Couple builds dream natural Roundhouse with hempcrete, cob & lime 🐚
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- Опубліковано 23 вер 2023
- Concerned about indoor air quality, Neil Decker and Stella Michaels wanted their home to be chemical-free, so they decided to build it out of hempcrete (hemp, lime, and sand).
The couple didn’t think they could afford to live in California but found a rundown property in Gold Rush old country on the Western Slope of Sierra Nevada just outside Nevada City (above 2500 feet, with cold winters), where they moved into a fifth wheel trailer while constructing their home.
They had experience building with earth-bags (flexible formed rammed earth) but felt it was too hard on the body. They knew hempcrete was lightweight and was easy to work with. They were able to raise half the house in 5 days.
They then trained and hired local students to help finish the exterior build just before the winter rains. They then let the house get wet and dry during the winter, which helps to harden the lime before adding a lime plaster to the exterior. The couple added clay plasters to the walls for the interior and laid an earthen cob floor.
The couple was told by locals that we wouldn’t be able to get hempcrete approved, but the local building department told them as long as they met the codes for insulation value and raking strength, there should be no problems. And in 2016, they were the first hempcrete home approved in California. Decker explains that not only is hempcrete extremely durable, but it’s also fire and earthquake-resistant and can help with indoor air quality since it’s very breathable and mold-reducing.
Decker had spent a lot of time in yurts as a ski guide, and he liked how it felt to live in a circular structure, so they decided to design a perfectly round home. They spent 2 years observing how energy flowed through our property to choose a building site.
Inspired by Earthship design, the home is passive solar with nearly all glass on the south, passive cooling with a 6-foot openable skylight controlled by a thermostat that allows heat to escape when indoor temperatures rise above 75 degrees.
Cooling tubes are buried 5ft underground and run 50 ft in front of the home to cool ambient air outside the house's interior. Cool air is passively pulled into the tubes as hot air escapes out of the skylight in the summer.
Neil & Stella's home is among California's first permitted hemp homes.
TIMELINE:
0:18 Moved to a more affordable area outside Nevada City (Sierra Nevada foothills) and built a 40-foot Hemp Roundhouse (1st hemp roundhouse in the US, among the first permitted hempcrete homes in CA).
4:27 Living on the property while building.
8:50 Using clay plaster and hemcrete in building a sustainable home.
13:40 Hempcrete specs as building material (a breathable wall system made of hemp, lime, and water used to restore traditional buildings and is now being used to build houses).
18:15 Earthen floor that provides grounding and natural healing.
22:01 They wanted a small, simple bedroom with soft lighting, and the whole place tries to inspire calm and natural beauty.
26:19 Neil Decker's background living in a roundhouse and the benefits of its design.
30:32 Home uses passive cooling systems to reduce utility bills.
34:50 They wanted a healthy home that would last multiple generations and were excited about their house's unique and special features.
Some people are suggesting in the comments that Nils affirmation about "grounding" of the human body with the Earth is some invention. The reality is more complex, and several scientific studies explore "Earthing" (or reconnection with our environment) by, for example, frequently going barefoot. Here's one article published in 2012 (from the National Library of Medicine): "Earthing: Health Implications of Reconnecting the Human Body to the Earth's Surface Electrons": www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
Abstract of the paper: "Environmental medicine generally addresses environmental factors with a negative impact on human health. However, emerging scientific research has revealed a surprisingly positive and overlooked environmental factor on health: direct physical contact with the vast supply of electrons on the surface of the Earth. Modern lifestyle separates humans from such contact. The research suggests that this disconnect may be a major contributor to physiological dysfunction and unwellness. Reconnection with the Earth's electrons has been found to promote intriguing physiological changes and subjective reports of well-being."
-Hempcrete Roundhome owners' personal website, Starseed Creative: www.starseedcreative.com/
-Check Neil Decker's video on the house project, "1st Hempcrete Round House in the USA" • 1st Hempcrete Round Ho...
-Neil Decker's channel: / @neildecker1
On *faircompanies: faircompanies.com/videos/6-ye... - Навчання та стиль
I don’t feel normal - then I watch this, and I feel normal.
