Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Brick Estimation Form New And Improved

Well during my break time I tackled revamping my Brick Estimation Form. I am now officially calling it version 2. I did this to make the form more flexible so that it could be used for more complex situations.

Version 2 can estimate the bricks for straight walls, straight foundations, curved walls, curved foundations, vault ceilings, full and partial domes. The domes and vaults can be ceilings or stand alone structures. The curved walls can be anything from full circles to a fractional section used for rounded corners. Any fraction of a circle can be used in combination with the straight walls. This will allow you to have the flexibility to estimate the needed bricks for almost any shape or design that you can think of.

I have also added the option to include arches in the walls. The form will calculate the number of bricks for the arches with the bricks having the ends exposed. It will then also calculate the left over area inside the arches and estimate how many bricks that would be and subtract that number from the total number of bricks estimated.

All of the totals will now be displayed on the first tab. Each category of wall type also now has it's own tab in order to enter the information on. All the information will be calculated and then displayed on the first tab. The brick and mortar joint information is entered on on the first tab and is required for all of the calculations so I would recommend entering that information first. This holds true for the wall thickness as well. The wall thickness is measured in bricks. So if the wall is 1 brick thick then enter 1. If the wall has bricks laid width wise with 1 brick laid lengthwise against the end count that as 1.5 bricks. From the examples you can see how to adjust the wall thickness even thicker if needed.

The desired heights of the walls and foundations are also entered on the first tab. I say desired heights because you have to work with the thickness of the bricks and thickness of the mortar joints. I added a calculation to each of the straight and curved categories so that you can see what the actual heights would be based on your desired height.


As you can see from the picture above I have added some color coding as well to make it easier to know where to enter the information and easier to quickly read the results.

I am again making the forms available in the Excel (Windows) format and the LibreOffice (Linux) format for download at the links below. I have also removed the links in my previous post for the version 1 form. I have also removed the version 1 files and am only making the new version 2 available.

Brick Estimation Form 2.0.xls

Brick Estimation Form 2.0.ods


I am providing this form free for personal use just like I did before however, after doing some research I decided to include the following terms as a nonnegotiable contract and terms of use which is enforceable under international law. Here are the terms "The downloading and use of this form constitutes consent of anyone downloading or using this form to the following binding agreement. This form is free for personal use, use by non-profit organizations, teachers, students, trainers or any other group with the purpose of helping others learn about earthen building or assist in earthen building on the condition that this form is not being used in any way to make profit. Any government agency, person, business or corporation wishing to use this form for profit or in conjunction with making profit from it's use shall be required to donate the time and materials to host a free (no fee) workshop (or training session listed by any other name), open to any and all people interested, focused on building an earthen structure (domicile or home) and during which a complete earthen structure will be built. At the end of said workshop the structure will be donated to a needy family or individual person free of charge. This agreement is valid under international law may not be changed, amended or affected by any implied contracts without the express written permission of the author of this form. This form may not be changed or modified in any way  without the express written permission of the author of this form.".

I wrote the terms in this manner as a way to help encourage businesses, corporations and governments to help get the earthen building information out there to help people. The more people learn about this kind of building the better off we'll all be. I hope this small step may encourage other people to do similar things. I figure if enough of us are all doing things to help and teach others while getting through to the businesses, corporations and governments that they need to help as well and that we will be holding them accountable then I think we could be successful in affecting some positive change.

Monday, April 1, 2013

Break Time And Playing In The Mud

I guess you could say I've reached my breaking point. I'm referring to that literally. As those of you who have read my blog from the beginning know, I suffer from permanent injuries from an accident when I was a firefighter. Well I have reached the point where I just did way too much and now I need time to heal.

So in my last post I showed the rebuilding of the cement mixer. Having to weld and grind leaning over at those angles really aggravated my back. So when I was done with the cement mixer I was pretty sore  and I should have stopped and rested, but I didn't. As you can also see from my last post I decided to move and stack all of bricks that we had made. I needed moved so I could have the space to make and lay down more.

Well, let me tell you what a mistake that was. Ok let me explain. Rather than picking up a few bricks at a time and making a hundred plus trips to move the bricks I decided to use my garden cart. Now when you lift a brick that is between 8 and 10 pounds you don't think about the weight much but, when you get a cart loaded with 40 - 50 bricks it turns out to be really heavy. Somewhere between 400 to 500 pounds. Well a normal healthy adult could handle moving that cart all afternoon and just be sore the next day. Me on the other hand, well I knew I was hurting after the second cart full but, I had more to move so I kept going. Being stubborn does have some advantages but, it also has some disadvantages. One disadvantage is that now I have to take time heal.

My injuries are essentially the whole right side of my body, my back, neck and my head. I know that sounds like a lot but, it is and it's painful. Most of the time I just control myself and deal with the pain to get things done but, when I push it like I did with moving the bricks my body pushes back. I'm sure some of you out there can understand that. So I just take some time, maybe a few days to a week, to recover and let the pain level come back down so I can get back to work.

Ok I'm sure someone's asking by now, "Why is this guy talking about this? What does this guy hurting have anything to do with building the kitchen?". Well I've talked to a lot of people about my kitchen project and they are surprised and astounded at what I'm doing. Most of them, who are in much better shape than I am, don't believe that they can do anything like that and are shocked and amazed that I'm able to build this kitchen. I want people to understand that I'm working on things a little bit at a time. Yes sometimes I do a little too much and I have to recover from it but, once I recover I'm back at it. I want people to understand that if as injured, messed up and as out of shape as I am that if I can work with these materials and build this kitchen then just about anyone can.

Yes I said just about anyone can do this! Let me say that again, just about anyone can do this! We live on, around and in earth so why not work with that earth. This whole process builds out of a mixture of clay earth, sand and water. This is just an advanced form of playing in the mud. Only now when we play in the mud it has purpose. The wonderful thing about playing in the mud is that you can always come back to it, get it wet and play with it some more. As you've seen on this blog my kids have been involved and been able to do this. At this point the youngest child to get their hands in the mud was 10 years old and I'm in my 40's disabled with permanent injuries. So like I said just about anyone can do this and I want to encourage others out there to go for it. Don't be afraid and think that you can't do it, if you can play in the mud then you can make bricks, benches, walls, floors, ovens, fireplaces, planters, saunas, even houses and whatever else you can think of.

Ok there are always those people who say well what if I mess up? It's mud, get it wet and do it again until you get what you want. There are also those people who say well I'm not artistic or creative. So what? Since when did you have to be artistic or creative to play in the mud? The best thing that I can tell you is to get out of your head and stop thinking about what you can't do. Just think about what you want, maybe make some sketches to work from or draw more detailed plans if you like. Some people don't draw anything and just go for it. Whatever works for you just go for it. If you can think it you can build it.

One quick note about building with earth. I hear people say things like how poor people live in dirt houses. When I hear that stuff all I can say is that I want to live in a dirt house. People build with materials for several reasons. They use what's available, what they've been convinced to use or they use materials for prestige. Believe it or not in the "Modern Countries" (in quotes because I don't think the ideas of not beings honest with the countries populace or finding ways to keep people down in order to make money from their misery are modern ideas) the last 2 reasons are the most common. Building with earth is not for the poor it's for the most responsible. It costs the least, is the most ecological way to build and is available to everyone. It's also fire proof folks. What more could we ask for? So don't be afraid to play in the mud.

I'll be posting more after I take a little time to heal.