Day 6: Building cabinets and trusses.

For Wednesday through Friday we will be building the trusses and the cabinets for the straw bale house. We joined Chris and Francisco in the wood shop for some training on power tools (and of course safety). The interiors of the cabinets were cut, pieced together, then glued and stapled by Matt and Cali (below).

Next up is the Alderwood, assembled and sanded to beauty by Alyssa.

Out back, Jason, Kelly, and Jerry were cutting the longest beams for the trusses. Inside, Claire and I cut the smaller pieces for the trusses out of stud material. Below Claire is looking for which way the board bows to determine which edge will be up for a supportive beam.
Once we figured out how to use our speed squares and the angles on the chop saw, we flew through all the cuts.

Day 5: Getting organized and acquainted with the site.

This morning we selected our individual work projects. I was really happy to get the greywater system, as I would eventually like to live in a house that uses filtered water and outputs greyater for the yard. Then we hauled our work trailer to the site and split into a few groups. Some folks built us sturdy stairs for the trailer, some organized the trailer, others worked on pulling rocks and other features out of the lawn. By lawn, I mean lot covered in gravel. The gravel is terrible looking, but will come in handy to fill the concrete foundation. There is an old rose bush in the center of the yard that should just barely clear the edge of the new house. We are hoping to keep it alive and work around it.

Below: Our first lunch together on the jobsite.

Day 4: Mountain biking intro.

We could not start ripping up the jobsite until the final papers were signed between the owner of the trailer lot and Community Rebuilds. So, the couple we are building the house for, Eric and Nancy, took us mountain biking! They guide camping tours all over the west, based out of Las Vegas, and also guide day trips to biking trails in the Moab area. We originally planned to bike Dead Horse Point (where Thelma and Louise ran the car over a cliff), but the mixed weather up top led us to try the Lazy EZ and Bar M trails below the point. Everyone had a great time on the bikes, with only two folks skidding out or falling off (myself included). At the end of the trip a wave of snow swept over us for about 20 minutes. It was in the upper 40s or, so the snow only sticks in the shadows around here lately.

talented and genuine musician Jackie Sullivan

Jackie Sullivan "Missing Part of Me" from Jackie Sullivan on Vimeo.

Day 3: Tour de Strawbale.

Our first Friday in Moab. We met the couple that we will be building a house for: Nancy and Eric (another Eric). They joined us for a tour of 8 different strawbale and natural-built homes, in 3 different areas. First we went out to Castle Valley. Here are some pictures of the landscape and homes.

We rode back into town and saw a couple of houses in the Mulberry Grove intentional community, which includes orchards, space for organic farming, and excludes cars in its interior streets. More information available at: http://www.mulberrygroveonline.com/

An exciting visit for me was Doni Kiffmeyer and Kaki Hunter's home in Moab. I moved to Moab with their book, a great foundation on earthbag building: Earthbag Building: The Tools, Tricks, and Techniques. Their plot is their laboratory for discovering the best mixes of earth materials, new and refined techniques, and how earthen structures age. Hearing their ideas directly and realizing how central Moab is to the natural building community in our country has motivated the interns to learn as much as possible while we live here.

The last house we visited was the most whimsical and impressive. It is truly a design-build masterpiece:

Day 2: A glance at the build plans.

The Community Rebuilds "Campus" house is where us 8 interns live together. We are 2 people per room and we also have a spare bedroom. One kitchen, a big living, two bathrooms, a whole lot of furniture from Wabi Sabi, the local thriftique, and food and history from the previous semesters of interns are the cogs that will keep our house running.

This morning we met again with the executive director of Community Rebuilds, Emily, and our builders, Kelly Ray and Eric, to take a first look at the plans for the house we will be building over the next 4 months. We discussed passive solar heating, building materials, site considerations, and meeting or exceeding local building codes. Our builders and Emily tied it all together for us by introducing the systems concept of permaculture. We were also introduced to Kelly Ray's direct sense of humor.

Us 8 interns will also split into pairs to develop and in some cases implement plans for 4 specialized projects:

- Rainwater catchment and irrigation.

- Greywater plumbing/storage, filtering, and use.

- Landscaping using permaculture principles.

- Solar hotwater heater for an outdoor shower- the first site will be the campus house.

After lunch, we piled into a couple of cars and went for a hike at Culvert Canyon. Eric and Kelly Ray were completely prepared to abandon us, but we kept and eye on them.

arrival in Moab

After a 4 day roadtrip through barren Western Washington, surprisingly warm Pendleton, Oregon, dry Idaho, and now other-wordly Utah, I have arrived in Moab. Everything in the distance is grey, white, blue, and bleak. Everything in Mo

ab is sunny, red, and warm.

Above: Twin Falls, ID

Above: Wind turbines en route from Provo, UT to Moab, UT.

Above: Redrocks on the edge of Moab.