I built a stone wall!

While I was visiting my parents, I had another little foray into natural building I thought I'd share... 

Vikki and Jay playing the course

My dad built a 18-hole "Hillbilly" miniature golf course on their land several years ago and this year we had the idea of building an interesting addition of a stone and cob retaining wall on one of the holes.  

We surveyed the course and thought we'd go with the hole that had the least amount of water run-off moving through it (the whole course is on the side of a hill). That hole also happened to be the one with an older upgrade... "Pickle Face." Check out the tree on this hole!

The grassy spot by my dad is the new hole area

Then, we got to work collecting the materials for the stone part of the wall. Ultimately, we decided to save the cob part for another time because there wasn't time for it all. Since their long driveway is made of gravel and rocks, we were able to gather the drainage rocks from there.  There is also a creek at the bottom of the property, where we gathered the stones for the wall.

rubble trench

We dug a trench about 4" deep (since this isn't a structural wall or a wall for a dwelling, we thought we'd see what we can get away with - for those structures, you should consider digging below the frost line).

Then we added an old worn out tarp in the trench to keep most of the dirt and debris out of the drainage rocks.

Added the rocks, wrapped them in the tarp, and added some more on top so you wouldn't see the tarp. If I were to do this again, I'd use smaller rocks for this part because it would help with the stability of the wall when placing the rocks.

Then to the stacking.  These slate rocks looked fairly flat, but they had a lot of bumps.  It was really difficult to stack them, so I focused on the largest rocks we had, so I wouldn't need to make as many adjustments with small shims.  This was by far the longest part of the process and most frustrating, but the most fun too!  

Always checking for level

I even split a few rocks to make them flatter.

In the end, the wall turned out great!  Then my dad finished out the design with a log and board holding up the fill dirt that leveled out the course and installed two drainage pipes that make the hole a tricky one! If you get your ball in the middle, good job and good score.  If not, you are taking a trip into the woods!

Check out Pickle face and those drop offs!

I think this hole upgrade really takes the course up a notch in coolness :) Thanks Mom and Dad for the opportunity to build something at your house.  

If you're in West Virginia, swing by and give it a go... 

First time we played the hole!

Yeah, hillbilly golf clubs!  

The Natural Cottage Project Workshop

I left the Strawbale Studio a few weeks ago to spend some time with my family and I will return tomorrow.  I thought I'd share the progress on the cottage up to that point. We didn't completely finish it, but it's amazing what we were able to accomplish in just 2 weeks!

I already shared some images (mostly of the Timber Frame) in the last post, but here are some more to give you a more complete picture of what we accomplished - foundation, stone stem wall, straw bales, plastering, and thatch. 

The red stone is pumice or lava rock, added for insulation in the sub floor.  Here you can see the stone stem wall, the cob bond beam on top of that and the wooden toe-ups. The machine is a tamper to get all the rocks compacted and they are making sure the subfloor is level in this photo.

Miwa chisels out a groove. (Photo by Paul) 

Timbers all chiseled and sawn... ready to be assembled! Very nice chisel work!

We harvested small fresh trees (so they would still bend a little) to use for the perlins and then stripped their bark off.

Miwa and I are attaching the perlins to the rafters to support the reed thatched roof. (photo by Eva Wimmer)

Most of the group! At one point, there were 70 people on the property! (photo by Eva Wimmer)

Straw bales are starting to go in after the stick framing of the windows and doors was complete.

Straw bales almost all in! Great Insulation for those cold Michigan winters! We staked them down and tied them together, but they are also very tightly wedged in there. (photo by Eva Wimmer)

Here I am with a few people saving the straw bales from the storm moving in! whew... nice save.

Here you can see the finished straw bales with a plaster coat started over them (gray) made of clay, sand, water, and straw. To the left, you can see the garden wall built.  It will be plastered and a living roof with plants will be added.  There is also an archway going through it to the door - in this photo, there is still a form holding the arch top in place.  (photo by Eva Wimmer)

Here is the first and second coats of plaster on the straw bales.  It's coming along :) Here you can also see how the thatch is sitting on those perlins in the roof.

Denise and several other people worked on these niches in the cob wall.

A relief sculpture was added as well. The wood is the platform for the living roof. 

Once we added the first row of reed (phragmite is what we used in that area), Deanne told us what angle we were looking for on the underside.

Blake and I tap them under. Reed has a good insulative value as well.

Deanne talked about how the rest of the rows get tapped upward to blend with the row above them.  (photo by Eva Wimmer)

We really got moving on the nortside of the building. Here Coleman was working on the fourth layer.

Michelle and I were adding the final bundle of the workshop. Each bundle gets placed, untied, spread out and pinned in place with a needle and wire that gets passed through the roof and around the perlins. It is also tied down with a long thin stick, called a sway. you can see the sway holding the fourth row in place in this photo.

Forth layer complete! Lookin' good.

Next up, we will finish the roof (if we have enough reed - it is harvested starting in December), finish the plaster on the outside, inside, and the cob wall, and put in an earth floor. Exciting stuff! More to come in a few weeks!