Strawbale update - final renos for 2009 done

With our last push before winter, we finished up the final renovations on the strawbale additition including soffits and fascia, eaves troughs, building the fence across our driveway, and installing a woodstove! The last bit for December is to build a wooden deck along the back of the addition (the hens like to roost here, and it will help keep snow off the plaster walls - for next year it will provide the nicest view of the pond and garden and will be prime relaxing space with a bench or hammock!). For next year...living roof, front porch, landscaping, more fruit trees on new driveway garden space...etc (lots of time over the winter to dream about all of this).

After some debate, the woodstove we chose to heat the strawbale space was a tiny Jotul. These stoves have been made in Norway since the 1890s and come with a great reputation. The one we have is the smallest model as we really only need to heat about 600 square feet with it - our living room and bedroom in the strawbale addition. The clincher was that it has a cookplate, so we can always have a kettle on for tea, or a pot of soup warming...Typing here with a little fire warming my back, I know this was the right decision. It was a little chilly with no external heat in this addition last winter - though extra socks, slippers, sweaters and quilts did go a long way to providing comfort. Now the room is really cozy and feels festive with faint smell of woodsmoke in the air.

Documenting strawbale - Almost Final Plaster

We're nearing the end of the strawbale plastering - we are now on the final lime plaster, with two more walls to finish. Then come several coats of whitewash. We are also now into fall weather, which means that time is running short for this house project - if the weather drops to below freezing the lime will fail and we'll be at this again in the spring. Since the weather has been around 4-6 C at night lately (and feeling very chilly) there is a pretty big rush to get this done over the next week or two, although the coats need adequate drying time so can only go on so quickly. We've heard of many a strawbale house project that got into cold weather and had to either wrap the house until spring, or use tarps and heaters to finish the walls. I guess it's not unusual for this type of project to take longer than expected, especially when so much is being done by hand and is a learning experience for us. Some photos here show how the walls need to be scratched so that additional coats adhere; walls need to be continuously misted so they don't dry too quickly; the white lime colour which can be tinted to other shades (e.g. using pigment used for cement stucco). The lime we are using has been soaking in pails for over a year - we've heard of builders soaking lime for many years (the longer the better). It's also incredibly drying on the skin! Hard to believe we are this far on the house project - some days have seemed like we'd never get it done. It's been almost a year and a half since we started. Thanks again to all the hands that have helped out! There have been a few key invaluable people we can call on to help out for a few hours when we've gotten overwhelmed by this house task (there are days) - you know who you are.

More strawbale plastering

Strawbale Documentation: Third coat of plaster

It's almost September...fall is in the air...we've been wearing extra layers, adding a quilt at night, and thinking more seriously about making a final decision on what woodstove to buy for our addition. The garden is nearing it's summer harvest end, and we've planted some fall crops like fresh greens and more kale. With all the rain lately we've been collecting an enormous amount in our 1200 litre tank (overflowing numerous times during some storms!), and I've been able to have fresh rainwater to use in all my soap batches! This makes a superior soap in my opinion.

We're also feeling the final push on the strawbale house addition - and the third coat of plaster is taking shape. We had a few groups of people come by to help, including local friends, and a few CRAFT interns from two nearby organic farms (Everdale and Ignatius Farm, both near Guelph). Thanks to everyone who has been so helpful on this project!

Strawbale House Update - Volunteers Welcome for Plastering Work!

We've completed one coat of the plaster on all four walls of the strawbale house!! This is a huge accomplishment, given the plastering started in earnest on the hottest days of the year. We are grateful for this weather though, as the heavy rains of July have held us back. Now we just need to ensure that the plaster walls don't dry out too quickly, which is easy enough to do by misting them gently every few hours during a hot day. There are three more coats of plaster to do, the top being a very thin skim coat to finish off. The walls are still very rough at this point, but with each layer we even out the bumps and lumps from the strawbales underneath, and the walls take on their characteristic rounded earthy look. Beautiful!

