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Category: Natural Building

Straw Light Clay Curved Wall

January 13, 2020
Straw Light Clay, Timber Frame Cabin

In her book Light Straw Clay Construction Lydia Doleman has loads of diagrams like this one that really flesh out building […]

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Straw Light Clay Tumbler Design and Build

January 8, 2020
Straw Light Clay, Timber Frame Cabin

We’ve moved on from the straw light clay phase of the build. I’ll have some posts up soon about pulling […]

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Straw Light Clay Wrap up

December 12, 2019
Straw Light Clay, Timber Frame Cabin

We had another small work party in early November that got us to around 85% complete. Over the latter half […]

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Straw Light Clay Packing Party Part II

November 4, 2019
Straw Light Clay, Timber Frame Cabin

The walls are about 2/3rd packed at this point. We had another work party last weekend that put a significant […]

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Inaugural Straw Light Clay Packing Party

October 22, 2019
Straw Light Clay, Timber Frame Cabin

We invited a bunch of people over Saturday to help us pack the straw light clay in the walls and […]

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Light Straw Clay Construction: The Orientation

October 14, 2019
Straw Light Clay, Timber Frame Cabin

The plumbing and electrical have been roughed in, the furring strips have been installed, and last week 109 bales of […]

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New Project New Blog

December 3, 2018
Natural Building

I’ve started a new project. I’m planning to build a small cabin on a wooded lot. Here are some details: […]

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T-Brick Shed: Shelves

July 30, 2017
Natural Building, T-Brick Shed

Yes, a very exciting moment the shed’s life. We have shelves now.

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T-Brick Shed: Floor Finish

May 7, 2017
Natural Building, T-Brick Shed

After the floor dried completely I applied a thin (1/4″ – 1/2″) layer of a sand/clay mix (approximately 80/20 ratio) […]

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T-Brick Shed: Poured Adobe Floor

March 11, 2017
Natural Building, T-Brick Shed

I finished the poured adobe portion of the floor today. The section we did last week was still too wet […]

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offgridburbia

It's been three years since we started our suburba It's been three years since we started our suburban off-grid experiment. With the end of this Texas heat wave hopefully in sight and with rain in the forecast I wrote an article about how we kept our electricity and and water flowing this summer.

https://offgridburbia.com/off-grid-living-during-a-texas-heat-wave/
My mini-split evaporator started leaking condensat My mini-split evaporator started leaking condensate earlier this week so I had to tear it down for a deep cleaning. With its soul exposed it has kind of a neat industrial look.
What a beautiful day to mulch the roof What a beautiful day to mulch the roof
Retaining wall on the low side of the building is Retaining wall on the low side of the building is almost complete
After two days of building the cottage berm we hav After two days of building the cottage berm we have most of the gravel drainage later installed and the back close to finished. I'm building some small retaining walls today.
Building the berm part of our earth berm cottage s Building the berm part of our earth berm cottage started yesterday.
I finally got all the pieces to install a wood sto I finally got all the pieces to install a wood stove in the cottage. However, it's back to 70 degrees in central Texas.
We finished the interior plaster of the Earth Berm We finished the interior plaster of the Earth Berm Cottage this weekend. Here's a short video. I'll post a more in depth video about earthen plaster after we finish the exterior.

#naturalbuilding #earthenplaster
We got a lot done during our first plastering part We got a lot done during our first plastering party yesterday! More to follow. 

Also I just posted a blog/video about framing and infilling the cottage interior walls, installing the ceiling and building and elevated platform for the bed (sleeping nook)

https://offgridburbia.com/ebc-interior-finishing-walls-ceiling-and-trim/
I put down the final layer of the earthen floor in I put down the final layer of the earthen floor in the Earth Berm Cottage yesterday. I'll put up a full video of the install in a few weeks.

#naturalbuilding #earthenfloor #tinyhouse
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  1. Mudplasterer on Off-grid Living during a Texas Heat WaveSeptember 22, 2023

    Oops got that wrong. In June we averaged 25 Kwh per day.

  2. Mudplasterer on Off-grid Living during a Texas Heat WaveSeptember 21, 2023

    Certainly agree with enhancing your Solar panels. During June we averaged 16KWh per day from our 14 panels. We had…

  3. Mudplasterer on Off-grid Living during a Texas Heat WaveSeptember 19, 2023

    Loved the comment that the pipe to your neighbours was "with permission". Just in case anyone was thinking of litigation???

  4. Aaron on Building a Light Clay Straw TumblerSeptember 13, 2023

    Thanks! My inspiration to build a tumbler came from a video made by a Canadian. It is a huge labor…

  5. Aaron on It’s only a model: Planning Framing DaySeptember 13, 2023

    Sure, here's a link to the SketchUp model: app.sketchup.com/app?3dwid=5d943b20-0c6a-48dd-a98e-66cf848d8f6e The roof has an 18 degree pitch and ~18 feet from…

  6. Aaron on Off-grid Living during a Texas Heat WaveSeptember 13, 2023

    Oh! highs in the low to mid-nineties would be glorious.

  7. Aaron on “Living” Roof InstallSeptember 13, 2023

    That's a 275 Gallon IBC tote. I have four that I eventually use to collect rain water from the cottage…

  8. Sheryl Yarbrough on Off-grid Living during a Texas Heat WaveSeptember 12, 2023

    We are all dreaming of that day! Looking forward to a fair chance of rain in a few days and…

  9. Mudplasterer on “Living” Roof InstallAugust 31, 2023

    Is that a water container I see by the side of the cottage? Does it take outflow from the roof?…

  10. Mudplasterer on “Living” Roof InstallAugust 31, 2023

    Great project. Such success. Great idea about the perforated pipe and gravel along the edge. Has anybody else done that?…

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