It's been a while since we last uploaded anything about our build in the forest, but we've been very active on this project the whole time. Thing is, a lot of the time we spend it cutting branches and cleaning them up, which consumes a lot of time as we've done so only with hand tools. We've shared that process in previous posts, but don't see much value in sharing the same thing over and over again. Yet, we've gotten to a stage where there a few nice things to show, so here we go.
Putting up the base pillars was a big challenge. We had to change the originals as they were far too small, though we realized that after we cut a few larger ones and compared. We had to dig out the first ones and do the whole process again. But the real challenge was to find branches that were straight enough as willows tend to grow in all manner of directions and shapes. The truth is we couldn't find all the straight branches we needed so we'll just adapt the structure as best as we can.
The first post that we had to change... there was happiness although naivety too 🤭, the important thing is that we are learning along the way, without letting the changes and new challenges bring us down.
Once the ground was leveled, and the posts were burned, we begin to make the holes and gather gravel to put the 9 main pillars. The gravel helps the moisture to pass by and the sticks will not rot.
It's important to ram the material around the pillar tightly so that it gains firmness.
It felt good to finally have all main pillars in place. As we said before, we couldn't get all our branches to be straight, but we have confidence we will work it out.
Though it is our purpose to use local materials and hand tools, there are a few things we needed to buy such as the gravel. There's just no material around this place that could help us achieve a floor that drains moisture, and considering we're building near a stream, this is very necessary. We were glad to buy the gravel from an extraction point nearby.
When all the posts were ready, we started with two jobs that we continue to work on: laying gravel and gradually laying the beams that would help with the roof structure.
Puting our first layer 😃
And our first beams 🙌
The gravel on the floor is part of an earthen floor system that we were inspired to do by this video:
There are many layers shown in the video we will not be able to replicate as in this area of the world many materials are quite difficult to obtain. Nonetheless it should do it's job at keeping the moisture out of the room well enough.
Back to the beams, we're using the old school carving out some room to fit the pillar inside. This is necessary as the original round shape of branches won't allow a good contact area for the nails or screws to go in.
This is how things are looking at the moment of this post.
Starting to take shape, right?
More updates soon, thanks for stopping by!
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Looking good so far! Love seeing this sort of thing!
Thanks, grateful for your support!
congratulations! it always makes me happy to see people self building. Its such an adventure.. so many challenges and surprises.. its nice to see you doing it with your partner! Its looking great so far, ,keep up the great work!
Hey thanks, it's a big adventure full of ups and downs, but we believe it will be worth the effort. Thanks for the support!
Looking great! I'm big into natural building and perfect lines are overrated. I can't wait to see more.
Nice to know you enjoy these posts, more on the way thanks for tuning in and supporting 🙌