Before we begin, you should know a dinky about me. In my twenties and early thirties, I worked too many hours, days, months, and years in the building trade. Most of it was in concrete forming and finishing- which is essential for the starting stages of the home. I also did framing, roofing, plumbing, electrical, and terminate carpentry. I studied math and geology in college.
For this building, it will be a easy flat roof, 60'x20'.
Carpentry Framing
1. Begin your work by clearing off the land you have chosen, preferably flat. Dig a trench 3 feet wide and 1 1/2 foot deep following the perimeter of the home with the town of the wall being the town of the trench. Lay in three 5/8 in. Rebar evenly spaced. Drive stakes into the town of the trench at the corners and every eight feet. These stakes will be your level mark, use a friend with tripod and level. If you are unfamiliar with a tripod and level there is an old timers way to get your footing level. Buy a clear plastic hose about 100 feet long fill about 3/4 full with water. Hold one end at a corner, look for water level, use the other end at what point you wish to level just by finding the water level at that point. (sounds hard to do, but when do it you'll perceive how easy it is). Now fill trench with concrete, level, and smooth.
2. The next step is to establish your setup to build the walls. First you need to conjecture how much material you will need to fill in the forms for the walls. The recipe is height times the width times the length then divided by 27. This will give us the number of yards(cubic yards)to order. The sample home we will build is 12x2x160/27=149yds. The mix for the walls will be 40% sand, 40% clay dirt, and 20% 1 in. Gravel. The mix may need to be adjusted due to ability of the dirt. What good way to know if this mixture works for you is to build a 4'x4'x1' deep box, put in your mixture, tamp down firmly, and sprinkle a layer of cement, dampen all the mixture (don't flood). Now wait one day, take off forms from box and see if this mixture works (all clay soils are different). I recommend that you order only half your materials at first. Don't forget that if you found a good piece of land to buy that under that top soil maybe all the clay dirt you need. Have all your materials dumped close to each other, so that they are nothing else but mixed. I would not get my tool in place just yet- the tool that you will need to rent.
3. At this time I would purchase the materials that I need to build the forms. Depending on how far or how much wall you want to build at any given time will conclude how many forms you want to build. So, with that in mind, we are going 16 feet long and 12 feet high. That means we will buy 12 sheets of 5/8 plywood, 6 on each side. We will also need to buy 24 straight 12foot 2x4's and get an assortment of 2x6's all straight and long for braces. Be aware that we will later use these sheets on the roof. To build the forms, take 2x4's lay them on the 2 in. Side and nail to the plywood. One down on the face of all four sides touching at the corners and one down the middle short side. Then wipe oil on the side of the form that touches the wall, preferably mineral oil or vegetable oil.
4. Before we put forms up, we need to do chalk lines on the concrete footer. Pick one projection to start with, find the town and drive a concrete nail at this spot. On the other corners, find their town and with a bold marker, put an x there. Now with a 100 foot tape measure, have one hold the starting of tape at the concrete nail, pull the tape to the opposite projection (sometimes called caddy corner). Take note of the reading of the tape, then have your friend move to the next corner, and repeat. The two readings should the same. If not, convert your bold marks, shorten the reading that was longest, repeat old steps until the caddy projection readings are the same. You have just squared the walls. Now you just need to pop the chalk lines on the footer from projection to projection on center.
5. We can now begin setting forms up. This is nothing else but very easy. Begin at a corner, on the inside, lay down two short 2x12's with the town (chalk line), each board should be on either side of the line. Put up one form, with the 4 foot being the height and 8 foot being the length. Take a 3 or 4 foot 2x6 nail to the lowest of the form, drive a stake to the end of the board and nail to the stake. Repeat this in the middle lowest and again at the end. The lowest is supported, now plumb the vertical of the form with your level and then put supports at the top, but under the 2x4. Your first form should be set, check the inside of the form and it should be the width of the 2x12 from your chalk line (11 1/2 in.). Set the opposite form and repeat process. I recommend that you set two sets of forms, put your end caps on and start filling your forms with materials. The end cap is just two 2x12's 4 foot high nailed to the end of the forms, nail a consolidate of small boards over the 2x12's for support. What you have now is one long box, centered on the footer.
