Really Cheap Houses & Papercrete, Paper Adobe

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Really Cheap Houses /Papercrete, Paper Adobe, Agstone

Visit this Papercrete information page for basic instruction

and this page on Fibercrete-Cobwood & Alternative recipes

HGTV recently featured a program on subterranean homes, featuring houses built by Lloyd Turner, and the Davis Caves creator.

The Lloyd Turner home was a balloon -sprayed cement dome in Santa Cruz, CA.

Earth berming and earth sheltered homes provide weather and temperature protection, and use far less wood than stick-frame dwellings. See the Rob Roy Complete Book of Underground Homes book below, for extensive building information.

Photo left:Laying lightweight Padobe bricks with papercrete mortar.

In this photo inventor Mike McCain dumps dirt into a batch of papercrete being mixed in a stock tank.

Papercrete Video by Mike McCain!
Introduction to FiberCrete with Mike McCain 90+ minutes of complete information by the inventor himself! How to make and mix papercrete, the barrel mixer construction details, and shows many simple wood forms for blocks and bricks; then pouring and pumping slurry, plus structures he built, tips, and a burn test. Papercrete plasters, roofing, panels, laying up a wall, and lots more. There is nothing like seeing Mike make this stuff to really understand the potential of papercrete mixes for ultra low cost building. Mike has an easy, comfortable way of showing fiber/papercrete to its best advantage; he made this video a couple years ago and never got around to promoting it! It shows everything you need to know about papercrete/fiber mixes but not the newest scissor mixer. Recommended as the best video to begin with. #9015...$30.00 ...Rental- $10.00... ORDER HERE

Building With Papercrete & Paper Adobe: A Revolutionary New Way to Build Your Own Home for Next to Nothing by Gordon Solberg, 2002.
This book describes papercrete, a mixture of Portland cement, sand, and recycled newspapers/magazines, which can be used as a building material. Papercrete is strong (compressive strength of 260 psi), lightweight, holds its shape even when wet, and has a high insulation value (estimatedbut unverified R 2.8 per inch).
It is very inexpensive. Paper adobe is even less expensive, since it is made of paper pulp and dirt. This book contains over 224 photographs; descriptions of formulas, mixers, building techniques, and innovative ideas from the small but growing band of papercrete pioneers who are experimenting and building with this remarkable material.
This is a second, expanded edition of the original 1999 book, compiled from all of the arties in Earth Quarterly and Papercrete News that pertain to papercrete and paper adobe.

Earthbag &papercrete builder Kelly Hart says: Papercrete is a fairly new ingredient in the natural building world. It is basically re-pulped paper fiber with portland cement or clay and/or other dirt added. When cement is added, this material is not as "green" as would be ideal, but the relatively small amount of cement is perhaps a reasonable tradeoff for what papercrete can offer.

I have had a fair amount of experience with this stuff, and I would say that is has some remarkable properties. Care must be taken to utilize it properly, or you could be courting disaster. I am acquainted with both Eric Patterson and Mike McCain, who independently "invented" papercrete (they called it "padobe" and "fibrous cement") and they have both contributed considerably to the machinery to make it and the ways of using it for building.

The paper to be used can come from a variety of sources and is usually free. I've used newspaper, junk mail, magazines, books, etc., which I get from our local dump or from the waste bin at our post office. Depending on the type of mixer that is used to make pulp out of it, the paper might be soaked in water beforehand or not.
#1031....$35.00..Soft cover, spiral bound.ORDER HERE

Building With Bags- How We Built Our Experimental Earthbag/Papercrete Home. VIDEO- by Kelly Hart. 90+ minutes of start-to-finish earth bag building information. By using misprinted polypropelene rice bags, and filling them with earth and pumice the Harts created a unique twin dome home, complete with solar/PV and indoor garden. The video shows building methods using long and short bags, tips and tricks, materials for windows and air vents, failures and problems encountered, plastering with lime and papercrete, plus mixing papercrete in both a drum and tow mixer. Plus he covers electrical installation, plumbing, and a natural rock wall shower they built. Interviews with Shirley Tassencourt who built her earthbag dome after training with Superadobe teacher Nader Khalili, a middle-aged single woman building herself, and a young couple building room-by- room with bags. A poured in place adobe (earthen) floor is shown being built, as well as the Harts tamped soil/scoria (no) foundation construction. Kelly offers an honest evaluation of the work, problems and joys involved in constructing, an earthbag structure, and he details costs for all materials. 90+minutes, printed resource list included. #9013...$30.00 ...Rental- $10.00... ORDER HERE ( see Video Rental page.)

