Some Books

[Aloysius]

I swear I'm not being a hippy nor a tree-hugger, but the following books are REALLY intriguing me. Though it seems to be prevelent among modernist trippy hipster tree loving sunofaguns, I kind of see it as an anti-modernism ploy to reach back towards the freedom of the days of yore when people could build their own houses.

[url="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0964425890/002-4812108-9071255?v=glance&n=283155&v=glance"]The Humanure Handbook[/url]
[url="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1890132349/002-4812108-9071255?v=glance&n=283155&%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance"]The Hand Sculpted House[/url]
[url="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0965908208/ref=bxgy_cc_text_b/002-4812108-9071255?%5Fencoding=UTF8"]The Cob Builders Handbook[/url]
[url="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0471249513/002-4812108-9071255?v=glance&n=283155&%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance"]Alternative Construction[/url]
[url="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0967984602/002-4812108-9071255?v=glance&n=283155&%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance"]Build Your Own Earth Oven[/url]
[url="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/090732570X/002-4812108-9071255?v=glance&n=283155&%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance"]Build a Wood-Fired Oven for Bread and Pizza[/url]
[url="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0911469257/002-4812108-9071255?v=glance&n=283155&%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance"]The Forgotten Art of Building and Using a Brick Bake Oven[/url]
[url="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0865714495/002-4812108-9071255?v=glance&n=283155&%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance"]The Natural Plaster[/url]
[url="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1890132640/ref=bxgy_cc_text_b/002-4812108-9071255?%5Fencoding=UTF8"]Serious Straw Bale[/url]
[url="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0930031717/002-4812108-9071255?v=glance&n=283155&%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance"]The Straw Bale House[/url]

[Aloysius]

[url="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0930031989/002-4812108-9071255?v=glance&n=283155&v=glance"] :drool: Mortgage Free [/url]

[Dreamweaver]

Cob houses are pretty sweet, I love the organic/natural look to them. I saw a TV show about the dirtiest jobs that had a segment on cob house building.

Have you ever looked into tree houses? There are some awesome ones I saw online that transcend the realm of "kids playhouse in the backyard" kind of treehouse. Some people live in them 24/7. I've even heard of methods of building them that clamp onto main branches, to avoid injuring the tree with screws and nails. Someday I want a treehouse....at least for my (future) children.

Just imagine, a small cob cottage/tree house with a large library for reading, praying, and relaxation!

[morostheos]

Tree huggers don't have everything wrong, alternative ways of building houses are definitely awesome!

You should look into permaculture as well.

[photosynthesis]

I was on a road trip with my family, and we were driving around New Mexico... there are a lot of hippy homes out there... houses built underground, houses made out of dirt, houses made out of Pepsi cans and rubber tires... There are geodesic domes, glass houses, some people even live in old schoolbuses! My cousin Sean grew up in New Mexico, and when he was a little kid, he had a friend with the unfortunate name "April Rainshower." He'd say "Hi, my name is April Rainshower. You can call me Steve."

All the kid ever wanted was to live in a prefab house in Bernallio with running water and electricity.

[Dreamweaver]

[quote name='photosynthesis' date='Nov 8 2005, 12:25 AM'].....houses built underground, houses made out of dirt, houses made out of Pepsi cans and rubber tires...  There are geodesic domes, glass houses, some people even live in old schoolbuses!....
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Aaah! I remember many many years ago reading about some cool environmentally friendly house in Weekly Reader. It was made entirely from glass bottles, aluminum cans, tires and cement. The house also used solar panels for heating and electricity. It also had a cool organic look to it. Heh, if you couldn't tell, I have a thing for organic structures, not square brick looking things. Maybe its my inner elf!

Geodesic domes are cool. I remember quite a few of them growing up in Illinois. Up here in North Dakota, I haven't seen a single one. Haha, they'd probably get covered completly during blizzards, creating a layer of insulation to keep your heating bill somewhat normal.

[photosynthesis]

New Mexico was the only place I've seen such "alternative" housing structures. They don't have such things in the New York/Philly/DC megalopolis.

[Aloysius]

I'm not so much interested in this as 'environmentally friendly' or whatever, even though that might be a secondary benefit. i'm seeing this as possibly being able to construct a house with just as much luxury and quality but cheaper, simpler, and possible to build on your own and design however you want it.

hmm...

[philothea]

I have a book called "Alternative Housebuilding" and I it. I never got around to building anything especially alternative, though.

I still want to put up a yurt in the back yard. I figure it would make a good private chapel. Right?

I also have many books on self-sufficiency, none of which I have ever used. It's part of my constant fear of the collapse of civilization. I am trying to get rid of these books. And my father-in-law gave me a book on raising chickens. I have no idea why.

Someday, I want to build with rammed earth.

[Dreamweaver]

[quote name='Aloysius' date='Nov 8 2005, 12:55 AM']I'm not so much interested in this as 'environmentally friendly' or whatever, even though that might be a secondary benefit.  i'm seeing this as possibly being able to construct a house with just as much luxury and quality but cheaper, simpler, and possible to build on your own and design however you want it.

hmm...
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These houses are cheaper than traditional houses, although there's a lot more work involved! If I help you build a cob house, wanna help me build one? Better yet, a huge castle made from cob. Obviously we'll need an engineer to figure out how to make it structurally sound...

[Aloysius]

well I have this plan to build a whole city, in which case we'll have a group of about 100 people all helping each other build their houses and the city walls and the roads and stuff.

I've got it down to it costing $4,000 per person for a 1/2 acre for every house... and if building costs are taken down a lot by this while still keeping up to codes and stuff, this could all work out.

I want the stuff to be designed in the fine architectural tradition of the church though, not to look all hippy and stuff. but it'd be really cool for the houses to look like cottages and stuff and the roads to be cobblestone, and city walls to be cobblestone.

[philothea]

[quote name='Aloysius' date='Nov 8 2005, 01:28 AM']I want the stuff to be designed in the fine architectural tradition of the church though, not to look all hippy and stuff.  but it'd be really cool for the houses to look like cottages and stuff and the roads to be cobblestone, and city walls to be cobblestone.
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What materials will you have on site? Dirt, clay, rocks, wood?

You could do a half-timber wattle-and-daub thing. That should look plenty traditional.

[Dreamweaver]

Mmm, what about log cabins? Are they ok? They're a lot of work though!

[scardella]

I don't think most of these ideas would work in the New Orleans area

[quote name='photosynthesis' date='Nov 8 2005, 12:49 AM']megalopolis.
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I love that word...

Edited November 8, 2005 by scardella

[philothea]

[quote name='scardella' date='Nov 8 2005, 03:15 PM']I don't think most of these ideas would work in the New Orleans area 
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Geodesic domes!

On stilts.

[Jaime]

I had a straw bale house










Stupid wolf

[philothea]

[Laudate_Dominum]

timber framing is pretty phat.

you should find some land not far from an amish community and make friends with them. maybe they'll help you build stuff.