day one design

Suscol Strawbale Project - Part 3

2009-08-04T10:43:36-07:00

Time for the finish plaster! Off-white aliz on the underside of the soffit Tracy applying the final coat to the outside of the building Bob comes around shortly after with the texture We use the handle of the trowel to get the 'woven' texture Early morning shadows are amazing Enjoying popsicles along the way, what a treat on a 110 degree day! voila!

Suscol Strawbale - Part 4 Finishing Touches

2009-08-04T10:41:00-07:00

Interior finish plaster skylights and niches built-in hooks sculpting the doorway building a bamboo privacy fence with locally grown bamboo torching down the rockscape on the living roof gravel drainage system wow!

Oasis Remodel

2009-05-27T20:02:51-07:00

Got to help out on a really fun plaster job with Kata Polano at a home near Santa Barbara, California. The 40's style cabin is being entirely retrofitted to withstand the Santa Barbara threats of wildfire. By finishing almost all the interior and exterior surfaces of the house with earth plaster (including eaves), this home is virtually fire-proof and hopefully if one did come it would pass right by. The style is really elegant and the color palette is just charming. Kata has a great sense for earthen finishes. It was also lovely to work with this all-female crew. Somehow getting dirty together always makes for good friends. Eva mixes plaster Sculpting the bar between the kitchen and livingroom Awesome steel bracket details support the salvaged granite countertop. Kata does aliz (clay paint) with lots of mica onto the kitchen ceiling. Kata does more aliz on the walls of the entry porch Blue glass bottles in the ferrocement roof wash great colors onto the wall. I work on a window detail, more mica aliz! The finished porch window Amit plasters an exterior wall Arched plaster meets the ferrocement window treatment at the basement level The most beautiful mechanical wall ever! Earthen plaster surrounds each of the utility boxes and cable conections. We save the leftover aliz (clay paint) by making 'cookies'. Once dry they can be stored and then saved for repairs. Since we use custom dye-lots, this is the best way to get an exact match. An interior niche filled with light from a solatube. Note: this is not on an exterior wall, it coming through the center of the house. The basement apartment has a sweet little kitchen and dining space which got frequent use since the main kitchen was still a construction zone.

We even celebrated with a rocket-stove baked pizza.

Eva and Art are really excited about it, so adorable!

Earth & Lime Plasters at Aprovecho

2009-03-16T18:12:49-07:00

Ashley Aymond showing how to earth-plaster over lathe. Lime plaster samples Lydia Doleman mixes up the lime plaster

Back to Cob Cottage

2008-08-19T15:56:52-07:00

Returning to Cob Cottage to work trade for alittle while, this logging truck was the perfect reminder of why I'm doing this whole thing... And since I had been there, another workshop had taken place that was focused on plasters and finishing, they did a great job on the walls we had built in the workshop I took. The niche with the sand cast crystal Will made was one of my favorite touches. I did the wire-wrapping with the inside of an old electrical wire.