Houses To Go... How To Buy A Good Home Cheap by Robert L. Williams. Teaches how to find and acquire a ready made structure. By following this book's tried-and-true method of purchasing a perfectly livable house that is destined for demolition, and carefully moving it to a suitable parcel of land where it can be mounted on a new foundation and adequately remodeled, all for a fraction of the amount such a home would normally cost! The author has done so several times, and shares his knowledge. Photographs, and many solid tips on how to go about owning a home inexpensively. 1997, 8 x 11, 152 pages, illustrated, soft cover. ( I really like this book for the practical aspect of salvaging ready-made structures, and converting them. Often you can avoid or reduce code & permit hassles because the house already exists! and "remodel/renovation" are not alien words to the building officials.) #8005...$19.00...ORDER HERE

Hopkins

[Also recommended are the videos #1051-Building with Papercrete, and #1081- City of the Sun , shown below, for extensive building information]

Inventor Sean Sands shows off a lightweight brick.All Photos courtesy Gordon Solberg, Earth Quarterly

2 Hour " Building with Papercrete and paper Adobe" VIDEO

Author Gordon Solberg's two hour documentary with information and interviews on papercrete, paper adobe and fidobe. See Mike McCain's ingenious building tools and methods, Eric Patterson's house addition and privacy walls, Sean Sands operating a stock tank mixer and finish plastering his dome home, and several houses made with papercrete, including spray on and slipform techniques. Also shown are papercrete logs, mortars and plasters of this material, and wall forming tips. Narrated by Laura Solberg, this is a low tech video with some sound and light problems due to outdoor filming, but the information is invaluable! A very low cost viga roof beam method is shown, and a clever driver for running the stock tank mixer with an ordinary car, plus footage of a workshop event in building walls for the Earth Quarterly office in NM. Running time 1 hour 58 min. #1051...$35.00.... Rental- $10.00 ( see Video Rental page.)

video- Papercrete-City of the Sun (Build-A-Thon) is now available. Over 60 minutes of discussion on building techniques, philosophy, and on site visits, show how papercrete was used to build several homes. Interviews with Mike McCain; see his latest Scissor-blade mixer in action, plus Danish eco-builder Max Jensen and Sean Sands discuss their application, and life philosophy, on building at such low cost. Other builders are interviewed, and their homes are shown. Much discussion on trail and error with materials such as sealers, water proofers, and construction methods too. #1081...$25.00... Rental- $9.00
[Note: Viewing both videos #1051 and #1081 gives you a complete up to date view on papercrete methods.]

A Sampler of Alternative Homes-VIDEO- Two solid hours packed with interviews, plus inside/outside views and construction of each type of alternative building...including the exciting new material " Fibrous Cement/Papercrete" building method. See recycled waste paper , sand and cement turned into sturdy building blocks, forms, panels, domes, and HOUSES- for an amazing cost of under $1.00 a square foot! Other methods covered are: Strawbale-load bearing, post-beam and dome, Earthships, Cordwood, Thin Shell Concrete Dome, Adobe block (Cinva Ram), Rammed Earth, Earthbag/Superadobe, an Earth Sheltered Kiva, and a city bus conversion to motorhome. #9007...$30.00.... Rental- $10.00 (see Video Rental page.)

Updated! ... Building with (almost) Free Materials-A Series of Articles... by Charmaine Taylor. Explains how to use Cob, Cobwood, Adobe, Agstone, Papercrete, Paper Adobe, Earth bag Rammed Earth, Lime and alternative materials (reed, coir, hemp, jute) for building small projects and structures. Describes finding clay, woodchips, fabrics, testing soil, and how to make and use these materials. Photographs, recipes/mixes, and a history are given. A good starting point for learning about natural & alternative methods, 35+ pages, B&W photos. Unleash your creativity for almost no cost! #1045...$10.00...ORDER HERE

