Blue Rock Station,
1190 Virginia Ridge Rd.
Philo Ohio 43771 USA
+1-740-674-4300 (phone)
+1-740-674-6303 (fax)
Or contact us by e-mail.
1190 Virginia Ridge Rd.
Philo Ohio 43771 USA
+1-
Or contact us by e-
Copyright 2008 Blue Rock Station, All Rights Reserved
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Building a can wall...
The interior walls of our Earthship are all non load bearing, so there are quite a few options. Typically they are constructed using old cans and bottles, along with cement or mud (depending on the amount of water that will be present - for example we used cement in the shower area).
We built these walls using two main styles - a framed structure (building the frame out of wood and then filling the cavities with the can wall) or free form (just building layer upon layer of cans).
The first step is to create the "mud" - a mixture of sifted clay (from on site), sand and a bit straw and water.
Then, nail a few bits of plaster lathe to the wood frame. These will help anchor the can wall to the frame.
Lay down a layer of mud, pressing cans into it. Repeat the process, filling mud between and on top of the cans. It's a good idea to squeeze a small dimple in the middle of the can, so it is no longer perfectly round. That way you cannot "pop" the can out of the dried wall.
At the appropriate level, you press the lathe into the mud, anchoring the wall. You will find you can only do a few courses before it begins to feel a bit unstable - at which point you just let the thing dry before continuing.
After you build up the wall, and it is dry, you can begin to finish the exterior. In our case, we finished the walls with a mud mixture. We will talk a bit more about this process in the section of this web site that demonstrates how to finish the interior tire walls.
The interior walls of our Earthship are all non load bearing, so there are quite a few options. Typically they are constructed using old cans and bottles, along with cement or mud (depending on the amount of water that will be present -
We built these walls using two main styles -
The first step is to create the "mud" -
Then, nail a few bits of plaster lathe to the wood frame. These will help anchor the can wall to the frame.
Lay down a layer of mud, pressing cans into it. Repeat the process, filling mud between and on top of the cans. It's a good idea to squeeze a small dimple in the middle of the can, so it is no longer perfectly round. That way you cannot "pop" the can out of the dried wall.
At the appropriate level, you press the lathe into the mud, anchoring the wall. You will find you can only do a few courses before it begins to feel a bit unstable -
After you build up the wall, and it is dry, you can begin to finish the exterior. In our case, we finished the walls with a mud mixture. We will talk a bit more about this process in the section of this web site that demonstrates how to finish the interior tire walls.
Other web sites that will give you a bit more about this...
