simple and cheap eco-housing.....

[makehumusnotwar]

does anyone know of any resources such as books/websites/people/groups for basic and cheap/free house design and construction? strawbale and rammed earth and stone etc all look great - but i'm wondering more about quick and easy, probably more primitive structures. houses that may not necessarily last forever, but can be assembled quite easily and quickly from basic earth materials. bamboo and other found timbers, grasses, mud/clay etc.

bamboo yurts and thatched roof structures look quite good, but i really have no idea where to start. i reckon if i let the lantana get a bit bigger i could probably live under that..... it's got a pretty solid roof and an inbuilt security system with spikes.

there have to be options for eco housing that cost very little if not nothing, and can be assembled quickly and easily with little skill. i'd like to know more........

[Jez]

Might be something here (http://greenhomebuilding.com/) to get ideas from makehumus.

[ho-hum]

Try this on for size.


http://www.formblock.com.au/

Looks sound and practical to me.

Cheers Mike

[Richard on Maui]

My friend Gary tried to email me the instructions for building a capsule, which is a bamboo and thatch temporary dwelling type thing from Auroville in INdia. Unfortunately Gary's photo was blurry such that I can't really read the instructions. But it sounds something like what you are thinking of there humus. Maybe I can put up this link to a photo that will suggest the idea, and maybe be a miracle of the internet someone cruisising by will have a better copy!
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-9/1082725/capsuledesign80x60.jpg

[Richard on Maui]

Oh my that is very small!

[Richard on Maui]

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-9/1082725/capsuledesign300x225.jpg

[SueinWA]

I goggled "capsule dwelling" and all I could find were those tiny cubicles that the Japanese have learned to hate in a hurry.

I've seen a site on those cardboard houses, but they seem awfully expensive for something that might last one year. They start about $1500 USD for an 8’x8’ box (about 2.5x2.5m). Plus shipping, of course.

Some ideas:

B.E.L.L. Housing:
http://www.geocities.com/newlibertyvill ... r/BELL.htm (http://www.geocities.com/newlibertyvillage/earthstar/BELL.htm)

Tipis: (a friend of mine lived in one of these and loved it)
http://www.wikwemikongtipicompany.com/

The Indian Tipi by Gladys Laubin, et al

Yurts – how to build:
The Complete Yurt Handbook by Paul King

Shelter by Bob Easton & Lloyd Kahn

Home Work: Handbuilt Shelter
by Lloyd Kahn Mostly for ideas, I think.

Rustic Retreats by David Stiles

And there is an idea that I have thinking about. I have recently discovered a cement-based material called Quikwall (from the Quikcrete Company, which I think is Canadian). It is much stronger than regular concrete even when it is very thin (VERY thin!). It can be a bit difficult to find, even here. I am visualizing a simple dome shape like Linda Woodrow’s chook dome (and approx. that size) made of flexible sticks or even bamboo. I would cover the entire thing in plastic (temporary) and pin it down, then apply a layer of poultry wire all over it, marking the door & windows but not removing the wire there until coating is completed. Then spread a thin coat of Quikwall over the whole thing and let it set, then apply a heavier layer to provide more strength. On the inside, I would remove the plastic and apply another layer (or two) of the Quikwall to embed the wire entirely. Another, heavier coating on the outside would make it stronger. I would like to try this someday, but there may be some huge flaw in the idea.

Sue

[christopher]

Um, check this out. Looks super cheap:

http://www.calearth.org

Been meaning to build one, but too busy for now... hopefully next year (right next to the aquaponics :wav: system...)

C

[SueinWA]

I forgot to add that one! Those sandbag domes are also very earthquake stable, they say.

