more bricks !

Today , we made more bricks for the dome foundation. Don realized that before we add too much weight to the dome, we need to take care of the foundation and the leveling of the dome before the dome gets too heavy. The bricks that we made today are 3 parts gravel, 2 parts sand, and one part cement. James Jackson was over today to help. He estimated that we need to make about 112 bricks to cover the circumference for the foundation. It doesn't really make it faster to have more people for this job, but it makes it more fun. All the gravel being used is from what was sifted from the excavation of the foundation. We gathered black sand from a spot about two miles from here. The water that we used today for the mix was water caught from the tops of tarps, buckets, and other impervious surfaces from yesterday morning’s dew. James explained what some of the plants on my land were. I’ve got lots of sage, dill, mesquite, iron wood, and a few olive trees. I have a small grove of a plants called the Jesus Christ plant. If you cut a piece off and put it in water, it is supposed to purify the water.

tying lath

Yesterday, we got back to working on the dome. We finished tracing the dome with rebar and starting tying the metal lath to the rebar. Lath is sort of like a steel netting. Don says that the American lath is much better quality than the Mexican lath. It's one of the few items that we decided to purchase on this side of the border. It usually takes a couple of people to tie lath, but Don demonstrated how one could do it solo. He said, "sometimes you just got to use your head." Tying lath is a bit time consuming, but fairly easy. Once the lath is complete, we will stucco a concrete membrane ( ferrocement ) to make the dome stout enough to last a few centuries. Then we will layer cob ( sand, clay, straw, and water ) over the ferrocement. This is the part that is still up for discussion. I have been advised by a few experts that concrete and cob don't mix. I have received opposite advice from the locals...who have told me that the dome will not be stout enough to hold the heavy cob without a concrete membrane. The ferrocement also seals the rebar to protect it from rust. I have done alot of research online looking for a similar project, but have not found one. The worst that could happen is that the frame could bend a bit over time, but it is virtually impossible for the structure to crumble completely, as many pure adobe structures do during earthquakes. Time will tell.

With the surface area of the dome being 508 square feet, and the sheets of lath being 16 square feet, we will need about 32 sheets of lath. With each sheet of lath costing $6.50 in Alpine, this will be one of the most expensive parts of the project at $208.

Bunch Straw for Making Cob

I did a cob test today, using the adobe dirt from my land. Cob is part sand, part clay, and part straw. There is some clay in the adobe dirt here, but not much. Instead of straw, I used bunch grass ( chino gramma ) , which grows all over the place here. The grass tends to be long and dry this time of year, which is ideal. While grain based straw is recommended for cob, the default rule for natural building is to use what is available. There is a bunch of bunch grass available around here, so that decides that. The cob test worked. It didn’t take long for the test cob ball to dry. I dropped it from about 3 feet onto cement to test its durability. It held together great. Pure adobe would have shattered.

The city vs. the country - which is safer ?

Last week my mom was car-jacked outside of a grocery store in Houston as she was caught in the middle of what turned out to be a deadly chain of criminal events. Here is a link to the news article. Thankfully she was physically unharmed. In relevance to this blog, it brings up the question : "Which is safer...the city or the country ?".

Thanksgiving in Terlingua

My mom and sister graced the area this Thanksgiving weekend. We rented a strawbale house in the Terlingua Ghost Town, went on a river canyon trip in Big Bend, hiked in Mexico, looked at "art" in Marfa, beat the heat and weathered a snow storm...all in the same weekend. We all agreed that it was the best Thanksgiving ever. My mom and sister arrived by Amtrak. It was a 16 hour train ride from Houston, TX. It is an overnight train ride. The comfy seats lend themselves to a good night's sleep and that helps to pass most of the time. The train costs about $74 each way. Driving from Houston would take about ten hours. Here is a link to a photo slideshow of our weekend.

snowstorm

I got stuck in Alpine for the night. I tried to make it over the mountain pass, but it was not working. Alpine received over a half a foot of snow last night. Terlingua only received a few inches or so. From what I've been told, it snows about 3 times a year here. The low temperatures at night have been getting down into the mid 20's. But the days get into the 60's. Later this week, the temperatures will be back into the 70's and 80's again. I have been bundling up at night in a down sleeping bag which I purchased used from the army. I have also tried sleeping with my down jacket on, but that was too warm.

The Grasslands

Just north of Terlingua ( Alpine, Marfa, Ft. Davis, etc ), there are a few more inches of rainfall each year. Lots of grass grows there naturally...over 50 kinds. Trees dot the area, and there are groves in parts. Due to the many days of sunshine and mild climate, there is a huge potential when water catchment is used for gardens and tree planting.