This is the OLD website for The Dirt Cheap Builder. To order books fast and easy online please click on this Webstore link.

Papercrete experimentor Sean Sands' bottle dome

Be Sure to Bookmark this page so you can return.

To read/join email groups on all building topics go to:
http://www.groups.yahoo.com

You can JOIN but get NO emails if you want, just read the list messages online at your convenience. This prevents mailbox clogging from too many messages

earthfriendly and Self-Sufficient Architecture... email to: essa@csf.colorado.edu... A lively discussion group of owner-builders covering all types of building, materials used , methods and sources for products, recycled materials and more. DISCUSSES: Papercrete, earthbag, solar, plasters, off the grid living, Earth ship-rammed earth tires, and much more.

Homestead list -All list commands are sent by addressing an email message to listproc@listserv.oit.unc.edu ...with a blank subject. Type the command you wish in the BODY of the message. To subscribe to the list, type: SUBSCRIBE HOMESTEAD Your Name (Substitute your real name for "Your Name" in the command, e.g. SUBSCRIBE HOMESTEAD Bob Smith) To unsubscribe, type: UNSUBSCRIBE HOMESTEAD.
The Homestead mailing list is a general information exchange forum and cyber-community of folks who are interested in self sufficient living of all sorts. We discuss such diverse topics as growing your own food, house building and maintenance, livestock care, water and energy systems, farm equipment use and maintenance, raising kids in the country, re-learning traditional crafts, home and farm safety - well, you get the idea!

Renewable Energy E-Mail List News Subscribe: majordomo@igc.org
Type in the body: subscribe renewable-energy
about renewable energy and a forum for discussion of energy policy and related environmental issues such as global climate change.

Waste mailing list. at web: http://www.cedar.univie.ac.at/waste/
Forum for scientific discussion on the one hand by people who are distressed by the negative effects which their wastes can take on our natural environment (soil, water, air and the seas) and on the other hand by people involved in collecting, fractioning, conditioning, recycling or dumping wastes. To subscribe: Send an e-mail to: majordomo@cedar.univie.ac.at
In the body: subscribe waste your@email.address
All postings at this group are saved in a database. You can read them at the following URL: http://www.cedar.univie.ac.at/archieves/waste/maillist.html

Willing Workers for Appropriate Technology email:wwat@lists.greenbuilder.com- a group which exists to help people willing to work on projects to connect with others needing building assistance and related on the job assistance. Type "Subscribe" in the subject line, not the body to add your e-mail address to the list of subscribers you will then receive all posts you are then allowed to post from that address

US DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Clearinghouse (EREC) Internet: (E-mail) doe.erec@nciinc.com Web http://erecbbs.nciinc.com
Web: http://www.eren.doe.gov
Solar and Energy Efficient House Plans, available on the Internet at http://erecbbs.nciinc.com/
(actual article site: ftp://204.243.73.5/library/REE/VI2.TXT )

STRAWBALE, Greenbuilding, Bioenergy, and other egroups :
http://crest.org/discussiongroups/index.html

1. Toward Less Waste and Pollution by Design
2. Adobe: A Code Official's Perspective
3. Adobe: A Present from the Past
4. Sandbag / Superadobe / superblock: A Code Official Perspective
5. Earth Architecture and Ceramics: The Sandbag / Superadobe / Superblock Construction System
6. Pozzolans unpuzzled: As Mineral Admixtures, Fly Ash and Other Waste
7. Products Add Strength and Durability to Concrete
8. Rammed Earth: Developing New Guidelines for an Old Material
9. Rammed Earth: A Code Official Perspective
10. Building a Sustainable Future
11. Straw-bale Construction: A Building Official's Perspective
12. Straw-bale Construction

FAQs About Straw Building at: http://strawbuilding.org/sb/faq.html

National Association of Home Builders at www.nahb.com extensive information on all aspects of building, plus great links to other sites.

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dave knapp's Super Link Site: All about Solar Energy, Earthships, and more! , go to: http://www.geocities.com/enchantedforest/Mountain/5560/

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Women Build Houses at http://www.teleport.com/~sparkling/wombuild.htm or email at wbhwbhwbh@aol.com ..This is a network of women dedicated to increasing women's skills in construction and building, offers many workshops and classes teaching cob. strawbale, energy use, solar and much more. Call 520-206-8000. located at 1050 S. verdugo, Tucson, AZ 85745.

