Natural building myths: tiny homes and green roofs

The most attention-getting natural homes are often small and topped with a turf roof. Here, natural building expert Michael G. Smith shows us a 3,000-sq-ft earth building and dispels the myths that all natural building needs to be tiny and covered with an green roof.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• natural building
• straw bale
• straw bale home
• cob
• cob building
• cob home
• simple living
• natural home
• earth building
• michael g smith
• emerald earth sanctuary
• green building
• earth construction
• natural construction
• diy home
• diy home construction
• tiny homes
• small homes
• earth roof
• earthen roof
• green roof
• turf roof

[dasalekhya]

and i would like to suggest something: please use a lot of lime [calcium carbonate] on walls and roof. this would protect the house from germs since natural materials tend to be prone to germ build up. using lime is a usual practice in south Asia.

[kirstendirksen]

@dasalekhya It was also a common practice here in Spain in the traditionally-built homes, at least in my mother-in-law's hometown in the Extremadura region. Though this now seems to be changing with all the more modern homes.

[TheDudeRulez09]

Michael has a vocal abnormality, nothing annoying about it, I would suggest maybe looking into why you feel the way you do when you hear him speak and realize that it might not be his voice but your unwillingness to accept him because of a difference in what you consider normal. I wish you well

[Achbar]

I would love  to make Homes like this

[bryncomeaux]

do the math prove me wrong. my building ide is best . lowest cost, fastest time least amount of work. stacked 2x4 wall. there thats it. just stack 2x4's flat and nail them ontop of each other until you have a wall. add some old vynil windows and doors. use a pressure treatred built up 2x10 posts as a foundation. build floor and roof with 2x4 stacked on edge. no siding drywalll roofing flooring needed. im getting a 24x24 building for 8-10 usd per sq ft. and its faster than adobe

[iLOVENATURE2011]

here another solution to aid the threat of floods in cities... i like the whole idea of installing green roofs in buildings.

[ArmchairBuilder]

Good stuff Michael. I like seeing different ways of building. We offer free help for anyone wanting to build their own home (the more traditional kind). visit us at our youtube channel ArmchairBuilder

[ChrisKoopaX]

LMFAO stop crying i can't handle it XD

[vizard00001]

there is a better way of making em. it stays warm in the winter and cold in the summer I lived in one till i.was 14. its nice the only thing we worried about was severe rain in monsoon. cuz the dry weather conditions before monsoon kills the little plants growing on the roof and the rain starts to wash away a layer. depends on the how many days of rain.

[ucw458]

Is it just me or does this guy sound like he's one second away from crying?

[jldwolfe]

I like what he is saying but hate hearing him talk.

[TheDudeRulez09]

@jpenneyatyahoodotcom you might want to re read my post as I said nothing negative about Micheal as I know him well, so I leave you with that and wish you also well.

[jpenneyatyahoodotcom]

@TheDudeRulez09 Actually the reason you feel uncomfortable when he speaks is because our nervous system automatically makes us feel the things that the people around us are feeling. So when he makes the sound that sounds like his throat is tightening up, our throats tighten up.  It has nothing to do with our ability to accept him. It's a physical sensation. Still not Michael's problem, and still rude to insult the guy but it's not as simple as "learn to accept".

[dasalekhya]

@Tannius quite true, but if you have babies or pregnant women or old people in there, they may not remain healthy just through their immunity