Page Chapter Count 17 As Of 07-18-08
      
                   Georgia Adobe LP Rammed Earth & Renewable Energy
                         Once You've Gone Dirt , You'll Never Go Back (TM) *

             Are You A Business Owner Stuck In Someone Elses Building ?
                                Are You A Family Stuck Paying Rent ?
                                                         
                                                 THEN IT'S HIGH TIME
                                                             TO LET US
                            BUILD YOU A BUILDING OF YOUR VERY OWN

                                                 Georgia Adobe LP
                                        The Only Company In The USA.
                That Makes Georgia Adobe Blocks And Rammed Earth Mixes
                                                And Installs Them Too

                                         Therefore   Let Us   Be Blunt, 
                                           We Want Your Business
                           Telephone Us,  If We Can Be Of Any Help To You.
                            
                             Thinking About Solar For Your Home ?
                   Contact Us For A Free Solar Site Evaluation *
                                           706-213-7693

Interested In Going Solar
Try Our Free Solar Estimator It Can Show You Some Average Figures Of System Cost :

 

We Do Construction Consultation 
And Renewable Energy System Designs & Installs
Complete System Construction Including:
Wind , Solar Power,Water, Solar Hot Water , Methane , Hydrogen Gas Systems ,
Air & Oil Systems
We Construct
Small & Large Structures
From  Adobe , Rammed Earth, Cob , Georgia Adobe Concrete Domes , Any Alternative Construction , Conventional Building Construction Too & Remodeling Existing Buildings Into Energy Efficient
Structures , Install Windows & Doors
& We Install Insulation Too
Call For A Free Estimate.*
* Free Site Evaluations & Estimates Have Limitations & Restrictions

             


* Look At Our Products Section Below For Daily Updated Product Specials

        

Modern Or Post Modern ? Chateau Or South Western Or Perhaps Frank Loyd Wright-ish - Or May Be A Building With A Living Roof So As To Save On Insulation Cost  Or Perhaps A New Restaurant Building That Has A Water Catchment System That Can Use The Rain Water To keep That New Expensive Landscape Growing ? Or Even A Really Futuristic Dome Even Ball Shaped For Sporting Events Or Even An Egg Shape For Multi Stories ?

One Answer - Ah, Yep - We Can Do That !




We Get This Question Alot.

Lets Just Say That :
Any Building,
Any Where ,
For Any Use - I Think -
Would Answer This Question Very Well.

And Yes, Any Fence Too - We Would Love To Build The SW & Northern Border Fence If Anyone Is Interested In Hiring Us For Those Projects. (We heard that the contractor chosen is installing a wire fence on the border, with the entire project to be finished by the end of 2008 . I would willing to bet that won't last as long as the great wall of China).

Lets look at the potiential Commercial Useage Buildings In a little More Detail.

Apartments & Duplexes

Certainly, This Usage Is Well Within The Scope Of Georgia Adobe's(TM) Building design skills & within both of our structures abilities I.E.: Earthen & Green Construction Material Buildings & also when using Georgia Adobe's Concrete Dome Buildings(TM) . Either way, we can conform our products to meet your needs. High Rise Buildings, can be hybrid buildings, partially concrete to regulate the specific strength requirements of engineers and additionally, made of earthen materials so as to conserve on cost, while achieving your goals of a thermally efficient building.

Industrial Buildings can certainly be built from Earthen Natural Cement Mixes. Any extra strength required can come from the addition of post and beams through out the structure. We could present any industrial situation but lets use For example what we have ,a lot of granite sheds that work stone into monuments . In a stone processing plant you need a sky hook to load and move materials, through out the plant. A series of spec built standard concrete post ( less expensive than steel )  and topped with steel beams for the crane to ride on, will provide the extra strength you might need and your building envelope can be of the much lesser expensive, Georgia Adobe & Rammed Earth(TM) Mixes.

Additionally , by building with A Green Product you may qualify for Green Building Credit, that can allow you to build your facility in places that were not thought of as allowable before. This 1 factor can give you the edge over your competition , that you never though possible with any facility - Location ! Location ! Location !

Offices  Yes, offices can be built from these materials as simply as residential dwellings can be. High rise buildings, can be built too, with post and beam additions. And The Green Credit Situation, Applies Here Too.

Restaurants  Yes, Restaurants too, can be made of Georgia Adobe Earthencrete(TM) Straight Wall Buildings Or with Georgia Adobe's Concrete Domes(TM),  , When designed properly we think that any building can will be better, when constructed in our way. All Food Prep area surfaces, exposed  to restaurant work, will be encapsulated , in a material that meets NFS requirements and, the beauty of the wall materials, can still show through to the public. The building can still be washed down, as normal food service requirements call for and you get to be the GREEN Constructed business, with a fabulous looking facade,  that is energy sustainable & that has a lower daily operational cost too , that your competition envies.

Un-burnable Buildings For High Dolar Products Storage Or Storm Shelter Uses
Yes, As That Georgia Adobe Earthencrete(TM) Does Not Burn And It Can Withstand Extreme Weather Too ,Its A Perfect Material To Choose And If Dome Structure is Chosen, just Remember That In The Case Of High Winds, the Dome is The Structure, That the High Winds, Just Go Over, Actually Holding down Equal Lateral Pressure On All Surfaces In Contact With The dome and Wind . The potiential of fire from inside is also not a problem either, as the design is also, built so that fires should be contained to 1 room , rather than the entire structure , as in wooden or metal buildings.
 
All this makes Georgia Adobe LP (TM) your safest choice of buildings, to live or work in.


Farm Buildings   YES, Pretty Much Any Of Them & they CAN BE, energy sustainable too. This means they not only conserve energy and cost by way of the design and materials, but also when you make Alternative energy and within this type of building. Ask Us For The Details.

Schools Gymnasiums Sporting Facilities ?

You Can Bet Your Budget , They Can Be Built The Georgia Adobe(TM) Way !

For Example : Nothing Else Says Sports, To The Public Like, A Dome Building. Why Not Build A Georgia Adobe Concrete Dome(TM). They Are Very Attractive And Have some Benefits you may not have considered before.

First , You Will Have A Materials Savings, From Using Locally Available Materials , & The Buildings Life, will not be measured in years, it will Instead be measured in hundreds of years.  Also, A Dome Uses Less Materials To Span The Structure, Than Any Other Design Does!

You Will Most Likely Qualify As An Community Emergency Shelter Structure Too & You Then Might Be Able To Qualify For FEMA Grants also, As That The Building Is Nearly Indestructible From Weather, Fire Or Impacts From Most Any Source.  Your Domes Operational Expenses, Are Also Almost Nil Too, When Compared To Conventional Steel Or Other Buildings ;Giving You A Monthly Cash Flow Budget Surplus , Too.

The Dome Design & Materials Regulate Temps , More Evenly. Because Of This A Lower Need For Energy, and the ability to use Smaller Conditioned Air Units, For Your New Dome is Possible. You Can Operate, The Smaller HVAC Equipment, On Standard Single Phase Electric Power ( No More 3 Phase Minimum Power Bills To Look Forward To ) And You Can Incorporate Additions Of Alternative Energy Systems Including Geothermal HVAC , Solar Thermal & PV Power And Water Catchment & Reuse Systems, Into The Buildings Design, To Make The Dome or Earthencrete(TM) Building Completely Sustainable . When you need lower power to operate on daily, you can actually produce the power you will need daily and sell the ballance too.
 