We are hoping to organize some workbees - if anyone in town is reading this post and wants to learn about plastering, please contact us or drop by. You only need gloves, and it's done by hand. The trowels are used in the final coat to smooth things out, or create a more evenly textured finish.

Documenting strawbale - clay slip

A quick update on the strawbale house - we sprayed on the clay slip yesterday, and today the lime plaster is being mixed for the first exterior coat. The clay slip helps prepare the wall, aiding with adhesion when the first full plaster coat goes on. Lots of work still ahead...

Documenting strawbale - starting exterior plaster

Here are a few photos of the straw bale house again. The wrap-around porch is now nearly completed (roof still to be added, and deck boards to put down). All the protective paper has been removed from the walls, the soffit and fascia are on (ahhh, no more possibility for birds, squirrels or mice to get into the roof!). Despite all the rain lately, we've managed to keep the straw walls dry. Tomorrow we spray on the first clay slip on the walls - we are renting a texture sprayer for doing this - and then the first coat of plastering starts on the weekend! Exciting! Hope to organize a workbee soon, as plastering will take several weeks and is hands-on labour intensive work...there won't be much time to blog here for a few weeks, but I hope to keep up a photo journal.

House renovations - porches continue

Still working on the straw bale house addition, amidst scattered showers we seem to be having every few days this summer. The porch posts have been set, the rafters are up, the today the metal fascia was finished. Plastering will hopefully be starting soon...

Staking Tomatoes and Strawbale House Renos

There's been a lot of rain this summer already. One farmer friend who lives west of the city told me she had 4 inches of rain in one downpour, and her lettuce was drowning in large lakes that had formed on her hard, slow-draining clay soil. The way she predicts what the season will be like is to follow the first three days after the spring equinox, and that will give a general indication on what April, May and June will be like. Then the three days after the summer solstice give us indicators for July, August and September. She swears by this method, which she learned from a grandfather who also farmed.

We've also noticed the rainy weather, as we've been trying to get started on the exterior work of finishing up the strawbale house addition (there are many previous posts about our building project, which can be found in our 2008 blog pages). We've now prepared the post holes and had them inspected, begun the porches (there is a large wrap-around porch and new front deck/steps coming), and then of course the plaster. We've continuously had to watch the weather reports, and tarp up the straw walls at night in case of rain.

Also spent the day staking some of our tomatoes - we grew about 25 varieties this year, and kept between 2-5 plants of each kind, so we have around 60-70 tomato plants in our yard! It's hard to believe we found fairly sunny spots for all of them. No ripe tomatoes yet, but lots of blossoms and some green ones coming. Usually we have been eating the early red or cherry varieties by now, but the weather has not only been rainy, it has also been cool. Everything seems to be ripening a little slower than most years.

All the Tulsi Basil I seeded a few weeks ago in flats was planted out into garden beds today, and it's looking beautiful!

Jan 18 - Moved into Strawbale! And Open House Celebration!

We've come a long way this past year since the strawbale project began, and now w've finally moved in! Many finishing touches are not done yet (bookshelving, plants in south window, wood trim, woodstove)... but the space is completely liveable and beautiful. We had a lovely open house celebration with many friends and volunteers who helped out on the project throughout the season. It was wonderful to have you all here - the new space feels properly "warmed" now.

More fun to be had in the spring, with exterior plastering, porches to be built, new front landscaping projects, and a living roof to design/plant.

Documenting Strawbale Addition - 10 Earthen Floor and Drywall

Last week Monday we had a BIG working day, as the entire earthen floor was completed in one go. We had a few friends who have experience with earthen floors here to help and we couldn't have done it without them! (if any of you are who were here are reading this, then a HUGE thank you for that day!)

