After much reflection and encouragement from the HIVE community, I am putting forth the effort to build a stone house, all by hand.
Here in Arizona, it is hard to control the climate without air conditioning and heaters. Although we live in a much higher altitude than most of the state (around 6500 feet) we do get heat waves and cold snaps.
Living in the camper has been exceptionally difficult to maintain control over the temperature. It is costing us a small fortune in electricity and propane to cool and warm the camper. Basically, any type of RV or trailer acts like a tin can in the sun. It absorbs heat and retains it during the summer, and it does the opposite in the winter.
Stone houses and buildings have been made for thousands of years, and they are known to keep the warmth in the winter and keep the cool in the summer. Our ancestors built these structures by hand, cobbling together locally available rock to make all sorts of structures.
My plan is to replicate these stone structures, and build one all by hand!
We are fortunate to have a dry wash on our property, which has literally tons of beautiful smooth cobblestones which will be perfect for building the stone house.
I have found a nice path that leads down to the wash so I can collect the stones and haul them back to the top, where my foundation is.
I will be purchasing store-bought mortar to hold my stones together. Since they are smooth, I have to use some type of mortar. I entertained the idea of using natural materials from the property, but the project to build this will be so intensive that I feel making my own mortar will be simply too much.
Although, if someone has a good recipe for mortar, let me know in the comments!
I have started with digging out a shallow foundation for the floor. As @ganjafarmer said in a comment of one of my posts, "Just get a shovel out and start digging one shovel at a time" which really inspired me to start this monumental project!
There is a tree right in the middle of my location, which will be a small battle to remove, as Mesquite trees have massive root systems, making them very hard to pull out of the ground. One battle at a time!
Reasons for Building a Stone Structure
Other than having the stone house, I have several motivations for building this structure.
I am proving to myself that I can do this. This is my way of giving myself confidence, tenacity, and strength to take on such a huge project by myself and push it through to completion.
I will build muscle mass, burn fat, and get in better shape. My plan is to work on the project 1-2 hours a day, and will replace any type of gym or equipment needed to stay in shape.
It's a daily meditation. Getting out in the sun, moving earth and stone, building a structure slowly, accomplishing a large goal in baby steps is all soul cleansing and helps me clear my mind and meditate.
Food storage. We have a 1500 sq ft enclosed garden that produces a ton of food. We need a place to store food that stays cool, but not too cold. This should be the perfect structure without having to build a root cellar.
My plan is to document this journey and share it with the community here on HIVE. What I need is accountability, and I don't want to let all of you down if I give up. I also think you will find my journey interesting, and maybe some of you can give me building tips and ideas.
Don't forget to follow me so you can watch my updates!
Sincerely, Regina Cal.
Two thoughts:
Does the ground there ever freeze in the winter? Probably not, but where I live, foundations need to extend below the frost deptg.
What weight can the undisturbed soil bear? Even if you aren't fighting frost heaves, stone walls are heavy, and over time, problems can arise. It might be worth pouring a concrete footing to better distribute the weight.
In both cases, perhaps consulting a structural engineer familiar with your local environment would be in order.
Excellent suggestions; the foundation is the most important.
Those are good points. We dip below freezing but not much, so heaves won't be a problem. What could be a problem is the weight, like you said. I am concerned for shifting. The best thing would be to compact the ground, which I do not plan to do, because well I do not have one, and maybe I could rent one.... I might consider it.
I plan to pour concrete in sections for the floor and press flat smooth stone into it. Which risks of cracking. Lots of research to do. First, I have to remove the pesky tree in the middle of my spot!
Looking forward to following this build, we are so much more capable of doing things than we image. I love to see people just get right in there and make things happen. Really happy to have found you on here, thanks @fenngen for reblogging this post xx xxx
Thank you, I am glad you found me! HIVE has become a really great space. Its all about one step at a time, not getting ahead of myself, and going at my own pace which is SLOW. I am thinking 1+ years to build it. But no pressure.
Wow, what a sweet looking project! And yes, I can completely relate as I used to say "the tire-wall is my idea of a gym". For you it's the stone house, but I can see you've got plenty of rocks lying around.
