Test blocks

Construction truck

My old truck decided to start and become the construction truck...thanks buddy...peace

Rammed block test

New form

Julie helped me put up the forms for south wall...daughter brought us lunch so nice...peace

Form prototype

This is a simple form.. alot of thought went into it. I have poured with concrete many times so I know what it takes to form up concrete. This project is different and had different considerations. First 3/4 inch plywood is damn heavy. I will be moving these forms myself and compromised with 5/8".  I will use clamps,screws and pencil rod to hold the forms together. I also did not want to frame out plywood and then use wailers on the outside also. I will use a block next to form blocking to hold pencil rod clamp. Since I can not afford to form entire house in one shot I will have to build walls and sections independently then form out bond beam as one unit. I finished packing scrap form I had... will try to integrate that wall section into new forms......Peace

Trip to Lowes for forming materials my basket cost more than the huge Cart with 30 2 x4s and 5 sheets of plywood ..they wiil nickel and dime you..saw old friend ..he knew oldest daughter from baby..Larry ...great character of NM

Taos Mountain

Mountain over material pile...ramming a bit today

Green wall test

I removed form from wall section. It was extemely green. The keyways got a bit gnarly when pulling form. I will look forward to the day we are using clamps more and screws less. This is great learning experience. We will see how it cures out......You can see keyway detail and form moved down on green wall....Peace

 Tres Orejas mountain in background of detail...

Rammers

Various rammers.. the little one I made is good for corners.

Little Wall

 Today we worked on our first wall section. The size was determined by old form material from a lift i built..parts is parts. We rammed this wall with a spec base course with 5% cement. Luckily our daughter and her boyfriend showed up with about half the wall done. We did this little wall 6 wheelbarrows of material.....Peace

Little Form

Today I went to land and built a little form. Julie is going with me tomorrow to ram our first wall. I built it small so we could learn without too major a problem. It was dramatic at the land with the snow on the mountain and the dark clouds. A few people stopped to look but did not get out of their cars....Enjoy pics..Peace

Our story

Hi Folks this is a blog about rammed earth. I will not say it is a how to-. more of a story of our families journey. Along this journey we will be building with rammed earth. I am not sure where this will lead but maybe by writing about it we will help ourselves and others find there way on their paths.
We are a family of five. My wife and I have three daughters.  Our oldest works with my wife at a business they own. Our middle child is in Portland, Oregon going to school, and our youngest is still at home striving towards her GED.
I was working in a high stress job that I had been in for over 30 years. I worked in the ski industry about one of the more reliable forms of employment in Northern New Mexico where we live.  My wife and daughter running a local business in a changing economy where people turn more to the Internet than go strolling through boutique business. We have a big mortgage and many bills as we run from paycheck to paycheck. One check pays the mortgage the next check pays the bills and if you are lucky you can buy some food.
My wife  started a conversation with me about Tiny Houses. These homes were very small typically under 500 square feet and often mobile. She was looking at the work Michael Janzen was doing. His blog is TinyHouseDesign.com.
We began to talk about how our 1800 square foot house was too much for us. It had done a good job housing 5 people, don't get me wrong. We were looking at paying this house off in our 70s. Then what ...at the rate I was going my body had taken a heavy toll being an outdoor mechanic working year round. Besides that I begun to realize I had grown apart from the family..when you spend more time at work than with your family. I no longer wanted to be my job. We put our house for sale.
I thought I could continue to work as we sold the house and build our new house..then maybe I could retire to a new life.
My body had other plans. I began to get ill. Panic and anxiety making it  hard to breathe. Looking back two months later I am not sure how but with the support of my family I quit mid ski season.
Somehow probably because it was a small light of hope in what had become an ugly existence, The conversation my wife had started turned into a beautiful plan for a new life..buying land.. building a tiny house.. and building with earth... rammed earth.
So here we are..2.5 acres of raw land.. next to Taos Pueblo land so our view will remain uncluttered of houses. We have roughed in a driveway to the work site using pit run to later put base course and then gravel. We dug out a 10x10 foot foundation and have rammed in a footer... we hope to begin forming up and ramming walls next. This tool shed will hopefully help us learn the rammed earth process and get a good mix we can have tested to get the required 300 PSI  certificate you need before you can get a permit..   more to follow ....Peace