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Books & Videos: From our Bookshelf (Revised April
10, 2008)
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244 pages, four in
full color. 7.5" by 9" paperback. $26.00
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Stoneview: How to
Build an Eco-Friendly Little Guesthouse ...by
Rob Roy
Stoneview is an
octagonal cordwood masonry timber-framed guesthouse with a living roof,
located at Earthwood in Northern New York.
It cost $5000 to build, complete, about $16/SF for its usable 320 SF of
area. Over 130 clear line drawings and step-by-step images provide the
reader with all the information needed to build Stoneview from start to
finish, and a full-color section shows off the beautiful design features of
this charming “green” cabin. All design considerations are covered, as well
as a thorough discussion of the geometry of the octagon. Separate chapters
are devoted to: site prep, forming and pouring the slab, timber framing,
the light-weight living roof, and the cordwood masonry walls. Instructions
for the interior slate & concrete floor and wall finishing are
included, as well as a basic plumbing system featuring Joe Jenkins’
“humanure” composting system. Stoneview concludes with a performance
evaluation of the building and a complete costing analysis.
You don’t need any of my other books to build Stoneview. It’s all here. And
the building, which could also serve as a studio, office, or workshop, is
appropriate for any climate.
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7.5" by 9"
quality paperback, 176 pages, 120 B&W photos and illustrations. $23.00
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Timber Framing for
the Rest of Us: A Guide to Contemporary Post and Beam Construction...by Rob Roy
Many natural building
methods rely upon the use of post and beam frame structures that are then
in-filled with straw, cob, cordwood, or more conventional wall materials.
But traditional timber framing employs the use of finely crafted jointing
and wooden pegs, requiring a high degree of craftsmanship and training, as
well as much time and expense. However, there is another way…
Timber Framing for the Rest of Us describes the timber framing methods used
by most contractors, farmers, and owner-builders, methods that use modern
metal fasteners, special screws, and common sense building principles to
accomplish the same goal in much less time. And while there are many good
books on traditional timber framing, this is the first to describe in depth
these more common fastening methods. The book includes everything an
owner-builder needs to know about building strong and beautiful structural
frames from heavy timbers, including:
- the historical background
of timber framing
- crucial design and
structural considerations
- procuring timbers --
including different woods, and recycled materials
- foundations, roofs, and
in-filling consdierations
- the common fasteners
A detailed case study
of a timber frame project from start to finish completes this practical and
comprehensive guide, along with a useful appendix of span tables and a
bibliography.
Highly illustrated, this book enables 'the rest of us' to build like the
professionals and will appeal to owner-builders, contractors and architects
alike.
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8" by 9"
quality paperback, 248 pages, 8 in full color. $27.00
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Cordwood Building: The State of the Art ...by
Rob Roy with a little help from his friends.
This new book (March
2003) collects the experiences of 25 of the world's leading cordwood
masons, from early pioneers Jack Henstridge (who writes about Lomax corners)
and Cliff Shockey (the double-wall technique) right up to modern
visionaries writing about paper-enhanced mortar, cob as mortar, and more.
author/editor Rob Roy's new contributions include a basic cordwood primer;
more about cordwood and cob (cobwood); code issues; a personal
retrospective; and an article about cordwood's future. This is the book we
now use as a textbook at Earthood's Cordwood Masonry workshops.
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8.5"x11"
spiral bound.
125 pages, 23 in color.
$30.00
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2005 Continental
Cordwood Conference Papers (CoCoCo/05) ... edited by Richard Flatau, Rob
Roy and Alan Stankevitz.
This new
collection of papers reports on the latest innovations in cordwood masonry
since CoCoCo/99, the previous conference. It is an excellent supplement to Cordwood Building: The State of the Art,
listed above. In this volume you will find new papers on cordwood saunas,
cordwood on a frost-protected shallow foundation, log-end treatment and
insulation techniques, accenting light in a cordwood home, R-value studies,
papercrete revisited, cordwood on a basement, "wraparound"
log-ends, cordwood mortar, lime putty mortar, the use of foam insulation,
and several case studies from around North America. There is some beautiful
work here, what we think of as the next generation in cordwood building.
There are 27 articles in all, including four by Earthwood's Rob Roy, two by
conference host Richard Flatau, two by Dr. Kris Dick, P.E. and two by
Daycreek.com's Alan Stankevitz. Highly recommended.
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8.5"x11"
spiral bound,
54 pages, 2 in color. Includes inter-active CD. $26.00
8"x9" quality
paperback.
272 pages, 8 in color. $27.00
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Cordwood and the
Code: A Building Permit Guide ... edited by Alan Stankevitz, Richard
Flatau, Rob Roy and Dr. Kris Dick.