You are not the problem. Remember that.
@@nicolasboullosa Thank you for the validation Nicolas :)
We can be the solution...the more of us who build like this. YES WE CAN@@nicolasboullosa
love this comment...me too.
Yeah this was the 2nd round hemp house video I watched…makes me dream of building a round house❗️Or at least trying to incorporate some of the principles being shared😊
can't comprehend walking into to a city planning office telling them you want to build with hemp! but congrats for paving the way!
It's insulation and fireproofing. No structural value so code issues aren't a big deal
@ubroc Nice
One of my favorite channels anyway, but these homeowners have such a wealth of information to share that the dialogue was as interesting as the house & the videography.
Indeed, lots of good tips in this one... would like to know the overall cost though
♥
Too bad when they started with the EM bullshit.
EM ?
But the wooden patio and eaves? If it's wood like 10 minute rating???
Confused?
Godspeed
Dee
Hempcrete should be used all throughout fire regions of California.
Let's legalize it!
@@e75short14 it's already legal! This home is in California.
Hempcrete is the dream for us. Our property is in the forest and homes are prone to mildew and of course there’s fire danger. Beautiful home!
There should be a steep home insurance discount for using this method. So many homes are lost to wild fire, and all our rates go up to cover it.
My hempcrete house is almost finished. All walls are plastered and painted with lime paint. It looks very nice
Is it possible to replace hemp with something else, for the regions where hemp is not available?
What location❓We’re Down Under 🇦🇺🌏🦘
Do you have pics etc available ❓
My hubby’s only interested in hemp blocks ie quicker But I don’t want to compromise on natural materials etc 😊
What company did you source your hemp from? We are looking at doing a similar project to this one.
Finally... some hempcrete houses... did some on them years ago, glad its catching on... super efficient
what a beautiful home. The natural pigment walls with the dappled sunlight on them are heavenly.
Truly a one of a kind gem, but should be as common as toast. Need to change building mindsets. Thank you for sharing.👏
How funny. This round house is just around the corner from my Father In-Laws. He has lived in this area since1979. Very nice to know this.
When we are young, we don't mind the stairs, but everything on one floor is preferred as we age. Says my friend who built a multilevel dome home in the 70s
My friend in Georgia Teaches classes on Hempcrete building!
I still want a Earthship so bad....
But id definitely be open to Hempcrete
Aviva in Atlanta, Georgia? If so, I took a Cob building class from her.
Where can I find your friend, open to learning. Thank you.
"Bamboo-crete" is a similar material.....(Bamboo is very high in Silica, also.).......There was a startup company in Britain that was doing prefab panels in Bamboo-crete.
It might be similar but let me tell you the root structure of the bamboo is EXTREMELY difficult to remove and when the bamboo is cut and leaves a razor sharp stalk. Ever heard of Punji stakes used in Viet Nam war? Bamboo root grows like a thick blanket with a robust root structure. No way to be a practical to even compare to industrial hemp
This is a perfect material for making building blocks with. THAT would make it go up really quick.
That's happening in Australia
My partner Neil in the video works for Geoship... check them out ... also yes hemp is going in this direction
What a great house, and great area.
First round house I have seen that I like. Very pretty.
True. As long as he have active building permit he CAN LIVE in a trailer on "his" property. California - really great place to live, where YOU CAN live on your "property" 🙂
What a beautiful home! Just imagining watching the light change, the warm sun on the grounding floor. Or a dinner party with family and friends. Where kids bring sleeping bags and camp out upstairs and cousins crash out on the couches. Waking to the smell of breakfast in the kitchen and people's chatter
+ the treehouse views🌳
👌👍🙌 This couple cracked the code by building such a stunningly beautiful round-home ! Excellent execution. I'd love to copy this one day. 💯💯💯
one day x 365 x 6
Lol
@@toddincabo It's true it took us six years to complete our home but that's because we built the house as we had time and money so that we didn't have to finance the project.
understood, sure is beautiful!@@neildecker1
@neildecker1 Any blueprints available?
