Building A Home

Adobe is one of the oldest materials man has used to build homes. Made from straw, clay, sand, and water, almost anyone can source these materials and build a home.

Building these types of structures are very easy and beautiful. This design utilizes simple materials such as 1″ x 2″ boards, 2″ x 4″ boards as spacers, and simple jigs.

Arguably the oldest of building materials, even the Great Wall of China was built with it. Basically this is the same as adobe, but instead of bricks, you build the walls with football sized loafs called cob.

This concept was created by Michael Reynolds to utilize “trash” to build homes. His vision was a ship on earth that was fully self-contained. These homes use old tires to build structural walls and concrete with old bottles to form interior walls. These are beautiful, but a lot of work.

Of all the methods I’ve explored, rammed earth is easily one of my favorites. The concept is easy, the execution is very hard. Simply mix 8-10% portland cement with soil (mostly sand) and pound (ram) the dirt into frames. The results resemble sand stone and absolutely beautiful. These walls will last 100’s of years!

Your home is going to need a roof. One method for building that roof is called a “Green Roof”. By layering materials and using soil and plants, these roofs provide a barrier to keep your home cool. If done right, these roofs can last decades. Many of our ancestors would of used this method.

If you combine cob and rammed earth with bags, you’d get superadobe or earthbags. The concept is simple. Basically pack damp dirt into bags, typically with up to 10% portland cement. Pack it in place with a tamper and keep moving on to the next bag. Eventually, you’ll have solid, loadbearing walls. Sound interesting?

One of the quickest ways to build a house is the use of strawbales. This concept embraces insulation as opposed to the thermal mass concepts used by most of the other building methods. This makes it a good choice for cold climates. Explore how something as simple as straw can build you a home!

If you’re comfortable with a more bare bones way of living, a tent, tipi, or yurt might be more your speed. Considerably faster to erect and make move-in ready than almost any other method of living. Some yurts have interiors that resemble a real house. You’ll need to maintain this much more than some other building methods, but the cost is also a fraction of those designs. If you plan to only use them for summer homes, these might be a perfect fit for you!

A natural building is designed and built using mostly natural building supplies. This can range from adobe and cob, or even log homes. If the materials used to build a home weren’t made in a factory, it’s likely you’re building with some form of natural product.