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A wonderfully inspiring woman-built strawbale house, by patricia Kerns at http://www.twistedroad.com

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House Plans to buy: Low cost plans, nicely designed conventional housing:
Visit: http://www.southerndesigner.com/

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Western Wood Products Assoc. at http://www.wwpa.org
This is a teriffic site for info on wood, such as load and dead weight requirements, and they offer many very low cost booklets on wood grades, usage, specifications. email them at info@wwpa.org

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Building with Lime

If you're interested in using earth-friendly lime instead of Portland cement try these sites for good information.
Lime for Natural Building...a Taylor Publishing site all about using lime for plastering strawbales and other uses. Lots of photos and information.
National Lime Association at http://www.lime.org Has many low cost booklets on technical aspects of lime.
Lime Online italy at http://www.limeonline.it
Has many good articles in English, and by Harry Francis (calxa@aol.com), lime consultant and former technical manager of the nla in the US.
Natural Cement , at http://www.naturalcement.com, is all about a unique European limestone with amazing properties of fast hardening.
Articles on Pozzolans (clay binders for lime) The best site is the
National Parks Service online at http://www2.cr.nps.gov/tps, an excellent list of preservation and restoration articles, many are good for natural building.
Also see this article at http://www.qcl.com.au/pozz/tech/poz_tncn.htm

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Mike Wye's Cob & Lime website. Has free information such as: Recipes for limewash vary throughout Devon, England let alone the UK, Europe, the world... so there's no right answer. Pure limewashes don't have skimmed milk in them, these are called lime-casein paints as casein is the binding material in skimmed milk. A traditional limewash is made from mature lime putty and water mixed 1 to 1 with either animal fat (tallow) added into the putty when its slaked or with added raw linseed when mixed. Raw linseed oil is readily obtained where farming is undertaken. Earth pigments for colouration are mixed into a paste with warm water and added in to the limewash as its prepared. You can make a lime putty by soaking hydrated lime with an excess of water, mixing well and leaving a couple of weeks to fatten up the lime. This is the original method of using hydrated lime rather than as a powder additive. If you make a lime-casein paint ( with casein or skimmed milk) it requires extra additives such as borates to dissolve the casein properly and there is only a limited time for using the paint once prepared as calcium caseinate is precipitated. Skimmed milk is prone to bacteria attack and discolouration on any damp walls or any subject to condensation.

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Burlap & geo-materials
http://www.rolanka.com
http://www.nyp-corp.com/
http://member.aol.com/daybag/nursery.html
http://www.gwestern.com/
http://www.floridaplants.com/uesco/Default.htm
http://www.breedonbag.com/
http://www.farberbag.com/index.htm

Pigments for Lime and Paint
http://www.plastermaster.com/pigment/index.htm
http://www.mineralpigments.com/davis/Tech/04200.html
http://www.lambertsw.com/mortar.htm
http://www.bayerus.com/pigments/literature/construction.html

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Off the Grid Related

A Simple Design Methodology for Passive Solar Architecture: http://www.newmex.com/architectVRe/html/SolarDesignb.html

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Handling "Humanure" at http://www.jenkinspublishing.com/humanure.htm
We now carry the Humanure Handbook II, #7006, $19.00, an updated and revised version- 1999-with color photos. Composting waste safely is important, Jenkins shows how.

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A Solar Food Dehydrator you can build at http://www.cybertrails.com/lcrcd/

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Aprovecho Research Center at http://www.efn.org/~apro
The research center dedicated to energy and natural construction alternatives. The rocket stove invented her, has sb dorms, a cob house, offer workshops and classes in permaculture. Mail: Aprovecho Research Center, 80574 hazelton rd Cottage Grove, OR 97424, email apro@efn.org.

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The Home Water Supply: How to find, filter, store and conserve it by stu Campbell. Knowledgeable discussion of home water systems, potential water problems, and practical solutions. Photographs, line drawings, 8.5x11, 240 pages, paperback. #7020...$19.00

A great site for rainwater information, and a booklet you can download in pdf format is the Texas Water Development Board at http://www.twdb.state.tx.us, you can call them to request a copy of the booklet, (512)463-7955, very useful even if you don't live in TX. Plus sending a small donation for the booklet (for non-Texas residents) is appreciated.
An article on water consumption and requirements is at http://www.who.int/peh-super/lecture3.1/14.htm.
Or order Safe Rainwater Collection...#7560...$12.00 The harvesting of rainfall and runoff water. Shows how to use roofs to catch water efficiently, safely, plus storage direction, purification information and method using sunlight, chemicals to use or avoid, filters, water storage case histories ( a traditional house method and an Earthship system.)

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Assorted Sites of Interest

Small Farm Digest at http://www.reeusda.gov/smallfarm.
The new Office of Small Farms and Sustainable Development can be contacted at smallfarm@usda.gov or call the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (csrees) Small Farm infoline at 1-800-583-3071.
Small Farm Digest may be subscribed to (free) by e-mailing bhodges@reeusda.gov

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Log House Builders Assoc. at http://www.premier1.net/~loghouse/

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Bow Roofing site

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icf :Insulated Concrete Forms - These are concrete forms made from foam insulation board, often EPS. They come in a variety of different sizes and configurations, depending on their purpose and the manufacturer. Most types use insulation board on both sides, with metal or plastic ties to hold the two sides together when the concrete is placed. They are very light, hence easy to work with, compared to metal or plywood forms.

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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!

Priority mail is recommended for fastest delivery.