6. Make sure that the sand and clay/dirt are mixed to the recipe you found. Begin filling to about 1 foot deep, with spreader put down a thick coat of cement. Now tamp down your material until solid. Sprinkle water, do not soak. Repeat process until a few inches shy of the top of form. At this time add the next set of forms, plumb these forms, nailing to lowest forms and adding supports to ground. Continue process until you reach desired height. The back wall needs to be 4 in. Lower when building a flat roof. Do not take off forms until the walls appear dry.
7. As for windows or doors, build a box with 2x12's to the desired size of window or door allowing for room to insert window or door. Obviously, you will put door frame/box in before filling material and add window frame/box when you have reached the lowest height of window then add frame. The top/header of window or door can be either concrete or 4x4's extending 2 feet on each side of window or door.
8. Once you have completed the walls all around, you are ready to put the cap on. This is concrete that protect your wall and become an anchor for the roof. Depending on the style of roof, will dictate the type of cap we will put on the wall. For this home, we are building a flat style roof. So in this case we will have 4 in. On top and 7 in. X 4 in. Arrival down each side. Take a 2x12 drill 5/8 in. Holes 4 in. Down from the top every 2 feet. Use ½ in. All thread bolts 30 in. Long, run the bolts through the holes on the boards/forms. Place a washer and nut on the outside, lay the boards on top of the walls. Snug up the boards to the walls and then dig out 4 in. Wide to nearly the lowest of the board/form. Do this all around the walls, then lay in three 5/8 in. Rebar evenly spaced and all around the top. You are now ready to pour the concrete. Do not take off forms until concrete is dry.
You are now fulfilled, with the walls, except you need to spray a sealer on all the walls.
In the next part of building a rammed earth home, we will setup the roof and floor."
How to Build a Rammed Earth Home Part 1Before we begin, you should know a dinky about me. In my twenties and early thirties, I worked too many hours, days, months, and years in the building trade. Most of it was in concrete forming and finishing- which is essential for the starting stages of the home. I also did framing, roofing, plumbing, electrical, and terminate carpentry. I studied math and geology in college.
For this building, it will be a easy flat roof, 60'x20'.
Carpentry Framing
1. Begin your work by clearing off the land you have chosen, preferably flat. Dig a trench 3 feet wide and 1 1/2 foot deep following the perimeter of the home with the town of the wall being the town of the trench. Lay in three 5/8 in. Rebar evenly spaced. Drive stakes into the town of the trench at the corners and every eight feet. These stakes will be your level mark, use a friend with tripod and level. If you are unfamiliar with a tripod and level there is an old timers way to get your footing level. Buy a clear plastic hose about 100 feet long fill about 3/4 full with water. Hold one end at a corner, look for water level, use the other end at what point you wish to level just by finding the water level at that point. (sounds hard to do, but when do it you'll perceive how easy it is). Now fill trench with concrete, level, and smooth.
2. The next step is to establish your setup to build the walls. First you need to conjecture how much material you will need to fill in the forms for the walls. The recipe is height times the width times the length then divided by 27. This will give us the number of yards(cubic yards)to order. The sample home we will build is 12x2x160/27=149yds. The mix for the walls will be 40% sand, 40% clay dirt, and 20% 1 in. Gravel. The mix may need to be adjusted due to ability of the dirt. What good way to know if this mixture works for you is to build a 4'x4'x1' deep box, put in your mixture, tamp down firmly, and sprinkle a layer of cement, dampen all the mixture (don't flood). Now wait one day, take off forms from box and see if this mixture works (all clay soils are different). I recommend that you order only half your materials at first. Don't forget that if you found a good piece of land to buy that under that top soil maybe all the clay dirt you need. Have all your materials dumped close to each other, so that they are nothing else but mixed. I would not get my tool in place just yet- the tool that you will need to rent.