Here is the
long-awaited documentation for presenting a cordwood masonry project to
your local building inspector. The kinds of questions that code
enforcement officer's most frequently ask are answered here, in a
professional manner. Topics include thermal monitoring (R-values) of a
cordwood wall by Dr. Kris Dick, fire resistance of a cordwood wall,
certified compression tests of cordwood mortar, cordwood in a seismic 3
zone, REScheck (energy) analysis, and an excellent paper by Richard Flatau
called Conversations with a Wisconsin Code Official. In fact, Wisconsin's top code
official has called this the best document of its kind that he has seen
produced for any alternative building system. The 17-page
Appendix includes a copy of Alan Stankevitz's own successful building
permit application. You can use the CD supplied with each book to download
that application to your computer, and make changes for your own
application. This is the definitive document to leave with your local
building inspector at the time of permit application.
Earth-Sheltered
Houses: How to Build an Affordable Underground Home, by Rob Roy
This is the first new
major book on earth-sheltered housing to be written and published in the U.S.
in 20 years. It combines information that appeared in two of my earlier
out-of-print books with a wealth of new information, including case studies
and lots of new images. Everything you need to know about the earth
sheltering details and the earth roof for both the Log End
Cave and Earthwood
designs are in this single volume. The light-weight living roof appears for
the first time. A Bibliography and comprehensive Sources list update earth-sheltering
for the 21st century. Order now for delivery in March of 2006. You'll get
it from us faster than anyone else. This will be the new textbook for our
Earthwood Techniques workshops.
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8"x10"
quality paperback,
400 pages, 8 color.
$28.00
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Stone Circles: A
Modern Builder's Guide to the Megalithic Revival, by Rob Roy
Stone Circles tells
of my life-long involvement with the great stones, including ancient and
modern examples. Two chapters are devoted to circles we've built at
Earthwood and at the Center for Symbolic Studies. Several chapters tell of
stone circles built by the "Stone People" in the U.S., U.K.,
and Canada.
There is a chapter on stone circle design, another on building small
circles, and two chapters on building circles of large stones, by hand and
with the aid of heavy equipment. Chapter 15 is a guide to about 30 modern
stone circles around the globe, including the great Australian Standing
Stones, featured on the cover. There is an extensive bibliography and
source list. All told, this book runs almost 400 pages, with hundreds of
illustrations, including 8 pages in color. Advance reviews are very
positive. Click here to read excerpts!
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Complete Book of
Cordwood Masonry Housebuilding: The Earthwood Method...Rob Roy (Only available now as part of
the Earthwood Plans. See Newsletter for
details. Otherwise, please try the library or used book stores.)
The first part
includes chapters on all three types of cordwood masonry: within a post and
beam framework, stackwall corners, and curved walls. Details of how to
build a post-and-beam earth-covered "Log-end Sauna" are included
, as well as case histories of owner-builders all over North
America, showing low-cost beautiful homes in all three styles.
The second part details, from soup to nuts, the building of the Earthwood
house and outbuildings. The integrative design considerations unique to
Earthwood are discussed and illustrated in detail, including the floating
slab foundation, curved wall block construction, earth tubes, masonry
stove, round sauna, pedal-powered water system, wind and solar power, and
the earth roof. 290 illustrations. 8"x10" paperback.
Important note: This book is now Out of
Print. it is only available from us as a part of the Earthwood Plans (see Newsletter for details.)
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7" by 10"
high quality paperback, 240 pages with over 160 photos and illustrations,
almost all in color. $30.00
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The Sauna... Rob Roy
I've completely rewritten
my 1996 sauna book, added two new chapters (Siting and Design
and Building a Conventional Sauna), and, now, over 90% of the
160+ pictures are in color. (None in the former edition.) Sorry about the
price increase, but I think you'll find it's worth it. It's a much bigger
full-color book. Here's what Chelsea Green Publishers says about the new
edition:
"The Sauna, now
revised and expanded, contains everything you ever wanted to know about the
famous Finnish bath. Rob Roy shares his infectious enthusiasm for the sauna
and provides a complete, detailed guide to sauna building, along with
resources for equipment and supplies. The Sauna is replete with history,
tradition, health benefits, and instructions for proper use and
maintenance, as well as step-by-step instructions for building a variety of
cordwood masonry saunas and, new to this edition, conventionally framed
saunas. The beautiful color photographs, also new to this edition, will
inspire you to create your own sauna haven. Rob Roy is the author of twelve
books, including Stone Circles and Mortgage-FREE! With his wife Jaki, he
founded the Earthwood
Building School,
where they teach cordwood masonry construction, timber framing,
earth-sheltered housing, and stone circle building."
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356 pages.
$27.00
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Mortgage Free!
Radical Strategies for Home Ownership...Rob Roy
This is a banker's
worst nightmare - a book that tells you how to live without being
financially enslaved for the best years of your life. (The word mortgage
comes from the old French meaning "death pledge!") While not a
building book, Mortgage Free! is full of radical (but workable) strategies
that enable you to own your own home. Raising the grubstake, finding and
buying the land at the best possible price, the temporary shelter strategy,
designing a low-cost home... these are just some of the important topics
covered. In this book, I tell how Jaki and I have managed to own five
different homes, all mortgage-free, and there are six other case studies
from all over North America which show how
others have accomplished the same thing. People who have read all my books
say that this is the best and the most important. It's probably the one
which will do you the most financial good, no matter what kind of house you
decide to build. About 100 photos and illustrations, including 24 by
Malcolm Wells.
