First Ever Poraver Foundation
Followers of the Endeavour blog may remember that last year we used an innovative new insulation based on Poraver expanded glass beads as our sub slab insulation for Canada’s Greenest Home. At the time, we were excited to find an insulation that can be reliably...
Making a Rubble Trench Foundation
Rubble trench foundations offer a means by which to connect a building to frost-free ground in cold climates without resorting to the use of a concrete wall and footing. While rubble trench foundations have a long history, they are not a common practice as most...
Hypar Roof Workshop with George Nez
On July 3rd, the students at Endeavour’s Sustainable New Construction program took part in a day long workshop focused on building hyper-parabolic or “Hypar” roofs. This type of roofing is much different than any other form of roof. Rather than using...
The Da Vinci Roof
Inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci’s self-supporting bridge we decided to build a roof shelter for our work area to protect us from the elements. The idea is that a structure can easily be built by weaving wooden joists into an arch to create a self-supporting...
Another Cord In The Wall
A cordwood wall is made of mortar (in this case a clay-based cob) and cord wood. We began with a rock wall foundation to secure the cordwood and cob to it in order to avoid disintegration. After cutting 6″ lengths of cordwood, we mixed the cob. Cob is made with...