3. At this time I would purchase the materials that I need to build the forms. Depending on how far or how much wall you want to build at any given time will conclude how many forms you want to build. So, with that in mind, we are going 16 feet long and 12 feet high. That means we will buy 12 sheets of 5/8 plywood, 6 on each side. We will also need to buy 24 straight 12foot 2x4's and get an assortment of 2x6's all straight and long for braces. Be aware that we will later use these sheets on the roof. To build the forms, take 2x4's lay them on the 2 in. Side and nail to the plywood. One down on the face of all four sides touching at the corners and one down the middle short side. Then wipe oil on the side of the form that touches the wall, preferably mineral oil or vegetable oil.
4. Before we put forms up, we need to do chalk lines on the concrete footer. Pick one projection to start with, find the town and drive a concrete nail at this spot. On the other corners, find their town and with a bold marker, put an x there. Now with a 100 foot tape measure, have one hold the starting of tape at the concrete nail, pull the tape to the opposite projection (sometimes called caddy corner). Take note of the reading of the tape, then have your friend move to the next corner, and repeat. The two readings should the same. If not, convert your bold marks, shorten the reading that was longest, repeat old steps until the caddy projection readings are the same. You have just squared the walls. Now you just need to pop the chalk lines on the footer from projection to projection on center.
5. We can now begin setting forms up. This is nothing else but very easy. Begin at a corner, on the inside, lay down two short 2x12's with the town (chalk line), each board should be on either side of the line. Put up one form, with the 4 foot being the height and 8 foot being the length. Take a 3 or 4 foot 2x6 nail to the lowest of the form, drive a stake to the end of the board and nail to the stake. Repeat this in the middle lowest and again at the end. The lowest is supported, now plumb the vertical of the form with your level and then put supports at the top, but under the 2x4. Your first form should be set, check the inside of the form and it should be the width of the 2x12 from your chalk line (11 1/2 in.). Set the opposite form and repeat process. I recommend that you set two sets of forms, put your end caps on and start filling your forms with materials. The end cap is just two 2x12's 4 foot high nailed to the end of the forms, nail a consolidate of small boards over the 2x12's for support. What you have now is one long box, centered on the footer.
6. Make sure that the sand and clay/dirt are mixed to the recipe you found. Begin filling to about 1 foot deep, with spreader put down a thick coat of cement. Now tamp down your material until solid. Sprinkle water, do not soak. Repeat process until a few inches shy of the top of form. At this time add the next set of forms, plumb these forms, nailing to lowest forms and adding supports to ground. Continue process until you reach desired height. The back wall needs to be 4 in. Lower when building a flat roof. Do not take off forms until the walls appear dry.
7. As for windows or doors, build a box with 2x12's to the desired size of window or door allowing for room to insert window or door. Obviously, you will put door frame/box in before filling material and add window frame/box when you have reached the lowest height of window then add frame. The top/header of window or door can be either concrete or 4x4's extending 2 feet on each side of window or door.
8. Once you have completed the walls all around, you are ready to put the cap on. This is concrete that protect your wall and become an anchor for the roof. Depending on the style of roof, will dictate the type of cap we will put on the wall. For this home, we are building a flat style roof. So in this case we will have 4 in. On top and 7 in. X 4 in. Arrival down each side. Take a 2x12 drill 5/8 in. Holes 4 in. Down from the top every 2 feet. Use ½ in. All thread bolts 30 in. Long, run the bolts through the holes on the boards/forms. Place a washer and nut on the outside, lay the boards on top of the walls. Snug up the boards to the walls and then dig out 4 in. Wide to nearly the lowest of the board/form. Do this all around the walls, then lay in three 5/8 in. Rebar evenly spaced and all around the top. You are now ready to pour the concrete. Do not take off forms until concrete is dry.
You are now fulfilled, with the walls, except you need to spray a sealer on all the walls.
In the next part of building a rammed earth home, we will setup the roof and floor."
How to Build a Rammed Earth Home Part 1
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