Another pic.
Attachment:
File comment: The south east corner looking north.
Dowerin 4.jpg [ 68.5 KiB | Viewed 4494 times ]
The block is a little over 61 hectares (around 150 acres). I am told it is mainly clay but I need to get a site survey and soil test done so I know what my options for building are but I believe we will need to excavate out and refill an area with sand to be able to put a concrete slab down.
My partner and I are hopefully attending a 2 day Training Course on building Rammed Earth homes in March (I have paid my deposit, but have not heard that it has been received). Also the dates are TBA at the moment. For those of you interested in the course who live in WA visit
http://www.reaaustralia.com.au. If you have done the course I would be interested in what you think also.
I would love to build a Rammed Earth home, my partner needs a little more convincing. She loves the look of the walls, she is just not convinced that we can do it ourselves. I on the other hand cant wait to get started.
As the block is located 1km from a bitumen road where mains power and water are located we will be self sufficient as I think it is going to be rather expensive to run power to our block - it is a requirement to have a rain water tank of at least 120,000 litres (from memory) installed before building. We will also be installing a largish off-grid PV solar system, with wind and generator backup (I say largish as I already have a 1Kw system installed on my current house and our bills are almost $0 so I think we will get away with a 3Kw system which in todays standards is average after seeing what some people are installing on their roofs).
I still have much to learn about owner building, but hopefully this site will help me out.
Edit: URL for Rammed Earth was incorrect.