What an interesting house. The round form is very tranquil. Love this material. We used it (the brand was Isochanvre) in our old limestone house in France, as a thick insulating coating on the north wall interior, then a lime plaster finish. Of course we installed a French drain on the exterior of the wall, as well, since it is about 4-1/2' deep into the hillside, and was very wet when we arrived. Now it's been healthy and dry for about 30 years. We also used the hemp alone as a loose insulation over the kitchen ceiling.
It is great to hear that your hempcrete house has been healthy and dry for 30 year! Thank you for sharing about your project.
@@neildecker1 And you for sharing yours! You two and your friends did a wonderful job of building a magical home that shelters and nurtures the mind as well as it does the body.
Ever since visiting friends… Especially Paris, I have a crazy notion that in the French culture… There’s a certain enthusiasm for water runoff management… You see it in the gutters and leaders… And also in the pitched stone drains in the streets… Am I right?
@@johnnyxmusic That I couldn't tell you, though I do know that les égouts (sewers) de Paris are famous and can be visited. However, the 'French drain' is named for an American who was dealing with agricultural runoff. I don't know if the French had the same idea concurrently.
@@chezmoi42 Ha! I didn’t know that the French part of French drains was a person, & an American one at that! Nice bit of sneaky credit-taking, France! 😉
They really did a nice job on that. I started watching a couple of days ago and came back to finish. It was upon looking at it a couple days later that I could see how fine a job they did on the house. This was a great story. Peace to those 2.
Thank you...♥
What a hopeful Alternative!
I absolutely L-O-V-E your home! You did a great job, Neil and Stella.😃👍
Thank you! Stella ❤
Best round house I've ever seen.
There are so many thing right with this house! I grew up in the McKenzie River valley in Oregon. Three years ago a poorly maintained power line on an old farm where I used to put up hay bales as a kid rubbed against a tree and burned 175,000 acres of the most beautiful valley in the US all the way to the outskirts of the nearest city 25 miles away.
Many of the houses have been re-built with the insurance money, almost all with stick framing and many with cedar shake roofs. People never learn!
Leading by example!
Wow, this home is unique and quite beautiful. The floor plan and colors are so soothing - what a treat to walk around barefoot in there!
If I ever got the chance to build, I would definitely do a "round" home, too.
Beautiful!!!💞💞💞 I have always loved round structures. I am going to build a dome home out of aircrete before I leave this earth some day!!! 💖💖💖
Love this house. Do you offer plans for this design? I have wanted to build a round house for years.
A very innovative building construction that's sole purpose is to use building materials that are more conducive to one's health and free of VOC's 'volatile organic compounds'. Very nice to know about this alternative form of building, thanks and take care.
With this kind of material as walls, the sounds in that house must be so smooth and relaxing. Just them speaking I can already feel there is no echo or noise. Love the house and the circle idea, brilliant build, enjoy it ❤
In Indiana outside the small town of French Lick is a large round barn where legend has it, a 47 year old man went completely insane. He lost his mind trying to find a corner to pee in....
best of many tours honestly,
this is a dream
One of my favorite houses you've featured on your channel! I'd move in in a heart beat!!!
Thanks! Have you thought of doing one about CoHousing?
ua-cam.com/video/rjYWla_ua7M/v-deo.html
Thanks! Stella❤
👍 WE ARE VERY GLAD THEY DID AND IT LOOKS GREAT…AND WILL MAKE IT EASIER FOR OTHERS IN THE FUTURE 💚💚💚
WHY ARE YOU YELLING? IS THERE A LOT OF AMBIANCE NOICE IN YOUR AREA?
I REALLY have to commend this couple. I usually DON'T feel very comfortable in circular spaces. A lot of people talk about how comfortable it is and I guess I've never lived in one but the pizza slice shaped everything just always feels off to me. I hardly EVER see a yurt or circular style home where I like the layout/floorplan. BUT, I really like this house! I LOVE all of the thought that went into the sustainability of it and while I would do things slightly differently, I would DEFINITELY base my house off of this one, floorplan and all. I wish I knew how much it cost them to build though. Did they say? I didn't catch it... SUPER inspiring though! Great job guys! I feel like you really thought of everything.