Adding Renewable Energy Systems, That Create Electricity, Will Give You The Power Producer the potiential Extra Income & Your Power Produced Also Gives You Green Power Credit Offsets To Sell  ( That's 2 seperate things to sell ) . The Cost Of These New Energy Systems Sounds High Going In , But When You look At What You Will Save On Just The Construction Of The Dome Building, Compaired To A Conventional Building, You Will Have The Budget To Afford The Renewable Energy Equipment if a conventional buildings budget is the starting point.


Replacement Of Walls on an existing structure can be an efficient use Of Georgia Adobe(TM) Materials And Our Building Methods too. Wall Replacement Including of course the replacement of those existing tin can-metal building walls is something you should consider, if your stuck in a building thats not of Georgia Adobe's (TM) quality and also when you need the benefits but dont want to face the building permit nightmare of new construction - just remodel with Georgia Adobe(TM).

Well, Like Most Answers We Will Give You , That Was A Lot Of Information To Absorb, So Put Your Questions Together On Paper And Call Us For The Facts. And Remember, Our 1st Consultation With You ,On The Phone, Is Free.

Oh Yea - Do You Want To See The Greatest  & Longest Surviving Dome Structure Known To Exist - Still In Use Today Check Out This Wikipedia Page Link :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheon,_Rome

Call Georgia Adobe LP Rammed Earth & Renewable Energy(TM) 
Today To Start You New Project:
706 -213-7693  Ext 1
Leave Message & We Will Return The Call.

        

BUT YOU BETTER HURRY !

 

Contact Us Now For A Free Site Evaluation !

There are two basic questions that must be answered to determine if solar can work well, at your location:

1. Does your earthly location get enough sun shine ? Hint, You Really Need This Info .

2. Do nearby obstacles ( trees , buildings , etc. ) , block the system location of too much sun ? Hint, any blocking - is too much.

For A Path of Sun Across Your Sky, A Great Software Program That Will Help You Know How Much Sun On A Yearly Or Even Daily Basis , If You Require It , Is Available For Free , From The Fine Folks Over At The University Of Oregon. Check Out This :

http://solardat.uoregon.edu/SunChartProgram.html

Next You Will Need A Obstacle Survey . You Can Do This By Looking At The Grounds At The hours Between What Is Called Solar Noon ( 9 AM - 3 PM ) And If The Area Your Planning A System Install Into, Is Clear & Sunny During, This Peak Time, You May Just Have A Good Spot, If Your Location On Earth Gets Enough Sun On Average.

After That You May Want A Estimate Of Cost & We Have Just The Tool For You. See Our Solar Estimator Software At :


We get a lot of questions about what tax incentives are available and though we are not accountants ,we do see the DOE web site from time to time;  You should read that for specifics,  but we understand that  , Yes , there are still currently federal tax incentives for installing residential & commercial renewable energy systems. Specifically, there’s a tax credit for a installing residential solar energy system, including solar-electric and solar water heating systems. These incentives don’t expire until the end of 2008 so get started as time is ticking.
Call Us Today, To Start Your System Design, Long Before The 2008 Incentives Are Gone ( It Does Take Time To Design A Custom Made System Well ) . We Have Heard From Those Asking Our Representatives, That The Congress Intends To Not Renew These Incentatives. 

There Really Is Nothing Like Good Old Taxation Without Representation , Now Is There ?
                     Where's That Ship Load Of Tea At, When You Need It ?


See Our Products Section Below For Specific Parts Of Systems And Our Energy Products Catalog In PDF Is There Also. If You Have your Design In Hand, We Can Help You Save Money On Your Component Purchases.
Call 706-213-7693

Here are web links that May help you know, just what you may qualify for :

http://www.dsireusa.org/index.cfm?EE=1&RE=1

Federal Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency

http://www.dsireusa.org/library/includes/genericfederal.cfm?CurrentPageID=1&state=us&ee=1&re=1

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 From The Energy Star Web Site

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=products.pr_tax_credits


What forms do I need for the consumer energy efficiency tax credits ?

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f5695.pdf

Interested Enough To See What A Sustainable Home Looks Like ?

Here's A 2-Part You Tube Video You Might Enjoy, Of A Home Out West :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yASyKvmoHfY

        

Welcome To Our New Web Site Format. We hope this new way of listing the topics with a date link or article choice at the top left and a link to that subject ,will provide an easier usage of our site. Some information is repeated, often in only general terms, so that the reader may skip to their desired section and still gather an overview , if only in highlights. Articles are often not in the date catagory so be sure and check all dates for articles that may help you. This will be a developing content and will be updated as often as is possible. CALL US WITH ANY QUESTIONS , WERE GLAD TO BE OF SERVICE TO YOU.

Note:
           We Want To Sell You  Our Products And Building Services
BUT, this web page was set up to, not only sell our products and services, but to act as a helping hand to those in real need of proper information, to Re-build themselves and their families a home. So a series of articles appears throughout this site that will tell you how to do it yourself. Were here to work for you and present this how to info for free. Best wishes !
Joe Woodall, Managing Partner

Build A Home Without A Monthly Payment Schedule to meet so you can keep it this time. So many homes have been lost and so many very nice people have called us to ask for this information. We offer this information freely, with the understanding, that you will use it as an adult and confirm all as being correct for your situation , before your use. Therefore, we except no liability for your use of these contents and make no warranties to you.

We started all of this, knowing that we wanted to be on the leading edge of technology in the future and that our path in the construction materials business should be relevant to users needs for correct products and services. And , as noted above , It  also started to be of help to some close friends of ours . 

        From this begining, we found a new way of life for ourselves. 

Our friends were in fact facing the loss of their home , the loss of their business and of their vehicles - just as so many are today in 2007 & 08. They found that upon telling their family and all, but a few friends, that they had real financial troubles, that those once trusted family and friends , ran away from them or wouldn't return their phone calls , when they heard from others what they were perhaps calling about . When help was offered to them, it was from those who would only help them, by stealing what they could, at this time of great need.  Kick them while they were down, is what we saw - and It Was Shameful ! 

They needed a way to house their family and start over , after that great fall.  So we all began together , an information search for what to do, with what they had left, which was basically nothing - but a small piece of land , that they hoped to be able to keep , as that their taxes kept going up yearly ,too.

                                     From this view point, 
           one begins to see the daily world, a little differently.

We think Adobe and Rammed Earth Construction , is something you should choose , even though your not in trouble, because it is truely the best product to use;  but, it is nice also, find a good way to build a home and have it all be paid for , from the very start too. 
  
                                     "Never Borrow Again"   
                     is to be the moto chiseled, above their door.

The information contained herein, is not new; it is in fact, as old as man himself. Adobe & Rammed Earth, Were The First Building Materials Along With Stone That Man Had Available and we are learning again daily too, perhaps just like you are , that - we are working with the technology of the future . In 30 Minutes A Person Can Learn How To Build Themselves A Proper Home, That Could Last Hundreds , If Not Thousands,  Of Years. 
                                 It's Not High Tech, 
                     It's 1st Tech(TM) 
          And  the old ways,  are perhaps, the best - even still today. 

