Modern Cambodian Houses Made Out of Lego Bricks For the Poor

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Duncan
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Re: Modern Cambodian Houses Made Out of Lego Bricks For the Poor

Post by Duncan »

Kuroneko wrote: Wed Apr 05, 2017 6:38 pm
Duncan wrote: Wed Apr 05, 2017 5:53 pm
For anyone wanting to build in mud, I suggest you start with something cheap and simple like this and the family will not take over and move in .



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Its just missing a chimney and he can start cooking pizzas - big time :D

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Smoke was a valuable commodity in those days, why would you let it go up a chimney .
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Re: Modern Cambodian Houses Made Out of Lego Bricks For the Poor

Post by tightenupvolume1 »

whiskey vat house, findhorn, moray, scotland
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Re: Modern Cambodian Houses Made Out of Lego Bricks For the Poor

Post by John Bingham »

I stayed in a "Cob" house in Brittany for a couple of periods in around 2000- 2001. I did a lot of work on it too. They are made of mud/ straw stamped into a frame rather than mud-brick. Outwardly you wouldn't know what they were made from as they are plastered or have stone facing. You can't build very high though, and the wall has to be pretty thick at the bottom. The one I stayed in was at least a century old. The roof beams in the loft that I did up were beautiful, all hand-hewn wood, barely a straight edge in the whole structure. You had to use a lime-based plaster to allow the walls to breathe. There was a damp problem with a major part of the long back wall because a huge section had been patched with concrete reinforced with chicken wire. That all had to come off, which was grief.

Anyway, the house was ok, but chilly enough even on warm days. I'm not sure the design would work here though, even somewhere that doesn't flood. The climate would probably cause it to crumble fast and there would be serious problems with termites/ rodents etc.
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Re: Modern Cambodian Houses Made Out of Lego Bricks For the Poor

Post by tightenupvolume1 »

The whole earth catalogue from the 60-70s, maybe it is still going, had lots of good stuff around building.

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Re: Modern Cambodian Houses Made Out of Lego Bricks For the Poor

Post by willyhilly »

Apparently rice husks in bags make a good house, the same as straw bales. As long as the roof has god overhangs all round to keep the rain off it works.
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Re: Modern Cambodian Houses Made Out of Lego Bricks For the Poor

Post by Duncan »

tightenupvolume1 wrote: Wed Apr 05, 2017 11:28 pm The whole earth catalogue from the 60-70s, maybe it is still going, had lots of good stuff around building.

charlie
I think here was only a '' First Whole Earth Catalogue '' and a '' Second Whole Earth Catalogue '' The next was a Last Whole Earth Catalogue ''
. I have the Second Whole Earth and the Last Whole Earth Catalogues, Both are collectors items and for sale.
Also have almost all the [ about 100 ] Grass Roots magazines if someone is interested in giving me a price. These are full of good information and reading.
Cambodia,,,, Don't fall in love with her.
Like the spoilt child she is, she will not be happy till she destroys herself from within and breaks your heart.
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Re: Modern Cambodian Houses Made Out of Lego Bricks For the Poor

Post by willyhilly »

I remember the Whole Earth catalogue in NZ in the seventies, it was great. Those recipes for getting high from banana skins were fake news though. I am not surprised that they are collectors items.
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Re: Modern Cambodian Houses Made Out of Lego Bricks For the Poor

Post by tightenupvolume1 »

I think you will find there were far more than 3 editions of the whole earth catalogue

charlie


http://wholeearth.com/back-issues.php
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Re: Modern Cambodian Houses Made Out of Lego Bricks For the Poor

Post by beaker »

willyhilly wrote: Thu Apr 06, 2017 4:55 am Apparently rice husks in bags make a good house, the same as straw bales. As long as the roof has god overhangs all round to keep the rain off it works.
Bagged earth and/or bagged rice hills are usually covered in with cement in wet climates. Same as the brick buildings here.
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Re: Modern Cambodian Houses Made Out of Lego Bricks For the Poor

Post by willyhilly »

Yes of course they are rendered just like straw bale houses. They say the first couple of courses should be bags filled with stones as a damp proof course.Usually the straw bale homes have substantial frames for strength and to support the roof, so they are nor that cheap to build.
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