Our costs were around $260/sf but we have an affordable natural building kit system we are working on that Kirsten will post about in another video soon.
@@neildecker1 Fantastic! Thanks for the answer :)
@@neildecker1 are you willing to share your blueprints? I’d love to review them. Your home and methodology is amazing. Great work!!
@@neildecker1 That sounds interesting. How soon can we expect your kits?
I dream of living in a yurt. Love them.
This is surprisingly beautiful and well finished. Sometimes some of these "alternative" homes are hodge pogdie. This one is wonderful!
Beautiful home and design. But wow, six years...
I guess it's worth it if they really do stay there 'forever' and pass it down to descendants.
we did much of the building ourselves ... also we were working and building so that is why it took longer... otherwise it probably take the time of a regular home ... the structure and hemp walls took less than six months.. the finish work took more time ... more costly also
I'm not even into round homes but this home is super cool - this would be my pick out of all the round homes I've seen. Well thought out but nice design and great use of space. I like the use of hempcrete and natural materials. Well done on the build. 👍
Thanks! Stella❤
I've pondered for years how to section off inside a dome home. This design is a great reference. I would like the upper level to be more exposed with just railing. Thank you for the tour.
Perfect 👍 and I like yurts too. Yes to hempcrete. I stayed in a yurt a decade ago in Detroit Oregon at a conference. Also I adore treehouses. Thanks for sharing this timely information and beautiful home......... from the Ozarks drinking free fresh spring water 💦 since 1991
Thanks for another great video outside the box!
Hawaii def needs to do simple versions of this seems very cost effective and possibly be done w sugarcane or bamboo as well
Good for them. A round house would drive me insane.
Same here. Makes me feel trapped just looking at the inside of that round house. Pretty ceiling lights, though.
But there's no way the air in our homes is worse than air in the city, as he said. Not possible. Cities give me asthma. My apartment doesn't.
Soo, what's "wrong" with us? Everything round, feels awkward, don't know why. I'm more drawn to square spaces that are open floorplan. The parking lot house in DC on feat on this channel is my dream space 😍
You must love spiders then??? Round houses dont have corners 2 hide in! Ha ha ha
@@fishyonhangon2567 🕸️🕷️
Hempcrete has also successfully been used in Australia. Like this couple, the hemp is imported from Europe.
After listening to Neil you can understand why he wanted to start out small. This house is huge. Tiny hempcrete houses please. Tiny hempcrete village please. How amazing that would be. Stella must be a tremendous pep talker. The silo roof is genius. Thanks Kirsten !!
If I were younger, I’d do this!
This was a wonderful segment. I also found that sense of immediate comfort with a yurt, and am fascinated by straw bale and cob construction. If i were younger, I'd start from the ground up. Unfortunately, i can't get back up again. 😉
ME too ;)
Earth retention sounds a lot less physical than cobb or bales.
Beautiful home. Thank you for inviting us in.
As a builder I am wondering what holds the Hempcrete to the studs, what keeps the roof from pushing the walls outward. I can't imagine this type of construction weathering an earthquake as there is no rebar anywhere. Love the design, love the round yurt like feel but I would like to see the engineering on this. My background is some 6000 residential units done in concrete block, concrete walls, post and beam and conventional framing all of which require structural ties, sheating for shear and on and on. In addition Drywall does not outgass. There was a short period of time when drywall from China did. It was banned and in many cases removed and replaced.
Its stick frame built, the building dept didn't even care about the hemp aspect as it’s just infill to them… lime hardens like rock and the round shape spreads the load evenly around, and lime is also flexible for earthquakes…
WOW. Stunning interior. Beautifully, beautifully done. So thorough! And then, I loved all the detailed explanation about the plans and the foundation layers and the Planning Dept.! Very very cool. Thank you Kirsten, and family! And the couple who live here! It is very impressive.
I love the design and everything about this. Things I might do differently, because of my space requirements, is to build a tirewall basement, with a double 1/2 cable clampedconcrete bond beam, including the tensioner. Then hempcrete the inside of the tirewall, build bridgeworthy floor on the first level, with a slightly different floorplan. Plus I want a spiral tower attached outside the main circle, with a crenellated top wall. Perfection.
