Long term shelter walls/Roof?

Im building a shelter in my woods. Its more like a shack really. Im not sure what to use as walls. Plywood is a option, but i wanted to use as much natural stuff as possible.

EDIT: Need some ideas for a long term roof aswell!

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Take only memories, Leave only footprints.

Last edited by Colt on Tue Dec 04, 2007 2:17 pm; edited 1 time in total

WEll if your looking to make it 100 natural you can make a natural wall.

In the Ultimate Survival Guide it shows a great example.

I cant find a pic but what you do is put 4 poles into the ground. First put one in then another about a foot away (can be closer or futhur). Then put two more poles in a couple of meters away in parallel.

Should look like this from the Top:

O..............................................O

O..............................................O

Then you stack branches accross inside like so:

O..............................................O
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----------------------------------------
O..............................................O

Then in the middle you jsut fill with debris such as dirt, leaves etc. This is a natural insolated wall.

O..............................................O
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######################
----------------------------------------
O..............................................O

Hope this makes some sense

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"There dosen't look like there's much shelter over in those mountains, but that's the only choice I got right now, this is gonna be a long week" - Les Stroud Arctic

Thanks troop!

_________________
Take only memories, Leave only footprints.

sorry if its hard to understand my camrea is dead so i cant take pics of the book Confused

_________________
"There dosen't look like there's much shelter over in those mountains, but that's the only choice I got right now, this is gonna be a long week" - Les Stroud Arctic

I understand it just fine. Im glad i dont have to resort in having to use plywood. Thanks for your help! Razz

_________________
Take only memories, Leave only footprints.

	Colt wrote:
	I understand it just fine. Im glad i dont have to resort in having to use plywood. Thanks for your help!

> what next ? dry wall ?? ..... Laughing

JK. Nature has all the stuff you need Colt, hope it goes well. Cheers

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A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

Drummer Dave wrote:

	Colt wrote:
	I understand it just fine. Im glad i dont have to resort in having to use plywood. Thanks for your help!

> what next ? dry wall ?? ..... Laughing

JK. Nature has all the stuff you need Colt, hope it goes well. Cheers

Thanks Dave, I really hope it goes well too. It will be nice to stay some nights in the snow and not be freezing to death in a tent.

I edited the name of the topic and put another question in my first post.

BTW Dave: this is off topic but, do you play Battlefield 1942? I see someone on with your name all the time.

_________________
Take only memories, Leave only footprints.

Colt wrote:

Drummer Dave wrote:

	Colt wrote:
	I understand it just fine. Im glad i dont have to resort in having to use plywood. Thanks for your help!

> what next ? dry wall ?? ..... Laughing

JK. Nature has all the stuff you need Colt, hope it goes well. Cheers

Thanks Dave, I really hope it goes well too. It will be nice to stay some nights in the snow and not be freezing to death in a tent.

I edited the name of the topic and put another question in my first post.

BTW Dave: this is off topic but, do you play Battlefield 1942? I see someone on with your name all the time.

?? Really ! .... lol, no i dont play 1942. I only played 1 game online and that was Forgottin Battles IL2.
which i haven't played for well over a year. Cool

you should chat with the guy, say hey, where ya from DD Laughing

now if he said im from B.C that would freak me out. Cheers.

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

I wonder how a rammed earth, cordwood, or strawbale shelter would work? I've only built conventional, but I've seen these described in Mother Earth News, and they'd seem to be a good fit for a remote, longlasting shelter. All of these would seem to fit into a woodland setting, as well.

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Chacun a son gout.

	nurkerool wrote:
	I wonder how a rammed earth, cordwood, or strawbale shelter would work? I've only built conventional, but I've seen these described in Mother Earth News, and they'd seem to be a good fit for a remote, longlasting shelter. All of these would seem to fit into a woodland setting, as well.

I think with that combination & with the straw should work well & blend in with the forest landscape Cool

Straw and mud are really good mixes & strong, and last as well. Get some pics if you can nurkerool, show the progress. Cheers & Welcome to the " North American Survival Forum "

_________________
A Knifeless Man is a Lifeless Man
Canadian To The Core
Carry Less by Knowing More
Knowledge Weighs Nothing

A person could cheat with earthen walls and bring in some seed to plant on the actual surface. Once you'd get some roots going in that stuff it'd last a long time.

The rammed earth is only going to work for a certain type of soil.

The straw bale is stacked like huge blocks or bricks and then stuccoed inside and out.

The cordwood construction utilizes 12 to 18 inch wood stacked as a wood pile, but with cement, soil, or hi-tech chinking in between.