One person was running the mixer and wheeling in the heavy loads of clay (4 parts concrete sand: 1 part clay to create a 1/2 inch base layer), then others troweling it on the floor, and then leveling and smoothing, packing it firm, and finally applying a clay-slip top coat (1 part clay slip: 2 parts very fine 50 mesh sand from pottery supply shop). It was a long working day but the end result completely satisfying. We didn't have champagne but did celebrate with locally made wine, as this really was a major accomplishment! The only issue now, 1.5 weeks later, is that with the cold weather this floor is taking quite a bit longer to dry. The final step is to apply a sodium-silicate sealer which protects and hardens the floor, but we will likely need to wait a few more days before we can do so.

Drywall in the vestibule, bathroom and new laundry has been put up. Taping and mudding to happen later this week, and then painting with natural paints. We bought the paint yesterday - and when you buy paint for any project it always signifies the end being in sight. I've bought enough paint to also redo the kitchen and new dining area, ambitious but I'm so excited about this non-toxic paint and the rooms do need new life. Due to slightly warmer weather outside we've also been finishing the final outdoor aspects of this project - roof vent pipe for composting toilet, heating ducts, yard clean-up, winterizing the new doors with weather stripping and so on. We still have someone coming to hook up the radiant floor heating pipes, and another person to install flashing on the roof edge to prevent water leakage - both key pre-winter jobs that should happen sooner than later. There are just so many details!

Documenting Strawbale Addition - 9

Time to write another quick update about the strawbale project. We feel the end is nearly in sight, and are still aiming to move in by Christmas. The pine ceiling tongue & groove boards have all been oiled (two coats of Ontario hemp oil) and are beautiful. The oil really brings out the grain in the wood. This week we worked at installing them, and were thankful we had purchased a nailgun (which more than doubly paid for itself compared to if we had rented it).

We experimented with lime washes on the walls, using natural pigments to come up with a wheat colour. There is quite a variation in colour from one wall section to the next, which may have to do with parts of the plaster varying in wetness under the lime wash. We are hopeful this will even out and will give it a few more days to dry/cure. Lime wash goes a long way - you do brush it on like paint, but it is made up to be a very watery consistencty so it doesn't cover the way paint does. It is more like it gets absorbed into the wall and blends or bonds with the plaster. This is why lime washes can help "heal" cracks and repairs later on in subsequent years. We also tried to use a paint roller too, but had limited success as the roller didn't work the wash into the plaster as well as the brushes did.

We've shovelled in more limestone screenings, and are currently tamping them down with an electric packer ("jumping jack"). This is hard physical work, but what step of this project hasn't been? We'll be happy to be able to put our feet up during the winter months and rest, while we dream of spring projects like the outdoor plaster, the living roof, and maybe a new cob solarium addition. We'd like to experiment with more earthen plasters/cob/adobe. A few nights ago we watched the "Garbage Warrior", a documentary about Michael Reynolds, an architect turned extreme eco-builder of "earthships" in Taos, New Mexico. After being inspired about building affordable homes completely out of garbage (tires, bottles, cans) combined with natural materials found on site (clay, sand, earth, stone), we would like to work at continuing to learn about creating buildings that are low impact and self-maintaining. Here's a short synopsis of the film (www.garbagewarrior.com):

The film - Garbage Warrior

What do beer cans, car tires and water bottles have in common? Not much unless you're renegade architect Michael Reynolds, in which case they are tools of choice for producing thermal mass and energy-independent housing. For 30 years New Mexico-based Reynolds and his green disciples have devoted their time to advancing the art of "Earthship Biotecture" by building self-sufficient, off-the-grid communities where design and function converge in eco-harmony. However, these experimental structures that defy state standards create conflict between Reynolds and the authorities, who are backed by big business. Frustrated by antiquated legislation, Reynolds lobbies for the right to create a sustainable living test site. While politicians hum and ha, Mother Nature strikes, leaving communities devastated by tsunamis and hurricanes. Reynolds and his crew seize the opportunity to lend their pioneering skills to those who need it most. Shot over three years and in four countries, Garbage Warrior is a timely portrait of a determined visionary, a hero of the 21st century.

