{"id":3451,"date":"2018-01-19T19:57:35","date_gmt":"2018-01-19T19:57:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/wordpress\/lavie\/?p=3451"},"modified":"2018-01-19T19:57:35","modified_gmt":"2018-01-19T19:57:35","slug":"making-materials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/2018\/01\/19\/making-materials\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Materials"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Question:\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>I have a friend back in my hometown who is–well, he\u2019s very, very unique. He\u2019s kind of a hippie, and feels strongly about living independently. His latest project is building himself a house in the woods on some property his parents own (yeah, he\u2019s a little selective about what he means when he says \u201cindependent\u201d).<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Honestly, it\u2019s kind of cool, but I\u2019m a little nervous that his structure will not be built to last. He\u2019s trying to use wood he finds or cuts from trees, and he thinks he\u2019s going to use slate and stone from the area for the roofing and flooring, like it\u2019s <\/i><\/b>Little House on the Prairie<\/b> or something. This all seems like a really bad idea to me, but I don\u2019t really know enough about the issues in question to say. Experts, can you weigh in?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Answer:\u00a0\u00a0You\u2019ve got it right: your friend\u2019s idea is questionable at best.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that it\u2019s impossible to build a home out of materials found in nature. After all, humans all over the world have constructed homes from natural resources: indigenous people, pioneers and settlers, and survivalists have all proven that it can be done. But just because something\u2019s possible doesn\u2019t mean that it\u2019s a great idea, or even likely to work.<\/span><\/p>\n

For one thing, you don\u2019t say that your friend has any experience in construction or engineering. This is the most dangerous thing about the situation, because he could be injured if his home is not built to last. It may collapse while he\u2019s building it, and even if it doesn\u2019t, that doesn\u2019t mean it will survive harsh weather.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then there are the materials. The lumber used in homes is not just wood, <\/span>say the builders at Lyndhurst Lumber<\/span><\/a>. Lumber is usually treated in some way, and <\/span>different types of wood serve different purposes<\/span><\/a>. Repurposing wood without regard to its type or relative strengths is a dangerous game. Your friend may end up using wood that isn\u2019t strong enough, or isn\u2019t treated for the weather or temperature conditions it may face.<\/span><\/p>\n

The materials issues continue with the stone and slate. How does your friend intend to get those materials to suit his purposes? Cutting stone is a tricky business, and requires special saws and even cooling waters, say the <\/span>stone fabrication wastewater treatment<\/span><\/a> pros at M.W. Watermark. It\u2019s not something hobbyists often do. Besides, veteran roofers told us, there are plenty of affordable roofing materials more modern than slate.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, there are legal issues. Your friend is undertaking a construction project, but it\u2019s not at all clear that he\u2019s considered things like permits and zoning issues. <\/span>It\u2019s not uncommon to see passionate hobbyists dive into home-building projects that turn out to be illegal, and it would be a shame if your friend\u2019s project ended up in this category<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

You\u2019re right: your friend\u2019s project sounds fascinating, but ill-conceived. You\u2019d be wise to raise a few of these issues with him and encourage him to plan his project a bit more carefully.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI live in a mobile home–I\u2019ve never had a house, except once; I rented a log cabin.\u201d — Captain Beefheart<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

*This is sponsored advertising content* Question:\u00a0\u00a0I have a friend back in my hometown who is–well, he\u2019s very, very unique. He\u2019s kind of a hippie, and feels strongly about living independently. His latest project is building […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3451","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-campus-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3451\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}