foundation

Well, finally the foundation is progressing. I finally have the keys in place and starting to fill it with rocks. Next step is to put a concrete topper of six inches to attach the logs. I am also in the process of making a cob bench between two trees. I am taking pictures, but it is difficult to upload them from the library computer. My next project is a cob bread oven, for making bread and pizza. I have assembled our rocket mass heater out of the house first, in order to see how it functions, and to make any adjustments that would be necessary. I know it must be hard to picture such a house or bench from just the words, but it is going great, and I will find a way to upload pictures, eventually.

Time

Well this is a good or bad time for me. I was just terminated from my position at the Day Care, since we are an at will state, they gave no reason. So now I have a lot of time to get going on this house and have a place to live before winter. I am continuing to find bricks for our outdoor stove and our indoor heating system. I still need to find some logs for the roof and our loft for sleeping. I have located some windows and some window glass and still in search of a few more doors. I have created a list of things that I am looking for and posted it on the local grocery store window. In hopes that someone will be cleaning our their garage and find something that I could use and will put to good use. It will be difficult to get pics up on here since I do not have a great camera, but I will continue to use my phone for those types of things.

Foundation keys

I have been looking for a few scraps of plywood or metal to hold the rock rubble foundation, while I fill it with rocks now, the other side will fallout if I do not have a brace for when I add on later or next year. I have found some metal and found a few pieces of plywood just today. Now I can get to some serious dirt sifting and add to the rock rubble foundation. I can't help but think this is a lot of work and it is taking a long time. But, when I moved here it was to build a house first and foremost. However, I found a job that has consumed a lot of my time(especially through more education) and I am left wondering if I will have a house this winter, is my job really more important than my having a home, should I quite for a while and finish the house? please feel free to add a comment about this dilemma. Sometimes I am too close to the issue to see it clearly, and could use some advice from my friends. thanks so much.

Hello to all:
I know I have not been on here much lately, wish it was because I was building. I still do not have a completed foundation. I decided to add a greenhouse addition for next year, and needed to add the keys into the foundation, so it will be easier to build later.

That is the first keys that I put in for a bedroom later, there are two of them but only one in the picture. The next image is of my drain line that will go on down the hill to a gray water holding tank.

So far I have not found a drain for the bottom of the foundation to make it a french drain. I may just go ahead and use flat rocks, or bricks to finish it off, so that I can get started on the rock portion of the sifting.

Foundation and classes

Well my foundation is going great, but taking another o9nline sollege course is interrupting me a bit. It is an intensive writing course and I am already bogged down from it. Hope to get some balance back in order and continue with the filling of the foundation trench and topping it with a limecrete base to start the mudding.
As for classes, right now they are free and we are calling them mudding parties for all my friends who are interested in the whole process. Next year it may be a different story. If you are interested and want to come to a house site and see it first hand, call me, at 719-937-3327. If you are out of the area just keep up with this blog and possibly I will start videos on youtube under my pinkrosebud88 name soon as we are mudding. You can always come visit me I will give you directions and my address when you call. Happy House building to all.

Foundation (complete)

Well this weekend was Mother's Day, but I still worked on getting things done to complete the foundation. The circle is complete and we are getting ready to lay the bricks for the drainage system, and I built a sifter to sift all the dirt extracated from the trench. These rocks will then go back into the trench to make the rock rubble portion. Then afterwards we will lay the limecrete and start the stem wall, then finally we get to the mudding.
I know I have not posted pictures in a while so this week I will take more and post them soon.

Pictures of my Hike on Easter

On Easter my son and I hiked up to the top of the Mountain, that is behind our property. The hike took us about 2 hours to get to the top, which is about 10,000 feet above sea level. I took some pictues while at the top of this mountain, and here they are.

Foundation updates

Hi everyone!
Well it was a productive weekend, even though it snowed on Sunday. I have a completed circle that is to the right depth. Now I am adding the legs for the additions for next year so that they will not have issues with seperation.I will still have to level the floor of the trench so that I have a 1 1/2 inch drop for every 4 feet. For that I have bought some clear tubing and making a water level. I could just make a wedge for my 4 foot level, but I have no saw, maybe I will just ask the neighbor to cut me one. Next I have to be sure the walls are all 2 feet wide and then I can start putting in the drain systems. I will post pictures of the completed trench very soon.
You should have seen me shoveling in the snow and cold on Sunday, it was an awful time, but I am determined to complete the foundation as quickly as possible.

foundation

Well this week was a big letdown. I have a sinus cold that has put a stop to all outdoor activities, because of all the wind and how it makes ya just cough all the time. I did do some digging but not nearly enough. I still have a few days to get more done, and will have to wear a scar over my mouth in order to get any rocks removed. We also have rain and snow for the next four days, but that will not totally stop me. I just drove though what looked like a white out, but it was all dust. That should tell you how bad the wind gets across the valley floor and all the dirt that is flying around hurts a little on your skin. So I will be wearing glasses and a scarf in order to get anyhting accomplished for this weeks progress.

It does look like I will be conducting some sort of classes for a few friends that are interested in the proccess of Cob structures. I am going to call it a mud party, and serve food and drinks. Should be a lot of fun and a good deal of mud to be stomped too. This will take place as soon as the foundation is complete and we have a stem wall in place. So maybe a few more weeks.

Meka's Cob Cottage

This video helped me to make the decision to start researching cob housing, and my final decision on purchasing a piece of land in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. I loved the glass bottles that give color to the room, the free form for windows and the total package of artistic expresion. Ok, so the music is a little funky, but just turn down the volume and turn up your own radio, and enjoy.

Foundation again

Well this weekend was a little slow. We hit some areas with extensive rocks and they are slowing us down considerablly. We took a day off at the beginning of the week so my daughter could get married, boy was that an experience!  Then it rained yesterday, so the digging should be good for the next few days. The rain seems to loosen the soil out here, and makes the going easier. I can't wait to get started.

Photos of the Foundation and Our area

East side of the Main Room

Full view of the Main Room

Mount Blanca from our driveway

Mount lanca once again

Our rock rbble pile

Sunset over the San Luis Valley

South side of the Main Room

Our beautiful sunsets

Foundation

Well this week was not a total letdown, even though it snowed and got very cold. I made about half of the main room foundation to a depth of 35" and was surprised by how easy it was to dig this weekend. I was so happy that it was going so good that I just couldn't stop. I was brought breakfast at the site, but took my lunch in the camper. Around four oclock it started to snow, so we called it quits for the day. The cold was upon us so fast that we were suprised, by the snow. We were wondering how can it snow when it is not that cold, well we were working hard and creating our own heat, so when we stopped for a few minutes that's when we realized that it was downright chilly. By the time we got to the camper it was very cold. Calling it quits for the day was hard, but a necessity, nobody needs to get frostbite while digging. So I hope that by next weekend I will be done with the main room and can start on the bedroom foundations.

Foundation

We started our foundation last Fall and didn't get very far. So this Spring's thaw made it easier to dig in our rocky soil. We currently have a rough circle of about twelve feet with a two foot wide trench that will be around thirty inches in depth. I hope this is below the frost line, I have gotten many different responses to the question of how deep our frost line actually is at our elevation. We are almost done with the main circle and now are looking at where and how big our next two circles (for bedroom's) will be placed. Overall we should have around six hundred square feet. We may not build the whole house the first season, but we will get the main room finished, and make sure that we will be able to add the bedroom's next season. I hope to post pictures soon of our progress and a rough drawn floor plan and exterior view.