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Articles & materials related to natural building techniques & strategies will be posted to this page.

Reskilling Resources:  General Wilderness & Sustainability Skills

Roof Thatching & Reed Collection 

 Thatched in water reed this 'round house' demonstrates the poured on fluidity of thatch is not created by the material but by the way it is applied. No other roofing material is capable of adapting to such shapes

  Dusty, from Natural Homes writes:  in defense of thatch, the Department of the Environment's, Protection of Historic Buildings (PHB) in Northern Ireland Technical Note No.6, 2006 on thatch roofs says, "The general perception of thatch is that it is a fire risk, although PHB records, kept now for thirty years, do not substantiate this."

• Phragmites, reed grass for thatching roofs.
• The Thatchers Craft.  Download this free book (this is the most current link) by The Rural Development Commission in England. For REED thatching go to download #6, p. 16.  
• Danish Blog on Thatching .   Lots of photos, cool.
• Reed Collecting, what to expect, bring, and wear .  A winter activity.
• Outline of Thatching: materials, construction, tools.
• Thatching Comes to America .  Article written for the book "The Art of Natural Building".
• Audio Interview: Thatching interview with Deanne Bednar. 10.5 min
• Growing grains for thatching . 
  
• Phragmites ~ an invasive weed.
• Bacterial Diversity in Phragmite Roots .  A report from China, through Dawn. 
  
• Thatching with Big Blue Stem ?
• Reed Collecting for the Kensington MetroparkKid's Cottage
• DYI Thatching booklet for sale.

• Thatchwick Cottage .

• Ridge Applications for thatched roofs .

• Buy thatch tiles .  A company in England sells premade thatch sections. 

• Interview with thatcher William Cahill .  From the New York Times.

• Stainless Steel wire . for attaching reed to the roof.  

• http://thatch.org/literature_review.htm
• Websites on thatching .
• Other roofing options . Used tires.
• U of M thatching projects . 2010 
• Irish Traditional Skills video "Hand Craft Documentary Series" 
• Round Pole Shelters & Thatching . 
• Video below on Reaper Binder. Potential for harvesting reed with this machine.  
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Cordage

• Cording materials Articles on making string, twine & rope from natural fibers.

Uses for Phragmites Reed Grass . 

Wall Systems

• Strawbale Building Outline by Catherine Wanek. Catherine Wanek, photographer, videotographer, writer and editor, has been very instrumental in promoting strawbale as a construction technique. This files is an outline of concepts covered in her 2005 Slide Show at the Strawbale Studio.
• SB Facts: A number of good resources to use as references for presentations.  
• Knots for retying Strawbales .
• Compressed Earth Blocks, by Wayne Nelson. Wayne Nelson works with Habitat for Humanity's Department of the Environment and is an international provider of construction information and training. Trained as a carpenter and builder, he has particular experience with creating shelters with compressed earth blocks in Africa and other countries.
• SIPS panels.  Some thoughts on the use of synthetic and Structural Insulated Panels. 
• Papercrete . Paper slurry with clay. 2.8 R. Retrofit potential.
• DYI wiki Insulative Materials.
• Lightweight concrete .  Pumicecrete, hempcrete...for foundations, walls & is insulative. 
• See Insulation Section below. 
• Strawbale prefab panels . This paper is very informative. 

 Round Pole Framing & Connecting Techniques

• Lashing . How to tie poles together with rope, cording or rawhide!  Girlscouts. Sketch, description, video.  Also pics of projects like "outdoor kitchen". 
• Ladder Lashing . Using a rope and no notching.
• Japanese Lashing . Very cool.
• Lashed Tower Construction .
• Pioneering Knots and Lashings .
• Knot videos .
• Knot making videos . 
• Cinch knot for retying strawbales . Animated video.
• Round Pole construction data from Canada
• Round Wood Project.org
• Round Pole Standards and Issues
• # Small Farming projects.
• Woodland Home framing info . 
• Pioneering Skills . A collection of websites! 
• Fun with Spars .  Projects with ropes, lashing and round poles .  M. Holmes.
• Bushcraft .  Shelters and Thatching ! 

Foundations & Stem Walls

• Building Dry-Laid Stone Walls
• Designing and Building Stone Walls   
• Building Dry-stone walls ~ Traditional Masonry
• Slide Show on building a stone wall is in the slide show found at the bottom of this page:

              http://www.bedfordny.info/html/d_planning.html

•  Working with Stone . Splitting stone
• Shallow Frost Protected Foundation System .Notes by Architect Fred McLaughlin of Lansing, MI 
• Lightweight concrete .  Pumicecrete, hempcrete...for foundations, walls & is insulative.  
•        Drainage 

No cement, round stone foundation ! Poland.

•        Drainage 

NATURAL INSULATION

Zebra Mussel Shells

• Danish Tests using Mussel Shells.
• Information on Zebra Mussels.
• Sources . for free shells. Could be used for insulation or making lime, or?

Danish Testing relating to Strawbale construction

• Danish Tests for Strawbale construction

Insulative Systems

• Lightweight concrete .  Pumicecrete, hempcrete...for foundations, walls & is insulative. 
• Rice Hulls in construction . 

Wool Insulation & felting

• Felting information.  How to make felt, Mongolian yurt felt-making. 
• How to make your own wool insulation .  
• Wool Insulation information from the UK .
• Natural Wool Batting & Insulation . http://wwwW.goodshepherdwool.com/FrameHome.html
• Award-winning wool panels .    requires 90% less energy to manufacture than mineral wool insulation, In retains its insulating properties for the life of the building, has a 10% greater insulating factor than that of glass fiber insulation.1.9$/sq.ft.  Panels sizes 2ft x 4 ft

 

• DYI wiki Insulative Materials.  

EARTHEN FLOORS

Using Manure in flooring

• Cow dung & mud paste.  India
  

•     Paper Clay...as a sculpting media and potential insulation material for walls.  Made with shreded paper and coloredclays. It is easy to make paper pulp or you can buy the cellulose insulation.  Both are options depending on what's available under the situation.  Lance suggests spraying on 1st coat and hand apply last coat.  Some folks might like a flowing surface, some a flat plane.  As a guide... boards could be attached, screwed in at the edges and a screed board drawn from bottom upward between the boards.               
• Earthen floors in existing houses.  Detailed article.       

EARTH PLASTER ARTICLES

• Mother Earth New Earth Plaster Article by Kiko Denser, featuring some photos of the Strawbale Studio sculptures !
• http://www.landerland.com/plaster/LanderLandMIX.html
• http://www.thelaststraw.org/bonus-articles/earthplaster.html
• http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/QandA/materials/walls.htm
• http://www.doityourself.com/stry/loveofmud
• http://www.networkearth.org/naturalbuilding/aliz.html

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 HEAT SOURCES

• Manure .  BTU's of manure compared to wood, and more.

Natural Structures:

PRACTICAL NATIVE CRAFTS

• Irish Cottage Industry & Crafts Documentary Series  Food, Natural Building & Practical Arts.

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