(Note: 16 Nov, 2005...this is a report prepared following a public tour of the LeCour earthship in 1999. It is now published to the Smart Shelter Website Resource files. It was completed in 2000 and was deemed accurate at that time. It has not beed edited or updated since. Use material at your own risk and expect time to have changed some of it) ((editing was partially performed in conversion to html...you will notice it was left undone on the last half...it will still read accurately)

©Gary Duncan/Smart Shelter -2000

Owners: Bob and Karen Lecour -202 Pleasant Drive, Ridgway, Co 81432

(970) 626-2004 <bob@independence.net>

Earthship Web site: www.sanjuancountry.com/personal- note: Bob is a MacIntosh based website developer...in fact he created the Smart Shelter Website at www.smartshelter.com as well as his own. sanjuancountry.com contains information on this home. Bob has also produced a video on this structure which is available at the address above.

Background/ Bios: Bob is a retired biology instructor. He is active in the environmental groups concerned about regional issues, especially the off-road vehicle destruction of the San Juan Trail in the Mount Sneffles Area. Both are active in Ridgway community endeavors such as the coral society. Karen has a significantly acute case of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (environmental illness). All the building products for the project were tested for her reactivity to entrained environmental toxins which may be built into the structure. Karen is debilitated in terms of the amount of time per day she can be active.

Prior building experience: Bob at one time worked with a contractor briefly....aside from that had little relevant building or contracting experience. Karen had previously had a home built by a contractor. In her own words..."the experience was no help in tackling this one". Bob and Karen elected to be their own contractors for this project. A contractor undertakes responsibility for building cost, scheduling, permits, plan execution, project coordination, structural integrity , subcontractor negotiation and scheduling, materials acquisition, labor hiring and supervision, integrity and acceptability of finishes and securing the certificate of occupancy.

Acting as their own contractors, a builder with some earthship experience was hired (Tim Pettet) along with several others providing labor for various aspects of the building, including Sheryl Pettet, Russ Harvey.....and others.

Preparation for this project: Bob and Karen visited Mike Reynolds (originator of the earthships) in Taos. There they rented and stayed in the "Sun Catcher", an earthship designed to provide a brief live-in experience in the homes. They then visited 3-4 other regional earthships in the Ridgway area, videoing the homes and interviews with the owners. They undertook no formal training or workshops, but found Tim Pettet in Lake George (Colorado Springs area) where they were living at the time they visualized the project. They felt comfortable with Tim and hired him.

Owners' Function: Besides acting as their own contractors, they performed various labor functions throughout the project. Bob did wiring for the house' electrical system.

Effects on Relationship: The intimate involvement and responsibility for any building project of this scale has profound effects and stresses which bear on a relationship. The project went significantly over budget (see details below)...creating a good deal of scrambling and anxiety. Another very common issue surfaced...which often only occurs in building projects. Karen has very high expectations and standards which did not accommodate Bob's way of doing things, which is less precise. In Bob's own words..."finally, I just came to the conclusion that I don't do anything inside the house. I can't meet her standards. It's better to hire someone who can." At a particularly low point in the process, when "we were hemorrhaging money" they considered selling the house unfinished and just leaving. Instead, they resolved to finish it, whatever it took. The testing of their marriage brought out the bottom line...which is more important, the love for each other or the finishing details. They resolved the dilemma by finding ways to back off the trouble points and keep the higher ground in tack. As a result, the relationship survived a formidable obstacle and undoubtedly gained solidity through the testing.

Building Description: This home is a classic earthship. Earthships were designed and originated by Michael Reynolds of Taos, New Mexico. Over the past thirty years, they have evolved from early, crude attempts to fashion housing out of recycled and natural materials, to a functional...albeit labor intensive...building technique based on a premise similar to that of spaceships...when you launch one, it better be able to sustain its own life along with that of the inhabitants. True earthships are "off grid"....that is, they are not connected to any utility or energy sources, but provide all energy flows through their own function and facilities.

