Putting roof decking on the new outhouse
Our first official natural building project on the land this year is an outhouse. Ha! I kinda love that. Right now we’re in the midst of framing a small two stall outhouse that will be one of the site projects for work & learning during our upcoming Natural Building Essentials workshop. This outhouse is going to get a pretty special treatment in the form of light clay straw walls and a clay plaster finish. The finished product should be pretty de-luxe.
This little off grid home is getting the finish work treatment this year
It’s been a while since I’ve posted any updates about the off the grid straw bale home we’ve been helping our friends build here outside Berea, Kentucky. Here’s a look at how the octagonal straw bale house is shaping up these days. It now has most of the base coat clay plaster complete, and more recently the window trim has been installed.
This is the year for finish work with the goal of moving in for the winter!
You can make a piece of drywall look like earth with just a couple coats of clay paint
You can make a drywall interior look like an earthen home with nothing more than a couple coats of simple clay paint. Clay paint can transform your space — it’s a very versatile material and can be used on a variety of surfaces, including exposed wood, plywood and drywall. In my previous post, I described how you can make a beautiful, non-toxic clay paint using three simple ingredients.
If you haven’t yet read the recipe yet, go ahead and start there. If you’re ready to get mud on your walls, read ahead for instructions for how to apply your new paint to your desired surface!
Clay paint is very easy to make and can lend even drywall a very earthen appearance
For some reason, it’s taken me a long time to try mixing up and using a clay paint (also known as a clay alis). Whatever the reason is, after attending the Natural Building Colloquium in October and talking to several folks about the ease of applying clay finishes on drywall, I knew I finally had to try it out in our new home here in Kentucky. Clay paint has many possible applications. Perhaps one of its best uses is to give an otherwise boring interior wall an earthy pick-me-up. It’s actually quite compatible with drywall, as you’ll see.
Read ahead for a recipe and instructions for making your very own clay paint.
Think about the transition between your straw bales and foundation early in the design process
In one of my recent posts, I talked about details at the top of the straw bale wall where it meets the roof. Now I’d like to talk about some considerations where the wall meets the foundation. This is another critical point in the straw bale wall design, and planning from the beginning of the process is essential for a clean and durable finish surface at the bottom of the wall. Here are some tips to think about regarding the plaster and details between the bales and foundation.
Traditional Japanese interior with natural plaster finish
Today, I present you with two websites that shed a bright light on the magic of traditional building and natural plasters of Japan. Japan has a long history of the use of natural clay and lime plasters in construction. Thankfully, there still exists a wealth of knowledge of these traditional finishes, and skilled craftspeople are keeping the practices and recipes alive.
Kyle Holzhueter is an American-born builder, consultant, researcher and educator specializing in natural building techniques, including straw bale building and clay and lime plasters. He has taken up full-time residence in Japan, where he’s been formally trained in traditional plastering. His websites are a treasure trove with some incredible building documentation, including the recipes, mixing, and application of some of the most interesting and refined natural plasters I have ever seen.
These 300mm rigid Japanese trowels are for sale
I have two Japanese trowels for sale, excellent for natural plaster work, whether it be clay or lime. These have seen almost no use, as can be seen in the included photos here. (I have a third, turns out three of these is too many!) It’s time to pass these on to another builder who will put these to work. Read ahead for more details if you’re interested!
Japanese trowels are some of the most prized for natural plaster work (image source: JapaneseTrowels.com)
April thinks I have a compulsion for Japanese tools. I think she may be on to something, but I’ve got a pretty good excuse. Very generally speaking, Japanese tools are often well designed and manufactured, and the plaster tools are not unlike the acclaimed kitchen knives and woodworking tools. Japanese trowels are made with a careful level of attention in an incredible assortment of sizes and shapes, and different types of steel depending on the purpose.
Clay and lime plaster traditions go way back in Japanese architecture, so the craftspeople and blacksmiths there have had quite a bit of time to develop highly refined tools for the work of spreading and smoothing plaster. Today, Japanese trowels are quite popular amongst folks doing natural plaster work all over the globe.
Troweling a finish clay plaster on the straw bale walls of our house
Having recently finished plastering the walls of our straw bale house, I have a renewed sense of enthusiasm for using clay plaster. Not that I ever felt ‘meh’ about it or anything — it’s more that I feel so inspired to go further with it than ever before and learn some of the deeper nuances to the craft. Clay plaster is just that – a seemingly simple craft, but full of subtleties, and the difference between an okay plaster and excellent plaster are profound. While I’m satisfied with the plaster work we just accomplished, I feel hungry to go further with it.
There’s a few tricks to plastering walls, including the quality of the base coat, your plaster recipe, and the alignment of the stars. Okay, maybe not that last part… but you get the idea. It’s a lot more than slapping some mud on the straw bales.
Hi there, I’m Ziggy. In 2008, I launched The Year of Mud while building my first natural home. This website 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. In 2012, we started offering Natural Building Workshops, so you can learn essential hands-on skills to build your own natural home.
