Have you ever gone to a workshop/seminar and been so jazzed by everything that you learned - And you just want to start applying what you learned to everything applicapble? That happened to me for the first time just a week ago. I find that work conferences and workshops are good "for the moment", but only if you have a good presenter. This one was not work-related, and involved building walls with natural building materials and self-sustaining concepts. In addition, we had an amazing opportunity to learn about seed propagation, organic farming, sustainability, cooking Thai meals, and even had a chance to give and receive a Thai massage to some of the others in the workshop. The best part of the weekend was meeting all the amazing people that participated, and learning how and why they attended this workshop. It’s always fascinating to find the links and connections that you have with other people, and that you can usually find something in common with almost anyone.
I spent August 1-4 up near Fairplay, CO at a natural building workshop. Approximately 15-20 people came together to put up interior earthen walls in an Earth-ship. We had folks from Thailand, Nepal, Scotland, Paris and then Texas, California and Colorado in attendance. Did I remember everywhere?
Here’s what we covered:
Day 1: We learned about the appropriate composition of the mud mixture when making adobe bricks, cob, and mortar. The most satisfying way to determine the right composition is by mixing the mud up with your feet and feeling the texture. It gives a purposeful meaning to a mud bath! We made about 100 adobe bricks in a very short period of time. It takes less than a week for the bricks to fully dry (Colorado High Desert Plains at 9600’ elevation).
Day 2: The home owners went over the vision of the entire house plan but explained in more detail what we would start to work on for the next few days. We put up adobe walls for a pantry, mud room and the wall that separates the garage from the house. We also put placers in the walls that would eventually hold shelves; placed coat hooks out of sticks on the walls; and left room in the wall for window placements.
In addition, we learned how to build an adobe brick arch above a door, built a bench out of earth bags with a stone/flagstone top, and helped the designers place a window in the adobe wall we built.
In addition, we learned how to build an adobe brick arch above a door, built a bench out of earth bags with a stone/flagstone top, and helped the designers place a window in the adobe wall we built.
Day 3: Day 3 involved plastering the walls with an earthen cob-like mixture. You can create walls with texture or you can smooth out the walls with trowels and other flat surfaces. Peggy also showed us how to maintain the look of adobe bricks walls with a thin sifted mud plaster. The group found different projects/walls to work on and we were all amazed in how much we accomplished. I worked on a wall with rounded corners. Rebecca spent a lot of time and detail on the stained glass window placement and the walls that surrounded it. It looked amazing!
Day 4: I had no idea that we could make our own earthen paint that's breathable and waterproof. The group broke up into three stations where we learned how to make earthen paints; a lime finish for an interior wall; and lastly, we waterproofed an earthen roof with a beeswax and linseed oil mix.
The most important lessons learned was that it takes a village to build a community. Don’t sweat the small stuff, and if you do something that you decide to change later with earthen building materials, you can modify it to make it work later. One of our presenters said that if it seems hard, look for a simpler way to do it. Thanks to Peggy, Jo, Nate, Kip, Kristen and Kam for organizing this and allowing us to come together in your home and lives. For more information on the presenters and the workshop, goto http://www.punpunthailand.com/.
