Build Steps TA

From Adam Colton
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This is intended to be a detailed guide to how we will build our Earthship.

CS Fabrication

Requires welding gear

Base parts for the system

  • Square tubes
  • bar stock
  • power cube (1 or 2?)
  • hydraulic motors (2-4)
  • hydraulic actuator
  • differential gear
  • tires
  • steering mechanism (should be a kit, but adjustable width and offset)

The goal is to be able to construct

  • tractor and excavator attachemnt
  • earth processing equipment
  • ceb press

Buy Land

Not much to say, but this is going to be a long, painful process.

Shed

The goal is to build a 5'x5' shed.

Prototyping

  1. Water systems (this can be done before land)
    1. Water tank
    2. Build or order WOM
    3. Water pressure
    4. Send it out to a garden hose
  2. Build a root cellar with tire walls (make it north facing to keep it really cool)
    1. Lay tires
    2. Dig it out
    3. Cement the inside
    4. Put on roofing

Pre-Tires

  1. Find a source for tires and cardboard
  2. Do this (http://www.instructables.com/id/low-tech-3d-scanner-for-your-building-site/) to get a site survey
  3. Build work shed (2x4 frame with plywood walls. Simple) if there isn't one already
  4. Start collecting used water and glass bottles (do we need this?)
  5. Electrical?
    1. Do we have access to electricity? Yes - don't do anything now, No - connect to grid, or setup solar.
  6. Stake out footprint
  7. Backhoe
    1. Dig down below frost line
    2. Pile dirt around footprint (for later use pounding tires)
  8. Bury fireplace inlet
    1. Tamp and level ground

Tires

  1. Get tires and organize by size (or get all the same size tires)
  2. Layout and fill first row of tires. For each tire (here's a great video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cer3WKTOcy8):
    1. Position tire offset from previous row and 1" back
    2. Place cardboard in the bottom of the tire
    3. Screw the cardboard and tire in place (screw into previous row)
    4. Fill with dirt
    5. Pound dirt with sledge hammer
    6. Check level
    7. Add more dirt and repeat
    8. Its very important that each tire is level.
  3. Place drainage pipes - (I had it wrong, these are cooling pipes, which may not be necessary)
  4. Second row
  5. Third row
  6. Place thermal wrap
  7. Remaining tires and thermal wrap
  8. 3-4 weeks before tires, buttresses and stem wall are done, order the trusses
  9. Concrete buttresses
  10. Set the anchor bolts in the top tires and fill them with concrete
  11. After the concrete has dried, cover the tires in 2mil plastic, staple in place
  12. Place top plate of wood on tires (Vol.1 p102)

Framing

  1. Stem wall
    1. Dig stem wall trench
    2. line with plastic
    3. Build rebar cage
    4. Place rebar and Pour concrete
  2. Place support beams (in line with front of tires)
  3. Place roof supports
  4. Frame windows
    1. Beams should be in place above and below windows
    2. Place and square wood between each window (make sure it's square, can't check this enough times)
    3. Put in wood for windows with operable opening
    4. Put notching planks in place to hold window
  5. Deck roof (use screws not nails)
  6. Place skylights

Roof

  1. --Chimney--?
  2. Roof Layers (as I understand it):
    1. Metal roof
    2. OSB filler, pine perlins and heating tubes
    3. Hard insulation (poly-iso)
    4. Waterproof asphalt felt or tar paper
    5. Roof decking
    6. Trusses
      1. X bracing between trusses
      2. Insulation (perhaps Sprayed Polyurethane Foam insulation)
      3. Vapor barrier
    7. Ceiling
    8. Decorative tin ceiling
  3. Skylights
    1. Frame skylight
    2. Build glass top
    3. Weight skylight
    4. Rope
  4. Gutters

Windows

  1. Place windows
  2. Seal windows
  3. Place outside wood (to hold windows in place)
  4. Aluminum flashing

Interior

  1. Cover tires in concrete and fill gaps with bottles
  2. Cover floor in moisture barrier before pouring concrete
  3. Dig plumbing trenches, line with wood
  4. Concrete floor
    1. Frame sections (note that areas under the doors and any thing outside need to be separate pieces for insulation purposes)
    2. Concrete is not poured over planters
  5. Planters
    1. Dig down planters
    2. Line with plastic
    3. Install well pump
    4. Fill with gravel upto 4" from plumbing trench
    5. Run plumbing into planters so water falls 4" onto gravel, place bucket guard around plumbing
    6. Aluminum mesh
    7. Can/bottle planter walls
    8. Fill with dirt and plants
  6. Walls (drywall)
  7. Electrical
    1. Purchase PV panels, batteries and inverter
    2. Install PV panels
    3. Setup batteries in a utility room
    4. Setup inverter
    5. Run wiring to the house as needed
  8. Plumbing
    1. Install pumps to get water out of cisterns
    2. Install WOM
    3. Water pressurizer
    4. Run the whole thing out to a garden hose, use that for watering plants
  9. Bathrooms
  10. Run water to bathroom and put water heater in
    1. Bathtub
      1. Install bathtub
      2. Run water to shower nozzle
      3. Run drain outside
    2. Sink
      1. Install sink unit
      2. Run water
      3. Run drains
  11. Kitchen
    1. Hot water at source
    2. Kitchen Sink
      1. Install sink
      2. Install disposal
      3. Run water
      4. Connect drain
    3. Oven/stove
  12. Install fireplace - The chimney and outside air pipe are already in place, potbelly stove just needs to be hooked up
  13. Bottle wall on main room

Post-Move In

  1. Water trench (so that water will flow around the house and not soak up and through)
  2. Wind Power
  3. Solar water pre-heater
  4. Thermal mass fridge/freezer
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