Week of Volunteers – Getting Started on the Tires (finally!)

Things are coming along nicely at the Doighouse Earthship Build. Not that we’ve received the official Go Ahead from the authorities, but seeing that they are just about to do so, we want to have all our ducks in a row (or tires in this case). This week we also received a good number of volunteers, so we could tie up all our loose ends, and once we’re given the green light we can focus 100% on the build.

A Multitude of Volunteers

Up until last week it was only myself and Christian, another guy helping out Tony and Susan, but suddenly the population of volunteers tripled. Jo-Ann, a friend of Susan’s, arrived with her daughter Riley from North Vancouver. Also from Vancouver came Napo, who is originally from El Salvador, and a day later Anna arrived from England. Although none of these interested helpers is staying for much longer than a week, the many hands are much appreciated in finishing the numerous ongoing projects. At the same time the animated conversations over morning coffee are adding heaps to the delights of the project!

Having so many people around, we couldn’t help taking a group shot, showing not only those helpers who have come to camp on the site, but also some who live nearby and like to come on a weekly basis. These are from left to right: Real from the neighboring town of Qualicum Beach (though originally he’s from Quebec), Connie, Susan and Tony’s sister-in-law from nearby Black Creek, Tony himself holding the rainbow-colored Doighouse sign, Jo-Ann, and behind her Anna, Christian from Thunder Bay, Ontario, in front of him Riley holding the bat she painted, followed by Napo, Real’s partner Laurel, and finally yours truly, straight outa Bowser, yo!

Shower and Kitchen: All Done!

It took us way longer than expected, but finally we managed to complete the two pieces of infrastructure I have written about previously: the spiral wall to the outdoor shower is all finished. More importantly, we installed a hand-powered bilge-pump to transfer the water from the 1000 liter IBC on the ground into the black barrel on top of the log-pile. As for the kitchen, it has been finally occupied by busy kitchen fairies, so the food and the dishes are finding their respective nooks and crannies. Now that we are actually using the kitchen, it feels like it is developing a spirit of its own, which is essential to the hearth of a place.

Yet Another Project – The Beehive Oven

When Jo-Ann arrived, she came with a plan: Both Susan and her had been dreaming about building a cob oven, and this time seemed as good as any to do so. Jo-Ann came prepared, bringing a good amount of high-grade clay, which is hard to come by in this sandy soil. A good collection of fire-bricks as well as insulating bricks on Susan’s part completed the set of requirements. So while the guys focused on preparing the foundation to the Earthship, the ladies set about to build the earth-oven. The week came and went in the blink of an eye, and as it is the case with so many projects, they did not get it finished by the time most volunteers left. But Anna, who stayed till the middle of the following week, and Susan kept working on it with steadfast tenacity. So much so, that it will be worth an article of its own, coming up soon!

Earthsip – Ready for Pounding

The building site has been dug down to “undisturbed soil” and leveled to under an inch in variation. For this we had a professional come out with his excavator, a couple of weeks back. It was a pleasure to watch this young expert maneuver his machine with exact precision, stripping down the top layer of the ground, and piling it up on the side. This is where we’ll be filling our tires from. I expect the first few courses to eat up this entire hill! Yes, tires are hungry, and they have a lot of empty space to fill… For now I keep reveling in the beauty of the building site: flat as a table-top. Such a welcome change to my last project of building a retaining wall on a sloping hillside!

On this flat surface we measured and laid out the house plan, and positioned our tires exactly where they are going to be pounded, making sure they are just about level. Compacting them will come with inevitable alterations, but the fine-tuning can be done once they are filled with dirt. At least, we won’t have to dig in excessively large tires.

And just as our Week of Many Hands came to a close, we managed to fill, compact, and level the first three tires! The 10 mil plastic sheet under them is a requirement to meet the local building code. I’ve never pounded tires on such a slippery surface, but this annoying feature will accompany us throughout the entire first course. For now, though, we are happy to have started the actual construction, and celebrated it with a bottle of specialty IPA: Alpha Acid from Hoyne’s Brewery in Victoria, one of my favorite brews I’ve sampled during my month in the province’s capital.

If you like this project, please visit the other posts I have published in my Doighouse Series:

If you're interested in coming to visit, or better volunteer for a while, please contact [email protected] and visit http://thedoighouse.com/ Looking forward to getting to know you!