Posted on 08/02/2013 11:34:14 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Imagine if it were possible to build your own home, in this day and age, for less than $35,000. Or to cut up some timber and piece your new home together like a giant jigsaw puzzle.
What if you could create, with your own hands, a home that collects its own rainwater and generates its own power, so you never have to pay a bill again?
As far-fetched as it sounds, if you can't afford to buy a house, then designing and building your own may be more viable than you assumed. Today, upcoming architects and designers are coming up with solutions to the problem of rocketing property prices, by building houses of their own and sharing their plans on the internet.
In the UK, a young architectural practice has devised the world's first 'open-source' building. Made of simple materials and freely available plans, the 'WikiHouse' was conceived by English designer Alastair Parvin as a low-cost solution to the global housing shortage.
The aim of the project is to allow anyone in the world to design, share, download, adapt and 'print' a house that is inexpensive and tailored to their own needs.....
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
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That’s what I live in right now. But then again I am in Afghanistan. Would not recommend it on a permanent basis.
I stayed in a “B-Hut” when on the Camp. The permanent (2006) party stayed in the “new” cargo city blocks. They had them stacked with walkways. Unfortunately, they managed to crush an electrical supply cable and short out the power to the entire structure. Before the power went out, one SNCO complained he was getting shocked by his bed. The Sergeant Major told him it was his imagination.
At least with the B-Hut, you had a compartment and privacy. Most of the people in the new digs had to share with one roommate.
I have no idea. Does she have a (desert) blog, too?
> I’ve been reading up on straw bale construction. Anyone know anything about that?
One of the three little pigs tried that.
Years ago I looked into ICF homes and always wanted to build one. Are you glad you took that route? What are the pros and cons?
We are very glad we took that route. The walls are R50 (2.5” rigid insulation on both sides of an 8” concrete wall, although forms are available for different thicknesses of concrete)...before the earth-sheltering backfill. You have never been in a quieter home and it’s bullet proof, an increasingly valuable characteristic. :{)
The cost of the forms is tied to the oil prices and is costlier than wood framing at the best of markets.
Wow. I’ve always known it was more expensive and thought the extra cost was worth the benefits. Now I’ll probably go back to buying ICF magazines and looking at it all over again. Very nice. Love the pics, too.
She, Lee Drummond, and husband, Marlboro Man, and family run a ranch in Oklahoma. She does have a cooking blog, quite good. I have never had one of her recipes fail, and that has to be a very high recommendation to her. She mixes cooking, humor, and lore, of the west, ranch life, and especially, cooking. She and Mr. Wells are both excellent bloggers, of similar, tho different genres. Thusly, cousins. Maybe you could check her out?
Concrete tent gets mixed reviews from aid experts
Jan 2006
LONDON (AlertNet)
- Two British engineers have scooped a global innovation award for an inflatable concrete tent, designed for rapid deployment in disaster zones, but aid workers differ on its practical viability.
The inventors, Peter Brewin and William Crawford, say they saw a need for the structure given the inadequate protection provided by tents in the aftermath of disasters such as the Pakistan earthquake.
‘With shelter and medical facilities it is possible to rebuild shattered communities from day one of a crisis,’ they said in a statement.
The tent, made from fabric impregnated with concrete, can be put up by an untrained person in 40 minutes. It takes 12 hours for the concrete to set, but once done, the tent can last for up to 10 years.
The two designers, both 26, developed so-called Concrete Canvas during an industrial engineering course at the Royal College of Art in London. Their efforts were rewarded on January 26 at a ceremony in New York with the presentation of the top prize at the Saatchi & Saatchi Award for World Changing Ideas.
Media reports say the invention has attracted interest from the United Nations and several international humanitarian agencies.
JUST ADD WATER
‘If this was available now, we would buy 10 today,’ Monica Castellarnau, a programme director at M’decins Sans Fronti’res, was quoted as saying by Wired News. Its combination of ease of assembly with durability has also drawn praise.
The logic of Concrete Canvas is simple. Each unit ‘ weighing 227 kg (500 lb), making it light enough to transport by plane or truck - comprises an inflatable plastic inner bubble, wrapped in the treated fabric and packed in a plastic sack.
To deploy the tent, the sack is first filled with 145 litres (32 gallons) of water, which is absorbed by the cloth. The sack is then cut open, the tent is unfolded and the plastic bubble is inflated. The canvas then moulds around the bubble and sets to form the solid infrastructure of the tent.
The finished shelter covers some 16 sq meters (172 sq feet) of floor space and the cost per unit is estimated at ‘1,100 ($2,100).
But some aid officials are not convinced.
‘At first sight it looks marvellous,’ said Rishi Ramrakha, a logistics officer at the British Red Cross Society. ‘But the real practicalities look a bit difficult.’
According to Ramrakha, there are several central problems. First, the unit is too heavy to be carried easily into areas where there might not be access for aircraft or trucks. The second is the amount of water needed to erect each tent.
‘Where are you going to get 145 litres in a disaster zone?’ he asked.
Experts also point out that displaced populations are accommodated in temporary shelter because they will eventually be encouraged either to go back to where they came from, or to make homes and a new life in a better place.
The construction of permanent structures, particularly in conflict zones, could hamper that process, they say.
http://www.trust.org/item/?map=concr...om-aid-experts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Vb1pdvvoVoQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LBHVKFCoYFc
It’s straw, not hay. They say hay won’t work.
THAT is the truth!
:-D You’re singin’ my song (cooking). And also love a good blog.
I will. Thanks!
Years ago there used to be a hilarious parody website called “Sylacauga Mobile Estates”....that pic woulda fit right in.
Cozy.
That was the complete house. Electric, plumbing, drainage, labor, materials, etc, AND furnished it as well.
Now admittedly, this was in the Philippines.
But if you build you ought to build where you are going to end up living.
Treating the bales with boric acid should help with insects and give some level of fire retardation too.A lot of areas have building codes to comply with. If/when that is the case everything that goes into the construction has to be an approved product or system. Just saying it should isn't good enough. I would guess the bales would have to be tagged and come with certification.
I've been in construction for over 35yrs. I've built 2 two story homes for myself after work and on weekends ...by myself.
There is no way I would attempt some kind of hay bale clusterf*&^%.
Under normal circumstances building a home (on your own or not) is a big undertaking that includes complying with some ridiculous regulations with out adding more complications and stupidity.
I’d have to go to the flight deck every once and awhile to make sure were at proper heading and altitude.
I know. Straw doesn’t catch fire as it decomposes like hay will.
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