Travel-Trailer Homesteading Under $5,000 by Brian Kelling. UPDATED and reprinted 8/1999. Tired of paying rent? Need privacy away from nosy neighbors? This book will show how a modest financial investment can enable you to place a travel-trailer or other RV on a suitable piece of land and make the necessary improvements for a comfortable home in which to live! This book covers the cost break-down, tools needed, how to select the land and travel-trailer or rv, and how to install a septic system, as well as water, power (including solar panels), heat and refrigeration systems. 1995, 5x8, 80 pages, illustrated, indexed, soft cover. #8006... $10.00... ORDER HERE

New!... Old Booklets from the 1930's-1960's. If you are curious about earthen and adobe building these are a good, inexpensive resource to start with.
NOTE: "The Rammed Earth House", is out of print, this book has similar information in chapters, about rammed earth methods, formworks, building details. Or choose "Modern Pise"-$13., "Rammed Earth Walls"-$6., "Rammed Earth Walls for Farm Buildings"-$10. , and "Earth Wall Construction"-$11. booklets, also listed on this website.
Building with Adobe& Stabilized-Earth Blocks- 1964 : Leaflet #535, USDA . 8 page booklet, 5"x7" size, xerographic. Describes selecting soil; mixing, molding and curing adobe bricks with a form mold and with a Cinva Ram block press (ram photo shown). Explains building walls with cross section diagrams showing construction methods, roof design and attachment. Gives recipes for finish coating walls (plasters)- a casein & TSP wash, limewash and lime plasters. Black and white diagrams throughout. #535..$2.00.....This booklet is FREE when you purchase any other book or video on adobe/earth/cob building! It will be included automatically with your order.
Free with these Books

Inez and Karl Ellington answered letters from all over the world about building with rammed earth.
Modern Pise Building:House building with compressed or rammed earth - A revelation for the Farmer and Settler-1923 : by Karl & Inez Ellington, 105 page booklet, xerographic. It is amazing to realize that Ellington traveled all over Europe and the USA promoting the rammed earth method. He stipulates that each man or "settler" should take advantage of the soil beneath his feet and build a "cozy little home". He describes the foundation, selecting soil; mixing, formworks and a variety y of lime washes. (This is the earliest reference to cooked wheat paste described.) Dozens of photos of houses in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, France, New Mexico & English cob. Covers walls with cross section diagrams showing construction methods, roof design, attachment. Gives recipes for finish coating walls - limewash and plasters. Black and white diagrams throughout. Inez Ellington was a woman who actively promoted rammed earth houses and the "country life". You get a real sense of life in the 1920s, a most charming booklet. (There is a photo of an odd earth block ram press which can only be described as a 'contraption'-levers and gears everywhere!)#2015..SSALE...$13.00.
Adobe Construction Methods: Manual 19 : by LW Neubauer. 35 page booklet, 5"x7" size, xerographic. A very thorough primer for Adobe! Explains how to make and build with adobe bricks. Soil selection, stabilization and waterproofing with cement, emulsified asphalt, lime are detailed. Describes how to build and mortar walls, place lintels, windows, doors, and build roofs. Shows diagrams of construction details from foundation to roof, with correct measurements given. Covers finishing, painting, limewashing, fireplaces and chimneys,. Even describes other tamped earth methods such as English Cob, rammed earth, poured adobe; with photos and diagrams of formworks used. Black and white photos throughout, produced by UC California Agricultural Sciences Dept ,1964. #19...$10.00... ORDER HERE

Adobe & Sun Dried Brick for Farm Buildings-1934 : Farmers' Bulletin #1720, USDA . 18 page booklet, 5"x7" size, xerographic. This wonderful little booklet has photos of 1930s adobe buildings and laborers constructing them; to teach rural farmers this very low cost, fireproof building method. Describes mixing, molding and curing adobe bricks. Explains mud and lime mortars, coal-tar paints, when and how to apply finish plasters. Covers windows, doors, roofs, footings, foundations and chimneys with dimensions given. Shows photo of a very low cost roof of cottonwood logs/willow twig and straw, coated with adobe mud/sod. Black and white photos throughout #1720...$5.00.

