A guide to Earthen Plaster

We have made half a dozen earthen plasters with varying ingredients. Below is a guide to a successful mix and application of our plaster.

1) Sift 3 (5 gallon) buckets of soil -- We used an 1/8" screen
2) Mix in water until a smooth (slightly liquid) mix is achieved
3) Sift and mix in 1 1/2 (5 gallon) buckets of sifted horse manure
4) Cook wheat paste
     a) Boil 8 cups of water
     b) mix 4 cups cold water with 3 cups flour
     c) add flour to boiling water and simmer for a few minutes until thickened
5) Add wheat paste to mix and blend thoroughly


Application

1) Wet down wall
2) Apply earthen plaster with hand or trowel
3) (For best results) Listen to Mumford and Sons

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RMH update

Thought I should post a video of the rocket mass heater (RMH) that will be keeping Katherine and I warm this winter. Many people are skeptical of the design, use and function of this amazing stove. I forgot to get a shot of the cob bench our duct runs through (thermal mass of the heater), but our 8" ducting runs horizontally through 30' of cob mass before exiting the house. The thermal mass traps all of the heat passing through the barrel.

How it works

The chimney within the 55 gallon barrel gives a chimney effect creating a draft down the feed tube (where we burn the sticks) and keeping any flame or smoke from escaping into the house. The incredible heat in the burn tunnel reburns much of the smoke before reaching the barrel. The gases cool rapidly in the much cooler barrel and shrinks adding an extra pull to the system. The hot air is then forced through the bench (losing all of its heat) and exits the house at little over 100 degrees F. This amazing heat transfer allows us to burn less wood, less often and still heat our home.

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Roof edging

The roof edging was very labor intensive, but totally worth it when finished. All of these boards will serve to hold our living roof from falling off. Hopefully next spring we will be posting some great photos of new growth on top.

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Pond liner on!

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First plaster

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Roof going up.

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Second set of rafters

Today we finally reached final wall height and were able to start the second set of rafters for the main house. Each rafter is a 4 diameter pole spaced at 2 feet on the wall.

The picture below gives a general idea of the shape of the roof. Any water not used by the living roof will run down to a water catchment in front of the kitchen and used for our garden. You can also see some of the sample plasters we have been putting on the walls. Final recipe = 3 parts sandy soil + 1 part clay slip + 2 parts horse manure + 12 cups flour paste + 1/4 cup linseed oil.

Sleeping loft with cob headboard/nightstand.

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Beams on

It has been quite some time since we last posted, but we've been very busy on the house. Walls are finally reaching final height and today we decided to muscle up the beams with only three of us and a whole lot of leverage.

We used our 13' pole rafters as a make shift ramp from the bed of the truck to the shortest wall. From there we used a combination of ropes and muscle to shift them up the walls and into place. 

 

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