Paul Bunyane

Mark Brunnr wrote:This could be a lot of fun to build say an animal structure where you want to use nothing but natural materials, combine it with some of the skills used by Primitive Technology like his tile roof:

thanks! I have not seen that vid yet. Amazing Kang bed stove - and the tile roof - looks like a real traditional Chinese hermitage hut! I did just research the "Tabin" phenomenon. Tabin as in Tent-cabin or Tent/cabin.
https://elixirfield.blogspot.com/2020/01/i-built-tabin-prospectors-tent-cabin-is.html
You have to scroll way down to see the images.

Anyway I wanted to make sure the structure could be considered a "tent" and so the "Tabin" confirms that I was correct. I did not realize the Tent-cabin is a legitimate thing and seems to be making a return.
Only yes the Bronze Age design has the insulation needed for the northern cold climate - at least for a few more years until abrupt global warming really kicks in. http://arctic-news.blogspot.com says that el nino next year should kick off the East Siberian Arctic Shelf methane bomb and then the planet will really double in warming - fast.

I added subtitle commentary to each image - just click on English subtitles to read the commentary. And watch in 360 - thanks




This primitive hut is based on a 3,400 year old building recently unearthed and analyzed via archaeology - so that is 1400 BCE approximately. So it turns out this ancient design has better insulation than any modern building construction until recent high efficiency standards from the mid-1990s.

I harvested the willow on my land - using a hand saw and lopper. I harvested the hay on my land, using a scythe and bucket (garbage bin). I used a cordless drill for framing and rock wool for further insulation on the roof and end walls. The side walls are 12 feet long with 6 to 8 inches of clay slip straw packed insulation between the two wattle walls. So a total of four wattle walls, as the video details. Then on the exterior walls I used a lime cement masonry horse manure mix for water proofing on top of the horse manure-clay cob daub mix on the willow wattle in the interior and exterior.

The door and wood stove were added later - no measurements at all were made for this building except for the initial 10 x 12 feet exterior area wall limitation (no permit is needed for a structure that size). Since there is no floor and the wattle wall is pliable along with the pliable canvas roof (a total of three tarps for the roof), this is more like a Tent-Hut or Tent-cabin than a permanent structure. So as a tent-hut I can use it for seasonal camping (up to 7 months a year on the land with no permits needed). Since it is less than 150 square feet then no conditional use permit is needed.

The chimney has rock wool insulation between a 6 inch and 8 inch duct pipe along with a spark arrest screen and a rain cap. The wood stove is a two dog with a baffle as further spark arrest. I use no damper but instead heat up 4 gallons of water and have bricks around the stove and hut - to create radiant heat after a short hot fire. Since the walls are so thick with insulation then they also store up and radiate heat back.

I have a composting toilet and use the wood ash as well - so heated toilet during winter camping - along with a tub for bathing and the stove for cooking. I have a single bed frame metal for sleeping and meditation.

You can see my blog posts that I filmed for this video - for further details: http://elixirfield.blogspot.com and just search "hut"

Feel free to give critical feedback as I am not practically oriented. haha. I did test this out in the winter - I have images for that also. Just scroll way down on my blog.
https://elixirfield.blogspot.com/2019/12/hermit-hut-winter-wonderland-photos.html

I registered just to reply to your thread and I also subscribed to your channel. I've been lurking on Permies for a year or so. I just finished a similar design using clay-slip straw for 6 to 8 inch walls between a double wattle willow branch framing (if that is even the correct word!). I found an archaeology article from a site uncovered recently from 3000 BCE. Turns out the wattle/daub designs had been recreated wrong - it's supposed to be a double wall. I'm just saying that using pallets should save you tons of time since it was a very slow laborious process to use a lopper to cut the willow branches.

On the plus side I just discovered that since willow and hay are "pliable" and I use tarps from my rooF (plus rock wool) - so technically I built a tent-hut or tent-cabin. By code I can live in a tent structure for 7 months out of the year (without needing any permit regulation) as long as it's smaller than 150 square feet. I made sure to build it 120 square feet as that is the maximum size for structure not needing any permit. So there is even no floor. I used willow trees for posts via an auger digger going down about 3 feet, for the wall posts.

I live in the north where it is cold. I put in a small wood stove that is built locally and then I got a 4 gallon pot to heat up water and I surrounded the stove with bricks. So that way I can do a quick small fire like a masonry stove. My duct pipe is only 30 degrees ofF the collar (with a 5 to 6 inch reducer). So by the time the duct pipe goes into my cob wall (of perlite and cob) - it is cool enough to touch. Then I insulated the chimney outside with rockwool around a 6 inch diameter and then an 8 inch duct pipe to close it in.

So I used a lime - hydrated lime plus S-mortar (which is 6 parts sand to 1 part portland cement and 1 part lime) as my waterproofing on my exterior walls. I have three tarps as silicon-polyester or sil-poly that are 12 by 16. So the third one I switched the horizontal around so that I get a good foot plus eaves for water run off away from the structure.

Have fun with your build - I just made a lime-cob floor. I got free horse manure that I hauled up to make the cob mixed with my local clay.

So this was my first gable roof structure build - and I used NO measurements (except for the initial 10 x 12 rectilinear floor plan). So I also used FREE craig's list for scrap wood to "frame" a door - also wood from Habitat for Humanity ReStore. I got some free couch cushions to fill in some "corners" of the walls - between the wattle. I got the bricks also for free - so about 125 bricks for thermal mass. I will probably add more as I can access some free concrete outdoor landscaping bricks.

So yeah my roof is R-30 (two layers of rock wool that are crossed against any thermal bridging) plus local willow trees for the rafters and wall posts and ridge post (supported by an A-frame on the ends). So I put in a support post that is free standing and I can remove when I use the place. But we get a lot of snow - so it will be interesting to see if it survives. haha.

I have space for a composting toilet and a cot and a sheep stock tank as a bathtub plus a chair - and the wood stove. So it covers all the essential "facilities" for IRS code for a house. haha. Of course technically I would be homeless if I lived there as I would also need to camp in nearby national or state forests for free for two weeks at a time - to stretch out that 7 month limit for camping on my land into an entire year.

So that is how it panned out for me. Good luck with your build. I used a clay slip to cover the interior wattle walls - just horse manure and clay-water (sludge) and I just threw it onto the walls to get into the cracks between the willow branches.

I actually used CLIPS for the bottom tarp as the roof - so I have no holes in the tarp - and then the insulation goes on top of that first tarp and then cross rafters (what's the term?) - and then insulation going horizontal - and then a 2nd tarp and then a THIRD tarp with the wider eaves - more taut - to stop any water from collecting.

I wanted the structure to breathe and I also wanted direct contact with the EArth for the "yin qi" Earthing energy for meditation. It's a meditation hermit tent-hut.

I have photos at http://elixirfield.blogspot.com thanks
Since I didn't save my password - this is my first and final post here on the forum.