Shae’s Earthbag Bedroom
Episode 32
Earthen Cob Floor Installation
Yay! We did it! The floor is finally in! The room looks so good. We are almost finished, just dotting the "i's" now. A few more details to go and I’ll be ready to move in! If you have any ideas to speed up the railing construction, it would be much appreciated!!!
Previous Episode
http://mylittlehomestead.com/ep31-shaes-earthbag-bedroom--interior-stairs-burlap-ceiling.html
Next Episode
http://mylittlehomestead.com/ep33-shaes-earthbag-bedroom-upstairs-patio-deck-railing.html
Bryson's Aluminum Chuck Video: http://mylittlehomestead.com/smf-casting-an-aluminum-chuck-full-version.html
If you want to print this and make it yourself: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2796900
Shae
February 23, 2018
Video Transcript
last time we installed burlap on the
ceiling and Garen constructed the stairs
for the interior for Shae's earthbag
bedroom
[music]
as we turn our attention outside
dad begins working on the rail
[music]
then when you make your first step
up
a little high but not bad
we were gonna go with this mesquite wood,
kind of railing all the way around but
it takes so much time to shave all the
bark off of this and then sand it and
then the Sun will beat it as well and
it'll take a lot of maintenance to keep
up so we would like to go with something
maybe more along the lines of a mixture
between the two metal and then the
Mesquite here
if you have any ideas
leave a comment down below
whatever they are called
I think they are called outlet covers
outlet covers
but look, it's beigh but this is white
because that's how cool we are
don't tell Shae
what? What?
we've been
doing our earthen floors several
different ways, we have a soft version
which was the first version we started
out with
the soft floor has a little bit
more of a clay content and the hard
floors have more of a sand content so if
you kind of switch them back and forth
you get a different style floor
one of
the advantages of the soft floor is that
you get this great feeling on your feet
when you walk on it
it's just comfortable but it does have some
disadvantages
it will dent on occasion
from a scraping mark if something heavy
is set on it or if you scrape it it will
dent a little bit but this this can be
cared for and mitigated also
this is
Bryson's room and this is the example of
a floor that's much harder
it has a lot more sand content rather than the clay
and it's definitely -
it's just it's
definitely really, really hard
you're not
gonna see any pock marks
it not as
comfortable to walk on as as the other
floors that are soft
[music]
oh yeah perfect
why did you let the dog in?
he's right in the way
oh we're backing up
[music]
up how much clay do we use?
better to
have too much than too little cuz it's
gonna be a real bummer to have to -
each get one more
the soil cement is kind of
brittle so as you walk on it, it's all
broken but you can see underneath it's hard
so right now we are sweeping it down to the hard stuff so we can put the
cob down and then that will be the
finished floor
oh this bottom floor came out nice
we'll clean it
ahhh
it's just dust
no
[music]
all right so here's my latest project
a
casted aluminum Chuck
I basically 3d printed it then cast it
out of aluminum
[music]
link in description to go check it out
yeah there it is
an aluminum chuck
this piece I want to
recast but that's the cool thing about
casting aluminum chuck
if there's a piece
you want to recast or the piece that
wears out, you can always re-cast it
[music]
we've got our staging area all set
up and gathered and now we are getting
ready to begin the process of starting
the floor so I have mixed the first
batch and they're just about ready
to start laying it down
let's do
this
I decided to do this softer floor
so we went with the one that has a
higher clay content
[music]
wow, Garen that looks nice
I would dry mix
everything, you would wet mix everything
and pour
we have an assembly line going
I'm mixing it dry, he's mixing it wet
we
were inspired by Henry Ford's assembly
line in the making of our assembly line
our dirt, mud, sand, cob and it worked
really well
we got the expert Levellers in
there getting the floor down
[music]
you're doing great on the ratios
they
like it
okay perfect
trying to keep up with these guys
in here and you guys are the expert
level-ers
Bree and Bryson have this
thing where they always think they can
beat us and they really can't in
anything
wouldn't like like to skunk them?
I would
[music]
I think out assembly line method works really well
we caught up to a point where they
couldn't keep up
we not only kept up
with them, they had to tell us to stop
several times
you happy with it Shae so far
I am very happy with it and I
think that Pug G wants to go down and
play with Garen
what do you think?
he could make adorable little prints down there
could you make adorable little prints?
ordinarily that job would have been the
slower job
you'd always be waiting on
mud to come in so that was why we were
very set on not only keeping up but
beating them
and we're beating you and
we have the slower job
the floor did
look beautiful though
they must of taken extra time on it cuz it really was beautiful
Bree was amazing on how fast she was
working
yeah lots of times she was done
before I was even there
she's not doing the hard part now is she
I'm just teasing
they said they were doing the hard part
what?
that's not true at all
oh, you ruined the volcano we made
making volcano's?
yeah because we
got all this time on our hands
slow pokes
am I waiting on them right now?
am I seriously waiting on them?
this is wetter than normal
what did I saw about shoddy work
and they think they can
smack talk with us
that was a bad mistake
they lost there too
just tallying up the score here and
right now we're looking at 2 and 0
and we've been
talking what?
