Freedom Beyond Building Codes | DIY Natural Building @mountainjewel
When searching for a place to live out our dreams and mission we had a LONG list of things to consider. Much of our list focused on biological and geological factors such as climate, water, topography and plant cover. What really got us excited though was learning that many counties in Southern Missouri that we had honed in on do not have building codes...
This meant we could express our freedom and autonomy as humans able to create shelter from natural materials.
Building codes are standards and regulations that make buildings fit into a narrow acceptable range. In many cases this ensures that safe electrical wiring, plumbing, fire safety and structural integrity standards are upheld. I'm not here to knock building codes as they can save lives.
BUT.... Industrialized society clings to rigid ideas of what a building is and these codes greatly limit human potential to build using natural materials, which oftentimes are less expensive, take less told on the environment, and are better suited to local climate.
We are living out a part of our natural human heritage by building our own structures using local materials.
Solar Shed west facing wall where we did Slip Straw for a bit of insulation with clay plaster.
Our freedom has been infringed upon through decades of colonialism, capitalistic norms and socially constructed ideas of homogeneity. We are not a "one size fits all" species, and the thought that every one has the same set of needs and characteristics is harmful.
What does this have to do with building codes?
It has everything to do with building codes! If we are a society are not open to change or entertain novel or unique ideas, we are stifling the individual and collective freedom to shift and evolve, learn and grow.
Building codes are a product of bureaucracy and unfortunately influenced by the corporations making the products that the codes require!
We are forced into a very narrow range of acceptable methods and techniques of construction.
Building codes are broad strokes that inhibit many communities, families and individuals from expressing their freedom.
We did not want to succumb to the rigid enforcement of standards that we don't believe in.
We also didn't want to make the money needed to pay strangers to tell the other strangers they should stamp a document that allows us to build something. We're not professional builders, nor will we ever be. We aren't planning on building houses for others, but it is paramount that we have freedom to choose from a variety of healthy, local, conscious, and sound natural building practices.
We want to be autonomous and creative in meeting our needs for shelter.
At least in the USA and Canada (where I have lived) building codes are updated every so often and often outdated codes are found to be downright damaging.
By years of sealing a house in with two layers of plastic, we have finally learned that making a house too airtight can cause air quality and mold issues. Certain chemicals within building products are found to be poisonous or damaging. Some of the same corporations manufacturing toxic chemicals are also building products that codes insist are used in homes.
From plastic house-wraps, to vinyl siding and harmful VOCs in paints and adhesive products, we are tied to an unhealthy supply stream. All this is not even to mention the ecological implications of homogenous solutions applied across the board and the exorbitant overuse of concrete. What an ecological nightmare!
In the most appropriate manner we know how, we are choosing to live a life of freedom where we can slowly and organically meet our structural needs from the land around us.
We have a rich ancestry of natural building and it's only been a hundred years or so that we decided to focus on low skilled labor and mass production.
This shift was in part due to the massive infrastructure needs after the great fires in Chicago of 1871 that destroyed an estimated 17,500 buildings that needed to be rebuilt. What we think of conventional stick framed buildings using 2"x4" (now actually 1.5" x 3.5") was in part due to this event that required a lot of low skilled laborers to rebuild quickly.
Fast forward to today where we:
- Relegate the act of building to a slew of experts,
- Give the inhabitants having little to no say in the design or layout of the home,
- Necessitate the involvement of banks due to high cost,
- Hope for a lifespan of 40 years (that's how long houses in the USA today are built to hold up for!)
This doesn't even touch upon unhealthy environments these structure create and the need to replace components over time.
Nope, doesn't sound like a good plan for us.
We didn't have any interest in a septic system, nor did we want an architect to sign off on our building plans.
Damned if we were going to sign a mortgage (from the Old French meaning dead pledge) and pad the pockets of bankers so that we could participate in an unhealthy mode of building. We wanted to live our life, not pay someone else do do everything for us while we worked crazy hours to fund it all. We saw through that and simply didn't want it! Maybe we're crazy and over idealistic, but the passion we share is real.
We in part chose this life because we want to be a part of our life in the most intimate of ways. By meeting our own needs, we are extricating ourselves from the destructive centralized industrial culture and creating an alternative. In time we hope to share, empower and teach many others to explore for themselves what this freedom could look like for them.
Living without building codes is just one way in which we choose to live out our freedom. How do you like to live out yours?
banner by @radicalunicorn
Written by a passenger of the #EcoTrain. Check out the tag for more inspiring & consciousness raising posts!
We too chose to live in an area where there are no building codes, no need for architects, engineers or inspectors and most importantly no bankers! We are continually working on the homestead to improve our quality of life without outside interference. That's the way it should be.
Love it! Yup bit by bit makes it all possible and practical, no need for govt or banks
To Be involved. Congrats on taking control of your life!
Love this!! I like so many of the things you say here. Playing devil's advocate though...you know a lot of people would not do what you are doing with your same consideration for the environment. Thus you might get folks turning a nearby stream into their toilet and voila, rules about septic tanks and so on...So how do you strike that balance between anarchy and ensuring total freedom doesn't cause a different form of harm? (I'm on the side of freedom but getting everyone to be considerate with it is a challenge that leads to way too many laws IMO. I have yet to see anyone solve that conundrum).
