And I have, wearily, run out of hole puns so I’ll just show you a picture of where we’re at:
Ali has done 95% of the work: he goes out there every day to do some. I am very pleased that I haven’t had to do it myself and have been able to concentrate on the food-producing work instead, which is very busy at the moment.
So, I think we’ve decided on breezeblock for the retaining wall, disappointing and non-green though that is: it’s the only thing that will be quick enough to build with, otherwise we’ll miss this year’s window of time for building with straw (three months before the first frosts) as we did last years. The boys wanted to use stone, but that would have taken all summer.
Good drainage is the key factor: the land behind the wall will fill up with water and put too much pressure on it if we don’t incorporate a good enough system, which will involve a lot of gravel and drainage pipes. We’re planning to take that water around the side of the house and collect it for crop watering. There are some advantages to being on a steep hill!
The house itself, being partly subterranean, needs its own drainage system so there’ll be pipes under the floor as well, feeding to the same collection point. Then, when we’ve found some suitable tanking material to place between the breezeblock and the straw, we’ll be ready to lay the stone foundations.
We’ve still got to source the straw, and the door and windows… and the render… and the floor and the roof! Much googling to be done.
2 Comments
May 3, 2009 at 7:36 am
It is not so bad. Some people spend too much of their lives in the hole. At least you get out once in a while.
May 3, 2009 at 8:18 am
LOL! Quite so.