Darfield Earthship

Re: Udated Expenses

Posted on 30. Jan, 2010 by Sandra in Earthship, Expenses

Whoops!  I wasn’t thinking.  The next expense is the concrete for the bond beam.  We will either pour it ourselves (4-5 cubic yards) or have a truck come. 

If we pour it ourselves, then we have the cost of the portland cement (about $13 per bag).  Presumeably if we pour ourselves then we feel we have enough clean gravel/sand on site to do so (and enough friends with cement mixers!)  Each yard of cement takes about 6 bags of portland cement.  So we would need roughly 30 bags at $13 for $390.  The question is whether we have good soil on site in sufficient quantity to undertake the pour.

If we decide to bring a truck in we have figured out that it would cost us in the neighbourhood of $800+. AND if we brought a truck in, could we unload cement on the far side of the building (the slope of the back wall is such that a truck would  have to park way below the level of the bond beam). We would have to factor in gravity, or lack of it, in this case).  Another factor in a decision to bring in a truck is to build the forms for the post pads in the house. Any extra concrete we’ve paid for needs a home…

Our next step in making this decision is to grab a pail of gravel from the best part of the pit and give it a wash to see what kind of organic material is in it.