Earthship n. 1. passive solar home made of natural and recycled materials 2. thermal mass construction for temperature stabilization. 3. renewable energy & integrated water systems make the Earthship an off-grid home with little to no utility bills.

Biotecture n. 1. the profession of designing buildings and environments with consideration for their sustainability. 2. A combination of biology and architecture.

Documenting Strawbale 9: Hemp Oil Wood Finish

We ended up ordering hemp oil wood finish from Homestead House in Toronto. This is actually just a food grade hemp oil, made from "100 mile" hemp grown near Barrie at Hempola Farm. We could have ordered it directly from Hempola, but needed to get it here quickly and shipping from the Toronto store was faster. We are very happy with the results - the hemp oil really brings out the grain of the wood, dries quickly (minimum 12 hours), and is not messy to work with. It's nice to know that it's an all natural product (as opposed to other stains or wood sealants) so if it gets on hands or clothes it's not a concern. I used a cloth to rub the oil into the wood, and put on two coats. They recommend at least two coats for a good sealant, and even upto four coats if it's a high traffic area. Floors or furniture should be reoiled every year or so, but as these are ceiling boards this will be it. The boards will be installed over the next few days.

We finished up all the outdoor work on the house, including sealing up the last parts of the soffit, putting on the final board & baton walls, and cleaning up tools. We just need to use the commercial mixer for prepping earthen floor (a few days of work), but otherwise we are pretty much ready for winter weather now, as the house is cozy and basically all work left is interior. Quite satisfying to be at this stage - it is November.

Documenting Strawbale 8: Natural Paints & Finishes

It's hard to believe, but we're at the point of deciding on paints and finishes for the strawbale addition! The outer walls of the strawbale have been wrapped with ty-par construction paper for the winter, and we'll finish the outside plasters in the spring when the weather is hopeful again. There are still the soffits and fascia to close up, making sure we keep all possible entrances for rain or critters impassable. So, now it's basically just the last stages of the interior building to be completed (final wall coat, window trims, floor, hook up electricity and last step of plumbing).

The top plaster coat is going on the walls today, and will hopefully be near completion by the end of the weekend or early next week. We've mixed a small portion of sand and finely chopped up hemp fibres into the lime coat to act as a binder. We read that other fibres such as animal hair, flax, and so on can also be used. Straw is too coarse for this coat. The top coat can also be tinted with natural pigments, or covered with a coloured lime wash afterwards.

While the top coat is drying we will start on the ceiling. We are covering the insulation/vapour barrier with tongue & groove pine boards, the same kind of boards with which we have built the window boxes. This wood should be stained or painted to seal it. We are experimenting with a hemp oil finish as sealant - it's available from either Hempola (directly), or through Homestead House in Toronto (they also do mail order). Homestead House also sells a variety of milk paints and no-VOC paints, as well as other finishes. Friends of ours just painted a basement floor with the milk paint, and finished it with a thin coat of hemp oil. They were very happy with the products and the service at Homestead House and recommended them. Homestead House website is: www.homesteadhouse.ca

As mentioned, we will finish our pine boards and earthen floor with hemp oil. However, the questions are what to colour the lime wash, if at all; and how to paint the drywall in the new bathroom and laundry area (in the board & baton portion of the addition). Does milk paint cover drywall? There are mixed reviews on this so we need to do a little experimenting. When we've come this far with mixing our own earthen plasters for the walls and floor, it would seem wrong to simply go and purchase a ready-made milk paint. I found some recipes for homemade milk paint (also known as casein paint) and will try them out, adding some natural pigment powders that I sourced at a papermaking supply store in town. We have a red (made from bloodstone), a green (made from clay), and a yellow (made from ochre). We could get really adventurous by making our own pigments with clay from here, or food items like vegetables, berries, dried crushed plants, tea or spices, crushed bricks, or coal, but then it would be difficult to keep the colour consistent.