         If we can help you , it will be our pleasure,  just telephone.
       Joe Woodall, Managing Partner Georgia Adobe LP. Rammed Earth & Renewable Energy 706-213-7693

        

     


  

There are many reasons to choose a

Georgia Adobe Concrete Dome

as your next building & here are just a few.

MONEY : Cost is about the same as conventional wooden construction . Some are Less.

Strength Because Of The Shape

The Georgia Adobe Concrete Dome Is A 1/2 Sphere & as such you have the outward & inner thrusting strengths that are equal. Pressure is diverted evenly all across the surfaces. When the wind blows against your Dome ,the force actually holds it down equally all across the surface and the sphere just allows the winds to blow away & over

Energy Savings. Because of the Domes unique construction the Insulation is added outside the building envelope . Concrete acts as , what is known as a Heat Sink on the inside making temperatures stay steady. This building process keeps temperatures moderate even in server weather . An even energy release is accomplished by the heat sink inside and this makes your cost of heating & cooling just a fraction of conventional wooden structures. Often you might not even hear the small heat source start up even when the temperature is below freezing outside as that the inside temperature will stay even for days. Most heat can be accomplished with a small electric heater, as that so little BTUs are required. Averages are reported to be 50% the expense of conventional structures, with some only 10 %.

Fire Safety : Concrete & Steel are the building materials . These materials just don’t burn at the common temperatures a flame exerts. A fire won’t be able to spread from outside to inside as in a forest fire. When you look at the materials of interior construction, metal studs are the norm for walls & multi story floor systems, placed above the ground level . A poured concrete floor, utilizing light weight materials, will not burn. Sheetrock has paper as a facing material & fabrics including furniture, draperies , clothing & personal belongings will burn but if a fire starts inside your dome it should never spread to adjoining rooms made safe by fire wall material. This standard practice in multi-family dwellings , hotels & auditoriums is standard safety procedure and as standard we recommend you do the same by adding non burning fire rated sheet rock as the dividing material & fire rated doors as well. The cost of minor safety features such as these will provide you with the structure lasting longer because of the quality of materials and you will know its virtually a UN-destructible building.

Comfort : As a resident of a Georgia Adobe Concrete Dome one of the first things you will notice is the silence you get from the outside world , the world just becomes quiet . Domes when designed properly don’t transfer sound within themselves either . The Comfort level also increases as that the Dome is virtually draft free. A functional and beautiful Dome building provides the economy, safety and comfort, desired more than any other building system , for most all locations.

Multi Use Buildings  Any configuration is possible and many uses from a properly designed Georgia Adobe Concrete Dome can come to mind when you look for them.

For example, a poultry house operation is a fire hazzard building because of the building standards and specs existing now from intergrators. They are wooden 1/2 walls and roof buildings heated with flame driven forced air heaters. If a fire were to break out the loss of 25,000+ birds, not to mention the loss of all the equipment and any building near by could result.

This is not the case with a Georgia Adobe Concrete Dome, To begin with , as noted above, the materials don't burn. Secondly the building can be heated with lower cost alternative heat sources and the building is designed to require less energy useage.

The operational cost of a poultry operation is often 35% of the yearly gross. If the building were built as a Georgia Adobe Concrete Dome , then a reduction of initial capital to construct would result, as the Agriculture and industrial buildings cost far less than conventional buildings do. Additionally the building can be constructed and finised in 1 week as all work is done inside after the first day. Next the safety of the flock is more protected from not only a fire from within or outside ,  but severe weather damages just are not a problem. These buildings just don't blow away. You have a entire building envelope than can be cleaned to the desires of the intergrator more quickly because the materials can't be harmed easily. And the insulation is not ever exposed to the flock, as it is outside the building and no insects will harbor in your new building.

This was just 1 commercial example we can show you more details and configure a Georgia Adobe Concrete Dome To You Needs At Will


Style : With a Georgia Adobe Concrete Dome the design & style is as personal as you are. When you look into nature it is often a series of curves because of many factors, including some named above. Your Georgia Adobe Concrete Dome can blend into the scenery or stick out as is desired by you. Multi-story structures, can be both partially or completely below and above ground level . Rooms can be added on later & additions to existing structures is possible too. Your walls can have flat surfaces, if given enough thickness ( about twice ) but that is often too expensive, so a gentle curvilinear shape, is the best one we suggest so as to economize & the additions of dormers, large window openings, sky-lighting, grand staircases, balconies in or outside the structure and even a common pitched shingle roof, can also be incorporated in whole or part. So no design is completely off the drawing table with Georgia Adobe.

Do It Yourself Part Of Your Construction : Yes , there are many parts you can do yourself & save in the cost through your own personal efforts. As the self contractor hiring Georgia Adobe Lp Rammed Earth & Renewable Energy As Your Sub Contractor , the possibilities of alternatives in construction are perhaps endless.

Begin Your Project Today ,
Call Georgia Adobe L. P.
At 706-213-7693
Georgia Adobe LP .   
The Future Of Construction




Ok, What Are Georgia Adobe Concrete Dome Buildings(TM) ?
Well - Here's An Example:




We Can Build You Any Shape You Need Including Tall Towers And Castles To Animal Sculptures With This Same Process , But For Buildings Certain Shapes Work Better. There are many choices for a dome buildings Shape
 and here are a few to choose from :





At Our Dewy Rose GA Facility We Are Building Some Extended Stay Cabins
The Georgia Adobe Concrete Dome Will Be One Design We Will Have To Show & Rent. Here Is The Original Design We Will Be Building For Domes :



See The Woodall Estate (TM) 
Web Site For Other Info

http://www.woodallestate.com

Many have ask us can we build them a dome  roof from
Georgia Adobe (TM)
Yes We Can &
 Heres a Description Of How We Might Do It For You.

        

This is a part of the series of articles for the do it yourselfer and it explains a lot to those wanting us to build for them as well.

What We Are Doing In Adobe Blocks
& How To ( D. I. Y. )

Where Rammed Earth ( See Article Below ) is pretty much done after you ram it in place & remove the forms, Adobe block manufacturing and the construction, is a bit more labor intensive , but the results can be rewarding.  Think of construction as a fight, you are going to and you want to bring some weapons, that fit the requirements of the fight. Adobe is in a combination with other materials a fine weapon.

How To:
2 x 4 lumber was cut and screwed to make block molds ,1st they are oiled and second there are filled with a Wet adobe mix and leveled across the forms  top.  We normally use A 30% Clay & 70 % sand mix as the traditional  formulation with water added slowly and after excess moisture has drained away from the freshly poured blocks, the molds are carefully lifted and the blocks are released  flat on to dry and level surfaces .

The initial placement spot for a wet Adobe Block is often the ground. When that ground is covered with some sand , straw or grass it does not generally stick.  If sticking should occure , you may need a flat bottom shovel to pry it off the ground in a few days.  Plastic sheeting or bags will work too, but they don't allow excess moisture to drain away as rapidly , without a slope and/or some small drain holes.

After several days of proper drying time, ( weather & temperatures will very this amount of time ), the Adobe Blocks are ready for further air-curing. This process consists of standing the new block on its side for a period of time , normally about 4 weeks or longer. Then, storage of blocks in a stacked fashion, upon a pallet or at least off the ground is suggested, with a weather proof cover over top is required. With a foundation in place your ready to go to war, and build a house.

You could rather quickly , make a large number of blocks to build with, given a daily effort.

