May sound a little ridiculous, but I want to build a small hut in my backyard. There's a lot of room, and I have a bunch of cement stones that some landscaper left when they expanded the driveway.Heres the problem: I have pretty much no idea on how to make one. I've seen/read videos/articles on how to make cob huts. They require clay based soil (which I don't think I have because the soil in my backyard is sandy) and grasses and stones. I have the cement blocks, but they are jagged and not uniform at all, I don't know if they need to be though.Can anyone give me some advice or explain easy methods to make one? It's just for me so it doesn't have to be very big, in fact a smaller one would probably keep the body heat in.Thanks all.
updated by @nolan-plank: 02/14/15 09:43:16AM
Building a Hut
is your soil sand or sandy dirt
muds mud and can be used tho clayish mud will harden more faster
mixing dirt and cement creates a super adobe thast gets real hard and super insulates
whats this hut for u have a back yard back implies behind a structure so u have a house right?
u want a hut to huddle in and stay warm to not have to heat the house?
if u explain the purpose of the hut might have a better suggestion
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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1
Check out the SAS survival guide, theres a section on how to build shelter, maybe you can improvise something from your imagination. Be careful with the stones though, it could be very dangerous if the collapse in on you.
If you want to make a "sweat lodge" kind of set up, maybe a teepee shape would be better, you would just need some sticks, and can pick up some cheap tarpaulin.
Well it is sandy dirt i think because there are a lot of weeds growing out there and if you dig deep enough it's dark and wet.
monks used to use it for a nursery, planting flowers and vegetables.
The purpose was i like the animals back there and the smell and i'd like to be able to have a hut where i could sleep ou there if i wanted too. i currently live in the garage.
soaring eagle said:
is your soil sand or sandy dirt
muds mud and can be used tho clayish mud will harden more faster
mixing dirt and cement creates a super adobe thast gets real hard and super insulates
whats this hut for u have a back yard back implies behind a structure so u have a house right?
u want a hut to huddle in and stay warm to not have to heat the house?
if u explain the purpose of the hut might have a better suggestion
Not a sweat lodge just a place to sleep outside of the garage and the stones would be on the ground for support haha not above me.
Khalid Alhazmi said:
Check out the SAS survival guide , theres a section on how to build shelter, maybe you can improvise something from your imagination. Be careful with the stones though, it could be very dangerous if the collapse in on you.
If you want to make a "sweat lodge" kind of set up, maybe a teepee shape would be better, you would just need some sticks, and can pick up some cheap tarpaulin.
look into a tipi or yurt yurts are more weather proof in even extreme weather desssert to artic the tension ring design makes them strong and ridgid
the diference is a yurts gonna cost u 5 times more then a tipi
Nolan Plank said:
Not a sweat lodge just a place to sleep outside of the garage and the stones would be on the ground for support haha not above me.
Khalid Alhazmi said:Check out the SAS survival guide , theres a section on how to build shelter, maybe you can improvise something from your imagination. Be careful with the stones though, it could be very dangerous if the collapse in on you.
If you want to make a "sweat lodge" kind of set up, maybe a teepee shape would be better, you would just need some sticks, and can pick up some cheap tarpaulin.
--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1
O.K. I'll look into a tipi. I kinda already understand the concept of how to make a tipi. When I move out I want to make a cobb/mud house from scratch, so that's why I'm looking into that.
So in theory any kind of dirt will work? It ust has to get wet and then dry? I think I need to make a frame.
soaring eagle said:
look into a tipi or yurt yurts are more weather proof in even extreme weather desssert to artic the tension ring design makes them strong and ridgid
the diference is a yurts gonna cost u 5 times more then a tipi
Nolan Plank said:Not a sweat lodge just a place to sleep outside of the garage and the stones would be on the ground for support haha not above me.
Khalid Alhazmi said:Check out the SAS survival guide , theres a section on how to build shelter, maybe you can improvise something from your imagination. Be careful with the stones though, it could be very dangerous if the collapse in on you.
If you want to make a "sweat lodge" kind of set up, maybe a teepee shape would be better, you would just need some sticks, and can pick up some cheap tarpaulin.
well adobe is just mud you mix in straw as a binding agent to give it strength ive used weeds instead..any long fibrouse type stuff
they need to bake in the sun to harden
i made an oven in the middke of a crock hood in an abandoned lot they had collapsed the hi[ouses into the basements and covered em over with soil it wsas claylike..ish..nit really clay but there were clay deposits around nust hardened compacted soil with lots and lots of broken bricks so when we dug our gardens there we pulled out a mpuntan of broken brinks
and built a mud oven and barbacue pit
using chunks of bricks and mud mu=ixed with weeds then when we came to the domed roof of the oven used chicken wisd]==re to give the shape suort while being built
then built a fire inside cranked it up to klike 1500 degrees and baked it till it was solid as rock
now since u cant fire bake your hut make bricks
make a form of wood about 10 inches tall 10 to 12 wide and 14-16 mong in a wheekbarrel or cement mixer make mud add strawor weeds micx it good make the mud thickish but workable
fill your molds (make a dozen or so at a time) and put them our in the sun to dry and bake a long time till they are good anfd hard be sure to protect em from the rain till well baked
next start to build putting a layer of the wet mixture between each brick like u would with cement again let the sun do its thing protect from moisture till baked hard
once finnishes make a thinner mud mixture to go over the whole thing inside and out sealimg it like a stucco
let it harden
in really wet areas u may b=need tip do a touch up layer on the oiutside every so oten do to heavy moisture and erosion
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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1
damn i just spent hours loiking at pics of ferro cement houses and they really are pretty simple to malke but of so amazing
i emailed my family like 100 or more pictures theying to convince them all to start building
funny thing is i think we just sold our house and the 1 we wanted ti buy fell through so in 2 weeks we might need to find a new plan in a hurry
id love to just find some land and start to builf some crazty freeform wildness
i shoulda posted some of the pics here too they were to die for but ill just post 1..my future home
well no..2 i fell in love with both
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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1
