Paityn Masters

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since May 19, 2023
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Biography
My best friend and I moved to an off grid ranch in New Mexico in the middle of nowhere in 2018. We had no idea what off grid meant. We were two women, both psychotherapists, both city people, and neither of had any survival or even basic practical skills.  We are still alive. We’ve learned a lot. We survived losing everything in a fire. But we still made it. I build an earthbag dome. That was hard. But it’s almost done! We  humans can do anything!
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Recent posts by Paityn Masters

What do you think about using polyurethane pour foam that they use for boat flotation for a temp roof? I thought it would be warmer than the tarp I’m using until I finish the dome. Any suggestions? I’m pretty cold. lol.
1 year ago
I did a basement. I dug it out by hand. Boy was that hard. Rent an excavator. It would’ve been so worth it. I’m in Jemez Springs New Mexico in the mountains. We have really hard clay soil.  I used bags to shore up the basement walls. I put posts 6 posts in the ground and poured concrete. Then I dug a trench around the hole and put in the posts for the door. I put a tarp down with some lava rocks in the trench. Then I put a cement mixture in the first three rows of bags. Then I built it up around. Then I put in the second story floor that’s a loft. I just have to finish the roof.
1 year ago
Don’t do it! It sucks. I spent so much time and money and it is really difficult and the aircrete just crumbled off I spent  all that time, product, and money and it was wasted. The foam generator is really expensive and making your own is difficult. I saw someone who made one on YouTube with a Harbor Freight paint sprayer. I replicated it, but it didn’t work very well. I made my own with a battery powered water pump that pumped foam water into a two way valve. On the other side of the valve, I had air from the compressor. Those both shot out into a hose that was connected to PVC pipe contraption that was used as a mixing chamber.  I put steel wool in mixing chamber and then when I pressed the air… the foam would come out. It worked really well. Except the aircrete didnt like to stay on the bags. It just crumbled off. It is very brittle. I even tried to mix in some fiberglass resin… it was better but still not good.  I don’t know what I did wrong but I spent the entire summer trying to figure it out and I never did. Oh and you need a high powered compressor. I got one from harbor freight but it wasn’t cheap. So… a maybe you will have better luck if you try.
1 year ago