Our Common Georgia Adobe(TM) blocks are the same size as a regular concrete cap block 3.5 x 7.5 x 15.5 and they are about the same weight., but they have the Georgia Red Clay appearance. We are also producing a  12 x 12 x 4 " All blocks were originally created from 2 x 4 molds,  crafted around a concrete cap block or shape we found that worked in the situation we we in. Our blocks generally come to our clients as a solid block or they can be customized to have a concrete pour hole , if needed for rebar and portland cement concrete to be placed within the wall and therefore, create a post within your wall.

Note : a short section of PVC 3" fitted within your mold box to give a great hole in a 3.5x 12 x 16 Mold , and you can fit the pipe to the side of the mold box if you cut it in half and attach that with a 3" wood screw. Then a side hole is formed when 2 are laid together. When removing the outside mold from your newly formed block, remove the hole mold also but after the block slides free. Note a 2" hole works better and with a greater safty margin for the smaller blocks, such as our 3.5 x 7.5 x 15.5 block.

We think, our blocks are very attractive & the Georgia red clay colored blocks , really stand out in a construction job , of average looking buildings .  Once Adobe Or rammed Earth Construction Is Finished Over With A Plaster, They Look Like Any Other Masonry Building. We think they will provide a strong and fine finished wall too.  Later, we will also offer for sale, a custom light weight block too , with the same visual features as our GA. Adobe and Rammed Earth(TM)  products and it will have a greater strength, due the the special materials we have available.

Also a new sealer has been introduced to us recently, for our testing and it shows much promise , for those of us whom wish a Red Clay natural wall.  If success is found with this new sealer, an application with a pressurized bug spray tank, every few years will prevent moisture from passing through the wall. When were ready to offer this sealer we will post an ad in our products section below.

Additionally , the final color of any Georgia Adobe(TM) block or Rammed Earth Mix, can always be altered to suit your needs. From Very Light Colors, To Dark Colors and molded faces too, on the block will be available , all custom hand made .

With simple 2 x 4 framing you can make your own block molds and several hundred blocks a day, can be hand produced - right there at your home . It takes several days of drying time for basic clay and sand blocks to dry. Portland enriched blocks set faster, & they do need a full 28 days of cure time, just like any other, Wet cast  Portland cement product does.

As noted earlier, blocks should be turned after several days and dried or cured further and then stored off the ground. We add Portland cement, to our blocks and rammed earth mix, to make a stronger wall or floor, one that won't be so easily broken. Yes, floors can be poured with this same mix . Some changes to how you prepare for the slab are required , but the same materials can be used. A Wet Curing Is Required For Portland Enriched blocks.

Sand & Clay blocks are fragile . Handle them with care, lay them and stucco the sides to protect them shortly after installation. If you don't have any Portland , then stucco with your original block mix & mortar mix, first and maintain it well.   Then A.S.A.P. , do it again with a lime & sand or Portland & Sand Stucco mix and a good sealer too. Don't forget to add insulation outside. More on this is below but foam is the best of you can afford it.

For us, Portland cement makes the block making process a bit faster and we have much less waste. You will too.  If for any reason you don't want Portland added to your custom blocks that we will make you , we can do it for you without the Cement, as that Lime will work too and there are other choices as well. But the cost, can rise due to the changing of materials and the spoilage factor of broken blocks is high because sand and clay blocks are very fragile . Also, the materials handeling cost , are more too and some other factors cost more as well .

All of these factors are a cost that are passed along to the client. It's your call and if your making your own blocks, you can experiment too and find out what works best for you.

        

This is a part of our do it yourself sections, just for those whom can't hire us - but still need a home built, perhaps one built right now- this week .

Logs, Clay , Sand , Bottles, Cans & Building Cheaper Than Dirt

As the title of this article suggest, When you have them available you can use a can or a bottle to build cheaper than lots of other materials .
Is It Cheaper Than Dirt -  Well We Will Let You Be The Judge !
but that's going to be hard to do.
The dirt is afterall,  Is within Everyones reach ,  just beneath our feet .


Bottles and Cans are great things we often throw away or sold to the recycler.  A non- Load Bearing wall ( Sometimes if done right a load bearing one too ) can be built with these as the bricks. Glass bottles can become windows , that at the least provide light to a room in colors or clear glass. Mortar them into the wall just like bricks, but use a healthy sized joint between them. Plastic bottles can be used in this same way to. What about the open end of the bottle you ask ? Well seal it up if it's a glass bottle, with a layer of silicon caulking or double the bottle wall thickness and put both open bottle ends or can ends too, inside . If you want more strength add a verticle concrete post in the middle of your section of can or bottle wall. 16" or 24" on
center support , is often used as the spacing for 2x4 walls, so a post as thick as the wall itself, will certainly add needed strength.

What about my doors , what can I build these out of ? .,
( See The Section:  What if I'm Broke ? Also )

Well, if you have any Portland cement left over , build a mold frame and pour one. Add hinges when you pour , with nails installed into the mix, as it dries and door knob holes for doorknobs with foam knock outs to be removed after the concrete sets.

 Also, you could design the structure, to allow for additional doors and windows to be added later, is the best way we've used ourselves. When funds for the door or window were absent this may be best if you know you must add them later.

 Be sure and pre-build into your walls , your headers and the door or window frames and then fill the same , with a product you could pull out later and re-install your doors or windows,  into later.

Sheet lumber and studs ( Small Logs Work Too in "Cordwood Fashion" see link below), or you can insulate the stud cavities and also cover all to protect all, from the insulation with plywood & stucco, will work too.

Fire Wood Logs that are still round and debarked , but not split and of a pine or conifer species of wood, will also make a fine "brick" to lay and this will provide a you with a fine wall with many benefits.  Use a Sand & Lime Mortar for this not portland.

You have to dry the wood a long time to get the best results and this takes a long time. Certainly, when you need a house today, you need an instant stone or better a Rammed Earth Or Adobe Wall To Build Out The Entire Wall Scetion in 1 Effort,  but it is a really neat material
That stuff called ( Cordwood )  that should be used when available.

The bark should be removed and walls are built just like adobe block wall with the small ends facing inside and "outsidewardly" upon a raised foundation, so as not to allow the ground to wick moisture into your walls.

Newly killed pines from bark beetles might work and you can get paid to remove these too.

Some have said a addition of boric acid to the walls in a water brine before mortaring the log into the wall helps keep the bugs away, but we don't subscribe to that method, as we know from experience that Boric Acid works best when its dry and staticly charged or when properly intrained into the wood . Some experimentation is in order herein to test the same  , but treatment with a product called "Boricare"  is proven to do the job. Its Available from our sister company www.dopestcontrolyourself.com and would work just fine. It has a penatrating ability that plain boric acid does not have - theefore it works wet.

Learn more and Reference the yahoo group page http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cordwood/  for more specifics on this subject called " Cordwood" as that a master teacher of this method named "Cordwoodguy"  , his trademarked online name ,
is there, with lots of great stuff , just for your education. 

Georgia Adobe LP. can build for you any building you need with this and any of our other materials or methods.
Call us, to discuss your needs.

