Aaron is an amateur owner-builder putting together an earthbag home on his land in Texas. In the video below he gives us a tour of the home in it’s current unfinished state. The house is small (not tiny) and appears to have a couple of small bedrooms, one bath, and a combination kitchen & living room. The house also includes a small root cellar accessed just outside the home.
Aaron is one of a growing number of people hedging their bets in case the powers-that-be fail in their attempts to stabilize the economy. He’s put his money and time into his land and preparations in case our civilization buckles under the strain of an oil collapse or other traumatic events.
So while his YouTube Channel, Storm Clouds Gathering, is mostly political in nature, I suspect we’ll be seeing more videos of his small home soon. Aaron
It has been some time since I last posted – My son has visited me from England, My wife came from Finland to inspect the progress, as well as to see me, so it has been a busy 2 weeks, but not too much to show for it in the photographs.
The cedar cladding on the long wall went on really quickly, but we had to remove all the tiles first and re-lay them along with some lead flashing.
The Gable end took quite some time, as I had to do it on my own without any assistance, which more time was spent climbing up an down the scaffolding, than actually laying the boards onto the wall.
The window in the Gable end has also been fitted and siliconed in, along with a stone sill on the outside. Y
For a multitude of reasons, not everyone can plant a traditional garden. Maybe you live in an apartment or condo where green space is sparse and not really yours to dig up. Perhaps your soil is inhospitable to anything except crabgrass. Or maybe you have impeccable landscaping that even raised boxes would marr. Whatever the reason, we discovered a solution for you: gutter gardening! Jayme of aHa! Home and Garden has written an awesome tutorial on how to construct, hang, and effectively plant your own hanging gutter garden, complete with spectacular photos!
The Design Lines team would like to take the opportunity to thank Laurie during Administrative Professionals Appreciation Week. May 6th marks 23 years she has been with Design Lines and we only hope there are many more years to come!
“I appreciate everything Laurie does around the office. She keeps the office moving forward on a day to day basis! She is an amazing business administrator and works well with our clients. She is so personable with them and really creates a warm feeling over the phone. Thank you for all that you do!”- Ashley
Cheryl made a good point yesterday that I gave you a look at the house progress, but haven’t shown much of the donkey pasture.
I think my excuse is that, while the house is still a bit of a disaster, you can see some progress. Whereas the pasture and yard look worse by the day. (I’ve got my fingers crossed that we’ll be able to find someone to grade out the yard soon.)
This is what the side yard looked like before… basically it was a wheat field.
Here it is now from a slightly higher vantage point (since I climbed to the top of the excavation pile to get this shot.)
I installed the 80 feet of split rail fence and we also strung the wire fence for the rest of the pasture last winter. Then th
I reported on this tiny pyramid back in November 2010. But now it’s creator, Paul Elkins, has posted a short video tour on YouTube.
It’s made from 10 sheets of reflective insulation board, duct tape, and 2x4s. The total cost was about $300. He fashioned a simple door and added a couple of dome windows for light and peeking outside. The whole thing will take up just 64 square feet of playa, but will provide ample living space for Paul and his wife at Burning Man 2011.
If you’re not familiar with Paul’s work… he’s a bit of an inventor/tinkerer and builds all sorts of tiny little structures and extreme wheeled creations. Be sure to visit his website at High Mileage Trikes.
In the spirit of celebrating the fact that we survived three hundred and sixty-five days of construction, here’s what it looks like when a bearded dude and short slightly-overbearing powertool junkie build a house together.
In the beginning, there was demolition:
And a whole lot of dirt:
Then, painting fascia at all hours:
Pondering the mysteries of a rotted sill plate:
Using the brake to bend metal for the sill and top of windows:
Removing brick ledge for old porch:
Braving a cracked 2×12 up on ladder jacks while installing siding:
Cutting studs for miscellaneous interior framing:
Trenching for geothermal lines:
Pondering the mysteries of drywall:
Braving the elements:
Finishing walls:
Trimming down porch beams:
And…I don’t know about anybody else, but I’m ready for a nap. And a re
Jayme of aHa! Home and Garden has written an awesome tutorial on how to construct, hang, and effectively plant your own hanging gutter garden, complete with spectacular photos!
Cheryl made a good point yesterday that I gave you a look at the house progress, but haven’t shown much of the donkey pasture.