What an inspiring video!! I’m from Ottawa Canada and would love to build and live in my own hemp-lime house. This video gives me hope that we can all have access to natural materials for our homes, instead of relying on cheap harmful chemicals. Thank you so much!! 😊
THANKS KRISTEN ,🤗 I LOVE ❤️ A ROUND HOUSE MYSELF…NO ONE ☝️ CAN TELL YOU…GO STAND IN THE CORNER 😂 OBVIOUSLY a remnant from childhood 😅💚💚💚
Wow, that ceiling is magnificent
That bridge in the beginning is ten minutes from where I live. Nice ain't it! Good swimming holes on the Yuba river. Don't bring glass beer bottles though. The rangers will get ya!
So when he's talking about it not molding, does that mean that one of these would hold up in the PNW weather? This looks like maybe N CA... I would LOVE to build a home like this with hemp-Crete.
These two are perfect for each other.
It's pioneers like Neil and Stella that pave the way for the future of sustainable home building! Beautiful home, with some wonderful creativity within it.
Another very inspiring episode as always from this channel
Thank U.
Interesting material, I'm shocked I never heard about it on my college.
Adore their VOC free home, I wish to achieve that with mine aswell.
Not sure about the need for electric kill switch, since there is still great radiation coming from the outside (space). More of a placebo in my opinion (nothing wrong with that!)
Electric fields are their own thing.
@@johnnyxmusic How so? EMF created by the sun and electrical wiring are similiar. The difference lies in its frequency - the sun emmits UV radiation, which is high frequency EMF and is proven to be dangerous. Electric wiring on the other hand is extremely low frequency EMF and is thought to be harmless. Guess what else is also low frequency EMF? Earths own magnetic field!
I am not denying electrical wiring emitting EMF is 100 % harmless, but it is negligible compared to UV radiation from sun. Even with a kill switch, there is still earths magnetic field!
@@stokovsky8483 i’m not that smart so I can’t get that deeply into it… I would say it’s possible that electronic devices are more of a problem than homes own wiring. I mean something is innocent ass your clock radio. And of course some people are concerned about the smart electrical meters… I suppose your home Wi-Fi might be a problem as well, for other reasons.
@@johnnyxmusic This isn't my field either however quality research studies are widely available today.
Cellular phone, microwawes and Wi-Fi do emmit EMFs but again are thought to be harmless.
I wouldn't usually be arguing about a small matter like a kill switch. However, there are people thinking they are suffering from EMF radiation while the truth is, we are always exposed to it.
Lets end it here.
My dream is to build a round rammed dirt house and call it my Yurt of dirt!
Greetings from Austria 😊
Servus 😄
Wow, this is FANTASTIC!!!!!
Well do you the couple to get through all the challenges and create a home with such legacy. And thanks Kirsten for another amazing video.
♥
Thanks, Kirsten for the great video. This is such a great example of our Smiling Woods Yurts roof kit in use.
This place is amazing! Thanks for your wonderful show. New subscriber from Texas. (btw, we’re aren’t all crazy). ❤️
2000 years ago the Romans built the Pantheon in Rome. Until recently it could claim to have the largest” unreinforced concrete “ dome roof in the world.
They ticked all the same boxes that are on my list. Earthship inspired yurt (perfect circle) made with hempcrete (minus the crete), plus earthen floors and anti-emf built in. BattaBing BattaBoom
My husband n I always wanted a round house ❤
I love this home! Beautiful design, healthy, energy efficient, light. They should be proud!
You guys are brilliant! Thank you for sharing!!! 👍🙏😊🌈💖🌺
"wattle and daub"... I haven't heard that terminology since my history school trip days! Nice! Still loving these vids Kirsten!
Next time you’re in my home town (gv/nc) let me buy ya’ll lunch. Your channel is such a beautiful inspiration and directly impacted the design of the tiny house my partner and I built. Thanks for what you’re doing and putting out into the world.
Sounds great! I would love to see photos of your home.