Joe

        

Okay,  Do It  Yourselfers -

The Info About How To Re-Build  A Home For Your Family Using Adobe And/or Rammed Earth -Is Throughout The Text Below and some of it is repeated through out this site.   Be sure to see our list of videos  herein & down at the bottom of the page
 ( just stuff that I like , & that might help you too) . Keep Reading

How To Start Construction:

The international Building Code is what we must all now look to and unfired clay construction is the section that will guide you best. While having a structural engineer's blessing is required in some localities , for very good reasons we might add also, with the right builder and no regulations to stop you, & or through your knowledge - the cost of the additional personnel is not always required. We believe that footings are required to support the R/E walls and Adobe. Historically, this has not always been so, with buildings that have been here for hundreds of years; but we think we will not build anyone a structure from scratch without some attempt at a proper foundation. Rock works very well when placed properly and then stem walls can provide the starting point just a few inches above flood levels ( 100 year rain event ) .

                               What To Do If Your Broke ?
                                     We Get This Alot !
     We Also put some of this info at the botton of this sub section.


Foundation sizes should be as wide as the walls above at a minimum, but twice as wide  , is always safest and they should extend below, the frost line. These foundations should clear the ground, by at least 1 foot higher, than any 100 year rain event, will bring you. Landscaping helps this too.

Proper landscaping is a planning move you should consider 1st when picking the spot to build. The right landscape elements make for a better building in the long haul, trees shade you and hills block cold north winds and building on ground that's not in a flood area is best. When these things are not available, site work will fix them , but this just cost one more to build. You should choose locations wisely.

Historically, there are buildings standing that are several stories tall and are constructed of thinner walls than we would ever consider, but they don't have many windows either . Most Rammed Earth walls that we have seen and read about (up to 50 feet tall ) are 24 to 36 inches thick ; shorter walls constructed of Adobe are often just 8 to 12 to 18 inches thick and second ( or final ) story walls are often only 8 to 12 inches with a transition from the lower wider walls at the concrete or wooden bond beam. In America and also the countries of both China and in Yemen there are thousands of earthen buildings. See:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YehmkVWcbc
 Also type in these countries names or/and Rammed Earth , Adobe &/Or Cob  for some interesting videos of many, that will really make your head spin. It was in Yemen, that I first saw a multi-story building, made just of Rammed Earth. Again , it had not many windows ,but they went over 5 stories tall and it was a very old & still a very used daily, structure also.

While concrete is typically specified for building foundations and bond beams , stone & rubble foundations are ok for garden walls & dwellings too , when done properly. In some cases, reinforcing steel is placed vertically into the footings and may continue through the top bond beam of concrete, where welding steel plates to the rebar then to the steel trusses, ties the foundation to the walls, to the roof. You better know what your doing when welding rebar as tying is often best.  All this makes local building inspectors very happy , certainly in earthquake zones. If you add 3/8 & 1/2 rebar on 1 foot centers & multi-plex at door & window entries throughout your wall matrix connected to the bond beam and the steel trusses and perhaps even use concrete or hand made clay roof tiles a fire could hardly take any part of the structure. We don't think of using steel in our walls, as a first choice ( & we try to not use it at all )  as that it is mearly an after breakage tool ( For Portland Cement Concrete ) that from its strength , will hold concrete together after it cracks. For Rammed Earth & Adobe, we try not to use it. For Standard Concrete  - well most likely we would, as it is specified for good reasons.

Don't use materials that will react badly with each other either. For example, there is a reaction , we have read about from lime and steel rebar, that will cause the rebar to rust away in very short order. And it should be noted, no one hardly ever added steel to Ancient Roman concrete buildings for wall strength . Their mixes were very different than what we know today and They instead compacted their concrete , but didn't really add rebar.

And remember the wedge effect we spoke of earlier ?
In fact in a earthquakes, the Movement Frequency (Mf) that steel moves at and the frequency that earthen or natural cement walls move at,  are at very differing wave lengths. Its widely held , that this differing frequency will cause the steel to rip the wall in to many little pieces and the building would then fall .

Test , Test , Test your home spun mixes & designs before you build. We don't use steel in Earth for walls. Only within, the concrete post & beams or floors and foundations of all Portland cement type concrete .

Raising Walls With Cob Or Rammed Earth Construction / Which "Might" include Tire/Earth - Construction Too :

Sand & Clay plus a small amounts of portland cement or twice that amount of lime, is still the mixture we like . For Rammed Earth , your forms, would be oiled up and made of either wood or metal for strength. A  3/4" plywood or OSB will work for a while and they would be preset and re-used throughout the building process ,for each succesive wall.
For Cob Construction , one only builds a short ( In Height ) wall section each day , it drys , & then one adds to it daily , as the wall drys. Cob is a slower, wetter -  wet mix with straw added to help bind it together , (  often hand formed too ) where as Rammed Earth is a dry mix , pounded in a form, not requiring any straw. The dry method requires forms , the wet mix requires time and working around the entire foundation in lifts as the last days work drys. With the Rammed Earth method , you have a finish product , at the point that you have completed the ramming of the wall form to the top and then removed your form to use elsewhere.  We think of Cob as an Art form , that should be used when other methods are not available but many home are scattered through out the world from COB. Again Check Out Youtube.com for some video examples.

Of all the methods that we could provide as a service to you or would suggest to our clients  as the best, we feel that the Rammed Earth process is the best and quickest and it provides the best structure ever built from earth mixes; but if you are doing it yourself and don't have materials for forms, ( not many really needed ) and your doing all or part yourself, you should consider perhaps Tire Forms, Cob Wall Construction or Adobe Construction ( Blocks To Be Made As You Can, In Advance Of Your Project & Stored Until You Need Them) , as your potiential back up method and with tires you might even get paid to haul them away from the tire store, use the money to buy portland .
You have more to learn about the tire construction subject than we can go into here  so , call us for any additional assistance with tire construction info and we put a few specifics below this section .
 
For Cob, a pitch fork is used for heisting the mixed Cob , up to your walls . The squares of Cob are the easiest to Fork Up  and a shovel or 2 are your basic mixing tools by hand, ( a mixing box would help );  The ground can be your mixing area too (see Below) & the materials are the same as for Adobe Or Rammed Earth.

Just mix Dry first then add water and mix again to lay the Cob and aid the binding between the layers by hand compaction. For Rammed Earth you mix Dry & add VERY LITTLE WATER. You want a mix on the dry side of moist ,for R./E. as it is de-formed upon completion and is a finished wall, able to stand upon its own strength. Hense the dryness.

Mixing could be done with your bare feet & hands if you have the guts to do so., "Cobbers" swear by it . We Watch out for sharp stones & use a mortar hoe instead, as that they are often mistakenly , not filtered out, of your clay or sand screening process' and also watch for broken glass.

A tarp or old bed sheet could be used, if you would like to gather materials together again quickly after mixing, just fold the tarp back to the middle and then re-open it, and mix some more. All these mixing methods work, and mortar hoes too, be they slow methods ; We have done so experimentally , in all these ways, but , I must tell ya - a front end loader on a tractor or even a roto tilleror box scrape really comes in handy, to mix earth mixes with .

