G Moffatt

http://access.tarrantcounty.com/en/administration/staff/assistant-county-administrator-governmental-affairs/rules-regarding-residential-constructionin-unincorporated-areas-.html
once upon a time the earthship blog maintained a list of 'friendly' counties, I do not think Tarrant was among them. The rules seem not to be enforced against owner built structures but contractors are subject to the International Building Code

I have thought about this quite a lot. I also tried building something with earth bags, it is labor intensive and I was unsatisfied with the result I have decided that if I build a house I will use sceb's, look at http://www.gracomaq.net/index_archivos/manualhydraulic.htm .
Price seems to be sort of variable but in building a house, using sceb will save you thousands and thousands of hours and give you as good a natural building as you can build. If I had 2 cents to rub together I would be inclined to buy the machine and loan it to you in exchange for help building my place. It also seems that building a natural house by any method in a reasonable time is going to take more than a crew of two. If I have learned anything from permaculture it is that every project must begin with careful observation so when you do buy property, plan on camping for at least a year to let your building plans develop in relation to your situation. If your family is not supportive there will be grief so talk a lot about your dreams and ideals, make sure every family member is at least unopposed.

when I try to download the browsers I have tried just die. wget gives me an error:server response code 500. This may be my isp. I will look for an opportunity to use another.

what is this discussion about? Profit is better than wages, let no tell you otherwise. When tomatoes and even peppers sell for $1 each, growing them is like growing money. Every job is a terrible job if it is not what you want to be doing

So, what did you decide to do? I have spent my career as a professional planner and I can see nothing here but a pre-purchased pile of building materials. Why spend time and money building something you will hate? If it was mine I would build a tire wall on the north side and kind of scoot the roof over onto it, the advantage of a south facing slope is about solar warming but you can build the greenhouse below grade if you make it wide enough. Or maybe put in a thermal mass stove.  

I was really looking forward to the Rocket Ovens DVD but I have tried many times to download it and I just cannot. May I somehow get an actual CD.

For economy, durability, and comfort I do not think anything can beat adobe, in any climate. A few decades ago in Corpus Christi, where I grew up, someone tore down a considerable mansion that was made of site made bricks. I think the bricks were burned in piles as those things used to be done, which results in bricks of varying properties that get sorted for particular use. There was no water system when the house was built and the builder, being smarter that some, brought his 'water' to the hill top on the hoof. The bricks and of course the mortar, having been made with goat milk were, after 100 years extremely hard, requiring dynamite to remove. That house had been thru several Gulf coast hurricanes and as far as I know never suffered wall damage. Stabilized adobe and compressed earth blocks are also relatively water resistant. Even plain adobe can be used if the wall has a waterproof 1st course and a sufficient overhang. Do not, in the case of using regular adobe, install a sprinkler system that hits it every other day. You can also install waterproof plaster if you want that appearance. I personally would never consider a straw bale house in a climate that did not stay frozen for several months a year, in fact, having thought about it for decades, would go for the compressed earth blocks. I tried the earth bags for a small structure and my conclusion was that the labor was way too much for the results.

Life is short, Think about it this way, if you did go the 30yr mortgage, the payments for a homestead in Carolonas might be $1600 a month or more. If you get an investment plan and sink that much money, in 15 years you will likely have $300,000 plus to put down on your dream.

Please, if you want to do a natural building method, attend a workshop and build a house. But transitioning one style into another will be a colossal waste of money. I have 40 years of construction experience but I can give you the advice of the best carpenter I know "put new wine in new bottles".

lior dahan wrote:Hi guys,

"I am having some struggles recently, to attend college or not. I am studying but just taking classes I want to take, permaculture, botany, soil science,  and a couple landscape designing, but currently no intention of attaining a degree. Besides the permaculture certificate. If I were to get a degree it would most likely be in the environmental studies department. "

The problem with college is the same as the 'ship of state", there is no compass in the wheel house: you must bring your own. Before you can make a good decision you must get some perspective. Work or internship is a good place to start. Every university class is a tool of some kind but from inside you cannot tell which ones are useful or valuable to you, and neither can anyone "inside". You can get insight from elders, leaders and employers on the 'outside' but there is nothing like working on a project to tell you what tools you actually need.