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2-Day Hands-on Foundations
April 2, 2022 - April 3, 2022
$380
$380 Early Bird Rate (register 30 days in advance)
$420 Regular Rate
5% discount for family + friends participating together!
DATES: This course is offered 2 times- April 2/3rd or April 15/16th
MAXIMUM NUMBER OF STUDENTS: 12
INSTRUCTORS: Greg + Rebecca
Even a well-built structure is only as durable as its foundation, and foundations are challenging to repair later on. It’s really important to start with a good one!
Join us in constructing a start-to-finish foundation for a future cob building. We will begin with excavation, end by installing a cob bond beam across the foundation, and cover everything in between.
For this class, we will primarily be using recycled concrete (referred to as “urbanite”) for our masonry material. Our foundation will have some curves to it (not rectilinear in shape), and will be split into three segments, as a teaching tool. One section of the wall will be dry-laid urbanite. The second section will be urbanite laid in a cement-based mortar. The third will be a hybrid of poured concrete and stacked urbanite, installed within a temporary wooden formwork. Learning here with urbanite will translate to using stone, concrete block (CMUs), brick, or poured concrete. We will also have a pile of natural stone available to stack, for practice. Discussions will cover topics not explored through our hands-on work.
HANDS-ON TOPICS:
* excavating for a building foundation
* installing a rubble trench footing/drainage system
* constructing 3 different styles of masonry stemwall (dry-laid, mortared, and formed)
* practice stacking natural stone
* mixing and installing a cob bond beam layer atop the stemwall
DISCUSSION:
* alternatives to the rubble trench footing, and alternative stem-wall systems
* how to transition from a foundation to various wall systems
* we’ll also have a TOUR of existing foundations on our campus
* slideshow presentation