The Lecour homes is a generic 3-cell earthship, composed of three horseshoe shaped compartments made of tires rammed full of compacted earth and stacked to create the back and side walls. The home faces south with a large amount of sloped glass framing breath-taking panoramas of the Sneffles Range. The home is earth bermed...that is, the north and portions of the east and west walls are buried up to the roof lines to shelter it from wind, heat and low winter temperatures.

Earthships are built as much as possible out of discarded or recycled materials, such as tire, aluminum cans and bottles. Whereas the stacked "rammed earth" tires form the back walls, several other walls...including he roof parapets and the shower wall are made of cement and stacked cans and bottles.

Natural building products are also used- strawbales form the east and west side wing walls...the interior plaster is made of sand, straw, adobe mud, flour and flakes of mica (which give it a sparkle. Floors are poured natural adobe, native stone and recycled resawn railroad trestle planks from the Great Salt Lake

(kitchen floor) .

The roof is sloped to function for catching rain water and snow melt. The water is then transmitted and stored in 4 poly-plastic buried vaults (totaling 6,000 gallons) behind the east and west wing walls outside but adjacent to the living space.

A solar electric (photo-voltaic) system produces all the home's electricity...it is not connected to the power line grid. A solar hot water heating system is installed on the roof and provides all the home's hot water needs. A back-up propane "on demand" water heater was installed, but seldom used.

Sewage is treated with a standard state-approved septic and leach field system. Provision is made to utilize gray water at a later date.

elevation: 7500 ft Degree days: unknown wind: predominantly from west, and slight compared to the valley floor just a few hundred yards away. Wind generation, often used with earthships was not considered here.

The home is located on the south escarpment wall of Pleasant Valley in Juniper, Sage and Pinion.

Building Size/ Room Count: 1380 sq ft (interior measurement), two bedroom, one bath, living room, kitchen, grow-spaces (two at about 150 sq ft total), utility room.

Sustainable Building Systems(summary): Off-grid, photo-voltaic system, solar hot

water, on demand propane back up water heater, grow-spaces, low toxic materials, recycled

cellulose insulation, adobe plaster, poured adobe /flagstone/ recycled wood floors, dayliting,

water catchment system, plumbed for gray water retrofit.

Land Cost/History: original purchase $70,000 (1994), current county tax appraisal $221,645. Land area is about 5 acres.

Building Costs: Total reported owner paid out expenses: $238,050 to date. (not included are: land costs, roadway, minimal landscaping, and owners' labor contribution including acting partially as thier own contractors. Nor is this cost included all utility systems (off-grid power supply, water catchment and filtration system, solarwater heat, septic engineering and installation), architectural design, permits, excavation, building costs and improvements.

Based on the $238,050 representing only the building cost itself (@ 1600 sq ft...1380 sq ft interior plus 220 sq ft for exterior wall equivalent) the building cost was $149/sq ft. An original estimate from Solar Survival Architecture (SSA) in Taos, NM was $85/sq ft as built in the Taos area on a generic earthship design. This info was the cost basis used for the original loan of $90,000 coupled with $50,000 of owner provided money.

Still unfinished are items such as the planters in the grow spaces and so are not included in the above costs.

An adjusted estimate of the total building cost would include the original $238,000 plus $10,000 in owner labor contributions, $12,000 owner -supplied contractor fee(at 50% of 10% typical contractor surcharge) and $3000 to complete unfinished portions. This totals $263,000 or $164/sq ft. This would be the estimate per square foot for the cost of building an earthship complete with excavation, septic and all off-grid support systems.

In order to compare this cost with conventional construction we would deduct costs for PV power system ($14,000) water catchment system($11,000), filtrations system ($2000) and solar hot water ($3,000).

These added costs total $30,000 which is deducted from the total cost ($263,000) to arrive at $233,000 as a equivalent cost comparison to conventional building. This implies a comparison cost of $146/sq ft for this earthship without off-grid systems.

In order to compare conventional construction costs in the vicinity start in the $110/sq ft range.

Custom homes typically start in the $130/sq .

