The Freeville Earthship: Excavation

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Excavation

Wow, a huge thank you to Walczak Excavating (585-721-6316) for doing such a great job with a tricky excavation plan!

Pushing over the topsoil

Still pushing over the topsoil

Digging out the foundation

The layout rectangle with the area for the tire walls tamped flat

Deep trench for proper drainage around the house

Tunnels dug for cooling tubes

The site: our future house!

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FAQs:

How many tires, cans, and bottles did you use?

We have estimated about 800 tires; 15,000 cans; and 3,000 glass bottles.
Did you have any issues with the town or your community?

Luckily, no! Our town was wonderful with this process. We really didn't face any roadblocks with our build, besides the state law of having this giant conventional septic system. Since most of the water is used and contained in the house the 330-gallon-a-day tank we had to install is overkill. Our neighbors and community members appear to like us and our earthship!

Why did you do this?

Because it's a neat concept, very rewarding, and just makes a lot of sense. It is self-sustaining and we want to feel safe and independent. We are young, don't have a family yet, have summers off both being teachers, and just decided to go for it!