We’re just about one month out from the start of our July Timber Frame Workshop. Happily, the pieces are starting to fall into place. This year we’re collaborating with Brice of Timber Frame HQ on this very simple and beautiful pavilion design. Brice is doing the drawing work — we’ll have super tight plans that students will be referencing during the course. I’m excited to have these plans available. Clear drawings contribute to a better understanding of the entire layout process.
A couple of weeks ago, we hosted our first Natural Building Essentials Workshop of the summer. What fun! The weather held out and we had great camping conditions, and April cooked up a veritable feast for our intrepid mudslingers. I think it’s fair to say everyone had a great time, myself included. Check out some photos of the course below!
A white clay plaster finish meets the earthen floor made with site soil
This winter, I had the chance to revisit a home that I worked on last spring. The homeowners have moved in and it was very sweet to see the house in a finished state. It’s a great feeling to contribute work and then see everything tied together in the end. The finished look is great — the earthen floor looks smooth and feels soft on the feet and the clay plastered walls add brightness and texture. Look ahead to see more pictures.
Did you know that you can polish clay plaster so that it has a reflective mirror finish? It looks spectacular, and Benito Steen (son of Athena and Bill Steen, straw bale experts of the southwest) has a new video describing his process for achieving the effect. Benito has done a great job describing the process in clear, simple term. The video is beautiful to watch, too.
Check it out above and learn for yourself how to make a polished clay plaster finish with very simple ingredients. Hope to see more videos like this soon!
Our collection of handmade pottery suddenly expanded overnight last year, and cabinet space was tight. Enter these pottery shelves, which I built over the course of a few cold nights in the workshop. We didn’t want to hide the bowls in cabinets so these are pretty simple open shelves to display them. Plus it’s easy to grab one off the shelf, though I sometimes spend an extra couple seconds deciding which one will be juuust right…
Clay plaster base coat application in process
Clay soil is one of the most ancient, rudimentary, yet effective building materials on the planet. Besides being naturally abundant across much of the earth, clay has unique properties that make it not only suitable but very desirable as a natural building material. Clay is used for the production of fired brick, sun-baked adobes, cob, and natural plaster finishes.
In this very basic introduction to clay soil, I will highlight some of the unique water-loving features and other useful attributes of clay when it’s used as a natural building material, particularly as a plaster finish.
It’s 2018, and that means The Year of Mud hits double digits this year (!). Ten years ago, I started The Year of Mud blog when I began my foolhardy journey into the world of natural building. Well dang. I’m not one to boast, but it’s been a lot of work to keep this website chugging that whole time. I certainly had no idea where I was headed when I decided to “build a mud hut” all those years ago. But one thing is for sure: natural building has been a huge focal point of my life since I first stuck my hands (and feet) in a batch of cob.
Ok ok, this isn’t my formal announcement for the brandy new site design, but more of a “hey! I’m incorporating the new site design and a few kinks need to be worked out still!” It should be a day or two and everything will be 100% in place. So expect my formal announcement once the last few wrinkles are ironed out! Hurrah.
A highly insulated straw bale home under construction
If you’re new to natural building, two of the most important fundamental concepts to understand are thermal mass and insulation. Materials for constructing walls typically fall into one category or the other. Understanding the differences will be critical if your goal is to build an efficient, comfortable house appropriate for your local climate. Let’s look at thermal mass and insulation in the simplest terms possible.
One of my big projects this winter has been overhauling this here website after many many years going without a major renovation. I’ve been anticipating tackling this task and I finally hunkered down to do the nitty gritty over the past month or so. It’s tedious and time-consuming work, no doubt. The new design is shaping up nicely and I should be rolling it out soon. So look out. It should make for a better reading and browsing experience.
p.s. Did you know that The Year of Mud is 10 years old this year? Cheers to that. More soon!
Hi there, I’m Ziggy. In 2008, I launched The Year of Mud while building my first natural home. This blog is a collection of personal stories and experiences building with clay, straw, and wood over the past 15+ years. A few of the things that get me fired up are natural plasters, timber framing, & Japanese architecture. Since 2012, we’ve been hosting Natural Building Workshops so you can learn essential skills to build your own natural home.
