synchromesh Posted December 22, 2010 Thanks a lot for all of the input, WoodDragon. Not only has it been really helpful to me personally, but it's been really interesting as well. Please keep it up! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
synchromesh Posted December 29, 2010 Build a Log Cabin for $100 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WoodDragon Posted January 2, 2011 Not sure if I've mentioned before on SAB this link, but in case I haven't, check out Simon Dale's great site. I love the æsthetic of the homes illustrated here. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sola Posted January 3, 2011 Great information WoodDragon, I've often wondered how the clay in some spots here would go in walls. I'd like to stabilise and fire them but I'll definitely have to do some experimentation before I settle on a mix and temperature. Don't want to start building only to find some bricks are inferior. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WoodDragon Posted January 4, 2011 (edited) Probably the biggest thing with clay as a building material is its resilience to cracking. Gregory Ah Ket, in his fantastic book 'How to Build a Mud Brick House', describes how to test wet clay, and how to make bricks to test for cracking and water resistance. If the clay has a propensity to crack when dry, straw or cow poop can be used to help stabilise it, or even things like shredded paper. Cement... well, I'm a purist, so my inclination with cracky clay would be to figure out another strategy, and there should be plenty of options beside the ol' bags of portland! Ah Ket's book is hard to find these days as it's a 1986 edition, and because he he died a couple of years ago his publishers probably don't have it on their radar to re-edit, but the Owner Builder Magazine still has it. I'd actually recommend that anyone who has even a mild interest in mudbrick buy it, as they are offering it for $20 at the moment, rather than the usual $38. It's $20 well spent, and I might even buy another couple of copies myself! OB itself is also a great resource, but I much prefer the style of article up to the point that Russell Andrews retired as its editor - I'd recommend chasing up back-issues until about five years ago, before getting the recent issues, but that's just my personal opinion. The magazine has bulk deals for back issues, so it's worth looking into. Edited January 5, 2011 by WoodDragon Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
synchromesh Posted January 4, 2011 Sorry to change the subject, WoodDragon, but could you please give me an estimate of how much it would cost to have a small timber cabin built? We're talking about 25m2, simple lock-up stage, and budgeting wherever possible... Thanks very much. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WoodDragon Posted January 5, 2011 At the moment, and without any knowledge of local council fees and costs, or of the inclusion of owner-builder involvement and recycling/reusing etc, I'd say that you're looking at around $1000 per square metre, plus up to a few hundred extra or minus up to a few score or so less. The design will also dictate a lot of the cost - if you follow the latest standards it'll cost much more than if you do a quiet off-the-record, but still competent, job in the backwoods - assuming that you can avoid transport costs usually required for non-approved construction. The guy at byohouse.com.au had a list of costings at 2002 prices, although with the insane inflation that has been present in the Australian building industry for the last decade and a half it's hard to make any direct comparison with today's costs, even though it was only 8 or 9 years ago. Unfortunately the insanity of conventional domestic building costs bleeds over into the alternative sector because materials, services and/or labour are still often the same or similar, so alternative builders can't always escape the artificial building bubble that we are experiencing. One day, when negative gearing has gone, along with the fantasy that everyone in the country can be a landlord, and when successive governments stop trying to keep blowing up our economic balloon with lungsful of skilled immigrants, the real cost of materials and unskilled or semi-skilled building labour will materialise again, but that's probably still a decade or two away. Curiously, after I started answering this question I G00gled it, and a company called All Australian Architecture pretty much provides the same price range. Again, a competent handman could whittle a few hundred at least off the square-metre cost. Here's a commercial calculator, but it's construction methodology and assumptions are probably more wasteful than what a sensible owner-builder could manage. If you want to do more G00gle searching yourself type something like "how much does it cost to build a house" into the search field, and it you have a predictive completion function you should get some alternatives for your circumstance. Sorry that I can't be more specific, but without knowing the sort of stuff that a quantity surveyor would use, what approach to building you'd take, or even what basic design/style you're thinking about, it's difficult to be precise! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WoodDragon Posted January 5, 2011 On sustainable housing, here's a site with some fantastic short videos. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
synchromesh Posted January 5, 2011 That's quite a lot man. I was thinking that I could have it done for less than $10,000 (not including electrics and so on). Anyway, I've gotta go now, so I'll give you a proper reply later. Cheers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WoodDragon Posted January 5, 2011 Syncro. If you do it carefully then sure, $10K is possible. It would probably mean a lot of canny sniffing around for decent second hand stuff, and using a lot of your own labour, and if you're excluding gear like electrics and maybe even plumbing then you're a couple of jumps ahead. It's not difficult to do some rough quantity surveying to get an idea. Make a list of the things that you need and that you want in your cabin, and roughly how much of each, and then it'll fall into place. If you're building in an area where you'll definitely need approval, then fees for bureaucrats and professionals start to quickly add up... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
synchromesh Posted January 6, 2011 A Tiny House in Australia The guy at byohouse.com.au had a list of costings at 2002 prices, Yeah, I know. I posted it earlier in the thread. It helped some, but not much. Sorry that I can't be more specific, but without knowing the sort of stuff that a quantity surveyor would use, what approach to building you'd take, or even what basic design/style you're thinking about, it's difficult to be precise! Just a standard rectangle with a couple of extra walls really. Nothing special. Anyway, nevermind.. it looks like it's fate that I find out the hard way. Thanks for your time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WoodDragon Posted January 6, 2011 Synchro. Nice link. Although the pics there seem to be dead, I've bookmarked the link to tinyhouseforum.com. If you are interested in small houses, you'd probably like Sarah Susanka's two books. They're a bit coffee tabley, but they have some nice photos and designs. Gee, I feel like a goose for repeating the byohouse link! I guess that's the trouble when threads meander for months and you don't reread them... We should probably compare notes over the next few years. I'm hoping to start a strawbale/mudbrick studio next year, probably double the size of your shack, and I'm hoping to do it for under $40k by the time it's finished. It's still an involved project though, with peir-and-beam footings to reach solid rock, and with a green roof, so I could well be having myself on. As you say, we'll find out the hardway... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
synchromesh Posted February 14, 2011 http://www.livinginacave.com/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
