BajaNomad

Adobe block house!

astrobaja - 10-16-2007 at 02:24 PM

Hi all,

Just wanted to share a pic of our new house in unassembled "lego" condition:spingrin:
The blocks are hand made by a crew of Pai Pais in the Valle de la Trinidad, they are pretty large blocks as you can see in the pic. About 9500 will go into our house near San Pedro Martir park, hopefully building will start in a few weeks!

Heres the site of our builder, Hes out of San Felipe where you could see a few examples of his work.
http://adobeblockworks.com/

The adobe should work very well for the passive solar design, lots of thermal mass!

DSCN0253.jpg - 47kB

bearbait1 - 10-16-2007 at 04:02 PM

Neato, how will the adobe construction cost compare to something conventional, line cinder block?

Gnome-ad - 10-16-2007 at 04:36 PM

Wow! Very cool, will enjoy watching your project come to be.

Thanks for sharing!

PS - Tried the link 3 times, but could not get it to work ...

[Edited on 10-16-2007 by Gnome-ad]

bajalou - 10-16-2007 at 05:36 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Gnome-ad

PS - Tried the link 3 times, but could not get it to work ...

[Edited on 10-16-2007 by Gnome-ad]


Worked for me - no problems.

I've seen some of the homes he's been building in San Felipe - looks like he does a quality job.

astrobaja - 10-17-2007 at 06:29 AM

I'll post pics as the construction progresses, we can't wait to start!

Bearbait, I honestly don't know how it compares to line cinder block. We paid around $1.50 per block, but the cool thing is that its a totally sustainable type of technology (with very old roots!). Might make a big resurgence when we start running out of oil!

meme - 10-17-2007 at 08:25 AM

The houses here are looking great! I am not too impressed with the floors but am sure it's case of to each his own! They do look like good workmanship tho. Also the owners choices of colors inside & decor would leave lots to my desires. But Again "To each his own".

Diver - 10-17-2007 at 08:30 AM

Aren't cinder blocks about a buck apiece in Baja ?
Or is that just the hardware store price I paid ?

Hook - 10-17-2007 at 08:33 AM

How are utilities routed within a structure like that? Log cabin style?

astrobaja - 10-17-2007 at 10:00 AM

Hook:

I believe that the utilities are routed like in a log structure. There is both an inside and outside layer of earth plaster that goes over the adobe blocks.

toneart - 10-17-2007 at 10:12 AM

It will be fun! I built a passive solar adobe house in Santa Fe, N.M. in 1984 and it turned out well. It took four months from breaking ground to move in. I had no experience. I read books and articles relating to adobe building and then jumped in. Even though I ran the job, I had the fine help of subs for dirt work, electric, plumbing, and roof.

Gnome-ad - 10-17-2007 at 12:45 PM

The link worked today, we were having a few issues yesterday. Beautiful homes in the pictures. It sounds wonderful.

Re: Cost of blocks - When we went to visit friends last night went past one block factory that had a sign "Blocks $7.00" - pretty good price I guess, don't know if you had to buy a quantity ...

But adobe - it sounds wonderful. Don't know if there are builders in our area doing that. Anyone know?

That's the "gringo" hardware store price.

Dave - 10-17-2007 at 01:25 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Diver
Aren't cinder blocks about a buck apiece in Baja ?
Or is that just the hardware store price I paid ?


In Rosarito it's about .55 and I'm told it's 7 pesos in Vizcaino. Anywhoo, I don't think adobe would make sense in Asuncion. The ground has a tendency to move.

tuna stick - 10-17-2007 at 03:40 PM

:?: Loreto Bay started out using on site produced adobe, for their" sustainable,authentic Mexican Village". Unfortunetly adobe didn't hold up very well to high humidity,hurricanes,and earthquakes. Like much else of their plan,it was abandoned. But then,what do I know?:?:

daveB - 10-18-2007 at 10:38 AM

Don't build too high. In Colima, passed by many wrecked houses by the streets of that city where the adobe failed during the 2003 earthquake. Fifty people died, some in those houses. These may have been in poor shape. Good luck and have fun with it.

daveB - 10-18-2007 at 10:39 AM

Don't build too high. In Colima, passed by many wrecked houses by the streets of that city where the adobe failed during the 2003 earthquake. Fifty people died, some in those houses. These may have been in poor shape. Good luck and have fun with it.

Al G - 10-18-2007 at 10:53 AM

When i left in May, Barbara was selling high quality cinder blocks for a $1 dlr each...in Todos Santos. That is a US standard block...not the ones with a plug on bottom.