Many of you have met Henry Wiersma and his amazing earth block machine and heard about the fire on his property a couple of years ago.
Northumberland Today has published an article, Dream built brick by brick, about Henry Wiersma’s construction project using unfired brick and straw bale.
An excerpt:
At present, he is building a house with unfired clay bricks — bricks made of the sticky Northumberland clay that sits just under the surface around most new home foundations. Think of it as adobe brick technology Canuck-style. Wiersma claims he is the only one in Canada attempting to build a home with unfired clay bricks.
The clay has been dug up, pulverized and screened on location. With a bit of cement added, the clay has been compacted into 10x14x4-inch bricks. Wiersma uses a clay and water mixture as a mortar between the blocks.
…
Surrounding the 10-inch clay brick walls will be an 18-inch straw bale wall. A plaster finish will cover the home’s exterior and a surrounding porch will provide further protection from the elements.
Elsewhere in the article, Henry’s passion for sustainable living, localization and move towards a post-industrial way of live comes through loud and clear.
The link to the article above is non-functional.
http://www.northumberlandtoday.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1459294 doesn’t work.
Unfortunately some newspapers don’t permanently keep articles online. They also don’t want people to copy the article wholesale (hence why I only posted an excerpt). The only option is the local library or accessing a paid archive service.
Henry,
How are you doing? I visited you with my father,
John, last month and gave you a Divinci shirt.
I have some photos to send you but forgot your
email address. Please reply and I’ll send them.
I am also interested to know what type of heating
system will be installed in the circle/square house.
The updated link for the article is: http://www.northumberlandtoday.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=1459294
Hi
I was delighted to read about ur adobe house.I am a civil
Engineer from Pakistan with considerable experience of
earth construction methods.I want to construct a earthbag
experimental dome here in canada. Can u guide me as how to get permits ect.I am also a master of building with rammed earth or adobes & vault roofs made by abobe.
Is it possible to visit ur house.
Hi Muhammad
Thank you for taking an interest in my project. I would love to have you visit my building site. Where are you located, how convenient would be for a visit? Did you visit our web site at http://www.fifthwind.ca I would be honored to speak with someone of your knowledge of natural construction. It is a goal of mine to build a dome of compressed earth blocks.
You can call me any time at 905-342-3666 and ask for Henry Wiersma
Till we meet
Henry Wiersma