Cordwood Cuts Cost Of Home Construction

Cordwood Cuts Cost Of Home Construction AG WORLD 27-2-22 Firewood does more than heat Alan Stankevitz's house. It actually is the house. More than 6,300 8-in. lengths of cordwood form the walls of the post and beam framed house he built near La Crescent, Minn. Even the mortar the cordwood is set in is part wood since he's mixed over 2,000 lbs. of recycled newspapers into the masonry cement. "I got the idea of using newspaper slurry from the papercrete they build with in the Southwest," says Stankevitz. "They only use 10 percent cement, but I knew with the weather in this area, I would need more." He uses a two part sand, two part newspaper and one part masonry cement mix. Stankevitz uses a high speed drill fitted with a spackle mixer to turn a 15-gal. bucket full of paper and water into a slurry before adding it to the mixer. "The paper-enhanced mortar retards mortar setup. This reduces the number of shrinkage cracks you normally get with mortar and cordwood," says Stankevitz. "It also lightens up the wall and produces a nicer color when it has dried down. I also tried sawdust and cement, but I think the paper mortar sticks to the cordwood better." After five years of work and $40,000 to $45,000, all exterior walls are finished, the roof is up and the well and septic tank are in place. Stankevitz estimates it will take him another two years to finish the interior. The energy efficient design includes 24-in. wide footings, an 8-in. thick outer wall, an 8-in. gap nearly filled with 5 to 6 in. of spray-on open cell foam and finally, an 8-in. thick inner wall. "I've found that I probably didn't need the inner wall," says Stankevitz. "The outer wall is air tight, and with the solar gain we get from our windows, we don't need much added heat." What heat is needed is provided by ten 4 by 10-ft. solar collector panels mounted near the house, in-floor radiant heat, and a wood stove. Warmed fluid from the panels circulates through a sand pad beneath the ground floor and radiates into the house. Stankevitz worked with the area electric co-op to reduce operating costs on his electric boiler for the in-floor heat. On really cold nights, he fires up his wood stove. Stankevitz has also designed a water trap to collect and hold rainwater from the steel roof. PVC pipe carries saved water from downspouts to an underground tank. Stankevitz plans to use the rain water for clothes washing. When he's not working on the house, Stankevitz hosts a website with a wealth of information on cordwood home construction. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Alan Stankevitz, 8824 Cty Rd. 21, La Crescent, Minn. 55947 (ph 507 894-4140; Website: www.daycreek.com).

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