Sue

[makehumusnotwar]

thanks HEAPS everyone for so many links and ideas - i wasn't expecting so many options but was pleasantly surprised. after looking at some of these buildings i can't help but wonder why people still need a three-storey six-bedroom four-car-garage reverse cycle air conditioned concrete monstrosity with about three square metres of yard space - especially with only a couple living there - for the 3 or 4 hours they're not away at work trying to pay for the place.

i'm currently living in a tent while i was to renovate and repair an old shed which became a termite sanctuary. there's no walls left just a roof, and i had all these plans to do this and that and it started getting quite involved. but since living with very little around me for a while something's changed and now i don't want to go back; i don't want to make any changes or go elaborate or spend money. if anything, i want to get simpler and closer to the earth so i've got more time to go and chat with the trees. it really is amazing how much we don't need.

[sab]

Christopher,

do you (or anyone else) know what the calearth bags are made of? Is it the same material as the stripey bags?

[baldcat]

I dare say they are the same material as feed bags,/ wheat bags etc etc, as on the calearth site they state the the bags need to be stored in shade out off direct sunlight as they will breakdown .

I have written an email to them to see if they have a supplier in Asutralia.. Failing that, you could use wheat bags I would think... There no shortage of those around here........

[baldcat]

Also have you thought about using old shipping containers. Have seen acouple of place do some great things with those... you have 2 side by side then anoth 2 stacked on top. then go to town on them, bit of a blank peice of canvas to do with as you please then...




does anyone know of any resources such as books/websites/people/groups for basic and cheap/free house design and construction? strawbale and rammed earth and stone etc all look great - but i'm wondering more about quick and easy, probably more primitive structures. houses that may not necessarily last forever, but can be assembled quite easily and quickly from basic earth materials. bamboo and other found timbers, grasses, mud/clay etc.

bamboo yurts and thatched roof structures look quite good, but i really have no idea where to start. i reckon if i let the lantana get a bit bigger i could probably live under that..... it's got a pretty solid roof and an inbuilt security system with spikes.

there have to be options for eco housing that cost very little if not nothing, and can be assembled quickly and easily with little skill. i'd like to know more........

[christopher]

Calearth uses polypropylene bags, but FOR SURE you could find someone making them in Australia, and then get them to make you tubes. I had shipping bags made to specifications for exporting cacao. I dictated size, height, colour, printing, etc..., so I am sure I could have them make tubes...

My friend has a very narrow lot on the ocean, and I want to buy some shipping containers and build a few houses for rent, but we can't afford it right now....

I have seen a few houses here built from them, really nice!

Got to run make tea. More later,

C

[baldcat]

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/01 ... contai.php (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/01/shipping_contai.php)
http://www.archpaper.com/feature_articl ... _news.html (http://www.archpaper.com/feature_articles/shipping_news.html)
http://home.comcast.net/~plutarch/
http://www.escapeartist.com/unique_life ... tures.html (http://www.escapeartist.com/unique_lifestyles/Unique_Structures.html)
http://search.ebay.com.au/shipping-cont ... QQfromZR41 (http://search.ebay.com.au/shipping-container_W0QQfromZR41)

[SueinWA]

In the beginning, CalEarth was using sandbags (for flooding), then they went to these tubes. But I have a problem with the filling of the tubes. After you shovel some soil into the tube, it seems a lot of extra work to then shift it down to the end of the tube. Or am I missing something here? It just seems that bags would be simpler than those tubes.

Another web board person said he found a site that would sell sandbags for $0.17 USD (.23158 AUD).

At the CalEarth site, the way the small units are set up seems to be a bit deceiving. The photos indicate that they are just sitting on level ground. In reality, you're supposed to mark out a circle in the soil using a stick & string. Then you start digging out the circle, and the soil you remove is put into the sandbags, and the sandbags are stacked as you go, with two lines of barbed wire between them so they don't shift. You can even carve out platforms for sitting or sleeping as you go.

Due to the heavy UV issues you have there, the bags will rot if left exposed. A fairly thin coating of concrete or a thicker covering of soil would stop that, and make the huts waterproof. In the parts of the US that are subject to tornados, I would think that they could cover the hut with enough soil to make a shallow mound that more or less blends in with the surrounding country, then plant it with clover or some other ground cover with a tenacious root system, and use it as a tornado shelter.

