Concrete foundation-footing alternatives for northern ON new house construction

Any ideasÉ
Looking to build new in the Muskoka Huntsville area.  Looking to design and build with Rammed Earth, or straw bale and cob with lots of southern glazing.

Look up 3 little piggys construction? something like that. They do Straw Bale and Cob Muskoka to Ottawa and all other points.

If you're building something that will require a building inspection then you'll want concrete, unless you've got a foreward thinking building inspector.

Why not concrete? For all intents and purposes it is just man-made rock. I put reinforced concrete slabs under even my smallest sheds out on my farm, so that they have a solid base (even my kids 6'x8' "toy" shed has a reinforced concrete slab under it).

Hello Organdy,

My name is James Blackman and I am cofounder of Muskoka Sustainable Builders Inc. located in Huntsville, Ontario. We specialize in rammed earth construction and currently have a rammed earth project underway just outside of Huntsville that has been approved by the town Building Department. We would be more than happy to meet with you to share our experiences and discuss your project. Please check out our website www.muskokasustainablebuilders.ca for more about us and our contact information.

Thank you,

James Blackman

Fred Walter wrote:If you're building something that will require a building inspection then you'll want concrete, unless you've got a foreward thinking building inspector.

Why not concrete? For all intents and purposes it is just man-made rock. I put reinforced concrete slabs under even my smallest sheds out on my farm, so that they have a solid base (even my kids 6'x8' "toy" shed has a reinforced concrete slab under it).

Hey Fred, thanks for the note, Concrete is toxic, that is why i do not like it, because nature does not like it, its energy is dull, it also looks ugly, the great wall of china did not need concrete the way we make it and use it, but I agree with all the modern benefits for solid foundation and convenience etc... peace

James Blackman wrote:Hello Organdy,

My name is James Blackman and I am cofounder of Muskoka Sustainable Builders Inc. located in Huntsville, Ontario. We specialize in rammed earth construction and currently have a rammed earth project underway just outside of Huntsville that has been approved by the town Building Department. We would be more than happy to meet with you to share our experiences and discuss your project. Please check out our website www.muskokasustainablebuilders.ca for more about us and our contact information.

Thank you,

James Blackman

James,

Wow, great work nice to see it being approved, rather than going the freeman route, let me know if you have any internships or workshops in 2012, I would like to learn how to build this way. I have some experience with cob and regular construction, My sister is looking to build in the area once she gets some land (possibly in spring summer 2012) and I am recommending rammed earth, however, I could convince her even more if I had some experience hands on, a because I will most likely be building with her. anyways, thanks for the message. Organic-Andy

Hey Andy,

We don't have any plans to do any training next year but you are more than welcome to come by in the spring when we are ramming again to check it out.

Thanks,

James

Organdy Hatfield wrote:Concrete is toxic

Cured concrete is not toxic to the best of my knowledge. Do you have any references (URLs/etc) that show otherwise?

When you take into account the longevity of the structure, it is one of the least toxic building materials out there, that your local engineers will design in, and your local building department will agree to...

nature does not like it

Mother Nature says different things to you, than it does to me.

its energy is dull

"energy"? "dull"? These words, in the context of concrete, make no sense to me.

it also looks ugly

This is a personal preference, not an absolute. All my concrete slabs are plain gray slabs, which looks perfectly fine to me.

You can add colour to concrete, and you can put a shine on concrete, and you can embed all sorts of things into concrete. You can make concrete look like artwork if you desire. I have a lot of books on concrete, and some of the photos of what people have done, are quite beautiful.