Finally, Elisia gets to sit on her porch and relax
This blog tells the tale of how we built a house using as construction materials, old tires, newspapers, bottles, used lumber, scrap metal and a free house trailer.
When we bought the land, we were in our early 50′s. As of this writing (May 2010) we’ve been at it for 5 years and are now 55 and 56 respectively. You can read more about us here.
If you want to know what we’ve been up to lately, read our journal.
Also check out our ever evolving photo gallery to witness the transformation of our house and property over time.
The planning for this project began years ago when we lived in Florida and were still working in our professions (law and nursing). We always talked about wanting to get back to nature, simplify our lives and get out of the rat race. At the same time we wanted to do our part to lessen the negative impact we humans are having on the environment.
Over the years we looked into various alternative building techniques that also used recycled materials. We really liked the idea of an Earthship and knew we wanted to incorporate old tires into our structure. But when we learned about the light weight and versatility of papercrete, we knew this would be something even we could handle.
We were not certain that the two methods (tires and papercrete) had ever been used in combination before, but we knew that the main ingredients would be free and in abundance wherever we decided to build.
Eventually we found 6 acres in North Central West Virginia for $6,000. There was nothing here but an old logging road, so we asked a neighbor for the name of someone with a backhoe and we hired him to put in a driveway and level off a small building site.
We never planned to use a mobile home as our main structure. And, if we had it to do all over again, we wouldn’t. However, we were offered a free trailer just as our lot was being excavated and since it was also bound for the trash heap, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
After the trailer was situated, got an electric pole (soon we will get off the grid) and had a 170′ water well drilled. This allowed us to hook up our 1988 Class C RV onto the land where we lived for 1 and 1/2 years while we worked to make the house habitable.
Before we could really begin work on the actual house, we had to excavate a 6′ by 55′ long section of the hill that rested on the back side of the trailer.
Once that initial excavation was finished (it took about 4 months) we began to simultaneously lay the first tire/wall foundation against the hill and build a frame for the roof over the leaky trailer.
The tire filling and tamping was made much easier after we cut off one of the side walls with a saws-all. We laid the cut and empty tires in a row and filled them with the clay that we excavated from the hill. After each 5 gallon bucket full of clay (it takes at least 5 buckets to fill one tire), using an 8″ tamper, we pounded the clay until it was flat and hard. After the tires are filled to the brim, they become giant, tire-sized clay bricks.
After the first row of tires were packed, we laid another layer, staggered like bricks or blocks — on top of the first and repeated the filling and tamping process.
Once the tire wall was finished, we poured a 12″ by 6″ concrete plate on top of the tire foundation. It was on this plate that we built the frame for the slip forms into which we poured our papercrete slurry.
The framing was made from used and found 2×4′s (we tore down old houses in exchange for the lumber and also purchased inexpensive second from a scrapyard where we also got the roofing metal) upon which we attached sections of scrap plywood. When the papercrete slurry was ready, we poured it into these forms.
After about 3 days, we were able to remove the plywood and move them up for another pour. We repeated this process until each 12″ thick papercrete wall was completed.
In future posts we will describe the process of making and pouring the papercrete. For now, click here and here to see some photos of our project as it is transformed into a home.
Hi Carrie and Elisia
I look forward to seeing your journey in paper. I think it is a fascinating medium for building although I have not tried it myself. Would love to but think I would have quite a battle with the local authorities to get it off the ground. They would just see the word “paper” and that would be it. I have all the engineering docs to prove strength and sustainability but they are a bit slow out here in OZ to trust “new” forms of building.
Wishing you the best of luck with your own building.
Bonnie
PS: We have junk street collections in the suburbs once or twice a year per susburb out here and the “stuff” is phenomenal. They are the times when I wish I had a truck. We are so wasteful !
Thanks for your comment.
Regarding permitting, we did apply and receive one — although no one came prior to or after our construction to inspect it. In the application, we said we have a mobile home (we do) and were adding a roof over the top and two, 6′ X 55′ covered additions, supported by ten 4″ X 4″ posts — also true. The tax collector has visited once a year to make assessments and has been cheering on and encouraging our efforts (the better the home, the more valuable the property maybe).
Our papercrete walls are load-bearing, but we do not rely on them alone as there are 4X4 posts embedded inside the papercrete walls that are also helping to support the walls and roof. And, of course, all of this is situated on top of the tire wall — a structure that consist of massive tire “blocks” (30″ in diameter by 8″ high) and more substantial than a traditional block wall (8″ X 8″ X 16″).
Okay…..it’s been nearly a month now….where are the photos and the stories? I’m anxiously waiting to see/hear more!!!! I live in a mobile home in Texas (hot) and have dabbled in papercrete mostly as an observer for a few years now. I am always searching the internet for more info on papercrete and earthships, etc., and came across your blog. Can’t wait to hear more…….