In other areas, it could be a fire shelter.

Sue

[christopher]

Hi Sue,

There are a few books on the subject and they describe pre rolling or "scrunching" up the roll on a 5 gallon bucket with the bottom cut out. This makes filling it sort of, um :oops: , well, like pitting a condom on... for lack of an easier and more acceptable metaphor.

The UV issue would mean that prpositioning and rapid building would be the key (along with covering portions that have been filled but not plastered).

We would like to build one here for either student housing (although we already have space for up to 28 right now), or for a mushroom growroom or additional hurricane shelter (our house is stone on first floor for hurricane shelter).

Our neighbor across the river, Ignacio (he's on the PDC page on our web site) is hoping to build one, and we may hold a workshop with people if we can get an "expert" who has done it before to teach it. He lives in a small thatch house, but would like a strong house for the next hurricane... (he is also on our projects board of directors)

I think for remote sites, like ours and Ignacios, with three kilometers of distance to bring in materials (and not by motorized anything), this system, while labour intensive, would offer significant advantages in terms of material to be brought in. The minimal expense of the bags would in part cover some of the expense of the labour.... maybe... (our key would be to host a workshop with lots of willing hands, or get some WWOOFers!)

Anyway, we might never get around to it, but hope to... I would love to live vicariously through others if they do it...

[earthbound]

I've seen some of those sea container houses as well, they look surprisingly good considering their simplicity.. Tipis are a great cheap form of accomodation that can be moved when you grow bored of the view.

[SueinWA]

Chris, it was suggested at another site (re: the CalEarth domes) that in refugee areas, helicopters could drop bales of sandbags, rolls of barbed wire and a few shovels, and people could build themselves shelters.

I would like to put one on my property just to do it!

Sue

[christopher]

Sue,

Yes, that is part of why I keep considering it... it looks transport easy!

For our dorms, most of which we built using purchased lumber, it cost us %20 of the lumber cost just to get it from the road to our place... about USD.10 a board foot. The cost of shipping is always a factor in building anything here.

We'd need some other roof design because of the high levels of rain we get, though.

If I could get a helicopter to drop the bales it would be even more exciting.

Joel, containers are great. I know a guy in Belmopan who sells Birkenstocks out of a 20 foot contaner. There is a small room, with a back room (smaller) for the shoes.. He has big glass doors where the doors open... and the doors close over it to make the whole thing lock up securely. He is a sort of eccentric German (via Tanzania, I think) guy who is also an architect who has built dozens of settlements in Africa with the containers. He raves about them. He says in a hurricane he had one container slide all over a parking lot... but no damage to the container or the contents (didn't roll).

I have seen a few other container houses/offices in Belize. Red Cross has one in PG, and there is an interesting complex of stacked containers on the Western Highway right outside of Belize City....

Anyway, Merry Christmas to you both.

Christopher

[SueinWA]

Chris, for roofing, why not finish as directed, then cover with a heavy piece of plastic (to several feet past the perimeter, then cover with soil and plant it with some low-growing plant or food plant?

Sue

[Richard on Maui]

We have a couple of shipping containers on our property that prior owners used to live in when they first came to the land. They put a roof between the two which has served as a pretty good workshop/dry space...
Living in one, without serious modification, would suck...
They get so hot! I guess with some windows and some ventilation they mightn't be so bad.
The ones here are maybe ten years old, at least, they have been on the property about that long. Even though they have been painted, they are rusting out pretty badly. But then, everything metallic seems to rust out pretty badly here!

[christopher]

Sue,

Thought of that. We even have budgeted some xtra funds from the pond based aquaculture set up we are building starting March... might get an extra 4-500 feet of pond liner...

We are definitely interested in trying it!

