astrobaja - 6-17-2008 at 02:04 PM
Hi all,
Thought some might like to see a progress pic. The adobe walls on our house are going up nicely. We gave up trying to get them in from Valle de
Trinidad and now we are making them on site with clay soils/sand/agua and a bit of straw.
The Adobero makes about 100 a day, in 4 days they are dry enough to use. Top bond beam should go in about 2 weeks from now. Lots of rebar vertically
and horizontally to give support in case of earthquake.
more to come
Mike
BajaGringo - 6-17-2008 at 02:28 PM
What size blocks are you making?
David K - 6-17-2008 at 03:28 PM
Hope you get the roof up before the summer thunder storms begin!
Thanks for the update Astro! I can't wait to take Baja Angel up there and do some star gazing!
fdt - 6-17-2008 at 04:36 PM
Great to see all the progress. How is the road doing?
Hope to go up there to see you again soon.
saludos
[Edited on 6-17-2008 by fdt]
astrobaja - 6-18-2008 at 08:51 AM
BajaGringo: the blocks are fairly big 17X 14X 5 thick, weigh about 40 lbs each.
David: not too worried about rain, the little adobe house on our property has had no plaster for about a decade and its only a little weathered. The
inside of our new house has a thin coat of concrete about 4 inches up just in case we get a deluge (I still hate concrete). Come on up sometime, new
moon or last 1/4 is best.
Ferna: visit any time! Both the 18" and 30" are setup in the field, also keep me in mind for your scout troop. Theres plenty of room to pitch tents
and the nights are not cold anymore (its been 33-35 C for 3 days now!)
Gadget - 6-18-2008 at 09:47 AM
Wow, so beautiful!
What is the square footage of the house? It looks big.
I have been up on San Telmo rd several times for the races, would like to make it all the way up to the park and a visit to you guys some day.
Please keep us posted on your progress. It's not every day we get to see this type of construction.
astrobaja - 6-19-2008 at 09:29 AM
Hi Gadget!
It is pretty big, just over 2700 sq ft. But since we will be doing a Astronomy B&B (also for birders and anyone into nature) we figured keep it
on the big side with a guest part where both us and the guests can have some privacy. Later we will put in a couple guest cabins (also adobe).
There are VERY few adobe builders around probably way more in mainland Mex. But our guys (Pai Pai Construciones) are from the Valle de Trinidad and
have made a few houses in San Felipe as well.
fdt - 6-19-2008 at 09:33 AM
Is Commander Chakotay helping? 
DianaT - 6-19-2008 at 09:34 AM
Love adobe homes---that is going to be beautiful. Good luck on your business part also. It is a beautiful spot.
Diane
Cypress - 6-19-2008 at 09:44 AM
astrobaja, Neat! Thanks for sharing your information.
How many "bricks" will you
need? Good luck with the building etc.
David K - 6-19-2008 at 07:35 PM
Astro, do you have a map to the place ready to post yet... As I recall you are at the former Rancho Concepcion site, between Mike's and the
Observatory... a tad south of that line???
BajaGringo - 6-19-2008 at 09:13 PM
Helped some friends build a place out of adobe in Salta, Argentina on my weekends while living nearby back in the early 80's. For a local soil to work
it needs to have the right mix of sand and clay and as I recall we were adding a little sand to our mix to get it right. I'm almost positive our
blocks were 50X35X15 cm, slightly larger than what you are using.
What was interesting was that I remember the fellow grinding a local plant into a powder and adding that to the mix as a natural pesticide to keep
bugs away from the house. I wish I could remember what the plant was called but it escapes me.
The other thing he did was add fibers to the mix which gave it greater tensile strength. For that he just used some shredded bamboo brought in from
Jujuy.
It made a great home and he built an amazing fireplace in the middle with lined ducts inside the chimney walls to carry and circulate heat. Was the
coolest house in summer and warmest in winter in the entire Cafayate area.
Vince - 6-20-2008 at 01:55 PM
You are bringing back some great memories! I built a nice adobe home in the San Dieguito valley, east of Del Mar, CA. Made all of the adobes myself
with the help of some itinerant adoberos from Oaxaca. Used the available soil, had it tested and it passed muster by the county. Had to put some
emulsified asphalt in per county specs. Turned out to be a great house. Larry Weir was the builder, we lived in it for 10 years. Then sold it to
Rancho Valencia. It was a fun experience. Your photo with the earth strainer looks just like mine! Good luck.
David K - 6-20-2008 at 10:06 PM
The Weir adobe homes are famous in San Diego County!
astrobaja - 6-21-2008 at 09:33 AM
Hi all,
David: drop by anytime, no map made up yet but our road is at the 67.2 km mark 6 km in (past another road to abandoned rancho La Jolla). Our road
does continue on to Mikes but its 4WD only! You can see our spot easily on goggle earth, its all now hires.
Bajagringo: we're lucky to have that right mix of soils on our property, plus a neighbor at rancho Potrero leaves his bulldozer here if we need more
"baro" to mix. Thats cool to hear about the plant additive that wards of insects, wish we had some the flies here are bad riht now. Like little house
files only they bite too! Muy feo!
The adoberos tell us when they make the adobe plaster they will add chopped up nopale cactus and salt. The nopale is a great binder apparently.
Vince: be great to see some pics of that house if you have any! Not sure why some counties insist on a % of asphalt or cement its just not necessary.
Guess the big companies dont like a totally natural building method! I know that in NM a lot of code calls for cement even in rammed earth buildings.
I'll keep posting more pics as our project progresses
Vince - 6-21-2008 at 03:15 PM
OK, astrobaja, will look for some photos. The asphalt was a hassle and probably didn't add anything. The house is looking good with the new owners
32 years later. I think the 3 of us made about 10 thousand bricks, 3 different sizes. I used to frequent the Meling ranch years ago, would love to
stop by your place one of these days.
astrobaja - 6-21-2008 at 06:04 PM
OK Vince stop by anytime! Even though its beautiful here and tranquil the solitude can get to be too much sometimes! We appreciate any visitors
I hope my Wife and I don't drive each other nuts before we get the business up and running
--Mike