Aaron Yarbrough

Josh Hoffman wrote:Those of you who have incorporated loft spaces and/vaulted ceiling into you building, do you regret the decision to do so? The added space is a pretty big positive.

The added space is nice. Construction is not as fun because working at height is slower. We built with cob and light clay straw so there were also heavy materials to move up.  

Josh Hoffman wrote:I have done a lot of roof sheathing or ceiling repair on vaulted ceilings. Moisture issues with them seem common.  

We haven't had an issue.

Josh Hoffman wrote:I have no firsthand experience with a loft but I have heard they make temperature regulation difficult if not exacerbating.

Yes, last year I installed a new mini split unit with one head in the loft. That handles cooling in the loft. For heating our wood stove downstairs heats the loft well enough  

Josh Hoffman wrote:The reason I am asking is that I am trying to determine if it makes more sense to increase the foot print of the house or incorporate a loft. Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences.

I don't regret building a house with a loft but that being said my next house build will be single level. Primarily that's because I don't feel confident that I'll be able to climb the alternating tread stair to our loft bedroom when I'm 80.  

Christina Van wrote:Hello! Not sure if you’ll see this as I am replying a year late to this forum. I saw your video on YouTube and love the idea! How has it worked out for you so far? I would like to build something like this however with a shorter lid. Have you found this height to be okay? How about rain? Do you find it gets quite swampy during heavy rainstorms?

Welcome to Permies! I saw your post a couple of days and meant to get some pictures of the current state of the aviary but the weather hasn't been that great lately. I'll get some soon.

The height seems to be pretty good. I haven't had any fatalities or observed any head injuries.

It drains really well. I also put down a layer of wood chips so the ground seems to stay pretty dry. The perimeter overhang is really important for providing shelter during inclement weather.

I've given up on growing grass in the paddocks. Instead I've taken to planting larger shrubs in the cells that quail won't trample. I wonder if I already had grass established it would fare better.

I'm not enamored with the A-Frame structure. The big doors are great for accessing an unoccupied paddock but opening a cell with quail in it is asking for an escape. Fortunately, the quail are easily lured into surrounding paddocks if I need to collect eggs or something. I have plans to rebuild the aviary into something with a more rectangular shape but its not the highest priority on my project list.

I'll post updates here and on my website.

   
 

Welcome Wade! Yes, different, bot-free and loving it.

Danbi Bigras wrote:If a hit an hempcrete ( without plaster ) wall with my hand, it's very hard and nothing happen, but " i think " that if i do that on LSC wall , my hand will go " in the wall ", Am i right ??

No, if well packed, once light clay straw dries it is very solid.

Danbi Bigras wrote:
It would be interesting to have a comment from somebody who used both,  but R value seems to be difficult to establish. Not just a matter of R but also the heating system, the design of the house, etc..

Yes, there are a lot of factors and I don't think you can make a direct comparison between light clay straw or hempcrete  and conventional insulation but of the former have substantially more mass then conventional insulation which I'm sure has an effect but isn't part of the R-value measurement.

Danbi Bigras wrote:
By the way, what do you think of 1500 ft2 of outside wall alone.....?   : )  I'm not expecting to do that in one season if we consider how many weeks it takes to dry, so it's ready before winter.
Mmmmm you know what, maybe it's better if you don't tell me !!  Hahaha

I think you know the answer to this one. I recommend wearing gloves and getting a few audio books.

Hey Danbi,

Welcome to Permies! Yes, it will work although I've heard light clay straw has a lower R-value (1.5) then hempcrete (2.0) although I've also heard that light clay straw has an R-value between 1-5 & 2.0. I have a timber frame cabin infilled with light clay straw built in a similar fashion.

Hey Pia,

Welcome to Permies! If the wood panel finish is smooth plaster won't adhere well to it. You could do a lath and plaster finish by fastening the laths directly over the wood panels. Just make sure you anchor the laths to studs. The downside is your walls will end up about an inch thicker. If you removed the wood panels I've heard you can apply sand and glue mixture to sheetrock to provide a mechanical key for plaster but never tried it myself.  

I haven't used toilet paper but I have used shredded paper for the fiber in my natural plasters. For the base coat I'll use finely chopped straw and then for the finish coat I'll use shredded paper rom sometimes no fiber at all if its a really thin skim coat. I'm a big fan of using lime as a binder. It doesn't seem to dust off as much as clay based plasters and is harder wearing. To tint the lime plaster I'll used iron oxide powder but you can probably use a mix of lime and the clay from your site.

Straw bale is probably the fastest and best suited for your (very cold) climate. Rammed earth can be fast too but provides very little insulation. Hempcrete and light clay straw are slower than straw bale because the walls have to be packed and allowed to dry out before plastering. Cob and earthbag are probably the slowest.

If you've already built a conventional house straw bale, hempcrete and light clay straw are fairly easy transitions.

Regarding the sandy soil, it probably won't be an issue unless the ground is all sand to below frost depth.
 

 

Welcome to Permies Dave!

tracy sane wrote:what sort of protective material should be placed between lime mortar and wood surfaces? I was considering coating wood edges that would otherwise touch lime mortar with roof pitch that wouldn't show.  any advice appreciated.

None. Lime mortar will protect the wood since it is vapor permeable so it won't trap moisture that would cause the wood to rot. Lime is also alkaline which gives makes it inherently mold and mildew resistant.