                                      Additional Tire Notes : 

Used Tires Can Be Free ( or you might get paid to pick them up - about $1 each +/- ) and they could be used as earth fill forms , with a piece of cardboard, laid in the bottom , so they won't leak their dry mix out, from the bottom as you start the pounding & filling. The top side is often cut away to allow a level fill and a base for the next layer to rest upon. This takes a good while but, A wall can be pounded slowly, with sledge hammers, & by filling the tires with a Clay & Sand mixture , against a horse shoe shaped basement dug out & a homes exterior & interior wall, can climb upwards of 12 feet tall , if & when all tires are interlocked . 1 tire weighs about 350 +/- pounds when filled, so put it in the right spot, the 1st time.  A concrete bond beam, with rebar added, is poured across the top for stability, where-upon the walls completion by plastering begins , and a roof is then attached .  Used tin or soft drink cans,  can fill the gaps when motared in place and before you apply final plasters to hid any tires or fill area. Cans could be your basic building stones for interior walls of a NON-LOAD BEARING NATURE and poultry wire or diamond metal lath ,can be wired to this for plaster finishes. Glass Bottles in a non load bearing wall can be used and windows can be fashioned , (Non Opening Ones That Is ) , from free glass bottles laid with mortar, in a proper frame. Cork them with Plaster or sillicon caulk.

All these methods work just fine and can provide you, along with the Earth Mix added , a very fine home for very little money. You have the labor factor but we think its better to put forth labor ( hopefully you will hire us ) rather than call the builders supply and order a forest cut into lumber.  Roof shingles can be  hand made and poured from cement, Doors can be molded and poured with cement and windows can be built from plate glass panes & concrete dividers or added as you have the money to do so, so long as the opening is framed out and a tempory covering is placed water tight , until the windows can be purchased.

I once built a house with 38 openings that was built very much this way = ( As I Could Afford To Do So ) , all over a 10 year period. When it was done, it appraised for over $450,000 and it cost just under $60K to build. Back then, we never used earth construction, because I didn't know how,   as I only knew how to stick frame a house. If I had these methods back then (1986 + 10 years)  , I could have built that 6,700+ sq ft house, for under $10K including the land, well & septic tank and never borrowed the first dime, even building over the same time frame and paying for it , as I went.  Ah Yes - Lesson Learned The Hard Way !

Your skills as the builder,( or ours if you hire us to build for you )  are perhaps at their greatest challenge, when building the simple Volume Displacement Boxes (V.D. Boxes). This is what will form the openings in the wall and sit within your wall, as you pound earth into the form , all around it and often on top of it and add the a concrete or wooden lintels on top of the wall.

             That is a lot of weight, on a wooden hollow box.

Then you have to get the thing out and not break it apart , or your beautiful new walls. Design a box that will allow the same door or window size to be replicated and design it to be taken apart and put back together throughout out the project.

The forming technique and volume displacement boxes for your openings, utilize a removable form process & you want them reusable. In this way just a few forms can be made up and used for your entire project.

When doing it yourself ,you may need corner forms & intersecting wall forms and some solid long wall forms ; all of which is often custom made just for your building ; plus the door & window forms. The wall will take on the look of the wall form, so choose wisely the form material you want your wall looking some what like. For doorways, walls of Cob or Adobe construct simple wooden frames  that will act as the final framing attachments, for doors or windows . For Rammed Earth , the addition of verticle & horizontal attachments of treated 2 x lumber , would be in addition to the V. D. Box , so you could remove the V.D.Box , leave the framing for inserts and move forward with the next wall framing. Then later come back and add the window or door. The best placement is mid wall for windows or doors, as this will shelter the openings woodwork and flashing can be accomplished prior to the original framing of the window.

If a special texture is required on your walls , custom form liners can be fabricated on site, using rope or other materials, to give special looks in the finish, or you could add cement freezes to your wall forms. Also you can purchase a liner, to give special appearances , and also add stains to finish the look as needed. 

"D.I. Yourselfers" :  Go Test Your V.D.Box , Before You Build A Opening In The House Wall !

3/4"  Plywood used for the wall forms & the ends of plywood also ( Horizontally Cross Brace With 2 x 4's On 12" Centers For Strength To Stop Buckling Out ) also 1/2" pipes for spreaders & Pipe clamps ( Or More 2 x 4's ) will work for the framing of Rammed Earth forms and when a only few forms are used, you might break the use of small forms like you would a block wall laying project, As a stair step; thereby making a overlap of the next stepped layer , to rest upon the last step. The spreader holes will be hand packed after the forms are removed. This does not make the best looking wall because of the constant moving of the forms and the overlaps and perhaps UN-even wall sections that can result; but,  when you will just plaster the thing over completely,
who cares. Get it done.

For Rammed Earth, A composite board of minimum "2 x" inch thickness will make the end caps strong and some threaded rods or pipes or 2 x 4's can tie it all together with washers & nuts or the sliding pipe clamps . We work in lifts of about 3 to 6 inches of fill at a time and after the rods are removed , we just fill holes by hand compaction with a small dowel rod , at the time when we move our forms upward.

When moving up your Rammed Earth Forms, we leave a small amount hugging the layer below, so as not to allow your forms to become too narrow. When a ringing type of sound is produced, during the ramming, the R/E correct compaction is achieved. At the top of the wall or at the floor level or at least at 10 feet "we" always add a concrete bond beam, just as wide as the wall & 1 foot minimum height, with scheduled re-bar tied inside, extended 24" for the next wall to start upon. Your structural design will specify any rebar and concrete reinforcement. For The Way We Think Most Walls Should Be Built See The Rammed Earth Section

                                                         What to do , if your Broke ?

Well your in good company here old son & you have history on your side as that everyone's been there too. Here's some suggestions that might work for you.

When ones very survival is the subject to work on , work fast but always err on the side of your safety . Care should be taken not to cut corners, just for the sake of economy. Materials will always be under some stress , therefore ,  forsee  that stress and compensate with bulk and mass.

Paint works very well on wooden walls  and a laytex paint will help to seal your completed earthen building too against water penatration. There are other and better sealers , Often we have used pigment from the paint store,  to add to the mix and color the wall mixbefore construction. Walls should also be caped with a stress skin covering for the betterment of the walls protection.

The technique of ferrocement, whereupon several thin layers of portland cement are built up  in  1/2 to 3/4 inchs layers at a time with poultry wire mesh  also cemented onto the wall,  will make a fine addition to your structure. With the  thermal mass from rammed earth or adobe  one gains the safety,  by mass and also a constant daily tempreture  and you would get a diagonal bracing stress skin, from the build up of ferrocement.

Modern Floating Slab floors mimic, how our ancestors built on the ground.  They are the most sturdy floors we can build ; but  they can be a cold - damp and not to permanent floor ,  if not built right.  Our forefathers used natural cement  floors that  have lasted hundreds of years , but they had their problems.

Insulate your floors before pouring them to protect from heat losses . Many a house I have visited and some I lived in, were once just a 1 room bare bones home , that was built on to  and the visitor could not tell where one section ended and the next began. Plan you moves , floors and additions very well before starting,  for the best results.

Your dirt floor will not be dirty, if a few important points and methods are followed.

1 .  Insulate below the stone if you can, with foam packaging peanuts or some other free material or whatever you can find. A few inches of foam insulation will be best. In either case get off the ground several inches as it will radiate its 57+/- degrees upward, but you just don't want contact with the ground because it just feels cold and insects will be drawn to you.

2. Install a plastic vapor barrier, then raise the floor level with stones.

3. Add some boric Acid & Sand on the top and mix with the stones . See the web site :
 
www.dopestcontrolyourself.com 

for the many pest control products you may need.
 