In rural areas square foot costs typically reflect the structure only. Variable costs might add prices for excavation, utilities and septic systems. These systems would add maybe $5/sq ft to conventional custom building costs, bringing that estimate to $135/sq ft.

This would indicate that this particular structure may have cost around 8% over standard building costs with all adjustments included.

As a rule of thumb, natural building systems are found to coast about the same as conventional construction in the area, providing the service providers are comparably trained and experienced in natural building techniques. The addition of utility systems such as solar electric and solar hot water, along with water catchment are usually added to the base cost (with allowance subtracted for what the utility line extension costs and tap fees would have been. Let it be noted that we are not comparing equivalent structures here because the earthship will sustain very low operating costs in its lifetime. Those for conventional structures will be much higher. In earthships, we pay the utility bill up front. Also not included in the comparison is the reduced toxic materials content and its reduction of health costs and incurances. Because conventional building contents are often linked to cancer, immune disorders, chemical sensitivity and the like, it might also be fair to include an estimate of foregone chemotherapy, job loss, disability and the like...something almost impossible to measure, but if it happens...it is tremendously expensive and we know that it happens.

Owner-stated reasons for the budget overage were: unrealistic budget for building a custom-generic earthship in this geographic area, additional costs incurred due to a solar system that did not meet code and that was replaced with a new subcontractor, problems with original water catchment tanks that had to be replaced, typical construction delays due to the El Nino extra wet summer and extended delays with roofing subcontractor, and local labor and subcontractors being unfamiliar with earthship construction techniques (especially solar electric), problems with water tank leakage/replacement

Construction Schedule: Purchased lot-1994 Began Construction- April 1997 Occupancy May 1998 (some items not finished, but livable)

Financing: Original land purchase was out of pocket. A $90,000 construction loan was taken out from Western Colorado Bank (now called Weststar) Montrose based on owner's personal assets and an appreciated land value (land doubled in value between purchase and beginning of construction) An additional $50,000 loan was necessary and provided by Western Colorado Bank. An additional $30,000 was taken out of personal retirement accounts and savings.

Currently, long term financing is likely through the Mortgage Center-Western Colorado Bank- Maggie Remington...who has worked on the loan for a year and now has 3 secondary lenders interested.

The loan is currently in appraisal.

The owners are not sure how willing Weststar would be to loan on earthships again, given the construction budget overage.

Insurance: All-State- Insurance Associates- Montrose

Appraisal: Marv Ballantyne- Black Canyon Appraisal- Montrose - pending

Design: Solar Survival Architecture- Taos, New Mexico (cost $2100) This is Mike Reynold's organization.

The actual designers were Ken and Pam Anderson...who the owners recommend. They are no longer with Solar Survival, but may still be in Taos. Owners do not recommend Solar Survival in the future and report lots of staff turmoil and turnover.

Engineering: Tom Griepentrog- Buckhorn Geotech- Montrose. Costs: structural stamp $490, septic $1100

Contractor/ Building Team: Owners served as contractors/ construction managers. Lead builder:Tim Pettet (325-4769) (Ridgway) with significant assistance from Sheryle Pettet...who worked on a time and materials basis. Tim's rate was $25/hr, Sheryle's varied between $10-15/hr. Several "kids" were used in a $8-10/hr basis.

Inspectors:

Building: Bill Kledas/ Paul Christiansen(Ouray County) - Kledas started the project but left office prior to certificate of occupancy. Paul Christiansen finished final inspections. An engineer's stamp was required on the plans. Both inspector's attitudes and professionalism were good.

Sanitarian: (Ouray County) required an engineered septic system. No gray water permit was pursued\ due to exorbitant requirements in the state.

Plumbing Inspector: Monty Hood: comments: not up to speed on gray water

Electrical: Troy Monger- owner comments: appalling attitude problem about sustainable building several snide comments such as "you've still got time to doze this and build a real home."He seemed to have several problems with the solar system and picked on any little thing.(note-this complaint about this inspector has come from several other builders in the area also)

Subcontractors: (Note: many personal /business acquaintanances were imported from East Slope,

including builder, electrician, tile, glass...a lot of material was also purchased there)

Excavation: Downey Excavation- septic (montrose)

Excavation: Keith Kelly (Ridgway)

Solar Electric: Rich Hunter (Divide, Colo.)

