Thread: My Machinery Shed WIP - a bit different!

Thanks Rickey,
I understand now.
Alistair Knox wrote an article on the lack of R value of adobe some years ago in Owner Builder or it might have been Grassroots.
Wait, that would have to be decades ago, not years. Geez time gets away from me.

Anywho, basically it was saying that talk of mud having no ability to stop the transmission of heat merely showed that people had no understanding of how to use thermal mass effectively.
He went on with many claculation and figures to prove his point.
I do remember one quote that compared their ignorance to the early days of mudbrick when people thought the walls would wash away in the first good rain.

When energy rating in houses first started to be required I was designing a second house for our property at the time and locked horns with the building inspectors.
He wasn't about to budge on his views so I gave up. Built something else instead and left him out of the equation.

I wonder what Knox would have to say today if he was still around?

Anyway, enough reminincing. Back to work.

Cheers
Jim

Great work Rickey.

I am impressed with your knowledge and range of projects.

I look forward to more updates.

Thanks Scally.

Time will tell whether I'm up to it ;-)

Rickey

Looks like some good progress Rickey

Out of interest where did you get the dimensions for making your bricks and why did you chose to press them (apart from the obvious speed and strength)?

Do you have any plans for bottles in your walls?

Did a bit more this weekend. Not as much building progress as I would like as the vineyard is demanding attention. We have finished pruning and are about half-way through tying down the vines for the new season.

Finished the brick work on the rear wall alongside the window and then started on the gable wall. Not our ideal window but will look OK when it is all done. It is a machinery shed after all.

I have included some detail of how the window is tied into the brick work. It won't move.

The tyre wall I packed during the week has cracked a lot which I knew would happen but the mud is hanging on really well and not lifting away from the tyres. The cracks will provide a good key for the next coat of render.

Will try and get the lintel in place next weekend and finish the brick work on that section.

With our first mud brick house our bricks were 15" x 10" x 5". That was 25 years ago so we decided to make the bricks a bit smaller this time to reduce the weight. Around 300mm x 220mm x 125mm this time. (Notice how I've gone metric.) The thickness varies depending on how much dirt I put in the press and how wet the mix is. The wetter the mix the less it compacts.

Pressed bricks are a lot easier to make physically but I reckon the main advantage is that you can stack them straight away to dry and even this time of year they can be laid a fortnight later.

Our first mudbrick house was fairly typical mudbrick in how it looked. Check out https://picasaweb.google.com/1173444...eat=directlink

This time we want a mudbrick house that doesn't look like a mudbrick house. So we are using compressed earth blokes which are a lot more regular and will be taking care to get a nice even finish. Check out https://picasaweb.google.com/1173444...eat=directlink for an idea of the finish we're after. So, all the advantage of building with earth but a nice crisp finish.

So, what all that means Patrick, is no bottles!

Regards

Rickey

Looking awesome...

Originally Posted by Rickey Herb

...So we are using compressed earth blokes ....

I tend to agree with this though I find they do complain about the compressing process somewhat

Have made the lintel for the window in the gable wall. It is 75mm x 6mm angle iron and some timber from an old red gum post. Will do the job I reckon. Screwed and glued with polyurethane glued but in reality the angle iron will do all the work. Will brick up to either end then fill the cavity with mud and leave it to set for a week. Basically a mud brick in situ.

Will put it in place on the weekend but wont do much more on the shed. We need to finish the pruning of the grapes and then rotary hoe the vege patch.

Wife has requested a less busy weekend.

Rickey

Put the lintel in place with a bit of mud under it. Will brick in it next trip.

Snowed up there yesterday so just a day trip today to finish the pruning and rotary hoe the vege patch.

Spring has well and truly arrived though..

Rickey

Just back from 3 days up the mountain. Extremely windy yesterday but no damage done. Days like that you're actually glad you had the shed engineered.

Completed another bay of tyres in preparation to building the partition wall. Took around 8 hours to ram the tyres. Got some adjustment to make with the levels but no big deal. That's the beauty of mud. Also packed the tyres with mud which is very time consuming.

Took some time off building and rotary-hoed the vege garden. Still a bit early as we've had snow in September a couple of years ago ( and last week) but ground had dried out enough to hoe. Will leave it for a few weeks and then go over it again. Can't grow a lot up there yet due to the rabbits, kangaroos and deer but will put in a heap of spuds and some pumpkins. Spuds did really well last year. Have some King Edwards and some Dutch Creams. Takes longer to put the hoe on than it does to do the hoeing. Does a very good job though.

Regards
Rickey

Just back from 3 days working on the shed. Dug a trench for the agi pipe down one end of the shed. (no photos). The pipe is at the base of the wall and needs to be installed before I back-fill.

Completed the tyres on the back- wall and after trialling a few of different tamping plates made to order, finally bit the bullet and bought one from the US. I was concerned about the weight of it but it does a fine job. Around 50% time saving I reckon and certainly tamps the clay down nice and firmly. Will be very happy when the last tyre is done; but then there are the retaining walls.

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Bricked around the lintel and filled the lintel with mud. Will complete the brick work at the weekend.
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Also started installing the mounting system for the solar panels. I have one rail in place and will pick up some more mounting brackets today. I have installed the L-Foot brackets quite closely having been up there last week when it blew a gale. Better safe than sorry.

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Plan of the attack for the weekend is to do the initial render on the back wall - basically fill the holes with mud and complete the brick work on the gable wall.

Anyone still interested?

Regards

Rickey

Yep, I'm still interested, been following this thread closely

Thanks DJ

A bit more progress at the weekend but did take it fairly easy. Still knackered from ramming tyres during the week.

Boxed in the top of the tyres in the two bays where I just completed ramming tyres and laid down the Tensar RE510 (a uniaxial grid) and then covered it with mud and screeded it off to provide a flat base for the earth bricks.

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A view across the vineyard of the shed from Jacks Road - the entrance to our property.

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I am also still watching and interested.