❤❤❤ NICE AND ECONOMICAL.feel of nature.
I love round houses! This is gorgeous!
Very nice and tasteful. I love the round shape.
Thanks for sharing this wondrous place Kirsten.
Awesome video! And awesome sketchup drawings! I just have a few questions @ 29 mins the drawings show the wall not centered on the 3 foot wide footing with rebar at top of footing. I thought rebar was supposed to be at bottom of footing for strength and centered in wall. Thanks again for awesome house documentary.
@@UnExcited42 seems to me that the 3 foot footing might lift at front over time because all that bearing is on one side
The wall is not centered on the footing because of the forces that want to push down in outside of the wall and pull up in the inside of the wall. The footing is called a heal and toe footing just like how your own foot stabilizes your body.
@@neildecker1 there's no such thing
Beautiful place!
Always fun seeing my town on the internet hahaha
Great town .... Stella 😂❤
LOVELY home and soOOOooo well thought-out! Thanks 4 sharing. You always do a very thorough filming and questioning of your projects...WELL DONE! God Bless!
Charles McGill would love that house 😁
That's a beautiful house. Hemp Crete seems awesome it's like the best out of all the options
This is the exact house I need!! Am also sensitive to mold, emf, and love hempcrete and wool. Maybe they'll let me be their roommate.
Great video thanks for sharing. Can I ask what the cost is roughly on something like this? Thanks
hempcrete is well developped here in France. Many companies are developping for decades their own product and knowledge, and the market is booming with the climate change effects now
Yes! Thanks to France we were able to give our engineer shearing force information and also use energy calculations also from France! ❤
Love these two courageous designers! Love you all!! What a triumph to see this in CA, having followed the Living Building Challenge since it’s pre-funding days. Wow, just stunningly elegant when form follows every necessary function. (Kill switches, Y.E.S.) ❤❤❤
Thank you...♥
Fabulous! Love the idea of hempcrete. It is wonderful how Stella and Neil had video footage of the build and all of the plans to show us. Great house.
Rather than using buckets to haul the mix, it would be faster to use a line pump. Could a line pump move the hemp mix like concrete?
We've been pondering ideas for a new offgrid build and this is incredibly inspiring! Thank you guys for building and sharing :)
Your home is incredible!
The peace that is felt in this house comes from the cob which is just rock. Rock and dirt and earth grounds and heals the body.
Would love to build something like this one day! Thanks for sharing
Wow. Beautiful!!!
Oh Oh what a magnificent truely beautiful home space 👏👏👏👏
Truly gorgeous. Would love to live in it for a season.
Very cool build. I'm curious about the cooling tubes and how well they work. As an HVAC tech this seems too good to be true lol
In the plans I saw "vapor barrier" in the flooring. That is usually thick plastic. How then did they get the floor to be "grounded"? From what I understand, the plastic "vapor barrier" acts in the same way as rubber soled shoes disconnecting from the energetic field of the earth.
we did not put a plastic vapor barrier ... with being on a slope and such a mostly dry climate we decided not to put it in ... thanks stella
I love this concept. I wonder what the cost difference is with traditional building and natural building? Very interested in this.
YES! Me too, I really want to know how much this ended up costing them doing it on their own... Cost/budget will ALWAYS be one of the main factors in home building for people.
The costs for a natural home is about the same as for a custom home. In our area that was $300/sf when we started. We were able to be under this price because we drew our own architectural plans and we built much of the house ourselves. The cost for a custom home has now has risen to $500/sf because of rising material and labor cost but we are working on a natural home solution that will be half the cost of conventional housing that Kirsten will be posting about in another video.
Realistically it can be the same as a custom home... there are many variables involved and the shell of a building is not all the costs in building ... and depending if you are doing your own labor... as labor can also be more intensive... however at the end of the day you will have a much higher quality of home and much better for your health and well being... Thanks for watching ! Stella
Absolutely amazing!!! I am so proud of you guys!!!
Hey lovey ... Just looking at comments for the first time... laughing ... Stella🥰
That's pretty awesome, looks like a giant yourt ... beautiful area to live in