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Oct 07
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The Wooden Spiral Staircase: Redux

By Timber Framing, Strawtron
Round Wood Spiral Staircase Redux

Well, this is awkward…

One of the most exciting projects in our timber frame/straw bale home of 2013 was building the wooden spiral staircase. It was a real head scratcher, and physically challenging to build as well. But the results were intensely exciting. The staircase is now an awesome focal point in the house.

We built the stairs in the days leading up to our move to Kentucky, and so we never had much of a chance to actually use them. We knew, too, that over time the risers and treads would shift a bit as the wood dried, and the whole thing would likely need adjustments later.

Well, since coming back to work on the house again, we’ve had an opportunity to see how things have changed and correct as necessary. As you can see above, it was at times a bit of a contortionist affair.

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Sep 29
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Ideas for Installing Baseboard in a Straw Bale House

By Carpentry, Straw Bale Building, Strawtron
Installing Baseboard in Straw Bale House

Installing baseboard just prior to the finish plaster application

Baseboard is an excellent idea to consider for a straw bale house. It’s not just pretty and decorative, but perhaps more important, it’s functional too. The bottom of the plastered wall is delicate, and a bit of trim protects it from the inevitable sweeping, mopping, or chair leg careening towards the wall.

A couple of days ago, I just got finished installing baseboard in our straw bale house. Having gone through that experience, I have some new ideas for how to install baseboard trim in the future. Here’s what I did this time, and what I’m thinking might work in future projects, too.

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Sep 24
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Our Recent Cob Bench Creation

By Cob Building, Natural Building Workshops
Cob Bench

Our Cob Building Workshop participants and the cob bench they built

Our recent Cob Building Workshop participants were able to build a cob bench from the foundation up, and I was very pleased with what we came up with. A cob bench is the perfect beginner cob building project, as it is simple, yet provides enough of a design challenge to be interesting and engaging. The best cob bench will be comfortable, inviting, and of course visually interesting. With a bench, you can “try it on” as you go and sit and feel out the dimensions and adjust as necessary. You don’t even need a tape measure.

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Sep 21
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Strawtron Enters the 21st Century

By Straw Bale Building, Strawtron
Electrical Wiring in a Straw Bale House

Electrical wiring gets installed in Strawtron

Over the past number of years, April and I have strived to live without electricity in our main living spaces. We certainly don’t live without it completely (this website certainly wouldn’t exist then), but we’ve enjoyed a candlelit lifestyle in Gobcobatron and planned the same for Strawtron. Now that our straw bale/timber frame is for sale, however, we’ve decided to go ahead and install electrical wiring in the house. It’s a bittersweet feeling — it’s not necessarily what we intended for the house, but I think it makes the home much more desirable for folks considering it as a possibility for themselves.

Strawtron is now firmly in the solar-powered 21st century, as it is now wired for Dancing Rabbit’s solar grid-tie cooperative.
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Sep 17
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Our Living Roof, One Year Later

By Living Sod Roof, Strawtron
Straw Bale House Living Roof

Our living roof starts to grow up

It’s been fun to come back to Dancing Rabbit and be able to see firsthand how our living roof  on Strawtron has changed since last year, when we completed building it. Unlike Gobcobatron, when I cut out sod squares and loaded them onto the roof surface, we used loose topsoil on this second living roof design. It was, in many ways, much more challenging but it was also what was available at the time. Thankfully, plants have started to take root in the soil and it’s no longer bare. I love the idea of an “evolving” living roof and seeing how the diversity of plants changes over time.

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Sep 14
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Everyone Loves the “Cob Toss”

By Cob Building, Natural Building Workshops
Cob Toss

Angelo starts the “cob toss” at the mixing station

I think one of the highlights for folks participating in our 2014 Cob Building Workshop was the “cob toss”. It involves nothing more than grabbing a pre-formed cob “loaf” and passing it to another builder, where eventually it will end up on the wall or whatever is being built. This is an extremely useful method for transporting the heavy material, especially when the wall is no longer at a height when it can be simply placed on the wall without much movement (on the builder’s part), or when the mixing station cannot be sited immediately adjacent to the wall.

I also love what the cob toss represents…

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Sep 11
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September is for Strawtron

By Strawtron, Straw Bale Building
Strawtron: straw bale house

We’re back in Strawtron, ready to make some exciting improvements

A couple of weeks ago, we decided to make a return trip to Dancing Rabbit to do some more finish work on Strawtron, our timber frame/straw bale home that’s on the market. We’ve arrived now, and have big plans for the next few weeks, including finishing the interior earthen plaster, putting another coat of lime and lime wash outside, and… wiring it for electricity. I never thought I’d say that, but alas…. there you have it. Strawtron will be firmly moving into the solar-powered 21st century.

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Sep 08
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Our Muddy Weekend Kicks Off

By Cob Building, Natural Building Workshops
Making Cob Loaves

Some of our first cob gets the “loaf” treatment for easy transport the bench site

Our 2014 Cob Building Workshop just wrapped up, and as always, I’m sad to see that folks have to go home already, but pleased with the very enjoyable experience we all shared. Our three day class was a great chance to get our hands (and feet) in the mud, mixing up some lovely batches of cob, and building a nice little bench and wall together.

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Sep 02
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A Pizza Dream Comes True

By Cob Oven
Pizza Oven and Menu

What pizza do you want tonight?

When I was five years old or so, I proclaimed that I wanted “to be a pizza pie man” once I grew up. That dream was rekindled in 2009 when April and I built our first outdoor cob oven, and this year we’ve successfully vended pizzas for the first time. I guess I can say I have reached that place of being a “pizza pie man” now, at 30 years old. In all seriousness, it was truly a thrill, a combination of many of my passions rolled into one very fun experience: natural building, pizza (duh), and feeding people good food.

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Aug 26
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How To Check For Clay with a Simple Soil Test

By Cob Building, Clay Plaster

I’ve been very spoiled by the clay soil in northeast Missouri, as it’s always been very easy to find, very rich, and largely free of unwanted particles. The clay in Kentucky is a bit more diverse in its appearance, and it’s not quite as free from particles and other soil components. As expected, it’s got its own personality.

I was reminded of a simple soil test you can do to check for clay content in your potential building soil, and I particularly like this elegant ‘ribbon test’ demonstrated in the video above. It speaks for itself. If you’re interested in making cob or earthen plaster, try this very simple soil test to see how much clay you have in your site soil.

So, what does your clay look like?