Category Archives: House Project

The house project

The Backhoe

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backhoe

WIN_20140715_133455We have Kubota L3200 tractor and we got the backhoe attachment today. We will be starting construction on the out building in the next few weeks so it will come in handy.

We are also using the tractor in the garden. We plowed up our whole backyard. We use it to prepare the yard for the next seasonal garden.

WIN_20140715_133427So far, we have been really happy with the tractor. We have had it for two seasons and it really preforms well. I have never has a tractor before and I didn’t know that you just interchanged the parts for the different jobs.  I didn’t grow up on a farm so the best we had was a riding lawn mower.

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The Piggy built his house of straw

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jhvty

The Piggy that built his house out of straw!

Why straw?

Straw bale houses are made when you stack hay bales as the structural building blocks of the home. The outside of the walls is finished with plaster, cement or adobe. It is a natural way to construct a building.

strawbale_walls_bareThe first straw bale buildings were not meant to be permanent. One of the oldest recorded straw bale house was ate by cows in 1896. It was a schoolhouse in Nebraska. Building with straw bales died out after World War I when cement became popular.

One of the reasons we are looking into this type of construction is its ability to withstand high winds. Where we are moving, it is very windy. This type of construction is very cost effective, as straw is very cheap. It is fireproof, resists mold and is a highly effective insulator. This will mostly eliminate the need for additional heating and cooling for most of the year.

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