Glass: A-1 Glass (Denver)- personal friend

Tile: Mountain Top Tile (Woodland Park)

Solar Hot Water: Dana Orzel- Great Solar Works (Ridgway)

Plumbing: American PipeWorks (Ridgway)- no longer available

Roofing: Odyssey Construction (Delta)

Systems Details

Passive solar: The concept for passive solar design is to capture as much usable sun radiation on south, east and west building aspects as possible and store it in mass within the structure to provide needed heat without overheating the occupants and furnishings. Delicate balances between the amount (sq ft) of glazing, the building size to be heated and the amount of interior mass available for storage are the keys to passive solar design. Typical solar heated structures use glass on solar-exposed walls in the order of 12% of the floor area in glazing. Earthships utilize glazing areas far in excess of this amount, and can produce very hot areas with significant solar glare on the interior. To counteract these problems, both an outside and an inside shading system are used in this structure.

The earthships have an annual cycle in which hot summer solar heat is stored in the very large mass volumes contained in the interior plasters and rammed earth tires. The summer heat "charges"the mass to be released during the winter cold. If too much shading is employed to cut glare and over-heating, the mass does not charge heat sufficiently and cold winter interior temperatures are experienced.

Heat transfer in the home is accomplished by convective flow...the hot air heated by the windowsrises to the roof, travels to the back of the structure, falls against the cool back wall...releasing its heat and returns to the front windows across the floors. It is important not to obstruct the convective flow of this air in the structure. For that reason, earthship rooms are open, walls do not attach to the ceiling. Some people don't like the loss of privacy in this "open air" interior layout.

Typically, sloped or roof glazing are not recommended in this climate and latitude for residential use for a number of reasons...principally overheating. Most of the south glazing in this home is sloped.

Extensive use of the exterior and interior shading systems is used, first to screen daytime over-heating and then to prevent heat loss during the nite in winter. The result is colder interior temperaturesin winter ( a complaint from the owners).

The huge amount of mass in the structure means that unless all of that mass is heated above 68 degrees...it will "deradiate" to the human body...producing a chilling sensation. Earthships are immensely over-massed in comparison to other solar heated structures. If the mass cannot be charged sufficiently by solar radiation and convection, it needs to be heated by other means...wood stove, propane heat source, etc...which takes high fuel use due to the amount of mass.

Glazing on south wall is mostly standard thermopane patio door units. Operable windows only are low-E.

Despite owners reported low winter interior temperatures, fires lit in the bedroom fireplace and living room wood stove consume very little fuel. Karen's comment: "we're still burning construction scraps two years later.

Stats: south glazing: 500 sq ft , floor area: 1380 sq ft , glass to floor area ratio: 31% (12% normal) Costs: glazing, etc. used in solar design are used in any building and no appreciable extra cost is typically incurred in passive solar design. For that reason it is not assessed here.

shading system:

exterior blinds: roll up green shades are applied exterior to windows and are manually operated with ropes. Cost: $988 From: OutWest Awnings, Colorado Springs, Installed by Tim Pettet Owners' report: performance is excellent, typically used in extreme sun conditions

interior blinds: Cell structured, accordian-form fabric shades, operated in tracks applied to interior glass areas. Cost: $5858 From: L.S.S. Inc. (John and Kelly Lannon- Ridgway) Owner's report: performance is very good. However, when blinds are shut, ice forms on windows which then drips onto walls below causing saturation and staining. provide nite insulation and gain control

mass: Wall system:30" rammed earth tire walls for back, wing and interior partitions. New blemished tires were used from Dennis Weaver. Cost: $9933 labor, $1020 materials- rammed by Tim and crew (excellent)

Floor system: mainly 3 1/2-4" poured adobe with traffic areas in flagstone (see floor costs below)

Plaster: tires are smooth-packed with 3/4" natural adobe plaster over (see costs and comments below) (note: all mass is considered direct gain type appx 3200 sq ft of mass surface.

