Wow!  I leave town for a few days and Matt (M.R. Concrete) and his crew go to work and finish the foundation (rubble trench w/grade beam).  It is not the kind of foundation you see very often but has distinct advantages over the conventional foundation.  The grade beam uses about 1/3 the cement of the conventional footing/stem wall approach.  It rests on a compacted base of crushed rock permitting better drainage and eliminates up-lift from the shrinking and expanding of soil.  More commonly used on rammed earth homes, it makes a nice footing for adobe as well.  Did I mention that it also costs less?!

Matt lives and builds in Santa Fe County and has a long history of quality and dependability.  If you want the area's best concrete firm to work on your project call: Matt Rischer, M.R. Concrete, 505-286-1070.

Rough-in Plumbing

     Now that the adobes are made and stacked, we can begin the real building.  Dan, from Plumbing Express, is up first.  Since the rubble trench footing can't be disturbed once it is in, the underground work has to be done first.  Somehow Dan figured out where all the pipes, drains, etc., are supposed to go (including the supply lines for under-floor radiant heating) before the foundation or floors are in.  That's just one reason why he is the best.  See that little blue label on one of the pipes?  That is our signed inspection ticket.  All is approved and ready for the next step.

     Now that Dan has finished with his magic and the inspector has approved it, Matt, M.R. Concrete, came in to dig the trenches, compact the rubble (crushed rock) and pour the grade beam or foundation.  Check back later for a report on the foundation work.
     If you are in the Santa Fe County area and would like the best plumbing contractor working on your project you can phone Dan Creager, Plumbing Express, 505-286-3637, or email him at: plumbexp@yahoo.com 

Making Our Adobe Blocks

Growing up out West, I often dreamed of living in a vast openness, an unpopulated wilderness with a view of high majestic mountains, and big skies.  Ultimately, my dream evolved into idea of building and living in a natural earth dwelling.
     Three years ago we selected our land, the site to build our dream natural earth home.  It will sit on a high desert plateau with open vistas in every direction.  In our dream our home will look like it is supposed to be there, like it belongs.  Burrowing Owls will feel comfortable building their nests nearby and coyotes, quail, and deer won't shy from its presence.  Living there we'll feel like our family just trekked down the old Santa Fe Trail, unloaded our wagon and built our new home on the frontier using the material at hand.  Oddly enough, an old stagecoach road, connecting early frontier outposts, runs through the plot of land we selected.
     But in what form would that dwelling take?  We studied homes built of rammed earth, compressed earth block, cob, straw bale, log, stone, sun dried adobe, etc.  Ultimately, we chose to make compressed earth block on site using the soil from our land.  It embodies all the elements of a primitive building that meets today's highest standards: cost effective, durable, efficient, and beautiful.  You can follow the process here  and click from slide to slide.  A firm called Tierra Laja, located near the Rio Grande north of Albuquerque offered us a high quality, competitively-priced Earth Block and was able to build them in three days right on our home site.   Thus, we saved time and money.  To discuss an order from Tierra Laja for your building project, call Laura at (505) 463-4766 or write: tierralaja@gmail.com .

Plans Complete

Joe Tibbets, of Southwest Solar Adobe, is an authority on all things involving earth building.  He is a fine artist in other materials; oils, water color, etc., but it is his artistic talents using his pencil, and t-square, reinforced with his vast knowledge of earth structures that has made our adobe home a possibility.  Given my rough idea of layout, Joe went to work. 
After months of agonizing over every little detail and trimming unnecessary fluff we have our adobe home plans.  These plans have been made available to the public through Southwest Solar Adobe.  SWSA has some very kind things to say about them at the following link: http://www.adobebuilder.com/solar-adobe-house-plan-1870.html We invite you to visit that site for a very comprehensive write-up of the plan's features. If you would like a more detailedversion of the floor plan you can click here.  We wanted a small home but with enough living space to spread out a little and with plenty of storage. Also, we wanted to take advantage of all that New Mexico sunshine to warm us in the winter. Check, check and check. With permits in hand, we can now begin the construction process.