Foundation At Various Points
Wednesday, May 6, 2009 at 11:41AM 
The Current State of Boden-Haus
The following pictures are how the above came to be...
The foundation was carefully marked and digging began.
This was the seond layer of digging, and the foundation here is about 20 inches deep.
This is the third layer of digging, and the foundation is about 30 inches deep.
Inside the foundation after the third layer of digging.
This is the foundation after the fourth layer of digging, 38 inches deep. The sides and the bottom of the foundation are cleaned up, and 10.3 tons of gravel have arrived.
The gravel is layered about every 6-8 inches and then tamped down. This is the first layer.
This is the start of the third layer.
The third layer is completed thanks to Rachel's amazing tamping skills.
Rachel, doing her thang.
Fourth layer is completed.
The last layer of gravel is completed, and what will be the floor is excavated.
On top of the gravel will be mortarted sandstone. The process of obtainng the stones was an arduous one here illustrated in pictures.
We considered using these large limestones from an abandoned railroad tressel, but the task of moving them to the site of the Boden-Haus would be too great an effort in light of minimizing the embedded energy of the Boden-Haus. So we looked for a closer, easier source...
This above sinkhole, a dumping ground for farmers for decades, proved an excellent source for fieldstones.
Some of the fieldstones we wheelbarrowed to the Boden-Haus site.
All stacked up, 6-8 tons.
The current state of the Boden-Haus.
The cornerstone is laid!!!
Naptime after 2 weeks of hard work.
Sleep comes suddenly for the weary (including the two cats).
Reader Comments (6)
i've never really observed the process of a house getting built, so this is so cool. 6-8 tons of stones! (but they are all so smooth and nice-looking!) hope you are all getting good rest after working every day.
Hey there,
This looks like a cool project. Can I feature it on my blog? The scans of the old books are wonderful!
let me know
Kathy
REi4E
Hello, thank you for their generous and valuable information.
Cordial greeting,
David Riverao
Great job on the house and your blog. I'm preparing to build a rammed earth house in Oaxaca, Mexico. I've got my forms for the straight sections of wall but the corners are giving me trouble. It looks like you overlapped the wailers and bolted a 4x4 at the right angle. Could you give me more info or pictures please. Thanks.
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Thanks for sharing your story. I also built a rammed earth building. I used 1/10 cement and the walls are 12" thick. I really want to build another with NO CEMENT.
I have blocks of raw rammed earth that have lasted for a very long time with no cover. I have a large raw rammed earth block in my barn that would dust when you rubbed it's surface. I coated it with polyurethane and it really made a nice finish.