Hempcrete walls are going up!

The hempcrete walls are going up!

With some expert guidance and a fantastic group of volunteers, the ground floor walls are done and the second floor is underway.

What started off as a bunch of people who hardly knew each other has grown into a really strong team, working incredibly hard and well together, contributing ideas and overcoming problems, recognising each other’s strengths and offering unfailing enthusiasm and commitment to building something together, and to seeing this amazing natural building material succeed.

There was great excitement and a shared sense of satisfaction when we took off the first shutters. We definitely celebrated.

We have now got a much better feel for the hempcrete mix, what order to mix things in, when it needs a bit more water, when a bit less, how firmly to tamp it down and how long it stays workable. Taking off the first shutters gave us a really useful window onto the structure of the filled wall too, showing us where we tamped too lightly and where we need to take more care in filling around parts of the timber frame structure.

So it’s onwards and upwards with the second floor now.