Mass to glazing ratio: 6.4/1 typical ratio is 4/1)

greenhouse: two grow space areas on south wall- total appx. 150 sq ft of floor area. Plants currently growing include Norwegian Pine, fruit trees (kumquats, lime) , bush beans, several lettuces, flowers(gardenias and hibiscus, herbs, chard and spinach. Owner's comments: food production is not being pushed. It may constitute 5% of their needs. Planters originally designed for the spaces are not yet built because of short funds. Watering for the planters may be furnished from grouter later. Costs: no additional costs are included here since the space is provided naturally along the south glazed wall system.

PV/solar elect: all electricity for the home is provided by the sun through a photo-voltaic system which converts sunlight into electricity, which is processed in a control panel, stored in batteries for use later or routed through an inverter to convert it from low voltage to standard household power levels (110 volts ac). This home is not connected to the grid.

An original system package was purchased from Solar Survival (Taos, New Mexico). The system didn't meet code for the area and was difficult to return. Problems in negotiating the return to Solar Survival of the unusable equipment have not been completely resolved or payments returned as of this date.

A second system was purchased and installed as indicated below which did pass code and has performed well.

Cost: total cost for the installed system indicated below was $14,500 (mat and labor)

System: Ananda APT4-B power center from Discover Solar Engineering-Rick Hunter (Teller County)

Owner comments: system performance is excellent, but conservative power use is necessary on

consecutively overcast days.

collectors: 10 Siemens SP 75 collector panels, 75 watts each, 12 volt panels from Discover Solar. (owners would like to upgrade to 12 panels with a tracker. note: trackers rotate the orientation of the panels to follow the sun throughout the day.

inverter: Trace Model 2512, 12vdc converts to 120 volts as, 2500 watts true sine wave (necessary for computers and certain motors) also from Discover Solar. Comments: excellent, but the menu for operating the unit is complicated.

batteries: 12 -350 amp-hour 6 volt deep cycle model UL16's from Discover Solar. Comments: excellent, but maintenance of the batteries is awkward. The batteries are housed in a plywood compartment near the solar control panels inside the house...providing temperature control. Battery performance decreases if the storage compartment is in cold air.

Wind Generation: Wind on this part of the canyon skirt is erratic. For that reason, wind generation...which required sustained velocities...was not considered. A few hundred yards out into the valley, wind currents are strong and consistent. Other successful wind generation locations have been installed in this area.

Water Catchment: The entire roof of this home is designed to catch rain water and snow melt, which is then transferred past a sediment settling device and stored in 4 plastic vaults buried behind the east and west wing walls totaling 6,000 gallons. Rainfall in this area averages 12-15" per year. Roof area is appx. 1600 sq ft. Water catchment as the principal source of domestic water is typically considered feasible in rainfalls down to 10-12 " per year. The past two years have produced below average snowfall in winter and some water has had to be hauled in to supplement catchment.

Water used for drinking or cooking must be filtered, which is done with a filtration system (see below). Typically living on catchment water alone requires significantly conservative water use habits. Some people like it, some don't.

The roof is designed in two "wings" forming a trough in the center which drains toward the collection tanks at each end.

Cost: $934- labor to plumb cisterns and pipe from scuppers to cisterns, by Tim Pettet-

Comments: very good, needs a better overflow system. The snow can get locked up on the roof in cold conditions and fail to flow. The drains and scuppers have silt boxes to catch sediment. These need to be drained and hand cleaned 1-2 times per year.

Catchment surface:the roof has a plywood deck over tji trusses and solid wood framing. Beneath the decking is an air circulation space to prevent moisture from the warm interior spaces from condensing on the underside of the roof membrane. The decking is covered with EPDM membrane- a rubberized synthetic rolled-goods product seam-sealed to produce a waterproof roof. The EPDM outgases volatile organic compounds and must be baked off for a period of months. It was then coated with Accushield latex potable paint to produce a low-toxic surface.

