Mother Earth News - Mother Earth News 1975

These easy-to-follow steps show how to make your own concrete blocks. A helpful diagram is provided.

I really felt sorry for Jim DeKorne when he described how he filled all those concrete blocks with more concrete. Ive had to do the same thing never could lay a course straight. There is another alternative, though. What with paying 50 each for blocks, and then having to buy the cement to tamp into them, I figure it would be a little cheaper to cast ones own concrete building units in place.

Some forms Ive designed for that purpose might, I think, be helpful to do-it-yourself builders. The accompanying diagrams show how they work. Fig. 1 is the layout of the 8 X 16 block, with the spacing of the holes noted. As you can see from Fig. 2 - a plan of the form - the equivalent of three blocks is laid down in one pour. The holes are created around pieces of plastic drainpipe as each course goes up (Fig. 3). Fig. 4 shows the construction of corners, Fig. 5 is a detail of a doorway or crawl space and Fig. 6 indicates how to make a slot for a casement window or whatever.

Most block construction calls for an 8 X 16 footer. Id suggest building forms for the walls base from 2 X 8 boards, and then using the same lumber for the block forms after the footer is done. Several molds will make the concrete work go a lot faster.

The height of the block can be controlled by the forms end plates (see Fig. 2). If you goof on your measurements, just make the necessary correction by raising or lowering those pieces. Also, leveling can be adjusted by means of small wedges under the same panels.

A note on making the holes: Set the pipes in place, pour the concrete, wait about an hour and rotate the lengths of plastic a few times so they wont freeze in position.

My method can, of course, be used to cast block of different sizes. For instance, if you want to build a hotbed or compost bin with four-inch-thick walls, pour a 4 X 10 footer and use one-inch plastic pipe to form the holes.

Casting your own concrete units in position has several advantages. For one thing, if youre a weekend builder of a place in the country, you wont have to worry about someone ripping off your blocks in your absence. Or, if youre building and gardening too, you can just fill as many forms as you have time for and then go back to the bean patch. Youll be surprised how much concrete work you can get done using small forms and its interesting to see what other do-it-yourself ideas you can figure out.

PHOTO: FOTOLIA/ROMAN MILERT

Making concrete blocks is a smart, money-saving alternative.

WILLIAM P. EARWOOD

Use these easy-to-follow diagrams to build your concrete blocks.

To date (early December 1974), weve received over 200 pieces of mail - pro and con - about George Elmendorfs idea for financing the MOTHER EARTH NEWS Ecological Research Center/Community. Of the first 180 letters, 170 were FOR the proposal and only 10 were AGAINST. And, of those FOR, 45 respondees said that they were ready to vote with $10,000 right now!

This is genuinely amazing, since Georges proposal, and the note MOTHER EARTH NEWS editors added to it, were rather general and (as some of the return mail pointed out) didnt add up. They werent meant to add up but to start others thinking about what it would be like to put together and live in such a community. Since it is now quite evident that a number of people are enthused with the idea, were preparing a special color report on the Research Center planning already done by Georgia Tech students. Look for that feature in MOTHER EARTH NEWS . In the meantime, heres some quick reactions and answers to some of the questions raised in the following sampling of letters weve received as a result of Georges article.

[1] The idea, of course, is not to construct a one-of-a-kind utopian village but to found an ecologically sound, less-energy-intensive community which works well enough to act as a model for hundreds of other such communities.

[2] Building the prototype village wont be overly difficult. (Of course well use modern equipment with some discretion! Do we publish MOTHER EARTH NEWS with quill pens?) Setting up the government of that community will be the hard part. What about population control, for instance? The eco-village wont stay self-sufficient very long if the numbers of its inhabitants are not limited. How will we do that?

[3] Theres no way this community will work with houses scattered across 40-acre tracts. Thats what the American suburbs are all about and thats why we have an automobile-dominated society and thats what were fighting against.

[4] As unfortunate as it may seem, and no matter how the ownership of the first eco-village is eventually divided up, its going to cost money to build it. There aint no free lunch. Those who expect to be a part of this undertaking must also expect to pay for the privilege with both money and skills. If you have neither, this is a good time to begin earning/learning.

[5] No matter what some readers of this magazine may believe, other MOTHER EARTH NEWS readers do have $10,000 which they are ready to invest in an eco-village.

[6] Despite [5], there is still no guarantee that the MOTHER EARTH NEWS eco-community will be built. And, if built, that it will be open as a permanent residence to anyone including the people who publish this magazine. This is a large project and much careful groundwork remains to be done before any final plans are agreed upon.

This, then, is only the beginning. Your further comments, ideas and questions are welcome and should be directed to Wayne Martin, MOTHER EARTH NEWS Eco-Village Planning Coordinator, P.O. Box 552, Flat Rock, North Carolina 28731.

I agree vigorously with George Elmendorfs letter in MOTHER EARTH NEWS. When the really bad times come, a survival-skilled community is much more likely to make it than a single-family homestead. Not only does cooperation enhance the chances of staying alive, but in an age of famine and violence such as we can expect, defense is of essential importance.

Therefore, I want to express my deepest interest in the community you suggest. I do not, however, have anything close to $10,000 nor does it appear that I ever shall. Im 19 and married, with a little boy, and I can offer only hard work and dedication to any such project. Your consideration will be much appreciated.

K.H.
Texas

The concept of self-sufficiency, simple living, hard work and companionship of like-minded people is most encouraging, and the high cost of joining the MOTHER EARTH NEWS project would definitely separate the serious from the non-serious.

J. & P.
California

How about $1,000 plus cost of house? If we had $10,000 wed have a farm already. Please keep the Research Center/mountain community possible for us little people, too. The project is an answer to our prayers.