natural materials (313)

Model of Tiny Home

April 1, 2016 at 2:46 am

We’ll be selling our books at The Maker Faire in San Mateo, Calif., in May, and we decided to build a model tiny home for display. Our friend Tom agreed to make the model. It turned out that he got into it and spent over a month (not full time) on the project. He said he could have built the full size building in the same amount of time. It’s put together with glue. Window shutters and doors open on hinges.

The full size building is 10′ x 16′, scale here is 1 inch = 1 foot, so this is 10″ wide, 16″ long.  Single wall construction (no studs).

Materials for model:

Siding: cedar; bats: oak

Shakes: cedar

Ridge beams: redwood

Shutters: cedar

Door: walnut

Door and window trim: oak

It’s a little beauty.

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Photos of French Carpenters’ West Coast Trip

January 9, 2016 at 11:30 am

We are running photos of our French carpenter friends Menthe and Yogan documenting the trip they took this summer along the Northern Pacific Coast, exchanging their carpentry skills for room and board.

This is a tiny home they built in 10 days on an old Dodge flatbed truck in Humboldt County, California.

We are posting one of their projects each day for a week here: https://www.theshelterblog.com/

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Do-It-Yourself Termite Treatment

January 2, 2016 at 7:44 pm

We’ve had (drywood) termite problems on and off for years. Since there’s no way I’m going to have the house tented and permeated with Vikane gas,* I would periodically get the bug guys to do the microwave treatment. It cost $2,000 initially, then about $500 per year for future treatment when needed.(I believe orange oil is also used these days for people leery of insecticides.)

A few years ago, I decided to try Greenbug spray, which is (said to be) made of cedar and natural ingredients. I’ve been spraying this stuff on the wood where I see termite frass (pellets) and to my amazement, there are no more pellets. I say “amazing” because this is topical treatment and it doesn’t seem it would get into the wood where termites live. (All of our termites are in ceilings.)

The stuff smells great, like cedar oil, and I am just now buying a 2nd gallon (about $60). I pour it into squeeze/pump bottles (like Windex bottles) and spray until it drips a little (it’s water-soluble). Haven’t had the bug guys out for many years.

Greenbug is one of the few products in the world not sold by Amazon.

https://shop.greenbugallnatural.com/Greenbug-Ready-to-Use-one-gallon-GRTU128.htm

*First, Vikane is made by Dow — red alert. And, if it can penetrate into the wood and kill termites, I am suspicious of residual effect.

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Rare, old photos of indigenous Sami people showcase their ancient and traditional way of life

December 16, 2015 at 11:30 am

Above: Sami people in the late 1800s Sweden/Norway..…
“The Sami people (also Sámi or Saami), traditionally known in English as Lapps or Laplanders, are an indigenous Finno-Ugric people inhabiting the Arctic area of Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway.…

Their best-known means of livelihood is semi-nomadic reindeer herding. Currently about 10% of the Sami are connected to reindeer herding, providing them with meat, fur, and transportation. 2,800 Sami people are actively involved in herding on a full-time basis. For traditional, environmental, cultural, and political reasons, reindeer herding is legally reserved only for Sami people in certain regions of the Nordic countries.…”

https://www.whitewolfpack.com/2015/12/rare-old-photos-of-indigenous-sami.html

From Rick Gordon

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SunRay Kelley’s New Treehouse

December 14, 2015 at 7:32 pm

Hi Lloyd and friends:

Just thought you might like to see some photos of SunRay’s latest creation — a funky little treehouse nestled in ponderosa pine trees, built during the recent 20th anniversary Natural Building Colloquium in Kingston, New Mexico. I have a bunch of images on my website here: https://www.theyearofmud.com/blog/

It’s a beautiful structure, particularly the roof. Hope you enjoy!

– ziggy

p.s. By the way, I’m greatly looking forward to the next book!

Brian ‘Ziggy’ Liloia

Natural Building Workshops & more

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The Steen Family’s Latest Straw Bale Building Project

November 17, 2015 at 11:30 am

Bill and Athena Steen, the strawbale/earthen plaster maestro/maestra team from Arizona are helping build this home, which will be featured in our new book, Small Homes.

Bill writes: “Interior adobe wall in a clay plastered straw bale house we are helping our boys build in Sonoita, AZ.”

(Bill shoots pretty much all his photos with an iPhone, has been doing it for a few years. I’ve finally come around to doing this. Both of us still use the big cameras (him a Nikon, me an Olympus OM-D) for serious shoots, but the iPhone for every day shots. The new iPhone 6S has a super new camera.)

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