House building ideas

[SpeedPhreak]

I know you were not saying that - I am just presenting my arguments & thought processes.

My net connection is REALLY slow right now for some reason - I am trying to research the OR & Irish bale homes but I am going to put it on hold because it is taking so long for pages to load.  So far the oldest Irish home I found is about 10yrs old.

[cathleeninnh]

What do y'all think about this for the outer shell of a passive solar house?

http://www.integraspec.com/frame.html

Can it really be done yourself?

Cathleen

[Tom Sawyer]

What do y'all think about this for the outer shell of a passive solar house?

http://www.integraspec.com/frame.html

Can it really be done yourself?

Cathleen

The little bit I have read about these foam insulated concrete form building block systems... is yes you could stack the foam form blocks yourself, however you still need a pumper concrete thingie and experienced crew to fill the form with concrete.

The need to get the concrete to the top of the form and get it to not have any voids, with the downside chance of the foam "blowing out" if things aren't braced properly.

Passive solar is a good way to go. 

[cathleeninnh]

That sounds promising. We are looking at so many different things. I liked the strength. Wind and tornadoes frighten me.

Another system I was wondering about are the SIPs. I don't remember which site I was looking at, but there were kit homes for those. they weren't passive solar designed though.

Cathleen

[Kat Kanning]

Russell, any luck finding my under ground house book? Maybe Kat knows where it might be?

Lloyd found it in his box of maps we had.

[Lex]

Russell, any luck finding my under ground house book? Maybe Kat knows where it might be?

Lloyd found it in his box of maps we had.

Cool. I'll try to make it to one of the Dartmouth Porc meetings eventually and maybe you can give it to me then.

- lex

[jerry]

What do y'all think about this for the outer shell of a passive solar house?

http://www.integraspec.com/frame.html

Can it really be done yourself?

Cathleen

Yes Cathleen, it can be done yourself.  In 1992 I had a bum shoulder and was still able to construct a two-story house one-handed.  The styrofoam blocks only weigh about 5 pounds each.  It's not cheap, though.  The setup fee for the concrete pumper was $1500 (X3,once for each pour),  and I spent about 15k for the Ice-Block forms.  I did  need a crew on pour day, but the rest of the work was done single-handed.

jerry

[Lloyd Danforth]

If you had a really big, really strong hand and the footing was in place, you could build a house using that dry block method they used at Jim and Lauren's, with one hand, Cathleen

[Kat Kanning]

Hey, it's porcfest Jerry

[Recumbent ReCycler]

Someday I would like to build a workshop or shed out of old tires and rammed earth.  You should be able to get old tires for free, and dirt can be dug out of the ground.  If anyone has land and wants to build a tire/rammed earth building, I would be interested in helping with it, especially if it is near the seacoast area.  I would dig down into the ground at least a few feet and start the walls below ground.  You could use stucco or some other material on the outside of the tires to give it a nicer appearance.

[Lloyd Danforth]

Hey, it's porcfest Jerry

Cool!   And he comes with an email address!

[dalebert]

http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2008/02/ultimate-hous-1.html

[dalebert]

http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2008/02/ultimate-single.html

[John Edward Mercier]

WOW...
You put yourself through torture. The secret that I've learned from building houses is that every site and owner will be unique. They will envision their home as an element unto itself, or worse costing far less to construct than reality.

[dalebert]

WOW...
You put yourself through torture.

Huh? How so? I haven't done a damn thing. I just posted a relevant link.