Cost: $10,469 (mat&labor) from Odyssey Construction, Delta.

comments: very good- be aware, EPDM requires non-toxic overcoating and repainting periodically.

water storage: at first, 4 concrete cisterns from Associated Precast (near Western Paving) Montrose were tried. They all leaked and could not be sealed. They had to be dug out from behind the wingwalls and replaced with poly-plastic units. Tried precast concrete tanks from western paving- they all leaked and could not be repaired.

tanks:4- 1500 gallon poly cisterns w/ manhole extensions from Building for Health / Cedar Rose (Carbondale) ...Dodson Engineering( Glenwood Springs)

Cost: $4769 (installed?) installed by Tim Pettet

Comments: excellent, but difficult to clean.

filtration: Filtration kit was supplied by Solar Survival (Taos)

Cost: $1775 including scuppers (materials)

Comments: very good- water pump is very noisy

Solar Hot Water: The solar hot water system is complete in a single package mounted on the south exterior including its collector and storage tank. The collector and heat exchanger which heats the water in the storage tank are filled with ethylene glycol, which circulates by convection under solar radiation and is freeze proof. The circulating hot glycol warms water within the insulated hot water tank to very high temperatures.

A back-up propane fired "on-demand" water heater is provided in the utility space below. Kit model is Solahart from Solar Survival (Taos) installed by Great Solar Works/ Dana Orzel (Ridgway).

Cost: $2500 (mat only)

Comments: Excellent performance, "fabulous system", the system we're the happiest with. This unit produces lots of hot water even three days into a cloudy spell.

The backup water heater might be eliminated...and is only used very rarely. (note- the unit was allowed to set in the rain before installation, accumulated interior moisture and had to be disassembled and cleaned at significant expense...be sure to treat these units correctly and install them in accordance with instructions....oversight the responsibility of owners, not the installer.)

water heater: Aquastar propane "on-demand" hot water system senses the flow of water as it begins in the pipe(when a faucet is turned on), ignites the burner and heats the water continuously as it flows through the system...providing an infinite supply of hot water as long as the faucet flows. Unit was supplied and installed by Solar Survival.

Cost: $632

Comments: Great unit, but seldom needed

Sewage System: A standard septic tank and leach field were used to appease Colorado State Sanitary requirements. Installation and materials were by Downey Excavation.

Cost: $4800 complete system materials and labor plus $1088 engineering by Buckhorn Geotech (Tom Griepentrog) Montrose

Comments: Graywater was investigated, but deemed prohibitive because of excessively conservative codes in Colorado. Owners would have preferred using Solar Survival's black water filtration system, but that was also not approved.

Graywater: Investigated but not done. Plumbing was designed so that grouter systems could be added at a later date. Currently owners are hand watering plants with saved used water. Graywater grease traps were acquired from Solar Survival.

Costs: no costs were separated from plumbing costs. Grease traps: $460

Floors-adobe: Poured adobe floors are 3 1/2-4" thick and made from adobe clay, sand and straw. They were poured by Tim Pettet in three layers and finished by the owners. They are coated with 3 coats of finish oil and

resin from Building for Health (Carbondale)

Cost: $4652 (mat and labor) for appx. 8-900 sq ft

Comments: Karen doesn't like them...they're subject to denting from falling objects...too soft.

Tim and Sheryle indicate a new sealing system was used at the time using a natural resin sealer as an option to a 5 coat penetrating oil sealer. Several more coats of the natural resin are now being recommended by the product distributor for more durability.

Smart Shelter comment- adobe floors in general are made from a softer material, which is why people like them. No amount of overcoating material is likely to substantially change the underlying material characteristics. No case study has been found where this has happened. Jerry Hobgood (Grand Junction) installed sautilo tile over hers because she wanted a tougher finish.

Floors-stone: The main traffic corridor through the home is floored with native stone containing mica from world-wide Carpet (Ridgway) It is sealed with sealer from Building for Health (Carbondale) Installed by Tim Petter, finished by owners. Appx area: 300 sq ft.

Cost: $3081 (mat and lab)

Comments: excellent

Floors- Hardwood: The kitchen floor is wood- reclaimed from bridge deck planking from the Great Salt Lake and resawn.

