Straw bale building.

Straw-bale builder, David Cameron and Keith Dietrich, a natural builder specializing in earth-plasters, will be on hand to instruct and facilitate.

Some of the work we will be undertaking will be of an experimental R&D nature, drawing on years of sound natural-building experience. It will take three weekends, start-to-finish, to complete the first phase of retrofit.

Oct 13 & 14

Day 1 we will use locally grown bales of oat-straw to build an interior wall against an existing poorly-insulated wall. We will cover all the basics of non-load-bearing sb construction applicable to stand-alone building construction, as well as retrofits.

Day 2 we will mix up a batch of earth-plaster (clay/sand/straw), prepare the bale-wall and apply the first layer of plaster. (Earth-plastering is fun, about as much fun as adults are allowed to have!)

Oct 20 & 21

Day 3 we will apply the second layer of plaster to the sb wall and work on “finish” techniques. In another similar room, we will also build a retrofit wall, but this time employing hundreds of used hard-cover books instead of straw-bales!

Day 4 we will finish the book-wall and apply the first coat of earth-plaster.

Oct 27 & 28

Day 5 we put a final surface-sealer on the straw-bale wall and begin the second coat of plaster on the book-wall.

Day 6 we continue applying the second coat of plaster on the book-wall and practice various finishing techniques.

Nutritious snacks, beverages and lunch provided each day.

Participants may sign on for a single day, a weekend or the whole three weekends of instruction.

Fees:

Single Day $50 (SSSVC & TLC Members, $37.50; SSSVC Member Students & Seniors $25)

Per Weekend $100 (SSSVC & TLC Members $75; SSSVC Member Students & Sen. $50)

Not an SSSVC member? Join for $10/year.

To properly schedule and provision this project we need to have people sign on for exactly the days/weekends they want to attend. There is a maximum of 12 people per day. Please Register by Oct 1.

Please register with 50% deposit by PayPal (indicating dates & member/status) to email hidden; JavaScript is required
No PayPal account? Send a check payable to EarthSea
c/o David Cameron RR3 Windsor, NS, B0N 2T0
or call David @ 902 792-1667