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Apr 16
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Plans for Building a Small Tool Shed

By Carpentry, Small Tool Shed
Small 8x12 Tool Shed Design

Our simple 8×12 tool shed

Before we go about proceeding with the construction of the new timber frame & straw bale house, I’m planning on building a small 8×12 tool shed. The current one ain’t cutting it. It’s way too cramped and, quite frankly, it’s not a good design. A cozy shed with enough space to actually walk in and out of is much needed, as is additional storage space for tools, building supplies, and small woodworking projects. Hence the new plans for a small shed. This will actually be the first time I use pre-made building plans to construct something, which I am actually looking forward to.

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Apr 12
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Candelight in a Cob House

By Living Electricity-free, Photos
Agricola Board Game

Playing Agricola by candlelight

When there are a bunch of candles lit in the house, I can’t resist snapping a photo or two. (Partly to see if it’s enough light to actually do so, and partly because I just really like the way it looks.) Here’s a photo from a cool night a few days ago, when we lit a fire and played Agricola (an agriculture-themed board game — pretty neat) by candelight. Fun times!

Our new straw bale house will also be lit exclusively by candlelight, too. That meas more good excuses for me to snap photos at night in the future…

Apr 09
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Building a Concrete Pier Foundation For Our Straw Bale House: Part 2

By Foundation, Straw Bale Building, Strawtron
Concrete Pier Foundation

Time for the concrete pour for our foundation

Late last week, I wrote about the techniques for doing building layout with batter boards and the 3-4-5 triangle rule, in preparation for building a concrete pier foundation. (Actually, that method works well regardless of the foundation type.)

In part two, I’ll talk about how to work with concrete pour tubes and actually install the concrete piers. Check it out below! Read More

Apr 06
Love1
concrete pier foundation

Building a Concrete Pier Foundation for Our Straw Bale House: Part 1

By Foundation, Strawtron
concrete pier foundation

The completed concrete pier foundation

Two days ago, we completed the concrete pier foundation for our new straw bale house! Yahoo! In eight hours, and with pretty intense labor, we managed to get our holes dug, our concrete piers poured, and finally, revel in the excitement of having a finished foundation for our current house project.

In this first how-to article, I’ll describe how we prepared the site and transferred our foundation plan to the ground using batter board layout. I’ll also explain why we chose a concrete pier design for this building.

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Apr 02
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3 Reasons To Build Your Own Attached Greenhouse

By Heating, Strawtron, Design, Winter
Attached Greenhouse Design

Inside a beautiful attached greenhouse full of life…

Building your own greenhouse is a great idea if you are a gardener and want space to start seedlings, or grow plants that require a longer growing season than your climate can normally provide.

But a standalone greenhouse is one thing — an attached greenhouse design for your house brings in a whole other host of benefits to be considered that extend beyond the conveniences of growing food more easily.

Read on ahead to learn about all the reasons to consider an attached greenhouse design for your home — they include providing additional free heat, extending living space, and supplying space to grow food for a longer period of time.

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Mar 29
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Good Balcony Design Ideas For Your Natural Home

By Straw Bale Building, Strawtron, Design
Balcony Design

A shady, beautiful balcony with climbing plants

Our new straw bale house plan features a balcony design on the west side of the building. The purpose of this balcony is two, if not three-fold. Not only is it a place to sit and watch the sunset, but it provides other more functional purposes, too. Here are some good tips about how to plan a successful balcony design for your new home. Take note!

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Mar 26
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Flea Market Tool Finds: Froe

By Timber Framing, Strawtron, Hand Tools
Woodworking tools: froe and maul

An old froe and mallet

Every month, I make my pilgrimage (er, it’s really just a short trip, I guess) to the local flea market, the so-called Dog and Gun. Usually I go in search of old hand tools, especially woodworking tools. The latest find was this very old froe.

A froe is a tool used for cleaving wood — very often they are associated with splitting shakes, but they can be used to pare down wood for making handles, or whatever other reason you would have to cleave wood. They are used by striking a wooden mallet on the top of the blade (seen at right in this image). They are not sharp — they are basically a glorified wedge on a stick.

They are extremely useful, however. Recently, I spent a lot of time starting to split out blanks for wood pegs for the future timber frame. The handle is shot, so I need to make a new one, but for $20, it was a nice deal. This one’s quite old, too. I like when you can tell that an old woodworking tool has a lot of history.

(New froes are at least $50 or more, by the way.)

Mar 23
Love0

Stylish Modern Straw Bale House Built From Scratch

By Straw Bale Building

Straw bale house

I will never cease to appreciate and ogle natural homes built by hand. Pretty spaces warm the heart.

I came across this stylish straw bale house pretty randomly, and was impressed with the unique style — check it out. I think this house is bigger than something I would ever consider building (just based on the sounds of it, and from the look of some of the images. I like to think homes should be kept as small and functional as possible.)

But anyway, inspiring images — check out the stunning timber frame details, the floors, nice lighting, and…. that kitchen — weird! Maybe it’s the angle, but that seems like a funky space — I want to see more of it to understand what is going on there.

I get excited thinking about all of the details that we will eventually put into our own straw bale house, and trying to imagine what the final space will look like, once I’m inside, sitting in the rocking chair, or looking out the window into the greenhouse to see how the plants are faring.

Mar 20
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My Cob House in Chinese Fashion Magazine (?!)

By Photos, Media
grace magazine - cob house

Gobcobatron featured in GRACE of China

The most recent magazine to feature my cob house, Gobcobatron, is Grace of China. It’s kinda like Vogue, I think. But in Chinese. They did a full five pages on us, so maybe mud houses are trendy or something over there? I have no clue what the article says… translation anyone?

Check it out! (Click for large!)

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Mar 15
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Handmade, Hand Forged Axes: Amazing Blacksmithing Video by John Neeman

By Hand Tools, Timber Framing

John Neeman is a small outfit making stunning quality, hand forged woodworking and timber framing tools in Latvia. Their work is impressive on multiple fronts (including this gorgeous documentary). Very inspiring.

I will have more information about John Neeman tools up in the coming weeks, as they are planning to launch an online store in the near future. (I’ve got a broad axe coming from them, too.)

Yea for traditional skills and blacksmithing!

p.s. Today is the last day to save 20% off the 2012 Timber Framing course! We may even get to use that handmade John Neeman broad axe during the workshop…