It feels like building season is almost upon us. There’s a hint of spring warmth in the air, and I get antsier with each passing day as I think about the prospect of finishing my humble abode. I have a building sequence of events that I’ve been thinking about today.
Other than finishing the living roof (I won’t load the topsoil until the spring rains have largely passed, so I’m not in an immediate rush to finish the other roof work that remains), there is a fair bit of interior work to be done.
After last year’s success hosting a handful of individuals to help with building my cob house, I am once again seeking work exchangers for the spring of 2009. This time, I am only seeking one or two helpers for about a month. Please read below for details!
I recently got back from traveling. I have been away for six weeks, so I have not been able to closely monitor the condition of my cob house throughout this very cold Missouri winter.
The night I returned, I went to check out the interior of my house with a flashlight. The outside temperature was something like 1°F or less, and lower with the wind chill. Almost the entire interior of the house was glistening with an icy sheen – the walls, and ceiling all had a light coat of ice. It actually looked quite beautiful but it made me a little concerned. I’m not sure if it’s the result of moisture that is still locked in the house, or from condensation, or what. There is some light mold in some spots, too.
Should I be worried? I’m not sure. Is it enough moisture to cause a problem? I wish I knew. If anyone has had a similar experience, I’d love to hear more.
My friend Mark Mazzioti (who I must credit for inspiring me to build a reciprocal roof), is building a strawbale house at Red Earth Farms. Mark is an experienced natural builder with lots of exciting and creative ideas and building plans, and I encourage you to check out this information he has posted about his strawbale house construction and natural building internship:
Check out Michael Blaha’s rocket stove mass heater construction story at I Love Cob!. His stove features a fire brick heat riser, a 27 foot long flue pipe, and lots of thermal mass. Check it out. Lots of nice details here.
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A freshly assembled reciprocal roof frame
This is a long-delayed post about building my reciprocal roof frame. This entry documents the details of building my reciprocal roof frame, including the type of wood I used, the number of rafters, and the work process itself. I hope that this will be useful for individuals who want to attempt building a similar frame. With the general lack of information about reciprocal roof construction on the internet, I hope this will become a primary resource. Here we go…
This is the official end of the 2008 building season for me. I am in New Jersey for the holidays. The work site has been cleaned up, the house has been sealed, and the EPDM pond liner has been tied down.
I was surprised to receive a comment on my blog from a foreign reader a couple of months ago. It was from The Bund magazine of Shanghai, and they were interested in doing an interview about building my cob house. Needless to say, I was immediately interested. Surprised, too, of course.
Anyway, I just got a copy of the magazine in the mail the other day. It’s a large format weekly magazine, very glossy, very westernized. Smack dab in the middle of high fashion and pop culture is the article about my cob building, with a photo of me (see above) sitting in my (unfinished) little mud house in a dirty t-shirt. Pretty hilarious. (And opposite that photo? An advertisement picturing Jackie Chan. Trippy.)
Fun stuff.
Here is a PDF document of the article: Cob building interview in The Bund
A week or so ago, while the weather was still reasonably comfortable, I decided to experiment with making an earthen finish plaster. I settled on ingredients and a recipe for my earthen plaster mix relatively easily after talking to others who have done plastering here at Dancing Rabbit in the past.
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.
