Island Earthship Build: Week 5. Day 29. ‘Creature from the Black Lagoon’

Monday June 20, on the Gulf Island Earthship Build:

…Previous Post

Here’s an overview of the Main House Earthship and the East Wing Entrance. The Can Wall has really progressed. You’ll notice how far down the end Can Wall stack on the right goes down into the ground, and that’s because in some places the tire wall had to go down as far as 6 rows below floor level to reach ‘Undisturbed Earth’ , which is necessary for a solid Rammed Earth Tire Wall.

Here’s a close up of the end ‘Planter’ Can Wall, and you can see the slight ‘flare’ at the top. You need practice to get this to look smooth and even.

Here on the West Wing Can Wall of the smaller Studio Earthship (left), you can see how far down the unfinished top Planter stack goes, while below and to the right, you can see they’ve already started to put in a cement bottom. On the East Wing Can Wall (right), the Planter Can Wall Stacks are finished, with cement bottoms already cured, and filled with rocks for better plant irrigation.

Speaking of the roof and stacks… here are the vents for the Main House Earthship (left), all in one cluster. The back black and silver stacks are vents for the Hot Water Tank and Clothes Dryer, while the two white tubes, are air Intake Pipes to prevent suction. The vent stacks on the Studio Earthship roof (right), are spread out, and finished off with the colour of the Pro-Panel Roofing to match.

The concrete floor slabs in the Main House Greenhouse Hallway are slightly sloped towards the in-ground hallway Planters (left), to ensure that any water runoff goes into the Planters and doesn’t pool on the walkway. Above the Greenhouse Hallway (right), you can see the horizontal vent open to the Living Space of the Earthship, while overhead in the ceiling, the rooftop Vent Box Lid is also up for ventilation.

The kitchen in the Main House Earthship is coming along, with many of the cement floor pours done, and the rest ready to go.

Over in the Studio Earthship, you can already get a taste of what the view will be like looking out through the Green House Hallway French Doors (left), while the open room concept kitchen plumbing  is almost done (right).

A Bottle Wall has been added atop the Insulated Double Can Wall around the doorway of the West Wing Airlock in the Main House Earthship.

Here you can see how we started the natural curve for the bottle design, by rounding and raising the previous 3 can rows below. This allows a natural progression for the start of the first bottle row, and eliminating large gaps of cement.

This is an exterior view of the West Wing Airlock on the Main House Earthship. You can see how the bottles on the left of the door frame had to be designed to allow room for the Electrical Box that will become an outdoor Light.

No… it’s not a ‘Creature from the Black Lagoon’… rather a Volunteer Intern emerging from the bowels of the ‘Black Water Septic Hole’ construction, that has been bermed since Friday’s installation.

So what exactly were these two doing below ground in such tight quarters?…

… applying a circular footing on the top tire of the ‘Outlaw Black Water System’. Not a job for anyone who’s claustrophobic!

This is the trench for the Overflow Pipe System leading from the Black Water Septic Holes of both the Main House Earthship, and the Studio Earthship. The scraps of ‘Blue Board’ insulation act as a porous absorbing Filter that will work in conjunction with the gravel in the trench. It will drain out to a location that is away from the site.

Here’s an overview of the Tire Retaining Wall of the West Wing exit of the Main House Earthship. This retaining wall is supporting the earth berm between the two Earthships. You can’t see it, but the Studio Earthship rear roof line  is just out of frame to the right.

Here’s the view from the rear of the roof of the Main House Earthship, overlooking the tire wall supporting the berm at the rear of the Studio Earthship.

Here’s the bird’s eye view of the exit that will lead out of the West Wing, and out to the front of the Main House. We’ve entered the last work week on this Gulf Island Build, and things are really coming together. We’ve made a push to get everything finished in the next 4 days, and we’re anticipating celebrating the finish line of a job well done…

Next Post…

Image Credits: Monica Holy