I just got back from my neighbours place, who just happens to be a member of the Stewards of Terra Matter. I put my framing skills to work to help her with her tiny house build. It is an interesting build as it is a hempcrete home, on wheels! @harvardhomestead wrote a blog about her take on the morning. You can read it here!
@harvardhomestead's hempcrete home construction
Hempcrete has amazing properties and makes a very durable structure and is fire proof, mold and mildew resistant. Here is a close up of the hemcrete as it is being formed around the corner post of the skeleton structure of the building.
What we did today was frame the beam properly so that it could hold the weight of the loft floor. The middle beam was missing and as such there was only a single 2x8 holding up the loft which resulted in a 3/4 inch sag in the beem. We fixed it by sliding a 2x8 in the middle, jacking up the floor and laminating all three together. Now the beam can hold the weight and makes the loft much more sturdy. No risk of collapse now.
Yes, I actually did work this morning. :) May not look like it as I had the camera, but if you check out @harvardhomestead, she will have pictures of me doing work as well. lol
Next step is to start framing the roof, sheet it and put the tin up. That should keep the build dryer and help her with getting the walls up. So if you want to keep track of her build, just visit her blog. It is an interesting project and she will be moving it this spring to a piece of land where she will be living off grid. I hope in the next few weeks we can show you the roof going on.
I think she holds classes as well to teach people how to do hempcrete building. So if you want to help her and learn at the same time, please contact her. I suspect there will be lots of opportunities this spring. Only a few short months away!