Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Re: D.I.Y's Affordability Part 2 (1/2)

[Harry Pasternak (Harry_Pasternak]

 Tom Leach, Architect and Contractor, Austin, Tx

c> > - An Alternative Method of Construction is the "Amos System" contact
Amos
c> > somewhere in the New England states or contact the Nova Scotia
government
c> > for manual on "Amos System" or "Fine Homebuilding Magasine"
c> >
c> Harry: this sounds interesting but a reference to "somewhere in the
c> New England states" or "contact Nova Scotia government" is a bit
c> vague. 
 
  HP: 
* Amos is somewhere in the New England states---anyone know where?
* Nova Scotia government phone no., I don't know it but here's how to find
it---dial operator, ask for area code for Nova Scotia, dial area code then
555 1212, 
then ask for telephone no. of N.S. government, then phone gov. and ask for
branch etc. 
* Did you enjoy the article in "Fine Homebuilding" at the library ?
 
c> I would have reservations about using the cheapest siding and
c> covering it with vines, also, as the maintenance on this would be
c> rather forbidding. How would you paint?  What would prevent the
c> vines penetrating and damaging the siding, fostering rot?  Wouldn't
c> a cement plaster finish (vines or no) be better?

 HP: 
One example, that  Gehl showed some slides of a neighborhood at Galgebakken
just south of Copenhagen built around 1973, used:

* Tempered Masonite--- attached as required.
* Painted black---so that the walls recede into the background, like a stage.
(Check Consumer Reports magazine for best paint) 
* The trellises are kept off the walls about a foot and are hinged at the
bottom so that the trellises can fold down to the ground for wall maintenance
etc. 

Harry Pasternak
Unpaid Volunteer For "Do It Yourselfers" Who Need Proven Information On
Designing and Building Affordable, Frugally Operationally,  Supportive
Neighborhoods With An Abundance of Social Networking Opportunities, who works
at:
Thousand Islands Institute
The Independent Centre For Housing Research & Education
(Harry_Pasternak [at] tvo.org)

- sent via an evaluation copy of BulkRate (unregistered).