Why use natural paints? We all know that conventional paints and woodstain emit toxins that are dangerous to our health, especially on the interior of a building in which we will be living (and breathing)! Exposure to VOC's (Volatile Organic Compounds) in paint can trigger asthma attacks, eye irritation and respiratory problems, nausea and dizziness among other symptoms. Prolonged exposure has been linked to kidney and liver disease and even cancer.

The old method of milk paints was used by pioneers, with basic ingredients like milk and flour. Originally it was made from organic raw materials: curdled milk, lime and a pigment. Homemade paints should be used soon after mixing. They can be refrigerated, but binding ability may diminish. As it's hard to make a consistent colour over and over, make enough of a batch of paint to use reasonable in one session. If using lime, wear gloves and goggles. Crumpled oil-soaked cloths can spontaneously combust, so they shouldbe washed before disposing.

Tips on what kind of paint to use on various surfaces:
Interior surfaces: flour, casein or oil paint
Exterior surfaces: oil, flour in mild climates, casein in extremely mild non-humid climates
Bare wood: oil, flour, casein
Stone: flour, casein
Bare drywall: casein, flour (but not over joint compound)
Wallpaper: flour, casein
Earthen plaster: flour, casein
Gypsum plaster: flour
Masonry (cement, lime, unglazed brick, unpainted earth): flour, casein, oil
Painted surfaces, or sanded: flour, casein
Surfaces that require frequent cleaning: oil

Flour Paint
1 cup flour
5 1/2 cups cold water
1 cup finely screened clay or other filler
1/2 cup additional filler (mica, etc)

Boil 1 1/2 cups water while you mix the flour and 2 cups water with a whisk. Once all lumps have been removed add combined water and flour to boiling water. Reduce heat to low. When it begins to thicken remove from heat and slowly stir in remaining 2 cups water. Combine the clay and powdered filler in a separate bowl. Add to the water/flour mix. Stir until desired consistency is achieved. Makes 1 1/2 cups paint.

Milk Paint
1 cups organic powdered nonfat milk
1 cup water
powdered paint pigment or dye (for colour)

Milk milk powder and water. Add natural paint pigments to colour if desired. Too much pigment will lessen the durability of the paint. This piant formula should dry to a glossy finish. After the paint has dried 3-4 hours you may top coat with varnish, oil finish, Pure Tung Oil, laquer, or beeswax. Try in inconspicuous area first, the colour may change.

Casein Paint
Made from quark has a soft, matt, chalky white finish and is commonly used on interior walls. Quark, will be in the cheese aisle at the supermarket.

This will make enough colorwash to cover approximately 4 square metres (43 square feet).

Start by "slaking" the pigment. To do this put some pigment in a bowl and mix enough cold water to make a smooth runny paste and leave to stand overnight. Some pigments do not mix easily with water so try a little alcohol (organic vodka) instead.

Put the quark into a bowl then stir in the slaked pigment. Add enough to make a usable colorwash. Stir regularly during use, as the pigment will tend to settle out.

This wash needs to be applied quickly to walls (milk goes sour). Once this paint is dry, any smell disappears (you may like to add some of your favorite essential oils to the mix). Apply to a clean wall, which has two base coats of white eco-emulsion. Use a wide paintbrush or large bath sponge and apply the wash with sweeping strokes. Allow the first layer to dry thoroughly before applying the next. Further layers will deepen the color.

Milk Paint with Lime

1 gallon non-fat organic milk
2 ½ oz Type S lime (available at hardware stores) Builders Lime also called Hydrated Lime (do not use Quick Lime).
2 ½ cups water
pigment
6 cups chalk (or other filler)

Leave the milk in a warm place for a few days to curdle, then pour through a cheesecloth-lined colander to separate. 2 cups of curds should be the result.

