Good afternoon... pardon the long post, but I'm in a pretty desperate situation and needing advice. I inherited 20 acres in Alabama 4 years ago. It was all thick woods with a giant pole barn. The barn has a lean to that spans the length of the barn (70 feet) and is 30 feet wide. I framed in a section (40x12) to create an "apartment" for myself and my then 4 yr old son. I had never done anything like it, so needless to say, 6 months later I tore everything but the frame and concrete pad I poured down and started over. I found someone selling "freezer panels" for super cheap and bought all he had. I used these for the walls and ceiling. Vast improvement, as before I hadn't even considered insulation (I know, dumb... but at that point had NEVER even used a power tool). The panels are on 3 sides with a wood wall (various boards screwed into framing) with the pink board insulation behind it making up the 4th wall. This got us through two years fairly comfortably. However, without two electric heaters running constantly, it gets cold. Luckily my parents aren't so far away and we go there when we need to. However, in running the outlets, switches, etc. I have cut holes in these panels so that contributes to the decreasing insulation factor. Fast forward to today. My son and I have both been getting sick... cough, sneezing, watery eyes for the past few months. When we aren't home, it improves. Today while cleaning his loft, I found white piles that look similar to the insulation in the freezer panels. This was after thoroughly dusting and cleaning every surface of this house with vinegar and essential oils just a few days ago. I saw the piles last time I cleaned, but my son does a lot of arts and crafts and various things up there so I assumed it was from him. This time I know it isn't and it's accumulated into a decent sized pile in less than a week. The tin siding had to come down and currently have greenhouse plastic as siding as of last week.
I think the freezer or cooler panels are making us sick. I want to tear down those walls and put cob (which was the entire reason I wanted property to begin with) in the existing framework. I'm extremely limited on funds. Like nearly zero dollars for this. But... I have unlimited soil that is about 70/30 on a clay test. It holds beautifully on a worm test. I have unlimited trees, pallets, pine straw and some hay straw. The roof is tin, but was shot full of holes about 15 years ago by what appears to be a .22. Above our apartment, there are a few, and I've put black thick plastic between the freezer panels and the trusses. It's September. I have about months if I'm lucky to get better walls. Any suggestions on how I could #1-do this with cob #2- insulate for winter (rarely gets below 15 degrees Fahrenheit, but that's still cold) and finally #3- do it with materials on hand? If I built the cob over the existing frame, could I finish the interior and exterior walls with a wash and it be a single wall? Would I need two walls with straw or perhaps old clothes or something in the space between them? I wouldn't be able to do the ceiling and walls in that time, but the walls would be the priority since I know a lot of our heat escapes during the winter as well.
I know it's a long shot, but I'm hoping for a miracle of sorts. Any advice is welcome.