Richard,

The only container I have actually looked at closely has a thick layer of styrofoam or some sort of insulation glued to the top, and then a zink sheet glued to that. With insulation in the interior walls it was pretty cool, (though the guy had AC)

Merry Christmas some more. Ho Ho Ho,

C

[Miskaroo]

Hi

I'm brand new to the forum which I found after googling 'sandbag housing'. I am really keen to learn more and to eventually build my own. If any of you are erious about bulding one then let me know as I would be a keen helper. I live in WA so if anyone is near hear then fantastic - if not still let me know as I might be able to find a way to get to where you are at least for a few days. ANy information you guys have on sanbag or other super cheap methods of building would be gratfully recieved - thanks so far for the varied and interesting links.

And if anyone knows others in WA interested in getting some land together for a permaculture/self suffient community please also contact me :)

Best wishes,
Simon

[Hamishmac]

Miskaroo,

Wayneburg was posting just 4 days ago, on the topic -alternatives to drywall-at

http://forums.permaculture.org.au/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=9818#p48312

on similar issues.

I posted a couple of links there that I found.

And welcome to the forum too.

Hamish

[gardenlen]

g'day miskaroo,

can't realy see that anything long lasting will be super cheap as such, super cheap would be a humpy ie.,. lean a sheet of corrugate roof against a gum tree and sleep on the ground under that, so say if you start from there then add in the ceature comforts you want, taking into consideration the climate you live in and how efficient you want this home to run.

just for you research check out what we designed for our conditions up here, it was cheaper than the average home by around 50%, it worked along warm-house/cool-house lines so needed no air-con, nor heating. then it didn't need lots of preventative maintennace like termite treatment to protect it and i would be a lot more fire resistant than the average, apart from cosmetic didn't even need to be painted.

for me the sand bag idea would maybe not be an eternanity thing as no matter what as i see it any bag you use would deteriorate in the sun and the sand would all then fall out. plus on the eco' side of it the sand may need to be transported along with the effort of bagging, anyhow that's about it.

len

[Miskaroo]

Many thanks to everyone so far for replies - to clarify (Gardenlen) when I say super-cheap I want to build a home with effort more than money. From what I have seen sandbag buildings when covered with a render of papercrete or concrete etc could last indefinately and could cost around $1000 per room - a lot better than a cheap box house for $80,000 plus labour.

So if anynone out there knows of anyone doing this already with sandbags or something similar in Australia I would love to find out more/get involved.

Hamishmac - I love the idea of setting fire to the house to cast it properly - not sure I could leave with the lingering smell though? :)

Anyway - glad I found the forum seems to be full of exciting ideas, everyone thinking outside the suare which is sadly lacking elsewhere!

Cheers
Simon

[Hamishmac]

From what I have seen sandbag buildings when covered with a render of papercrete or concrete etc could last indefinately

I saw a vid on YouTube about making walls of papercrete, and thought, "What a great idea for rendering over fine chickenwire". But then I noticed that the constructors were based in the US or Canada. So then I thought "Wonder if the local termites could chomp through this?"

Anyone in Australia tried tempting the local termites with papercrete? Or is there a paper/ concrete ratio beyond which it just blunts their teeth and they won't bother with it?

Hamish

[paul wheaton]

Are you familiar with PSP?

If you are in a wooded area, this is probably the cheapest and fastest.

Generally about 10 times cheaper and 3 times faster.

The basic idea is a pole structure with a green roof. But the trick is that every inch of the roof MUST go downhill to ground soil. If you can get that one idea to fit in your head (and it takes a little time) you can get sunlight from all four directions and everything gets freaky cheap and freaky quick and easy.

The guy that came up with this has two books:

The Earth Sheltered Solar Greenhouse Book (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0960446400/rs12-20)
The Fifty Dollar and Up Underground House Book (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0442273118/rs12-20)

He recently said something about how he now wants to call it Earth Integrated Buildings (http://www.permies.com/permaculture-forums/1103_0/alternative-building/my-new-psp-definition).