30 seconds
is good though
it's all good fun
we got done and they
actually, their work was really good
amazing if not, you know, slower than us
it felt good
to win
right behind me is the kitchen and
we're gonna be popping out our kitchen
these wooden poles, you can see the
the shape of them is where our kitchen
is gonna go and we'll be putting bags
down and windows
we'll be putting in
sinks and ovens and counter tops
the big
ugly wall is gonna come down
don't show
it Bree
no showing the big ugly wall
and
this is gonna be kitchen
I'm really
really looking forward to it
after Shae's room we'll probably zip over and get
that bathroom done or maybe you will
do a combination of bathroom and kitchen
then the outdoor kitchen will be on this
side of the house
that's down the road
we just love to hear from you
we don't
have time to respond to everything but
we always hear what you have to say and
we really appreciate every comment
thank you for that and we're looking forward
to starting some new projects
get your
bucket
[music]
you guys need a bucket?
Gizzy's got a bucket for you
[music]
wow Garen the edge looks good
get it wet near that side
we need to get you working in more strategic ways
are you saying you don't appreciate my work?
speaking of working effeciently
you're way ahead
okay when it's a burn you smile and when
it's complaint you whine
just a tip
healthy tip of the day
[music]
the job went really good
it was uh
there's
a lot of hard work but definitely nice
to have it done
it makes it really fun
when we are working to make things into
a little bit of a rivalry, a competition
the time goes by faster when it's a game
because me and Bree win all the time
pound it
one
crushed it
us
awesome
we all get a participation trophy
like a
first-place trophy goes to me and Shae
there's actually another first-place
trophy that comes before you two
that's called a second place trophy
one more
I'm ready for a break
I bet
[music]
other than that railing,
I think it's the last big job we have to do
right there
that's it
the last sliver on this floor
we're done soon
thank's you guys for doing this
yeah
you bet
oh there's a few things on the floor
that are -
the cat jumped in the window
and kind of made a little divot
all the animals want to be a part of this building
good work Garen
the cool thing about the cob is before
you put the linseed on, you can actually
still work with it a lot just by
rewetting it down
will go in after it's
dry it up a little better and we can
walk on it and we'll smooth
out some of the spots that the cat
messed up
there's also a transition ring
between where the wall starts on the
downstairs and where the floor comes in
there's a little seam there
that we
need to work a little more on
we'll
spend the next couple of days molding
and shaping it
like we did with rocket
stove in my room
once the linseed is on
then it's a permanent
we can't go back
after that
it looks so good
it's like a complete room
I've been far far away
in a galaxy unknown to other people
except for other people that live there
and now it's time to go take a look at
this floor that everybody worked on
while I was away
[music]
that looks awesome
so cool
it's really coming
together isn't it
just looks awesome
after we finish Shae's bedroom,
we'll begin work on our earthbag kitchen
and bathroom
thanks for being here
stay
tuned for next Friday as we continue the
updates on Shae's earthbag bedroom
it's
almost there
[music]
he's trying to give you a
compliment
he just wants to look out at
the world
he always looks like he's
banished to the corner
I hit him in the head but my
hand was in the way so it was a soft blow
underneathe all that madness is a time capsule
capsule
probably will never be found
big sign that says, "Did Here"
are you pooped?
just watching us work?
and then they kept finding excuses
oh it's too wet
oh it's too dry
actually
a batch was too
wet and he comes rolling in, he's like hey, I
figured you guys would want a wet batch
I made this specifically, special for you
guys
and they had a fit
and you're like, what?
like you did it on purpose and you were trying to help them out
it was great
are you recording?
yes, I'm just getting sound
well hello
our family moved from the
city to the country
thanks for taking
part in our adventure
we have new videos
every Friday evening
if you would like
to help us out you can like this video,
share it, subscribe, or support us on
patreon
see the links in the description
I guess moving in will be a big, big
big
big
big
huge task
that is a big job
they're being mean to me
maybe we should just have a huge
garage sale
let us know if you want
anything cuz she's got everything
yard sale
yard sale
just send us a message, we will send you
whatever it is because most likely, she's
got it
we had a name
for our team
it was called B & B
and then I joined, and it was B & BS
[music]
Partners
Resources
www.greenhomebuilding.com/adobe.htm
www.earthbagbuilding.com/articles.htm
www.earthbagplans.wordpress.com
We moved from the city to the country in 2005. Since then, we have been building structures, raising livestock and growing some of our own foods. We are crazy about family, nutrition and want the best for our growing family.