Best of luck, and please keep posting, as I am excited to see updates on this awesome build!
Thanks! I would rather chuck stones than lift weights at a gym. I actually would like to go to the gym, but its not too feasible traveling there every day, with my location. So you are building a tire wall? Updates will be flowing!
Oh yes, I've built quite a few actually, as I participated in various Earthship builds. The most recent one is the theater in Mazunte. But when it comes to stacking rocks I have very little experience. In fact, it can probably be summed up by this bit right here, where the bond-beam swoops down to touch the ground. In this application it's not more than playing around, but seeing your posts I have gotten excited about learning it properly.
Oh cool! I am just getting started into off grid building, since the stones are smooth here, I will be using mortar, which I think will help the project. If you have any thoughts on round roof, I would appreciate it.
Well, let me try squeeze my wisdom into this brief reply:
Round roofs offer themselves ideally for a reciprocal one. The big giant PRO is lots of space inside without needing a central column. The drawbacks are the inevitable hole in the middle, and the placing of your rafters. Though in your Arizona climate a vent could come in really handy for air flow, especially if you install some cooling tubes in your wall. Also, the hole will make a sweet skylight, but you gotta build it well: It should keep all moisture out, be easily operable from floor level, and let the sunlight shine through. As for placing the rafters (or vigas), I can only say: with a small team of folks (9 in our case) open to experimenting with "Stonehenge-type techniques" you can do incredible things. But here you really have to consider the length and thickness of the vigas, in relation to the space you want to cover. For our theater building the inside floor space is 10 meters (30 ft) in diameter, and used 13 vigas of 7 meters length. So here you really need to look at what you have and what you want... Please feel free to look through my posts, and I'll be happy to give you more details.
Super!!! First of all I want to congratulate you and send you energy to continue! Please put on some sunscreen and take care of your skin by drinking plenty of water while you are working.
What a beautiful project!
I confess that you are fulfilling my dream too. And that of many who dreamed of living in a house built by their hands. You rejoice my heart. I thank you!
Oh, I am so glad you are enjoying my project. It is a dream of mine as well, and now I get to fulfill it, slowly but surely.
I will most definitely be wearing sunscreen, I am a stickler for it! And water too. Thanks!
congrats for choosing your solution @queenmountain !
i think its good to mention one point!
if you live somewhere with cold winters then im afraid this is totally not the case.. Stone houses are some of the coldest environments to stay in when its cold.. really really bad!! You will need some major heating system to keep warm if you live in sub zero winters.. They are the BEST in hot climates and can keep you cool all during the summer..
Stone walls simply release too much heat too quickly and so just a few hours after the sun goes they suck the heat out the living space.. If you insulate all the walls it can help but you no longer see them inside and its quite a lot of work..
hope that helps!!!
ps the earthbags are probably the cheapest best performing (not including earthships) to make..
I see. I will have to take this into consideration. We don't usually drop under the thirties, maybe with the mortar and the thickness it might help....? I am in Arizona, so more concerned for cold retention in summers, than heat retention in winters. I am hoping with a wood burning stove, and double thick walls, maybe I can retain the heat needed. I have definitely considered earthbags, next project perhaps!
yeah if it isnt too cold then it should be fine.. but for sure get a nice fireplace in there.. maybe more than one even.. thicker walls wont help much ..
I thought about building a stone fireplace, maybe have a built-in fireplace and then a wood burning stove.
im not an expert on fireplaces.. but i know that the thick heavy metal wood burning stoves ones are really amazing .. they push a lot of heat out.. a stone fireplace or built in isnt nearly as good as most heat goes out the chimney and the stones don't get nearly as hot as metal.. i made a builtin one on in my earthship and it is pretty useless.. u have to sit right next to it to feel much,, and it seems so silly to watch most of the heat fly out the roof!
hope that helps!! <3 x
That is a really good point, most the heat is lost. And I can cook on the wood burning stove. I think I still want one for dramatic effect 😄
fair enough! they are amazing to sit in front of for that cozy feelin... i guess you can have both.. the cast iron ones are quite cheap i think.. just a few hundred dollars.. well at least in Portugal they were!
sending you full power energy for this job.. hoping you dont have a deadline.. it sounds like your happy to go slow and sure.. x
Amazing! I am excited to see the progress!
