This week we have been laying our car tyre foundations for our #BalesInWales cabin.

We have chosen to use gabion basket foundations. Though our Gabion baskets are reclaimed car tyres.

Car tyre foundations are the perfect choice for this build as:

1. They are cheap – actually the tyres are free, local garages have given all the tires we need as they have to pay to have them disposed of. We are only paying for the pea gravel to fill them.
2. They make a capillary break – Rising damp occurs when a porous material is used as a foundation. To combat this, conventionally a damp proof membrane (plastic sheet), is used to stop moisture coming up in the wall… but what if any moisture gets into the wall from above? It creates a paddling pool which our bales would sit in. Because neither pea gravel or rubber is porous, moisture can only travel downwards with gravity.
3. They find a use for an otherwise problem material. Tyres are said to have a life span of 30,000 years, so disposal is a big issue.
4. They are low embodied energy. To turn a tyre into a foundation, just takes the pea gravel and some porridge to power our workforce!

This last week we have been happily filling our car tyres in neat stacks, here is intern, Jamie showing us how it’s done!

Foundations Video from JeffreyTheNaturalBuilder on Vimeo.

The load bearing straw bale will be finished externally with lime render and chestnut shakes and roofed with a sedum green roof. Internally it will be plastered using the clay dug on site, and has a composting toilet, greywater treatment and solar hot water heater. Continue reading →