Day Eight

October 9, 2023

almost done with the tires

still more tires

you may be wondering why this is day 8. what happened to Day 7. on Day 7, earthship rested. you gotta do your laundry some time.

as i think about today, it occurs to me that everything we’ve done so far has been done by a bunch of amateurs, led by a small crew of pros. and it’s all simple, straightforward work - pounding dirt into tires, using concrete to stabilize, pushing dirt up around the tire wall, trapping a portion of the dirt around the wall with thermal wrap (hard insulation), placing cisterns … none of this is rocket science. yes, you still have to be mindful of level, plumb, and square, but it’s all attainable by any work force that has its mind in the game. yes, it can be greatly assisted by some helpful machinery, but it’s possible without it.

this is the first day of week two, and after a day of rest, it’s pretty impressive to see that the teamwork has developed. people don’t need to be told what to do so much as they find something to do. i ran dirt to people on the wall for a good portion of the day. then i cut a bunch of rebar, and lastly i helped lay some concrete footings. no one told me to do those things, i just did them. in part because they needed to be done, but also because it struck my fancy to do them at the time. others were doing the same.

we’re almost done with the tire wall, btw. by day’s end we’d put the last course on top and had begun to pound them. so very soon … no more tires! there will be great rejoicing. i think the roof comes next.

another walk around the whole structure. the cisterns hold 1700 gallons a piece, for a total of 5100, which seems like a lot to me. i wonder how long it would take to use it all up?

after the walk around, i climb up the right wing wall to show what’s behind it all. which is … basically dirt.

you’ll also see the thermal wrap buried. and the cisterns.

when all is said and done, the thermal wrap will go all the way up to the roof and will join with the insulation in the roof, sealing in the tires, dirt, roof and the entire structure.

the berm will also cover all the tires and the cisterns. so everything you currently see will be covered by the berm.

that’s me standing on the wall. i’m kinda hard to see.

lastly, a couple videos - one of the typical activity during the day, the other of me cutting rebar.