Building the Hart House walls was a challenging build. That November was the rainiest and windiest in 50 years and it rained almost every day but we persevered and are very proud of the results. Josh and Heidi went bold with red walls and it was a fabulous result. The exterior walls of this house are 2′ thick which is a standard width for exterior walls.

The rammed earth mix.

The first form is ready to go.

Clifton and Lowe inside the forms hand tamping.

A good view of an insulated rammed earth wall in the making.  We use a rigid insulation that can withstand the forces of compaction.

The rammed earth forms we use are an efficient and flexible system of forming plywood, pipe clamps, form aligners and dimensional lumber. The wood can be used on other parts of  the building after the walls are done.

Making the forms for the curved rammed earth walls. The forms are made in 4 pieces, 2 of which are very heavy, they are made with 3 laminated sheets of plywood that have been glued and screwed extensively with vertical 2×6’s.

Ramming the first curved wall on a cool November day.

View of the top of the walls on a rare day we had the tarps off.

Recess detail of an electrical box.

Our little helpers, purely voluntary..no child labour here!

Josh feeling the good vibes of his new rammed earth walls.