Click here to read selected excerpts from the
book!
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From our Video Library
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The Complete
Cordwood DVD
Besides combining all
of the material from our two cordwood masonry videos (please see
descriptions below), The Complete Cordwood DVD with Rob and Jaki Roy has
plenty of new material, including the use of paper-enhanced mortar with Jim
Juczak, the 16-sided post-and-beam frame (a good way to build a round
cordwood home under cover), and the use of commercial cement retarders. An
extensive captioned slideshow rounds out the DVD, showing examples of
round, post-and-beam and stackwall buildings, as well as construction
details and special features. 205 minutes. Price reduced, January 10, 2007,
to: $39.
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Click below to
see a Stone Video Clip.
In Quicktime
In Real Media
In Windows Media
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Stone Circles: A
Megalithic Workshop with Rob Roy
Now available as
a DVD or a VHS video.
During research for
his book, Stone Circles: A Modern Builder's Guide to the Megalithic
Revival, Rob met stone circle builders on both sides of the atlantic.
In August of 2000, Rob and his wife, Jaki, invited English stone builder,
Ivan McBeth, to come to Earthwood and co-instruct a Megalithic Workshop.
Sixteen participants attended, including five with previous stone circle
experience. All aspects of building were covered during the four days,
including design, sacred space-making, and construction with tools
available 5000 years ago. Magic happened during the workshop, both in the
rational and transrational realms. Stone Circles: A Megalithic Workshop
captures the spirit of those four days and clearly shows various techniques
used to move stones in the one- to five-ton range. The climax of the video
is the dramatic erection of "Welcome", a megalith which greets
guests to Earthwood and marks the equinox sunset. 60 minutes. $23 for DVD, $16
for VHS video.
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Click below
links to see some Cordwood Video Clips.
In QuickTime
In Real Media
In Windows Media
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Cordwood Homes
with Rob and Jaki Roy
One recurrent comment
about our Basic Cordwood Masonry Techniques (see next item) VHS
video is that it didn't give tours of a variety of different cordwood
homes, inside and out. Cordwood Homes remedies this, with close-up
looks at 7 cordwood homes, including interviews with the owner-builders.
Experts from across North America such as Engineering consultant Kris Dick,
cordwood sage Jack Henstridge and others recount their building
experiences, offering practical advice and inspiration for your personal
cordwood project.Round, stackwall and post-and-beam home designs are
toured.This video will be helpful to those considering cordwood as a
building method in two ways: one, the tours provide a sense of what
cordwood homes look and feel like inside and out and show the wide variety
of design effects it is possible to achieve; and two, the interviews
provide advice and encouragement as owner-builders describe their design
approaches, code issues, challenges, breakthroughs and the ultimate
satisfaction of living in a self-built, low-cost, ecologically-sound home.
70 minutes. $23
For nuts and bolts
"how-to" advice, please refer to Basic Cordwood Masonry
Techniques (see next item) (Note: ThisVHS video is included in The
Complete Cordwood DVD above. Do not duplicate!)
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Click below to
see a Techniques Video Clip.
In Quicktime
In Real Media
In Windows Media
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Basic Cordwood Masonry
Techniques with Rob and Jaki Roy
This 88-minute VHS
tape, co-produced by Earthwood Building School and Chevalier-Thurling
Productions of Toronto, shows you how to bark wood, mixing the mortar,
building the cordwood walls, laying up window frames, attaching door
frames, stack-wall corner construction, and a lot more. It discusses types
of wood and how to dry them, estimating quantities, door installation,
special design effects... the whole enchilada !
Hands-on instruction at one of our cordwood workshops is the best
preparation for doing a quality job on your own home. But, if you can't
make it to a workshop, studying this video and practicing the techniques
shown is the next best approach. And for those who do attend, the video
makes an excellent "refresher course", any time you like. 88
minutes, $27. (Note: This video is included in The Complete Cordwood
DVD above. Do not duplicate!)
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The Solar Powered Home with Rob Roy
Here in one 84 minute
VHS video is a thorough look at the basic principles , components, set-up
and system planning for an off-the-grid solar powered home. The video shows
you how to plan and set up your own photovoltaic (PV) system with tips from
some of America's
leading experts in the field of home power. A "bare bones"
example is included as well as the upgrading of the system which powers Earthwood Building School.
The latest components and developments are described and shown using actual
household installations as examples. Sensible energy usage is covered. A
resource list of suppliers and installers completes the tape. 84 minutes.
$27 (includes shipping)
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Why order books and videos direct from Earthwood?
1. Rob Roy's books are
signed by the author. Big deal. But see next item.
2. Roy's Cordwood, Underground, Stone Circle and
Timber Framing books are the textbooks for our workshops. If you purchase
them from Earthwood - we know, because they are signed - and then decide to
take a workshop, you get a full deduction of the book cost from your
registration.
3. You get our complete
8-page book list with about 40 carefully selected books, plans, and videos
... and a current workshop brochure.
4. You help support
small business instead of big business ... so that we can stay
in business!
© 2007 Earthwood
Building School
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