen plaster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10R60bMjorw

Early video on design details of my tiny house: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4rlp7DIC7M&t=831s

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An EARTHSHIP Like None You’ve Ever Seen

Last winter I had the chance to visit an earthship like none I’d ever seen before. Earthships are living buildings that are adapted to their environment to make use of climate, water, and waste products. When people think of earthships, they usually think of the desert southwest of the US, because that’s where they originated and where many of them are built. In this video we visit an unusual version of an earthship, still off grid, still adapted to its environment, but very different from what you normally envision when you think of an earthship.

The Craziest Cob House You’ve Ever Seen

Kyle’s Cob House at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage is one of the most unique natural buildings I’ve ever seen. It’s organic design incorporates a multitude of natural building techniques that will make your jaw drop. It’s earth bermed, it has stonework, a living roof, roundwood timberframing, cob, earth bags, an earthen floor, and much more. And like most buildings at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, it’s a tiny house. Although still unfinished, it inspires many who visit DR and who have seen my videos about it.

Rebuilding and Improving a Rocket Mass Heater

The rocket mass heater in Skyhouse at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage was in need of some repairs and improvements. It was at least 15 years old and had always had some issues with efficiency in heating the space it was supposed to. Mark Mazziotti, of nearby Red Earth Farms, was hired to do a total rebuild of the stove because of his experience in building rocket stoves and mass heaters. I happened to find out he was doing the rebuild and asked him if he would help me make a video about the project. It’s a little longer than some of my usual videos, but it’s interesting to hear the thought and planning Mark put into the rebuild.

Mark wants me to add that he miscalculated his estimate of his experience in natural building. It’s more like 15, not 20 years of experience he has.

Hassan’s Round House: Bottle Bricks, Natural Light and Ventilation

In this last installment of the tour of Hassan’s new round strawbale house at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, we find out more about the features that encourage natural lighting and ventilation of the house. He also shows us how he made bottle bricks out of wine bottles and glass jars to use as lighting features in his cordwood interior walls.

To see more photos of the building process of Hassan’s House and to find out more about his workshops and natural building business, visit cobwallbuilder.com.

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Clever Sustainable Design Features Of Hassan’s Strawbale Round House Pt 2

Hassan designed every part of this strawbale house to be functional, sustainable, and aesthetically impeccable. It’s not a tiny house, but it is a small house made for multiple families to share a minimal space. It’s still unfinished but in this video he explains what he’s built so far, and what the house will look like when he’s finished. The tour continues with an explanation of the benefits of a round house design. From cordwood, cob and wattle and daub, to strawbale and light clay straw, this house features every kind of natural building method imaginable.

To see more about Hassan’s house and other projects go to:
http://www.cobwallbuilder.com/

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