Inspector Gadjet

Click here to see Part I , Part II , Part III Bozwell and Tommy Dee size up the keystone The third and final week saw lot's of innovation and experimentation, the retaining wall for the berm was getting bigger, we used a bus tyre as a kind of a key stone to tie everything together at the flag wall junction and we used lots of hooping iron to tie our plating down onto the tyre courses below. Plywood backing blocks for extra strength For the first time (that I know of) we put thick plywood blocks inside the tyres before pounding and then we used 75mm bugle head screws to fix a hardwood plate to the outside of the tyres to make a really strong backing for book shelves or whatever you would want to hang on a wall. These structures also worked extremely well for attaching the hooping iron to as well. Plating attached to the tyres screwed through the backing blocks Many hands make light work Ben and Sean worked on the greenhouse framing with a steady t...

Click here to see Part I , Part II  Campbell (Cob) Imray kept us entertained with numerous cob-etitions Cob stomping, tyre pounding, dirt moving,.. It was all happening for the start of week two with some reasonable weather and plenty of enthusiasm from everyone. the cob line We said good bye to Gillian and Hal who had been helping out for the first week providing freshly baked bread, showers and even a baby sitting service, it seems we were spoiled to have them around but now we have to fend for ourselves!! Bush poles harvested from the property to be used as roof joists "like the old blokes used to do" Erik and Lisa from Hobart came to help and they had cut down around a dozen tree's before they would entertain the idea of sitting down for a cup of tea and Erik's skills were invaluable for the style of the building we were creating with green bush poles for rafters at the back section instead of milled timber... the Earthship was c...

One of many tyre harvesting missions from far and wide What an amazing bunch of people we had on the build! The progress we made went beyond my expectations thank's to Dani and the crew from Agari who went out of their way to ensure that everyone learnt about Natural building and lots of other related topics. The purpose of these workshops is two fold:  Students provide labour in exchange for knowledge. From my own experience I have been involved on both sides now and I have to say that I don't think there is a better way to build a house than this. A few of us went down to the site a week early to set up the camp kitchen, showers and composting toilets. camp kitchen under construction Re-purposed pallets were used in the building of all three and, just like tyres, you can pick them up all over for free. Safety first! a couple of milk crates for a makeshift ladder and one of the camp showers is almost complete We managed to get about 20 tonnes of dirt delivered just before the ...

Click here to see Part I The Earthship is "exploding out of the ground" as Mr Reynolds would say and people are learning and  having a great time to boot. Week one saw around 300 tyres pounded and about 120 tonnes of dirt moved all by hand, the thermal wrap went up with the berm and tyre courses and there was much drumming, drinking, singing and the occasional funny cigarette passed around the campfire which burned the whole three weeks despite some rain. I have been repeatedly amazed by peoples willingness to help and their overwhelming positive attitude and good humour. This is where I want to be with these people. Some lessons learned so far... Next time I would try to use all the same size tyres for the whole building as we repeatedly were having to adjust, re do and compensate for gaps mainly at the corners and flag wall junctions which meant lot's of "squishy tyres" and not enough of an over lap between courses. We used ...