Someone who wants to use some of these techniques probably needs to go straight to the source for information and design criteria. Unfortunately there isn't nearly as much "free" information as there was back in the "good old days". When I went looking for rammed earth info, there's a lot of construction companies now that are doing it professionally.

I did think about the roof, and there's an aluminum ribbed roofing called "Fabral". A guy could hoof that in and then cover it with dirt, leaves, detritus, whatever he wanted and the shelter would disappear.

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Chacun a son gout.

Google a guy named "Rob Roy" and greenhomebuilding, he's got a good introductory website to these building techniques.

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Chacun a son gout.

Good ideas Nurker, glad you mosied on over here also.

_________________
-Thou may'st break, but shalt not bend me.

-Idleness brings want
To work today is to eat tomorrow
It is best to prepare for the days of necessity

-Till shade is gone, till water is gone, into the Shadow with teeth bared, screaming defiance with the last breath, to spit in Sightblinder's eye on the Last Day.

One other tip I will point out is that if there be rocks around, and preferably flat ones, make sure if you do a rammed earth or cordwood, lay flat rocks down that are larger than the wall so the load is spread out further than the wall itself. If you can get the wall up on say an 8 inch distance from the ground using rock or block, it will last a lot longer.

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Chacun a son gout.

Thanks Sk, I saw a lot of familiar aliases, and thought I'd just try it out. You can never have too much information.

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Chacun a son gout.

The wife and I have built a couple of outbuildings now that we've been happy with, and I helped build quite a few different buildings as a kid. Unfortunately, they are strictly conventional, other than being superinsulated in one case. The biggest job was a 10 x 20 foot, 6 inch sidewall, 12 inch ceiling using a box girder type construction truss. Realized it may have been a bit over designed when I realized each girder could probably pick up a car engine. The entire building was screwed together with square drive screws instead of nails. If a tornado takes it, it's gonna take it all together. We just finished a 10 x 12 foot pole barn addition to the building described above. The original building has a "Fabral" aluminum roof, the pole barn has a shingled roof ('cause I'd never done one before). It would be interesting to build a "green" shack in the woods and just see how long the thing would last.

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Chacun a son gout.

hey welcome to the forum, nice to read your imput.

Hope you enjoy yourself here! Very Happy

_________________
"There dosen't look like there's much shelter over in those mountains, but that's the only choice I got right now, this is gonna be a long week" - Les Stroud Arctic

Thanks, I'm sure I will.

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Chacun a son gout.

	nurkerool wrote:
	One other tip I will point out is that if there be rocks around, and preferably flat ones, make sure if you do a rammed earth or cordwood, lay flat rocks down that are larger than the wall so the load is spread out further than the wall itself. If you can get the wall up on say an 8 inch distance from the ground using rock or block, it will last a lot longer.

NURKEROOL.....THE UNIVERSITY OIF MANITOBA DESIGNED A FOUNDATION SYSTEM THATS A GRAVEL BERM WITH RAIL ROAD TIES PLACED ON TOP.THIS COULD BE EASILY MANAGED WITH LITTLE OR NO EQUIPMENT.ITS IN THEIR BOOK STACKWALL AND HOW TO BUILD IT.[I`VE HEARD IT MIGHT HAVE FAILED ONCE,BUT THE BUILDER TOOK SHORTCUTS I BELIEVE.]
SOMEONE DESCRIBED CORDWOOD AS BUILDING WITH 12" TO 16" LOGS,WELL THE SMARTER BUILDERS GO TO 24" THE SMALLER LOG LENGTHS WILL BE HARD PRESSED TO MEET CODE IN R-VALUE BUT THE 24" SHOULD PASS WITH FLYING COLORS.
AS FOR GETTING THE LOGS 8" OFF THE GROUND,THATS NOT GOOD ENOGH TO PROTECT YOUR LOGS.RAIN WATER WILL SPLASH UPWARDS TO 24" ABOVE GROUND AND THUS SATURATE THE LOGS. THE U OF M
DESIGN PLACES THE LOGS CLOSE TO 24" OFF THE GROUND.[ IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY].BUT DO NOT FOLLOW THEIR IDEA OF TREATING THE LOGS WITH BLUESTONE AS IT IS TOXIC.PLUS DON`T LISTEN TO THEM ABOUT LEAVING THE BARK ON EITHER AS ITS A NO! NO!

CORDWOODGUY

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PLEASE EXCUSE THE UPPERCASE LETTERS AS I HAVE A VISUAL DISABILITY
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cordwood

Good info. cordwoodguy Very Happy

eric