Exterior walls with white-wash (porous
lime render)

Reclaimed church window

Passive solar design - large conservatory with French doors to allow heat transfer to other living areas.

Internal Plastering and flooring.

Experimenting with limewash

Scoring the lime render basecoat in preparation for topcoat. Shelves added where strawbales end.

A few curved walls. More of the reclaimed rimu floor is added.

Macrocarpa window benches.

External Lime rendering continues...

More repairs required due to tarpaulin/wind damage.

Snow Day

Work is halted on the cedar shingles. The lime render undercoat dries under the tarpaulin.

The second layer of lime render has a yellow tone due to the colour of the sharp sand in the mix (4:1 sand to lime putty, plus water & fibres to get the right consistency).

A layer of building wrap is added over the cob-covered straw bales and then geogrid (plastic mesh) over that. The lime render will bind to the geogrid when applied.

Cob ready for the straw walls.

Internal walls are combination of curved & straight gib board along with the straw bales.

The exterior walls are covered with tarpaulin to protect the lime render while it sets. The foreground shows the basecoat.

The secondhand billboard tarpaulins provide some welcomed colour.

Gale force winds whipped off the tarpaulin and blew it onto the freshly applied lime render. The day was spent re-trowelling and sponging the plaster to make it smooth again.

Ceder shingles are added to the gables.

Internal Mud Application

Small shelf and light shade moulded out of mud. The mud is applied by hand and worked in to prevent it falling off when  it dries. The mixture consists of one part mud, one part sharp sand, one part straw then mixed with water to create the right viscosity!

Mixing the mud with a digger saves alot of effort.

Gib board applied to non-strawbale walls and ceiling. Recycled glass bottles used for the non-straw insulation .

"Clay slip" applied with a spray gun directly to the straw first to help the mud mixture stick. Made from watered down mud.

Old carpet is applied around doors and window frames to help create curves and shape the straw.