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This was really a Wow month! We have accomplished a huge list of major work, not least finishing the tyre ramming! The lintels are bearing the load of five more courses of tyres and we have reached roof level ready for the final full cement lintel that will bind the entire walls together including the two wood pillars. Despite the height of the walls, they seems very stable and sturdy even whilst ramming. This is mostly due to the cementing of the gaps in between the tyre voids and pinning of three layers of tyres together with steel. Normally tyre voids are only filled with mud and waste such as cans.
We have covered the walls now with mud with a very rough first coat to fill the major gaps. This was done using sieved soil which we have mixed with chopped coconut hair and mixed with water. This mix when dry (using our soil) is very hard and sturdy, ready to take a scratch coat.
Also we have made a good start on the roof. The basic idea for the roof is outlined below in a sketch. We are making the 16 sided center ring that will support the wood made I beams. There will be 16 I beams that on the other end sit on the cement lintels. The 16 sided center ring will be capped hopper style with a very lightweight perspex type material instead of glass. The size of the center ring (skylight) is 15 feet in diameter. We are making it in 4 pieces that we will assemble finally in place on scaffolding.
Roof Sketch
Here you can see the centre ring with 16 sides in the middle. This ring will have 16 I beams, one on each edge of the ring. The I beams are made according to the basic design given in Earthship Biotecture Vol III. We have only made it stronger by the use of strong hardwood and double ply I mid sections. You can see the general idea for the I beams below.
This is a pretty simple and cheap way to make very strong and long beams using wood. There are some rules to observe regarding where things overlap but other than that its very simple. The addition of the struts that are zig zaging the i beam are also additional strengthening devices. We do have a big roof that will be finished with clay tiles. These are heavy and so we're making these beams as strong as we can. Due to the shape and design of the roof, most of the load should be acting straight down the beams and into the lintel. These beams will have the load acting on the strongest axis. They are much stronger than when they are when used horizontally like on a flat roof.
Here are some picures of Ross (UK Carpenter and Jewlery Maker) and I making the centre ring.
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The circular saw is out to cut the ring reinforcing pieces of hardwood. We're cutting precise angles here so that the entire centre ring is held in place correctly. |
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This is one quarter of the centre ring almost finished. |
Lots of screws are used. The outside of this ring will not be visable since the roof I beams will be the same height or more and hide it. |
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Other Images this month
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A few power tools we have used for the roof. Sander, planer and angle grinder for power sanding. |
You can see the roughly mud plastered walls. The bottom few rows are left out so we can do the plumbing and wiring. |
The lintel will be molded by this wire netting. Maisoners normally use wood for this, called shuttering. We also have used thin ply wood that can follow the curve. |
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