Enviroman Hatfield

I have a facebook account just search Enviroman and you will find me. I am planning many workshops for next year, using straw and clay plastering for infill on playhouses for kids. I have 20 plus people already interested and that was through just one person, the more the merrier. If you cant come but are interested you can soon watch my videos of the process on my u tube channel.

http://www.youtube.com/enviroman101

Excellent, Thats just what I wanted. The picture above and the link, I checked it out, and it is on my list of projects to do. It might be a while as I am knee deep in clay dirt for my building experiments but I know I will build one for sure next year. In fact  I am looking around for the parts already.

Cheers guys, this link gets my thumbs up.

Enviroman

Hi great topic.

I would love to see some pics of designs to build a basic water fitler system. Also what sand should I buy, BPA free containers for sure, do you just pour the water in top and collect the clean at the bottom? Details and the more the better.

I am thinking about collecting rainwater and then filtering. I dont want chemicals. I dont mind the idea of UV light, How does it work with this parabolic dish. I liked the lifestraw idea. 20 bucks for 1000 litres. Not bad. Anyway when I build my green cottages I want to catch and clean my water so this link is very important please dont stop.

Anyone who is willing to travel to Montreal is willing to join a workshop in straw and clay building next spring.

I dont have the final answer yet but for bedrock I guess piers is best.

For normal conditions if I did ICFs I think insulation under the slab is a must, also extending out 2 feet around the perimeter with a graded slope. French drain and at least 6 inches of gravel under the foam. I would also run the foam under the footing but not sure if I need a wide footing.

I want to do an earthern floor and I know foam isnt green but the EPS seems better than the XPS foam. I need to find some companies that make them and send them my design. Other ideas wont pass code and dont insulate well, or you huge amounts of wood flooring which still needs insulation.

I did think that once the ICF has been filled with concrete that I should remove the foam from the inside and add it to the outside, it doesnt make sense to leave the inside insulated as the concrete part should be part of the envelope on the inside. I am talking about the radiant heat effect and using the thermal mass of the ICF. However code may not permit and also may prove to be akward to actually do.

Anyway  if anyone wants me to draw a new pic of my update then let me know, I need inspiring. Thanks for all the input so far.

From my research into the same thing, I can suggest looking for clay with pottery clubs in your area, garden centers may have earth with high clay content. I am in similar position but clay content is smaller than sand can be 15% to 50% clay so 85% sand to 50 %.

Make some test bricks first though, gathering materials is an adventure it seems. Good luck.

What about the concrete bond beam on top of the earthships. Then you can frame from that and do your straw bale. I would love to do earth bag or tire foundation but not code approved, maybe if that changes then for sure only issue I see is insulation. Straw is great but you have to keep the bales up 18 " off the floor so you would loose heat out the tire base wall unless you insulate it somehow?

Guess we should know if you are doing load bearing straw or infill? I just borrowed chris magwoods straw book, looks good.

Thanks a lot ilchianti for the great link to Branch river and the perimeter grade beam foundation. Wow okay so EPS way better XPS for the enviromental manufacturing issue. Those guys use 6 inch of form under the slab, WOW! I thought the info was great, I will start comparing with other ICF company's and then post my findings later.  I like the idea of horizontal insulation for simplicity and then the perimeter beam for less concrete. Not sure about the width 20 inch is very wide and I think I recall some being only 6 inch wide of concrete then maybe 12 inch total with insulation.

For the earth floor I have done some research and I really like it for owner builder aspect, no concrete, thermal mass, beauty, simplicity etc.  I wish I could go completely natural but its not realistic for building around here. Using any foam or concrete is a hard one to take for an enviromentalist but at the moment this FPSF with just a perimeter on insulation over a 12 inch gravel base sounds a serious contender. It also would keep my strawbale up, think 9" to 18 " is suggested so was think two 16 " one below grade and one above with extra insulation around the Toe up for the extra width of the bale.

I think your comment on water table would be picked up in a survey. What about about if its bedrock? How do you deal with foundations then. I think thats cool you are getting you license, you are an assest to this forum. Thanks for any links. Looking at a site in two days for practicing some ideas with straw and mud walls. Land is a friends who said go play! Doing a soil test first to see what I got. Will be posting more very soon.

Cheers mate

Hi there,

Thanks for the replies. Yeah I am carpenter by trade and I will be building with wood frame construction. So the straw will be infill. The peak district wow you are lucky I am originally from London been here 12 years or so now. Miss it now, lol.

The radon gas might make a good post on the forum, I will follow our code for that but my issue here is my foundation design and the ICF insulation stuff etc. Rubble trench I like but still have to insulate so any ideas on that would give me another option. Just need to insulate under the slab and tie it in etc. Just not sure about under the footings?

Thanks for the link ilchianti it was a good read, took a few bits such as the hazle in the bales rather than rebar which can cause moisture in the walls. Glad to hear they are in the UK too. I know cob is and lime plaster for the rain. I will try clay plaster with good overhangs.

Thanks ilchianti and Dale for your replies already. Yeah the four foot skirt is normal for these foundations and the slope too but most drawings show them horizontal yet in practice its not. Was trying to be as accurate as poss. lol. I redrew my foundation adding in footings and drainage, also a toe up for the bale width difference, can also chase wires through it, one option as I want bales off the floor.

Dale that permafrost thing, got me upset all the trapped methane is coming out, its scary stuff, those poor people with their buildings up their, I would be moving asap. I like the rubble trench but worried about code. But say I could, how would you insulate it, similar to the ICF??

My other question now is do I insulate under the footings too? I  or above the toe up and I guess I should start talking to some ICF companies, any suggestions?

Radon gas, I remember when I took my trade at college in carpentry construction something about having to include a pipe for the radon gas to vent think it ran from the ground all the way out of the roof. Yeah it can kill too if you don't. For the water table issue, I plan on catching the rainwater to harvest and will have 4 ft over hangs, a clay soil, gravel, french drain and maybe the insulation will help as you say for run off, another benefit, cool!