Prairie View

Wednesday, December 26, 2018

God's Good Provision

For some reason, my thoughts the past few days have been full of alternative building materials and methods.  Much of this information was acquired over several decades of time, most of it before the advent of the internet.  I read magazine articles from the mailbox and books from the public library.  We went on a tour of local energy-efficient homes organized by the local extension service and dreamed of living in an earth-sheltered home.  In tornado alley that had some obvious appeal, but not many places in the terrain offered a walk-out option for the south wall of such a house (for solar heat gain), and making a dirt pile over a house on flat terrain seemed awkward and strange.

Eventually, however, long before we had money for an earth-sheltered house, for $16,500 we bought a small, old single-story house without a basement on three acres of land.  We did about $10,000 worth of home improvement work ourselves and moved in before it was finished--about five months after the purchase.  We had one child, who was about 18 months old when we moved on November 4, 1984.  We have always been very grateful for how the Lord provided this place for us, although it took us a number of years to pay off our loan.

Today we live in that same house but for about 15 years we lived in a bigger house on the farm where my parents raised 12 children.  Each of our children had their own room there, and we had a guest room besides.  Tenants and then a newly married son lived here in the interim.  Again, before we moved in the second time, some improvements were made, but the house still occupies exactly the same footprint, and there is still no basement and no upstairs.

For us, being able to own our home was possible because we found a low-priced one.  We added a lot of insulation to make it more energy efficient, and we installed some new windows, but this house is definitely not a model of anything very innovative.  It's plain and small and actually not that well-built--of "sticks" and boards.  The extension service will never ask us to be part of a home tour event. We like it though, and, while we're bursting at the seams, we think we probably should get rid of things rather than build more storage space for our things.

We never did build an earth-sheltered home, or a rammed-earth one, or a straw-bale one, or an adobe brick one, or a cob-built one, or a house with walls made of 2 x 4 scraps (laid flat, end to end like bricks, each course nailed to the one below)--although we pored over many well-developed plans for such houses--whole books devoted to a single method in some cases.  All of them could have utilized local resources and family or community labor.  I believe they would have been more energy efficient than what we have.  I'm not sure that they could have been built for less money than what we spent for this house, but certainly for less money than people invest these days in new homes--or any homes.  I don't understand why people don't consider exploring such alternatives.

When we pray for God's provision, we'd best be prepared to follow where He leads,even if that means putting aside our cut and dried ideas about what is good.  Some have repurposed grain bins and silos for living quarters.  At the edge of Partridge stands an old feed mill converted into living quarters.  Dismantling existing structures and using the materials for new buildings might be possible in some cases.  Moving a house is often a good option here.

Sod houses were common here when the land was first settled by pioneers.  Wheat straw is plentiful.  With stucco applied to the outside (over wire mesh) and plaster on the inside, houses built of these materials need not look weird, or shed dirt.  Window and door frames are set in place as the walls rise, and windows and doors can be as modern as anyone desires.

I have a feeling that resistance to using the most earthy materials for building comes partly from our typical German (or European, at least) sense that permanence is virtuous, so building must always be undertaken with durability in mind.  I see some wisdom in that, but downsides are present also.  Ironically, stick-built homes (using 2 x 4's for framing) are actually less durable--and thus less permanent--than many of the older, more traditional methods, eg. timber-framing, post and beam, etc..  Their main advantage is convenience for materials transport and quick construction,.  This seems lost on many staunchly traditional builders and homeowners.

The downsides are perhaps most easily seen by contrasting the idea of permanence with something the Japanese do very well:  providing "just enough, just in time" in size and complexity, to meet the existing needs.  Certainly, this is not a completely short-sighted view, since thought is given to possible later expansion or alteration.  Avoiding overbuilding has many benefits.  Less up-front financial investment, more flexibility (changes are easier to justify and execute), lower property taxes,  and less waste are all advantages to the Japanese "just-enough, just-in-time" approach.

So far I haven't mentioned how well the Japanese sensibilities fit with traditional Amish values of modesty, simplicity, thrift, and restraint.  Many of us no longer bat an eye at what would not-so-long-ago have seemed ostentatious and extravagant in the extreme.  I'm all for being artistic and creative, with these characteristics expressed in a framework of excellence--but not at the expense of ignoring the constraints of personal discipline and humility.

So far I haven't figured out how to pull it off, but I'm trying to think how I could parlay that retirement gift money into an on-site classroom here.  It certainly can't be done by the most common means (like a portable "storage barn" classroom) because there isn't enough money for that.  I would especially like if something in what happens here could be replicated in many other locations as "neighborhood classrooms."  The goal would be to make learning truly a decentralized, age-integrated, small-group (and inexpensive, overall) community/neighborhood activity, with anyone who has a need for classroom space being able to create that space. Anyone who has a skill to share could do so as a mentor by inviting others to their own "classroom" --where the tools and other resources are likely already present, and they need not be dragged out of storage, transported, used, and then transported and stored again.  If a variety of building materials and methods could be incorporated and practiced in creating my space, maybe the building process itself could be a "class" of sorts. I presume a classroom building would have four walls.  Maybe each wall could feature different materials and methods.  (Are you snorting yet?)

What if I could build it myself, with materials close at hand and help from my students and the men in my family?  More likely, what if I made some preliminary explorations and preparations, and Hiromi saw that I wouldn't be able to manage it myself, so he would rescue the project with his far superior skills and organizing ability?  Actually, what if I just told the Lord that I'd really like an on-site classroom and would He kindly provide it by whatever means He chooses?  That seems like the best idea yet.








1 Comments:

  • Another potential difficulty with building homes from alternative resources comes from local building codes. Some places are strict; some are far more lenient. Rural neighbors of ours built a straw bale house a number of years ago. Other than the thick walls, it looks perfectly normal.

    By Blogger Gentle & Quiet, at 1/14/2019  

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