Living Homes: Stone Masonry, Log, and Strawbale Construction
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.22 (826 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1892784327 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 240 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-01-24 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Their home is a true hybrid, with the first floor being slip-formed stone masonry and the second story of logs, all sourced locally and ecologically. This can then support a variety of roofing materials, such as metal sheets or shingles. Thomas explains in great detail exactly how he put together this house, sufficiently for others to follow his lead without much more need for instruction.In addition, the book is liberally dosed with Thomas's philosophy of how to homestead ecologically in the 21st Century. Round logs are just stacked one on top of the other, using rebar pin
The key is all in the planning. The house of your Dreams does not have to be expensive. How much a house costs, how it looks, how comfortable it is, how energy-efficient it is - all these things occur on paper before you pick up even one tool. Elpel guides you through the nuts and bolts of construction for slipform stone masonry, tilt-up stone walls, log home construction, building with strawbales, making your own terra tile floors, concrete countertops, windows and doors, solar water heaters, masonry heaters, framing, plumbing, greywater, septic systems, swamp filters, painting and more! Table of Contents Introduction: Building a House on Limited Means: The Elimination of all that is Unnecessary to Achieve a Dream Part I: Dreams, Goals and Ecology Integrated Design and Construction: Homesteading in the Twenty-first Century Choosing a Location: Planning a Thousand Years into the Future Disaster-Proofing Your Home: Preventing the Obvious. Then, from the footings on up to the roof, author Thomas J. That is time well spent!Living Homes takes you through the planning process to design an energy and resource efficient home that won't break the bank. Preparing f
anon said Entertaining and a good source of ideas but needs refinement.. A fair amount of dated material which leads to inaccuracies, as well as some errors (which may be typos?)- there is definitely a lack of proofreading evident.All in all an interesting book, lots of ideas to consider, which would need to be researched more fully before implementing. Elpel's innovative mind is going in many directions at once, so the information sometimes covers a lot of ground without zeroing in on specifics.Puzzling to me is that he claims 'green' motives yet strongly touts such products as fly ash, which is high toxic/carcinogenic. He also champions the use of polystyrene insulation (EPS and XPS), both of which give off h. freudhawk said Helpful for building a masonry heater and other green projects.. Bought this book for research on building a masonry heater. While it did provide plans and some guidance, the addition of the DVD (sold separately) really helped round out the words on the page. There's just something about seeing a person lay mortar or how they operated around a certain area that was helpful to see. Also, there seems to be lots of great information about other aspects of green living that I haven't been able to dive into as of yet, but looks promising.. Good practical guide for green do-it-yourselfers Shanti This is one of the few books that I've come across about alternative building methods that is truly catered towards how to build it yourself on a budget. He doesn't cover every possible green building technology, but he covers the ones he knows and has worked with in great detail, including step by step instructions, pictures, a recount of which methods and materials have worked well and which haven't, and ideas about what he would consider doing differently in the future. I've read it cover to cover and will certainly use it as a reference during the planning and building phases of our future home.