If possibe,   before the final 2 inches of your floor are poured, add some 3/4 inch pex pipe in a series of U shaped layouts, all starting ending at the same point where you can connect a hot water line, so that a radiant heat system from water circulated within those pipes, can serve your heating needs later when you build a fireplace water heater or add a solar heater.

Note about bugs and Boric Acid :

Even if you only use that junk Boric Acid ,available at some dollar stores, (   basically an old bottle of BA Powder moisture laden and filled with rock like particles & some powder would work ) . Anything is better than nothing . Liberally mix it  with the sand that's used to fill on top of your rocks,  so as to ward off ants and other bugs like termites ,  filling the stone's gaps with this mix. Fill your floors up to the point of being smooth & level floors.  If Portland cement or Lime can be afforded mix the final 2 inch layer should be of this material and wet pour per the directions on the bag for a sand mix smooth finish will provide a hard surface. Done inside the completed walls , you have no problem of spilling the walls on your finish floors though it will take longer to dry than when placed in open sun.

Blankets could make a fine floor cover in place of carpet . Cement sealers like those listed in our web site products section will seal moisture from the inside over the poured floors. In years past manure's were added, to floor and adobe or rammed earth mixes . They then burned the blocks in a open pit before the construction and to make a solid hard floor surface they poured it before wall construction and let the sun bake it for a long while. We don't suggest this as it leaves the bad smell of burn.

Start with your Foundation as described below, if you can, but if you can't , pick a building location that is a safe one , from the elements of rain, flood, wind or frozen precipitation. Think of a location where a rain event, will not cause a wash out of your building. While a basement is very fine to have , it causes too much work for the novis while attempting a Speedily constructed  cabin.  Better , A root celler will do, a short distance away from the cabin ,  for most of your 1st basement needs - including violent weather shelters.

So as to also be  of materials locally available,  in their origin and also without much expense , the  quickest & most economical walls and roofs are made of Rammed Earth or Adobe . Next,  would be then Cob and then Cordwood ( debarked firewood) walls & lastly ferrocement.   Earthen cement is naturally formed, from:
 70% sand and
30% clay.
                        Any other addition may serve or hurt your mix accordingly.

Choose 1 or a combination thereof , for the requirement you have. Its not possible for us to suggest , just 1 method over the other past this description of economy and access, as that to judge this, one would have to see physically  your location & situation. Cans bottles and other solids can also be mortared ,if doubled and thickly mortared too and they can provide you with walls and windows.
                                                 See The Section On This Subject.

Make earthen blocks of some useable size and dry stack them in a protected area until your ready to use them. Its best to give them a few days to dry if their just sand and clay . Mortar them together with the same earth mixes used to make blocks or cob balls and when the spot is level to start your building, make your mortar balls , in some kind of form . A bowl works or a bucket , even a tarp will work as a mixing surface. If a rammed earth wall is chosen fill the wall space between a 4 sided form that is moveable up to the next section ; then disassemble and move over to the next starting point and ram your sand/ clay - Natural cement into it .
                     See the Rammed Earth Topic in our web page for more info
                  and read  this entire web site & others before starting any project.  

Just so you feel confident in your abilities  Build a test wall or the outside fireplace could be the first project.

The wall construction without a proper foundation may be a slow progression, as compared to one with a concrete foundation because of unlevel terrain ; but within a short few days, you should have the walls of your cabin ready for a roof of some kind.

If a fireplace is to be built do it right so as to gain the most comfort and safety , both today & with your future add ons . Consider an additional cooking fireplace design placed outside the home, so as not to cause indoor air pollution or heating of the structure in the summer months from cook fires. 

The addition of a digester , can serve the home with methane fuel gas for your cooking needs and some limited gas lighting .

Also , one can heat stones in a fire to bring into a center room pit and they will radiate heat, at night . Bring them inside with a shovel and never have a fire inside is the safest way if you can not build a metal heating stove /fireplace at first. When you do build a fireplace , study proper designs and incorporate them into your cabin.

A bed designed to except hot coals or stones underneath it, makes a fine and safer sleeping situation - so they always taught us when I was in the Boy Scouts Of America. Reference The Topics O f sleeping in a bed roll-outside Etc. and you may find some pictures , of what we speak of. Later we will add a drawing , to exemplify this.

There are lots of examples of how to build fireplaces on the internet and www.youtube.com 
my have the most content in one spot. One video we enjoyed not only for the outside fireplace design, but the music was at 
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TGUujDaelU&NR=1

And another that has some good video , but not so good music is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDuRRhhpeEw&feature=related

If you have chosen the round building design and are going up with the walls ( see the video just above for an example ) a slight inward continous stacking of the blocks or cob balls dome styled and inwardly can form a point or round roof ,at the roofs top, where upon you can add a slip mortar the outside, to allow water fall off as a sealer.

A Pole in the center of your building will serve several proposes both to pull a string from to measure the distance of a inward incline with and to add stability from if a series of v.'s  if designed to brace the roof. That may or my not be required . It’s a judgment call on your part. This same pole with braces in the wrong places might cause a stress upon the roof and a weakning or failure could occure.

         Use care in stress loading roofs of anykind including earthen buildings.

Also think of Engineering an over hang to project this roof run off water away from you walls as far as is possible by way of projections of limbs and flying buttressing with poles against your outside walls can add stability . This will also give you a green house or cold frame effect if south facing and plastic covered. Nothing like a sun room !

Cap the buttress' with plastic forming a greenhouse and capture the rain water for later use to allow all water to flow further away from the building walls.

The angle of assent is best a slight one but a hemispherical one with a dome , ( think of a ball ) , like an egg, is the strong design in nature and the most material efficient one ; ask any chicken, that has passed one.
                                     Natural construction mimics nature .

For straight rammed earth walls, you will need wood or trees to span the walls on a regular series to form a roof . Also from thick tarps and/or more insulation  a less permanant roof could be put up until proper materials can be found.

Many things insulate very well and can be gathered freely from stores and warehouses. Try to find those materials that will not burn easily or add some dry boric acid to them hamper the burning time. See the subject of Papercrete for info contained herein for one example and also check out youtube videos on this subject as well.

Refer to the Universal building codes,  for some insight on ceiling spans of wooden construction, as there is a really good reason behind these span codes. A roof is a dangerous thing, above your head, be careful and err upon the stronger ways of construction. Also note, where they will sight mostly #2 standard dry wooden boards and where you are using logs from your land to build with,  a great variance of strength will been gained, from round logs of equal height but wider than boards because of the round configuration . Longer logs should  be squared up on the front side of the building ( but give yourself a overhang with post to support it ) . On the back side of your building , you can cut them after they are in place, so as not to cut any too short .

Yes,  flat and dirt filled roofs are built in the SW USA and a few other places too, including the living roof that we here at  Georgia Adobe LP. now offer to build for our clients. There great , but you must have the strength and design to support the roof for all the weight of the roofing materials and have a total water tightness , to last for a very long time is required . To do this on the cheap perhaps , a series of tarps and blankets overhead may be a cheaper method to consider with a wooden tipi designed style roof , if proper materials are not available for dirt roofs. Some of our ancestors lived in tents year round.

