Chris McClellan

Hey all,
I am excited about this project too. I am pretty short on time right now so i will have to focus most on the design ideas thatmost excite the residents of the Lab who will be using it and the PTJ attendees who will be building it. I will also try to give your lovely posts a little love. There is so much greaf stuff to comment on already.

As I understand it the Lab residents want to use the hot tub socially so they are pushing for a bigger tub even though it will likely not be treated with chemicals so it will need to be drained and filled frequently and it will take a lot longer to heat up than a small two person tub would take.

Who here is planning to join me for the build in July?

Thomas Rubino’s 5 Minute Riser made from the new less toxic Morgan Superwool he carries on his website
https://dragontechrmh.com/morgan-superwool-plus-non-ceramic-fiber-blanket/

Mud: The metal exoskeleton of the 5 minute riser can be hardware cloth or steel remesh (generally used to reinforce concrete) or my favorite is to use a piece of the next larger stovepipe. (Caution, hardware cloth is galvanized so it could offgas zinc at you). Life span has been about 3 years with the hardware cloth before needing a rebuild, longer with the stovepipe surround.

Watch your local classified ads (Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, Thrifty Nickle) for "used chimney brick". Most modern brick is either decorative veneer brick (with holes in it for less weight) or some sort of patio paver, either of which has portland cement in it. Older clay chimney brick is thermally strong but is solid (heavy) and doesn't hold up well to being part of a patio so is often given away super cheap or free or sent away as fill. Do be aware that any repairs to brickwork in the last hundred years was probably done (improperly) with portland cement mortar, which is stronger than the brick itself so is hard to clean off. Older lime mortar will scrape off easily. Test a few before you take them home and find yourself with a big pile you can't do anything with.

Thomas Rubino's perlite and clay riser (after 2 years). He has since replaced it with a 5 Minute Riser made from the new less toxic Morgan Superwool he carries on his website https://dragontechrmh.com/morgan-superwool-plus-non-ceramic-fiber-blanket/

Thomas Rubino's perlite and clay riser (new)

Angela tell us more about your beautiful rocket heater please.
--Uncle Mud

It depends very much on local availability of materials, how much prep and transport those materials need, quality of finish work expected, involvement of local volunteer crew, how weathertight it needs to be, local zoning and code and contractor licensing requirements. A "respite space" can be $30k or $200k or it can be a few thousand dollars in sculptural fun refining an existing space and getting you and your friends started on your own creative process that involves dumpster diving and digging your own clay and ongoing weekend mud parties and ends with a bunch of deeper relationships and a very special space that would have ben insanely expensive to contract out and would not have the same soul. Drop me an email if you want to talk about it more. info@unclemud.com

Tell us more about your dream. Here is some of the Mud Family's work. More at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8DVoUPsojmm7rpa-6wO1aw/

We're looking forward to building with  these guys this summer. Meanwhile we got a private tour of the secret laboratory where they are building an AI drone to be my cob assistant to help me take over the world MWAHAAAHAAA