Cost: not available

Glazing/flashing: Most glass is 4x8 ft patio door units in 3/4" thermopane with no filling or coating. Operable windows are low e thermopane. All glazing from A1 Glass (Denver) . Flashing is from C's Glass (Montrose) Installed by Tim Petter. Glass area appx 500 sq ft.

Cost: $11,364 (mat and lab)

Comments: very good- slanted window tend to leak...heavy caulking is required. Tim and Sheryle indicate the exterior flashing was designed for v ertical glass, therefore, periodic maintenance is necessary to prevent leaks. Other, more extensive flashing systems are available for slanted glass at much higher cost.

Shower Finish: Shower is made of aluminum cans, bottles and cement as a core with a synthetic seal-coat on the interior and El Rey stucco on the exterior

Cost: $172 (for materials only- final coat) costs not available for the shower construction itself

Comments: very good...easy to clean

Toilet: IFO 1.6 gallon flush (Mansfield Sterling) from ABC Plumbing Supply (Colo Springs) plumber installed

Cost: $191

Comments: very good, sometimes must flush twice or use plumber's helper

Lav: Sinks from ABC Plumbing Supply (Colo Springs)

Costs: $130 sink $170 hardware

Comments: excellent

Interior plaster: native adobe clay (sifted) with sand, straw, mica, flour and dry milk. The mica produces the sparkle. Gross filling of the spaces between tires was done to produce a smooth wall. A final "alis" coat of dustless plaster was applied over earthen walls by Tim & Sheryle Pettet using the dustless alis formula as learned from Carol Crews of Gourmet Adobe in Taos, NM.

Cost: $2000 (labor) alis coat only

Comments: Window condensation bleeds down onto plaster walls below sills staining them or eventually producing erosion. Tim and Sheryle indicate the alis under the south glass is temporary and will be covered with stucco when the interior planters are complete. Glass does condense and drip. One must be sure that waterproofing is in place. Unsealed plaster walls will stain or fail with continual water dripping.

Frame: Roof framing is chip board tji trusses and solid dimensional lumber installed by Tim Pettet.

Cost: $7363 (mat and labor)

Comments: excellent

Insulation: The only installed insulation is in the ceiling/roof assembly. It is blown in over a sheathing of clear plastic attached to the bottom of the joists. Over the top of the insulation is a system of roofing panels between joists creating an air circulation space for condensation ventilation beneath the roof deck. There is a 4 ft insulation skirt shield at the top of the back bermed wall to stop the frost line from penetrating into contact with the tire structure. (note: other earthships have insulated this back wall completely to separate it from the 50 degree earth. No insulation in the floor and back wall probably accounts for reported winter cold in low-gain days.

The blown insulation is Celbar from Building for Health (Carbondale). ( inches? depth). It is blown cellulose, non-toxic with fire retardant, blown with machine from UBC lumber Delta by Tim Pettet.

Cost: $3523 (mat and lab)

Comments: very difficult to blow into joist spaces

(owners have 17 bags left)

Fireplaces: The home has two small wood burning units for heat back up...a Kiva/Santa Fe style fireplace and a free-standing wood stove. The fireplace is made from a kit provided by Solar Survival(Taos) and fabricated on-site by Tim Pettet. wood stove is a Quadra Fire from the Stove Place(???) installed by Tim Pettet.

Cost: $2851(mat and lab) for Kiva fireplace (does not include piping)

Comment: burns well, heats mass well, good

Cost: $1415 (mat and lab) wood stove-

Comments: excellent- fires are not lit often. Karen says, "two years later, we're still burning construction scraps.

Skylights: Ventilation, summer cooling and dayliting for the back part of the rooms is provided by 3 large Velux operable skylights from Alpine Lumber, installed by Tim.

Cost: $1257

Comments: very good- they drip condensation on cold mornings...be sure when you plan their locations, it's not over a bed , desk, computer or furniture.

