Alternate housing (buy, natural, climate, paper)

[Glad2bHere!]

If you were so empowered would you build and live in a structure other than the traditional wood-frame house? What would you build for yourself and what is stopping you?

FWIW.

[tjay]

I'm researching earthbag homes....if I can find some suitable land, I plan to try it out with an out building of some sort. If that goes well I'll attempt a house (if I can convince the township...if I can't I'll do it illegally).

Here's a link:

Earthbag Building Index

Here's a blog of a couple that is doing this up in Canada, trying to get off the grid:

October « 2012 « Canadian Dirtbags

[Glad2bHere!]

Do we know how the interiors of these structures are finished?

FWIW.

[tjay]

An earthen plaster of some sort... You can also build typical stud interior walls if you want 'rooms'. I was thinking of some sort of papercrete plaster for interior walls to add to the R-value.

[StandingLenticular]

We're pretty gung-ho about making our next house an earthbag home with some cobb elements. Spiral log ceiling and compressed and glossed clay floor. As with most projects that I would like to embark on, the day to day humdrum of modern society is getting in the way of us actually building it. Our plan is to save up enough $$$ to buy the land and supplies outright. With these sort of projects, it is hard (unjustly IMO) to finance them or even insure them. Once enough money is raised, we'll buy the land, work with a certified CA architect and a natural homes specialist to sell the plan as best as possible to local code. We'll hopefully find some friends and volunteers to help build up the walls "Barn Raising" style and contract out the code-intensive stuff like electrical etc. It's a dream anyway.

[Big George]

Originally Posted by tjay

I'm researching earthbag homes....if I can find some suitable land, I plan to try it out with an out building of some sort. If that goes well I'll attempt a house (if I can convince the township...if I can't I'll do it illegally).

Here's a link:

Earthbag Building Index

Here's a blog of a couple that is doing this up in Canada, trying to get off the grid:

October « 2012 « Canadian Dirtbags

I can see these earthbagbuildings being extremely useful in some parts of the world. In fact, they could be fantastic. But in the United States? No.

[boxus]

I lived in a mud/straw brick home for a while. Not too bad, i rather liked it.

What is stopping me is:

- No land

- The government, but ridiculous policies are for another thread.

[Themanwithnoname]

Cordwood


Too many opportunities to make money in the last year in different states.

No time to build.

[Glad2bHere!]

I'm really intrigued by the EarthBag concept. I also like the idea of the glossed Clay floor. What do you have planned for your plumbing needs?

[GregW]

I would move to the Southwest and build a traditional Adobe (mud brick) home with an insulated metal roof. Another alternative would be a house built of "Insulcrete" concrete forms with stucco walls and an insulted metal roof.

In a wetter climate a straw bale infill in a post and beam frame would be considered.