{"id":317,"date":"2018-12-11T11:54:51","date_gmt":"2018-12-11T16:54:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jaywarmke.com\/?page_id=317"},"modified":"2022-02-14T14:32:59","modified_gmt":"2022-02-14T19:32:59","slug":"earthship-construction","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bluerockstation.com\/earthship-construction\/","title":{"rendered":"Earthship Construction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Our Earthship Experience:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Earthship in early stages<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

So, what exactly is this thing?<\/strong>
Christened an “Earthship” by designer\/architect Michael Reynolds, literally hundreds of these homes (made primarily from old automobile tires and beer cans) have been constructed in the southwestern U.S.  This project was the first Earthship constructed within the state of Ohio.  

The Earthship concept is pretty cool – homes that take advantage of the natural heating and cooling properties of the earth, passive heat from the sun, discarded and problem waste materials and then mix these together with a vision towards protecting the environment. The result is a comfortable and peaceful place to live.  If you want to find more background on the concept (and a whole lot more), check out the source at  www.earthship.org. 
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Our Experience<\/strong>
After attending a workshop put on by Solar Survival, reading all the books, and purchasing a set of generic blueprints… we were ready to go.  We decided to give this thing a try, taking our vast background in construction (in other words… none at all) and figure it out as we went along.  It became our summer project for  a number of years.  But work was not steady. Our progress was constantly interrupted by work. And then we went and lived a few years in Europe. We eventually returned to the US in the autumn of 2004 (a bit reluctantly) and steadied ourselves to finish this project.  This was the beginning of Blue Rock Station.

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Main entrance in 2021<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Back sometime in the early 90’s, Annie was listening to our local radio station in Tampa (a great little community radio station called WMNF<\/a>) to an interview with Michael Reynolds describing an interesting house he had designed for actor Dennis Weaver.  She looked into it a bit, then suggested we consider building one on some property we owned in Ohio.  Foolishly I nodded my head and soon found myself in Taos, New Mexico  – out in the middle of the desert pounding dirt into old tires. 

So just how do you go about building an Earthship like this?  There are a lot of great web sites out there that do a terrific job in describing the process.  There are also a number of books available that are quite helpful if you want to go further, but since you are here – we put together a fairly basic overview to give you a taste:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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First summer pounding tires<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n


Pounding the tires…\ufeff<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We all know the problem… hundreds of thousands of tires fillings landfills for generations to come.  Nobody pretends that Earthships are the sole answer, but they are a great way to put thousands of these eyesores to good use. 

We used about 1,400 tires in the initial construction of our Earthship. 

The tire itself is little more than a mold to hold rammed earth in place.  It generally takes about two wheel barrow loads of earth to fill each tire.  Simply take the stuff that has been excavated from your site, shovel it into the tire and spend the rest of the summer swinging a sledge hammer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people ask if there is any regulatory issue (or code issue) in using the discarded tires.  I suspect it varies greatly from place to place – but here in Ohio at the time we were building, we were required to contact the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) since we were going to use more than 100 tires (less is apparently not regulated).  The folks there were great to work with and actually provided us with the tires from an illegal dump site.  They visited several times to make sure we were storing the tires properly (avoid mosquitoes) and even helped pound a few.  Someone was kind enough to share the current regulations, so we will share them here with you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beneficial Use of Tires<\/a> (from the Ohio EPA, GD #671)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a couple of tires, you will find you develop your own style.  Most people end up pulling the inside rim of the tire up with their hands and shoving the loose dirt into the tire.  Then you begin pounding with the sledge.   

Once filled to the brim, level the tire to itself and in respect to the tires around it.  If you do this right, the entire wall should end up standing straight and tall. 

The good folks at Solar Survival don’t seem to suffer from some of the same difficulties we encountered during this phase of the project.  We were told that they often have so many volunteers showing up on site, that they interview them and only accept those that show promise.  

We, on the other hand, placed ad after ad in the local newspaper trying to get anyone who could swing a sledgehammer to come out and work – and we even would pay them, with Catlyn supervising.  

Admittedly pounding tires is really hard work, but we still managed to go through about 60 “strong young men” during the course of the summer (in an effort to keep 3-4 working at any one time).  Some lasted less than a day.

Surprisingly we found the people who lasted longest and did the best work were middle-aged men and young women. I don’t know what that says about anything… but I thought I would throw it in for all to ponder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Laying the Foundation…<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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After the walls were built, we added a concrete floor<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

After selecting the suitable site, you clear your patch of heaven and lay out a rough image of the Earthship’s footprint.  All that dirt and clay and rock that is being scraped away is what you will use to fill those hundreds of tires. 

The house “floats” on this foundation – which typically causes traditional builders to cringe (they want to build deep footers).  I am perfectly happy to buck conventional construction wisdom (as I know no better).  Fortunately we did not have to put this theory to the test as we were resting on bedrock after scraping off the topsoil. 

One thing that the experts (Earthship experts that is) recommend is that you pile your earth right in the middle of where you will be working.  This is good advice, saving miles of pushing a wheelbarrow around before your project is finished. 

Of course you need to be very careful in placing your first layer of tires, as everything keys off these.  Measure and check and double check and measure again.  

Then you just keep building up the courses, ensuring they are level and solid.  It is also a good idea to level them vertically as you go, avoiding future work when it comes to mudding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


The Earthship’s roof…\ufeff<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps one of the trickiest challenges we faced in this construction project was to build a roof that didn’t leak.  Since Earthships were born out in the desert southwest, I suspect the folks out there didn’t give it much thought.  But here in wet southeastern Ohio, it is a major concern.  The unique “V-shaped” design of the roof is especially vulnerable.   So take great care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have struggled with leaks now for 20 years. If I had it to do over, I would not have incorporated the “V” shaped roof, opting for a simple shed roof design, highest in the front, lowest in the back. We finally seem to have solved the problem (all metal and ultra flashed) – but it has been a royal pain in the butt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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