Today, Tim and KJ use the Total Station, a digital surveying tool, to locate and mark the footers onsite as we’ve drawn them in the Construction Documents.
Click here to view the entire Nauhaus Prototype Construction Chronology.
Tim and KJ
Tim Flagging
From a New York Times article on solar pricing:
Panel prices have fallen about 40 percent since the middle of last year, driven down partly by an increase in the supply of a crucial ingredient for panels, according to analysts at the investment bank Piper Jaffray.
Today, JBS Construction was onsite excavating. The extra dirt will be used to create compressed earthen blocks, which will be used in the floor and some interior walls for thermal mass.
Click here to view the entire Nauhaus Prototype Construction Chronology.
JBS Construction Onsite
View from the Northeast
A silt fence was installed on the North edge of the site before excavating.
Bricks reclaimed from old Sulphur Springs site, to be used for patios.
Taking a cordwood workshop is one of the best ways to learn the ins & outs of cordwood masonry construction. Valuable information is passed on, questions and answer sessions are important to cement down cordwood concepts and the hands on portion becomes the bread and butter of how to build a cordwood building.
The host & family with timber frame mallet
The interaction between attendees is not to be overlooked. At our last workshop we had a doctor, lawyer, judge, police officer, vet, pianist, three general contractors, three teachers, a factory worker, a biker and a host of homemakers. The give and take was amazing. Friendships were formed and a cordwood blog group was organized to help keep in touch.
Here is a link to the workshop in Custer, WI. The project was the cordwood infill of a Colonial Hall & Parlor style timberframe which was modeled after the first timberframe home in the US. The cordwood infill was 17″ northern white cedar with a Lime Putty Mortar mix. Lime Putty Mortar uses only sand and Type S builders lime which has been hydrated for 5 days. Similar to how the good ol Roman’s built their buildings.
http://www.daycreek.com/dc/asp/forum2002/display_topic_threads.asp?ForumID=2&TopicID=2036&PagePosition=1
We will be teaching a cordwood workshop in Hendersonville, NC on Oct. 10-11, 2009 at the home of the editor of Backhome Magazine. The project will be the 18″ cordwood infilling of a post and beam frame greenhouse. The link to the registration form is athttp://daycreek.com/dc/pdf/Cordwood%20Workshop%20Asheville,%20NC%202009.pdf
Richard Flatau
Cordwood Construction Resources, LLC
W4837 Schulz Spur Dr
Merrill, WI 54452
flato@aol.com
www.daycreek.com/flatau
715-212-2870
Cordwood Information and books
http://www.daycreek.com/dc/html/dcrflatau3.htm
The Colonial Hall & Parlor Timber Frame using 18 ' Tamarack & Pine
The diverse and intelligent crew at the Custer, WI Cordwood Workshop in August 2009
Timber frame with stackwall corners using lime putty mortar & cedar. Anne takes a break after a hard days cordwooding.
Cordwood Information and books
http://www.daycreek.com/dc/html/dcrflatau3.htm
This is Ecovative Design’s mycelium (mushroom roots) packaging material mulching Sue Van Hook’s garden at the end of it’s life. How awesome is that?
We’re going to try out their SIPs building panels made the same way on our prototype project. I owe them plans, so don’t tell them I’m doing this instead of getting their drawings done.
A nice 10 minute video about an Irish Passive House.
We are big fans of earthen floors. They are softer than concrete and in many locales can be made using mostly materials harvested directly from the site. The problem is that they are labor intensive, requiring a lot of layers and an extended installation period. We are experimenting with using compressed earth blocks for some of the floors in our Nauhaus prototype project. These blocks are made from subsoil dug from the site. Test blocks are made to determine how much, if any, Portland cement needs to be added to the dry soil mix. The blocks are then compressed by either a hand or hydraulic press like the one pictured here. This machine is capable of pumping out 2,000 blocks per day. After the blocks are allowed to cure for several weeks they can be laid like pavers over a properly designed substrate. We’ll keep you posted with how this works out in our prototype.
This seems to be a good hemcrete mixer.
And here’s papercrete being pumped.