Shelters, Shacks And Shanties by D.C. Beard A fascinating book with over 300 pen and ink illustrations and step-by-step instructions for building various types of shelters. Fallen tree shelters; Indian wickiups; sod houses; elevated shacks and shanties; tree houses; caches; railroad tie shacks; pole houses; log cabins; and many more. One of the great classics of outdoor lore. First published in 1914, 5 x 7, 259 pages, illustrated, paperback. #8002...$10.00... ORDER HERE
A Shelter sketchbook-Timeless Building Solutions, by John Taylor This is a book for builders, students and anyone seeking stimulation for imagination. Architect Taylor offers hundreds of intricate sketches and notes on shelters of every kind which are functional and protect the inhabitants� both man and animal. Very similar to Shelters, Shacks and Shanties, with modern aspects of construction described. A good book to remove the mystery of house design. 160 pages, 550 illustrations, 6x9, softcover. #1036...$19.00... ORDER HERE
Low-Cost Pole Building Construction by Ralph Wolfe. If you want to build it yourself, but lack experience, this one-of-a-kind book will save you money, labor, time, and materials in building a small home, barn, or other structure. Involves limited grading, no excavation for a foundation, use of sites unsuited for other types of buildings, good wind resistance, and fewer materials. You can build it yourself with this book. Illustrated with plans, drawings, and photographs. This book will make pole building construction the answer to your building needs. Plans for: *Solar cottage *Woodshed *Small pole barn *Garage, storage and tool shed, *Year-round houses, 192 pages, 8 1/2 x 11, paperback. # 4017... $15.00... ORDER HERE

Books by expert Monte Burch. I like all of Monte's books because he provides good "how to" information and clear drawings throughout which the beginning builder can understand and follow. More extensive description of contents is given here to help you choose which is best for your planned projects. In addition a pole style building allows room for testing alternative wall infills like papercrete or light-straw-clay, thus reducing additional need for wood siding or paneling.

Monte Burch's Pole Building Projects: The Latest in Pole Construction Plans.. 25 Projects are given which include: a workshop, recreational vehicle and barbecue shelter, mobile home cover, livestock shade, a wood shed, grape arbor, a lean to shelter, decking, attached carports, hay barns, sheep or hog sheds, workshop, henhouse, two vacation home designs ( plus sketches of several others), and a Gambrel style barn. Economical pole building construction saves time, labor and money because it requires NO foundation, or excavation and only limited grading, and uses fewer materials. Plus the simplicity and ease of construction of pole buildings makes them ideal for first time builders. Explains poles, treating poles, metal and non metal roofing, making roof trusses, framing tips, door hanging, finishing details.shows several designs for houses based on pole foundations. Photos, line drawings, softcover, charts, 8.5 x 11, 208 pages of great information. #4018...$20.00... ORDER HERE

How to Build Small Barns and Outbuildings: by Monte Burch. A barn or garage can be built for a family's temporary housing while a house is under construction. As builder Rob Roy says, these simple outbuildings serve as mortgage free living spaces while owner builders build their homes. And, outbuildings can continue to serve as barns, storage sheds, and guest quarters or offices once you move into your finished house. This book is aimed at the Do-it-yourselfer on a budget and offers 20 projects for small scale construction, with step-by-step instruction. Photos, drawings, 8.5 x 11, 288 pages, softcover. #4023..$20.00... ORDER HERE

How To Build Your Own Log Home For Less Than $15,000 Author Robert L. Williams and his family built a 4,300 square foot house with no previous carpentry experience. He shares his building strategies and techniques, in 36 detailed chapters; you'll learn the essentials of chainsawing and squaring logs, building foundations, constructing walls and rooftops, installing floors, windows and doors, wiring and plumbing, and much more. Williams' engaging, easy-to-follow text is accompanied by numerous photographs and illustrations to guide you every step of the way. 216 pages, paperback. #4003...$20.00

And how can I end the Dirt Cheap page without:
The Art & Science Of dumpster Diving ..How to get anything free! Furniture, clothing, building materials, tools, good food, even luxury items for free; handing run-ins with police; converting trash to treasures; selling found goods. The author gives an excellent rendition of how he does it, and the best ways to find virtually anything you want for free! Best Seller among the frugal crowd. 8.5x11, 152 pgs, methods you didn't know of ! #9012...$15.00... ORDER HERE

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This is the OLD website for The Dirt Cheap Builder. To order books fast and easy online please click on this Webstore link. It will take you to the same books shown here, and more!

This is the OLD website for The Dirt Cheap Builder. To order books fast and easy online please click on this Webstore link. It will take you to the same books shown here, and more!