In keeping with my noticing weird details....that's really Wren plastering that wall? Topless?? OMG you are my heroine. Here I thought I was daring for running around braless. Made the neighbors coming over unexpectedly last night a tad awkward😂. (Did you guys do the tattoo post and I missed it?)
You make a great point here, pooping in water is a bad idea.... it does bring up questions of ethics and education. Perhaps well meaning folks unknowingly pollute or destroy things. We almost hunted our turkey and deer out of this country, but through laws and regulations we avoided it. So you make a Strong point for the need for an evolved and informed regulatory process. That sounds like an oxy moron when speaking of bureaucracy though.
I love that you notice details and yes wren opted out of a shirt that day. We have total privacy and when it heats up clothes really get in the way;) I love awkward moments!
About 6 weeks ago we did a vlog mentioning our tattoos, you musta missed it.
Building codes are definitely one of the many ways government restricts our freedom. I think a key point you made is you are building for yourself and your family - that is key. People tolerate codes because they view them as protection from builders. This adversarial view is built into the litigious society we live in. So many things conspire to lead to the codes that take our freedom. Banks require them to lend you money. Builders view them as the minimum acceptable quality. So many things wrong... where to start. You are making a good start.
exactly. obviously we could have gone down many of those aspects of this bigger entrenched issue like you mentioned. starting small with ourselves and seeking out freedom seemed/seems like our best bet! it's so expensive to jump through the code hoop. obviously it's done for people's safety often, but the elements you mentioned bring up the whole ball of wax! thanks!
Im gonna try not to go on a rant here! So instead .. i love ur little home. So beautiful.. congrats on manifesting your dreams and walkingnyour talk. We need more jewels like u guys in the world!
Thanks so much @eco-alex. It means a lot coming from you ;) your support and encouragement is so very well received. Blessing
Good on ya. Build well and prosper.
This is a great point that is pertinent to many, many aspects of our lives. We know that regulations, laws and ideas about economics or how people behave have come from thousands of years of human mistakes. But also, a lot of it is baggage thrown in from a certain person's motives or a political move. We have the ability now, with internet housing history so completely and allowing us to communicate so quickly, to go back through each aspect and ask "What does this serve?" and if we can offer a solution that both solves the same problem AND is better in some way, we make changes. Or we may find that the idea or reg doesn't make any sense and we clean our slates. This article is a great deconstruction of something most people just blindly accept! <3
Baggage indeed. So much of the bureaucracy is just that, extra stuff. I appreciate the perspective you bring. The feedback loop you explain is simply WAY to rationale for mainstream culture though...
It's about time we cleaned our slates from a lot of the small and close minded thinking that led us down roads of destruction. Glad you valued the post and thanks for your input.
STOPyes yes yes to all of the above, the way most houses are constructed today makes so many people become totally dependant on 'professionals' to build their homes, homes that are toxic and in my opinion quite ugly, moving more and more away from natural shapes which are more nurturing to very square and angular buildings. Our homes are where we are meant to nurture ourselves and our loved ones, yet they have been turned into cold buildings that segregate family members while all the time slowly poisoning them. This is definitely one thing we need to take back. Great article guys. And I'm with you my lifestyle is how I chose to live my freedom xx
You’re spot on here. Well phrased. These ugly homogeneous inaccessible homes don’t make anyone happier or healthier. As you say quite the contrary. Are we crazy 😜 or what?
Thanks for your input and support! Heck yes on loving your freedom through lifestyle, Keep it up!
You just gave me hope with this, thank you! I didn't know there was anywhere left in this country without building codes. I dream of tiny houses, cob, round, off grid...
Lovely! I would hope there are plenty of places without codes, especially in the rural areas. It really shifts the possibility of dreams eh? All the best with achieving your dreams.
Thank you. Here in Colorado there is not so much that I have found. Even remote places next to National Forests have size minimums, and off grid backwaters have "you can only 'camp' on your own land so many days a year" rules and size minimums. It's madness.
The codes... and the idea that a septic tank is ok. Well I guess a septic tank made the right way, would be slightly better than an old school out house with a ditch. It's going to be difficult for us in New York State to convince the town we can compost our black gold... but we'll try.
It is really great that you have no codes, I know you will build consciously in terms of using local, natural materials but also in safety.
Education is missing on natural building... in underdeveloped areas people are taking out life long loans to tear down their cobb homes to build with concrete blocks and corrugated steel roofs just to feel like they are joining the developed world. Really hot in the sun, really cold in winter and really loud in monsoun season, the illusion of civilisation really sucks!
Enough ranting, that was an awesome post @mountainjewel, thanks for sharing!
our cultural ideas are indeed fairly archaic. I hope you can talk some sense into the folks that make decisions in NY and let logic prevail!
I hope we can exemplify non professionals with a passion creating beauty through artful land-based living. This is still in the works....
It is TOTALLY crazy that the development craze is so rampant. I've seen it throughout my global foray and it's boggling to think that both the "civilized" and "natural" humans want what the other has. Neither culture has it all, but i suppose with making natural building "cool" and modern it may hold sway.
Glad you enjoyed it @senorcoconut!
Yes, lets make that change. It can happen, I mean look at strawbale structures. There is now a chapter on it in in the international building code which has been adopted by new york state.
I found out when I asked our town's building engineer, what would it take to build a strawbale home. He plans that make sense was all he needed as long as they are within the code provided. That was a happy moment, at least we don't have to convince anyone, a straw bale house can be structurally sound...and more fire proof than a framed house!