Rose Weinberg

Erik Krieg wrote:stone and log homes have been built in the Appalachians for centuries and there are still some standing.

keeping rain off of the structure is the most important thing i think, even though you don't traditionally see large overhangs on historical appalacian cabins it seems like there would be more left standing if they had used them.

noah bradley on youtube talks a lot about trad appalacian log cabins and gives out a fair amount of into gratis.

i worry about straw bale in any area that is high moisture/rain or humidity.  maybe unwarranted and I really dont know much about that type of constrution but i have seen how gross straw gets when its wet even for short periods of time.

I'll check out Noah Bradley! And yes, I share similar concerns about straw in our area and moisture issues. Im leaning more towards log/cord structures mixed with natural stone or clay bricks ill make. I'll end up finding out more of the strawbale techniques-im not familiar enough yet either, but I like the idea of building with it for an outdoor doghouse to test it out.
My mom grew up part of her life on a farm and every winter in the Appalachians northern into Pennsylvania, they would stack straw bales into basically an igloo for the two farm dogs and it was super warm & they loved it. Easy clean, they would just compost it every Spring. I'll just have to make sure I get straw from an organic farm.

Anne Miller wrote:Rose, welcome to the forum!

You might enjoy this book and the videos:

https://permies.com/wiki/87449/Mudgirls-Manifesto-Handbuilt-Homes-Handcrafted

This workshop is happening right in your neighborhood:

https://permies.com/t/188257/Uncle-Mud-Party-Rocket-Pizza

Something you also might want to research is having a Rocket Mass Heater to heat your home and Uncle Mud can help you with that:

https://permies.com/t/191801/Building-Ultimate-Rocket-Mass-Heater

https://www.unclemud.com
https://www.youtube.com/unclemud
https://permies.com/u/164246/Chris-McClellan

Thank you so much!! Definitely checking out the workshop at the end of the month and with share the info with classmates that would be interested! Thank you for the other links as well!! Beautiful!

L. Johnson wrote:I don't know how similar his climate is, but I believe Mr. Chickadee, the youtuber is from Southern Virginia or Northern North Carolina area.

He does a lot of natural building on his channel. I was just referring to one video last night thinking about how to do some interior paneling.

This is the one I watched I believe, there are many others, mostly about timber framing:  

I wish I could give you more resources, but I do wish you luck. It's a beautiful area you're talking about building in.

Yes! Mr Chickadee!! Love his videos, and thanks haven't watched this one yet and for some reason I didn't realize how close he is to my area! His hand work of non electric tools is beyond fascinating.

Looking for suggestions on where I could learn to build a natural structure durable for a temperate rainforest. I'm currently taking construction 1&2, carpentry and millworking, I love it, but its also shown me how wasteful and toxic our stick built homes are and quite frankly , I'm disgusted,  greatly. I can't consciously build my own home with any of the materials we are using in class. Even my professors are alarmed at new building codes saying people have to use certain brands of materials and restrictions on building from resources on your own land.
I'm shying away from rammed earth simply because of the cement that is still added as part of the mixture, unless im unaware of ways without it?
I'm leaning towards a mix of cob/strawbale or cord wood... and looking into the more recent hempcrete. I've done a bit of ceramics and was even thinking of making my own ceramic blocks...
I'm just beginning my research, so I'm hoping people could share some educational resources...in person preferably, hopefully in North Carolina, but can travel to another area with similar climate like Washington state to learn. I'm 7a climate zoned, in the mountains here the average frost line is 18 inches.
I'm on the outskirts of Asheville NC and plan on buying land within 2 years, hopefully sooner, and contemplating building a walipini greenhouse for winter, small home and  an art studio that will most likely be bigger than my living space where I can hold workshops for children- another reason I want to use safe materials only.

Any links to your favorite, videos, articles, books, contact info to anyone who has already built in a humid rainy environment that is comfortable letting me see their creation...or workshops would be greatly appreciated.
Really glad I found this site, I've had quite a few rabbit hole nights reading info here.