Skip to main content
Nov 14
Love0

How To Build a Timber Frame & Straw Bale House — Coming This Winter

By Straw Bale Building, Strawtron, Timber Framing

Timber Frame Home

Throughout the process of building my cob house “Gobcobatron”, I documented the entire process of its construction online here at The Year of Mud, demonstrating the process I went through to build my first home. It has been a rewarding experience for me, and the feedback and learning experience has been wonderful.

This year, since beginning the construction of my new timber frame and straw bale home, time has been particularly scant, as the timeline was even more compressed and deadlines were many, thus a less detailed documentation effort during the building season throughout the various construction stages.

However, this winter I have plans to retrace my steps, to present how to build a timber frame and straw bale house.

Read More

Oct 28
Love0

Wood Stove Installation: Our Unique Stove Install Job

By Heating, Living Sod Roof, Strawtron, Winter
Wood Stove Installation

Through the wall and up… avoiding our living roof!

Well, I ended up with another weird wood stove installation in the new straw bale house. Back in 2010, I described how I penetrated the living roof of my cob house to install our new small wood stove at the time. (It was equally weird, and awkward.)We did a somewhat successful job (although every now and then we get water dripping into the mudroom).

This time, I wanted to completely avoid penetrating the EPDM pond liner, so I opted for a through-the-wall stove installation. There were a few tricks along the way.

Here’s how it went.

Read More

Oct 19
Love0

Rainbow Over a Straw Bale Home

By Photos, Strawtron, Uncategorized
Rainbow over straw bale house

Nice way to end the day

Don’t you love it when that happens?

October feels like it is moving quicker than lightning. It is one of my favorite months, no doubt. A much-needed rainstorm ended with this visual feast just the other day.

The work season is rapidly coming to an end…

Oct 15
Love0

Moving Into an Incomplete House (p.s. We’re in Strawtron!)

By Strawtron, Winter
Straw Bale House Interior

Pug waits for the base plaster to dry

It is with somewhat reluctant, but inevitable feelings that we have just recently moved into our new straw bale house. I say ‘reluctant’ because really, the house is not complete. However, it has always been our intention to move in for winter, before the house is finished. Generally speaking, however, I highly advise people against moving into incomplete shelter, if they can avoid it.

Read More

Oct 12
Love0

Upcoming Woodworking Tools Festival: Handworks

By Hand Tools, Timber Framing

handworks

Wow, this event looks really awesome, and best of all, it’s not that far away — and it’s free! Handworks is a (hand) woodworking tools event from May 24-25, 2013 in a beautiful restored timber frame dairy barn in Amana, Iowa. A bunch of hand tool companies will be there with their wares (and door prizes), and there will also be a presentation about that killer (and now famous) tool chest of H.O. Studley. Really cool. I definitely plan to attend.

Get the details here: http://handworks.co/

Oct 03
Love0

Topsoil Quantity Calculator: How Much Soil For Your Green Roof?

By Living Sod Roof, Resources

Here’s a handy tool if you happen to be building a living roof, or doing berm or other earth construction work. This topsoil quantity calculator will give you an idea of how many cubic feet / yards / tons of soil you will need for your project.

A 30×35 roof at 4″ thickness will require 3.5 tons of soil, for example. Wow.

In building our own green roof, it has been fun to try to guess how many buckets full of dirt we will need to use… although it’s pretty hard to keep track.

Well, there ya go!

Sep 28
Love0

The Great Living Roof Prospect: Building Our Green Roof Begins!

By Living Sod Roof, Strawtron
Living Green Roof Party

Our group of volunteers help load soil to make our living roof

Yesterday was our very first day loading soil onto our rooftop, the official start of building our living roof! We used a pulley system to raise 5 gal. buckets up to the roof, where a line of people passed buckets to be dumped. It was a whole lot of fun, and it’s great to see our green roof coming to fruition, after weeks of scheming. Here’s a little bit more about our process.

Just like building our cob house, the living roof of our new straw bale house has had me thinking for hours, and quite honestly, it’s been the source of a lot of anxiety throughout the entire construction process. Gobcobatron was a breeze in comparison — single story, low to the ground, not a huge roof area.

But how would we get soil 25 feet up into the air, at the highest point on our new building? What type of soil, and how would it stay in place? Would people feel safe scampering all over the roof if we did the work by hand? Just how many hours of work is this going to take, anyway?

Read More

Sep 20
Love0

Design Your Deck With Rot Resistant Wood

By Carpentry, Strawtron, Timber Framing
White Oak Deck Wood

Our white oak balcony deck floor

It is a wise idea to incorporate rot resistant wood into your outdoor deck, balcony, or porch designs, to ensure a long-lasting, safe floor for years to come.

I’m happy to be finally decking our west balcony so that we can stand out there and enjoy the view, without worry of falling through or tipping the temporary piece of plywood we’d been using. We obtained some nice white oak boards for the occasion, as the balcony is exposed to the weather. The balcony is actually under a substantial roof, but nevertheless, with our occasional big storms, moisture and rot is a concern. We chose thick 1.5″ white oak wood for its excellent rot resistance and strength.

Read More

Sep 13
Love0

*Hiccup*

By Uncategorized

flatbread

Wow, the last week has been a stream of constant web hiccups … but I think it may finally be over. I hope. Fingers crossed. Prayers prayed. If you are reading these words, then everything may very well be okay. Let me know if you’ve had or are having any problems reading The Year of Mud. Updates may now commence on their previously programmed schedule. Goodbye 404s and 500s.

By the way, check out that flatbread… oh boy, I love cooking a good flatbread on our rocket stove. These were actually supposed to be wheat tortillas, but this one got carried away and had an identity crisis, becoming more like a pita than anything else. It’s amazing what you can do with a little flour, water, and yeast or baking powder. Dry or with butter/oil, and there are about 50 variations in there depending on heat, dough consistency, temperature, etc. Mm.

 

Sep 06
Love0

2013 Natural Building Workshops Planning

By Natural Building Workshops

Straw Bale Workshops at The Year of MudAfter such a successful 2012 Natural Building Workshop season, we are already planning for next year’s courses and classes in 2013. Planning is an on-going  process, and especially for events like these, we need to organize very far in advance to be able to structure our time and energy for the year. We hosted one Straw Bale Workshop and a Timber Framing Workshop this year, after months and months of planning, but next year may see the introduction of newer courses in the offering. I’m excited about the possibilities, and I hope you will be, too.

Things should be ironed out over the course of the fall season (the best time to do anything, really). Keep an eye peeled. Sign up for our email list to be the first to know.