Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
at least able to manipulate them to some degree without dumping most of
the plaster on the ground, was how to “float” the concrete plaster. This
involved using the correct trowel, a small oval one rather than the big tri-
angular one or the rake-like one used to texture the scratch coat so subse-
quent coats would stick to it. Using a light hand to force the plaster into
the straw, this technique let the water in the plaster “float” to the top, cre-
ating a desirable smooth surface which could be extended to the entire
area. Again, the tacit knowledge I acquired was only the beginning of a
deeper folk skill and wisdom which is just now beginning to be appreci-
ated. While standard plaster recipes come with the commercial products,
there is another knowledge, almost lost, of which I heard snatches in con-
versations here and there—vernacular knowledge, now residing in non-
industrial cultures, about whether the addition of pulverized prickly pear,
cow manure, or horse urine creates more durable surfaces for different floor
and wall uses.Yes, there is a romance about this kind of building, but it is
not purely about nostalgia for the old ways, though that is present too. Its
rhetoric is about respect for the Earth and creating human-scale dwell-
ings from non-toxic products and producing community in the process of
doing so.
THE ROMANCE OF STRAW: BUILDING WITH LEGO BLOCKS AND
COMMUNITY
Norm Ballinger expresses some of this sentiment in part of his article about
contending with building codes: “Years ago, I only dreamed of building a
house—a dream grown dim in the barrage of wastefulness and careless
workmanship that gets passed for normal. Now I can see how building
one's own place conscientiously can also rebuild the world in some small
way.” Two themes can be found here. One is a restatement of the straw-
bale philosophy that, in building with such a renewable resource, one is
contributing to the health of the planet.The other is about empowerment:
that building one's own home has a kind of satisfaction about it.This sense
of satisfaction is also available to those who participate in wall raisings. It
doesn't come right away, though the novel experience for many of us who
work behind computer screens, seldom engaging in manual labor, does have
a level of satisfaction. It comes at the end of a long day when you are one
of the few who have stayed to finish the last course on that wall you started,
or to get that last rebar pounded or window set straight. And you feel a