Washer/Dryer: The combination washer/dryer is super energy efficient, front loading. It spins clothes almost dry at 1000 rpm. It will also function as a dryer, if needed, but the clothes are spun so thoroughly, often they only require a short period hanging to be completely dry. It is an Equator from Building for Health (Carbondale)

Cost: $989

Comments: uses small amounts of water. very good

Refrigerator: Sunfrost super insulated refrigerator is designed for use with photo-voltaic systems. It was provided by Building for Health and installed by Tim. 16 cu ft w/freezer. 12 volt dc

Cost: $2999

Comments: excellent, lots of space, funs very efficiently

Owner Comments about the Home:

Things we like about it: love living with plants, solar exposure, coziness, sensuous curves, beauty of the adobe alis plaster and the home's overall quality.

About the building experience: Pluses- creative, individual expression and new skills negatives- no cost control, no timetable, hard to keep bank's trust, inspectors had bias against alternative building.

Things we don't like about it: too cold in winter when there is no sun, too small for company, lack of private space for guests.

Tim and Sheryle comment "interior temps can fall as low as 57 degrees during a winter storm without available sun or back-up heat. Back up heating is recommended for those times for personal comfort."

What would we do different next time: rather than acting as our own contractor, we would contract the job out, however, it would not be to Solar Survival in Taos, NM., use a local solar subcontractor, build in propane space heaters, try new "evolution" of adobe floors, finish the grouter planter before moving in, can't use concrete cisterns...they leak..go poly. We sould use a different sealing system on the adobe floors.

General Comments: the cost over-runs were hard on the relationship. They aren't wealthy, but fortunately had reserves to fall back on. They thought about the house for a year...holding onto a dream. In the gloomiest period, Karen wouldn't go to the house. Bob wanted to abandon it or tie onto the grid. Karen was stubborn and a perfectionist. They fought long hours. Then the curtains started to open. Finishing was a tribute to the human spirit. People needto look at the worst case scenarios.

General Comments about Earthships:

High humidity levels are common in earthships because of the plants and contact with soils. These owners report liking that, seeing it as healthy for nasal passages, skin.

Condensation can be a problem and needs to be prepared for...especially the skylight drips.

Tire Outgassing- moist soil contact with tires is known to produce methane gas, which can be detrimental to humans breathing it. Arguments against this being a problem with earthships is that the tires aren't damp and are encased in plaster, isolating them from the living space and that they are old and outgased anyway. Of particular interest here is that Karen is chemically sensitive and reports not being able to be around a tire store for any time at all without reacting. The tires in this home were new. Karen has lived here for two years and has suffered no reactions.

Overheating- because of the large southern, sloped glazing, sun overheating can be a problem. Shading devices and enlarged skylights have been the Lecour's solutions here.

Glare from intense sun- owners report that shades make this not a problem. In the kitchen area, where work is performed close to windows, the windows are installed vertically instead of sloped.

You're living underground- they like the quiet.

Builder's comments ( Tim Pettet 325-4769 <pettet@independence.net>):

1. A natural building project should start with a very detailed set of plans by architects with extensive experience in natural building. This minimizes the amount of on-site design building. A realistic budget can be established based on the design, sq footage, building site and finances available for building.

2. Earthships are unique, custom built homes. What is saved in materials will be spent in labor (local labor being a better place for money flow than further consumption of natural resources.) The true cost savings begin when owners move inl One cannot expect an earthship to cost less than a custom home in the area where it is being built.

3.The exception would be a very simple design, a building site that is appropriate to the structure being built. An owner builder doing the majority of the labor, being experienced in construction, resourceful and having the time to build.

4. Some people believe that by being their own contractor, they can save 10-20% in contractor fees. Maybe they will or maybe they will spend twicxe that in costly mistakes. It is difficult and can be very misleading attaching dollar amounts to owner labor contribution and effects on job costs..

 *Note- Bob Lecour has prepared a video tape on this home. If you're interested contact him

for price and availability

 *He also maintains a Web site (www.sanjuancountry.com/ personal page) with information on earthships

*Bob and Karen are available for consultation on earthship without charge...in appreciation

of the information they were given and in the hopes of passing it on.