Mix curds and lime in a blender. Add a bit of water if the mix isn’t blending well and strain to remove lumps.

Add water immediately. Dampen and crush pigment and add to mix until desired consistency is achieved.

Stir in chalk or other filler. Makes 1 quart

Oil Paint

Oil paint is great for exterior surfaces and the oil painted surfaces can be regularly cleaned without damage to the paint. Oil paint takes a very long time to dry, in fact some never completely dry – this is the property that gives oil paint its elasticity which helps it move with surfaces as they naturally swell and shrink with the temperatures.

Organic raw linseed oil and a natural solvent such as citrus thinner are the typical ingredients for natural oil paints.
If you intend to paint bare wood and want to cover the grain of the wood, prime the wood prior to painting. This will help seal the wood against moisture and will create a better bond with the paint. Oil glaze can be used over flour or milk paints to increase their resistance to water and makes a nice stain with or without added color.

Oil Glaze
1 teaspoon natural pigment
1 teaspoon powdered chalk
2 tablespoons powdered chalk
1 cup raw linseed oil
2/3 cup natural solvent
Dissolve pigment and powdered chalk in ½ cup of linseed oil. Stir in remaining ½ cup of linseed oil.Add solvent and remaining 2 tablespoons powdered chalk. Whisk to remove all lumps. Makes two cups.

Oil Paint
Different pigments will absorb different amounts of oil, so exact recipes are difficult.
Pour 3 tablespoons linseed oil into a bowl and add pigment a little at a time until you achieve a dough consistency. Add more linseed oil until the mixture just begins to flow. Add solvent until the desired consistency is achieved. Strain to remove lumps.

Oil Paint Primer
Apply a thin coat along the wood grain. Remove excess with a cloth. Apply a second coat after first is completely dry, estimate 48 hours between coats.
1 pint raw linseed oil
1 pint natural solvent

Staining Wood with Tea and Vinegar

Tannins are naturally present in woods like oak, but pale woods like pine can be darkened by having tannins added to them in the form of strong black tea. Iron acetate (made with vinegar), when applied to wood, reacts with tannins to produce a rich dark color.

For tannins you'll need: 500ml of water and 25g Indian tea leaves.Boil the water and add it to the tea leaves. Allow the tea to steep for an hour or two, then strain into a bowl. Apply the mixture to the wood with a medium paintbrush or lint-free cloth; allow to dry. You'll find pale woods will be colored by this alone; if not then apply the iron acetate.

For iron acetate you'll need: a large wad of fine wire wool and malt vinegar. Place the wire wool in a jam jar and cover it with the malt vinegar. Screw the lid on and leave overnight. The next day, strain the mixture through a colander or sieve lined with muslin or cheesecloth to remove all the wire wool. Apply the iron acetate solution to the wood with a medium paintbrush or lint-free cloth. The wood will darken for up to half an hour. Allow to dry thoroughly before lightly sanding.

Clean Coatings of the Future

Chemicals used in conventional paints and coatings leach into the environment and can cause air pollution as they dry. However, nanotechnology could be the answer. Sally Ramsey, founder and vice president of new product development at US-based nanotech company Ecology Coatings, says new, paint-like coatings are the future. Made up of tiny particles with innovative characteristics, they're sprayed on and cured (or dried) using ultra-violet light, removing the need for a solvent.The result is a coating with no polluting characteristics. Nanotechnology can deliver other benefits such as scratch resistance, waterproofing or anti-mold capability - all without adding toxic chemicals.

Resources:
The Natural Paint Decorator, by Lynn Edwards and Julia Lawless, published by Kyle Cathie. The Natural Paint Book bridges the information gap, offering an in-depth explanation of the differences between conventional and eco-friendly paints. Illustrated throughout with full-color photographs, the book provides complete instructions on how to make all-natural paints and finishes at home, using readily available ingredients such as clay, gelatin, linseed oil, and artist pigments.