Lodge poles for a tipi , should impale the ground deeply enough to not kick out and angle toward the center of your building whereupon they will tie above your walls and be covered so as not to rip you cover. Why not just a tipi, well you could but strong walls make me sleep better. Also as to give you walking room inside over head and still let the rain fall , tall poles from the outside your walls to the roof point would perhaps work. . This makes for long pole requirements and sometimes tall ceilings that loose heat to the high side of the building.

Windows created from bottles and mortared in place with earthen plasters is a neat way to get free views, when they are laid like bricks ( doubled Is best ) with the opening sealed with silicon, inside away from moisture. and a door combinations of poured concrete & re-melted glass poured into a frame or just some blankets braced with twigs or boards & wooden hinges completes the Cabin quickly and gets you hopefully - if all is done right, into the dry.

Roofs, if they are to be shingled can be made from trees as that shingles have traditionally been made from trees split as such. Also ,a roof of cement shingles or clay sand combinations cast onto a cookie sheet or hand molded over tree trunks and cured in the sun will also work just fine, with the structure proper framed for a slate shingle roof , installation is much like with common slate shingles and last as long .

                                             Again err on the side of caution.


                                  Next , its time to build a more permanent cabin
             perhaps building around the original just like they did years ago.

Now Heres A Link To A Series Of Videos That Shows What Can Be Done From Hand Forming A Home In Saudi Arabia. They just need a little Beatles Music such as " With A Little Help From My Friends " To Spice It Up a Bit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeuQEsmqntM&feature=related

        

Though Not Always Included Historically In All Earthe Buildings Foundations Are A Very Important Step In Your Process.

A water tight appropriate foundation higher than the surrounding ground, is required in our opinion. Foundations can be rubble or stones instead of just straight concrete. One way is to use 1 1/2" size stones placed into a knee deep or so trench and then add 1/2" stones on top of that and compact. When you have done this a couple of times and have about 8 inches left to fill, then pour the rest with a concrete mix and create your stem wall to build upon. A foundation such as this, is one with historic references and most likely saves about half the cost of portland use and provides you with a sturdy foundation too.

Concrete or rubble make sure your starting below the frost line in your area, as that if your not below this point your soil will heave upward when the ground freezes and your lovely new building may fall or at least crack badly.

Do the job right the first time and no further work will await you , - well at least not in most of the areas done right first.

What if you can not afford to do so ? Well, if it were us in that situation We Might, go & build a small tempory structure to meet the survivability standards and then the next day , go build the one we wished to keep.

        

A foam insulation layer on just the Western walls of your building, you might help keep out the excess moisture during the wet season by adding the foam to the outside wall.

( All the way around, would be best, we think ) .

During a North wind , on a cloudy day , one might not get much heating of your Southern facing, picture windows, or the stone floors beneath them, that hold heat ; but if you held in yesterday's heat, 
( heat seeks cold ) that North winds effect, on your wall - might just be another windy Winters day, if foam insulation was installed all the way around the outside wall. 


Test how a foam coffee cup keeps the heat in . More studies, may need to be done, to know these answers as a solid fact, with respect to true Adobe v/s our methods, but but Sand & Clay has stood the test of time already.  It is not out of the question , that sand and clay alone, may be the best way, for your situation too ?

One way to create your own insulation is to save newspaper and make Papercrete. What is Papercrete You Ask ? Well its a product that comes from mixing up newspaper in water adding Portland if you have it, but that not required. Then place the Papercrete into a block mold and allow it to dry. What you get is a free , lite weight block of newspaper. You lay it like a Adobe Block or trial the mix on of sticky enough, but always outside the building wall. Then the Stucco covers over it, as you go, to seal it and the paint the stucco to water seal the wall the rest of the way . Free Insulation  - thats a price we can afford too.
Here is a link to a Yahoo Group Page We Read:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/papercreters

        

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*All Adobe blocks are currently Made To Order , this requires a 30 day lead time from order placement, till your picking up, of your blocks . All orders require a 50% nonrefundable payment with order and ballance due in 30 days.

Contact Us Now For A Free Site Evaluation !

Rammed Earth Mixes
Rammed Earth Ready Mix - MAN MADE STONE  ! (TM)

* We make available to those clients that we are building for,  a ready mix Rammed Earth finished product . We are not currently selling this on the open market as it is a custom made item. This requires a 30 day lead time from order placement for Rammed Earth Ready Mix , till your picking up, of your blocks . All orders require a 50% nonrefundable payment with order and ballance due in 30 days.

Contact Us Now For A Free Site Evaluation !

Roofing Shingles

 

We are liquidating our entire inventory of roofing shingles because the price of replacement is so high that we will not reorder . This earlier purchase was at a lower than current market price and will result in our selling them below what you can but roofing for elsewhere. Contact us to come & view what we have left and 1 example of True Laminated Architectural shingles that we have today , 3 lifts of , about 30 square total estimated quantity is a sand tone colored shingle . Here's the photos. We also have some White a few Darker colors in single pallet quantities and less.
Call to view 706-213-7693

Renewable Energy Systems


Our Residential & Commercial Insulation services , Renewable Energy and Solar Heating & Cooling , Solar Power, Landscaping & Small Local Construction Division is available for services in NE Central GA. and we can still produce sea container conversions into homes or offices  for quick emergency dwellings or offices, we also build and deliver wooden small portable offices and guard buildings for many uses & can supply alternative energy products for you now including solar power lighting & water heating application equipment & installations.

Contact Us Now For A Free Site Evaluation !

 
 
 

Energy Saving Appliances

Is It Time For A New Fridge ?
Ask Us About Sunfrost Low Energy Products And Service
Georgia Adobe LP Rammed Earth & Renewable Energy
We Sell Waste Oil Furnaces Too !
Any Questions ? Call Us.
706-213-7693 Our combined Offices Number.


Waste Oil Building Up ?

We Have The Furnace
To Burn It & Provide You
With Heat.

Contact Us Now For A Free Evaluation
Of Your Oil Furnace Use Abilities !

Any Questions ? Call Us.
706-213-7693 Our combined Offices Number.




Power Made Is Money Saved.

Then you need some proper equipment to use it:
Start With A Properly Sized Inverter . See Below For Our
Inverters .

Contact Us Now For A Free Site Evaluation !

Any Questions ? Call Us.
706-213-7693 Our combined Offices Number.

*Inverter





Prices shown are without the freight bill  .
We except Paypal & Only Ship In The 48 US States.
Orders are billed through paypal Ebills too so credit cards can be used.
All Prices Are Subject To Change Without Notice.

Any Questions ? Call Us.
706-213-7693 Our combined Offices Number.

        

This a part of our do it yourself series articles for those whom need a home but can't hire us to build it.

 

What Is The Way We Think Most Walls Should Be Built ?   2 Words

RAMMED EARTH !

This is by far the best process for developing any earthen constructed structure. Why you may ask ? Because we belive , it is the most soild and if done our way hardly any code out there will turn down this design of building as it mimics the standard concrete construction already in place today.

We are building with a natural concrete a product called Rammed Earth. It has many use possibilities but the easiest to understand is the post and beam design.

Think of this method as the post and beam construction without the standard wooden post and or beams - but built with materials that would outlast wood. For the smoothest looking walls without too many form lift marks, brought about by moving up your forms, the entire wall section is to be formed all at once. The Earthencrete(TM)  is packed all the way to the top in 3 to 6 inch lifts & then the forms are used over again on the next section.

Tamping with long poles and a bit