Thanks! I am excited too!
Ah man this is an amazing project! Really inspiring to see someone with the confidence to just start up a project like this. I am hoping to build myself a roundhouse on our plot although it will round timber framed. I definitely don't have the confidence or skills to do it by myself right now but I'm hoping to do a course in framing so I can get it off the ground (although probably with help!). It massively helps with motivation seeing other folks getting on and doing what needs to be done! Well done gal! Looking forward to keeping up with your progress xx
It took a whole lot of confidence, and I still don't have it! Research, and doing a little at a time. Focusing on one step. Right now, its removing the tree in the middle of the space. Each step, I focus on intently, and not worry about the next. That is my strategy!
Yeah that's absolutely the way! I definitely struggle with getting caught up and then overwhelmed by the bigger picture....and then I don't get anything done! But I'm slowly learning and getting better at the one small step at a time thing. It's not always easy though. But like I say - Its always helps to connect with other folks that are inspired and motivated 👊💥
It is one of the hardest things to do in life, going from 0 to 1. But once you make that tiny baby step forward, the rest starts rolling into place. Currently working on zeroing in on the small steps to get the big project complete. This will be a challenge.
Ooops I didnt mean to reply here 😊
Awesome, glad you got decided and took your first steps
Thank you! It is all about the first steps.
Kudos to you, this is awesome! :D I will be following your journey here and cheering from the sidelines.
You might like this guy's channel, he builds various ancient/traditional types of shelters (he's in the UK so different climate, but). Here's the link to him building a Celtic roundhouse:
Ah, thanks! I will check out his roundhouse build, I need all the information I can get for the best results.
I'm following you can do it. 🔥🔥🔥
Awesome, thank you!
Fucking dope! Good luck!
Thanks! I sure do need it!
Documenting it is one way of motivating you to do and finish the project. I'm excited what will you come up with and I can't wait for you to enjoy the house that you build for yourself! Goodluck!
Thank you! Yes, I really want to see this project to completion, so hopefully my fellow Hivers will help keep me motivated!
Can't wait. Goodluck!👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Greetings, @queenmountain!
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Awesome, ty!
Awesome plan. I find myself watching these videos for hours on YouTube. Took the last 2 years getting the family, next move is the homestead.
Can't wait to see your progress and your project.
Good luck.
Aww what a great dog! Luckily, I was able to see the photo before the "spaminator" account downvoted your comment. What is up with that??
Anyway, so glad you enjoyed my post! This will take a huge amount of effort, but as we were talking about natural cooling the other day, it got me thinking about building a structure and getting out of the camper. And then I felt overwhelmed, like I cannot do this.
But then I thought of the one shovelful at a time, and decided, I can do it! Even though I am 5'1", I will likely need help with the roof. Lol.
Thanks for your encouragement and positivity!
Oh are you @flamistan's hooman? :)
Aww what a cutie!
That sounds amazing! Being an introvert makes it a bit tough for me to reach out to others, although I am aware that it is critical to build community. Something I will have to work on.
Luckily, their downvote isn't very powerful, but it sure is annoying.
This is truth.
I did start tackling the tree yesterday, I cut off the limbs and got all the cacti cleared out from underneath. I started digging around the base. The fire is a GREAT idea, didn't even think of that! Got to be careful, as it is so dry here, but it can be containable.
What is a local rainbow family? And where are you located?
And who is this spaminator account? That is starting to tick me off!
I see. I tend to be a lone wolf when it comes to associating with others, although it can be a disadvantage, I also find organizations get . . . tricky. So you are not too far from me then! Maybe a 20 hour drive. So far, I have been working on dislodging the tree by cutting the big roots with a sawsall, and then we tried yanking it out with our big truck, didn't budge. So I will keep dislodging roots, moving material, and then I may try the fire thing. Work in progress!
Interesting. I will take some time and look up diy mortar, although I will probably just buy it.